AZ Mystery Ch. 02: A Friend Rescued

Copyright 2021 by Limnophile

Permission granted to print or repost for non-commercial use as long as the author is credited.

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I only offer this to entertain. If at least a few people get their feelings tugged around, I consider my mission accomplished. If I can give somebody a few laughs, or inspire an orgasm, that's even better.

Thanks to the editors and authors who have helped me improve my writing from 'Painfully Godawful' to 'Below Average'. I hope at least one of them will look at this and not hate it.

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When I woke I saw the fire had nearly gone out. There were only a few embers left. I added some small pieces of wood and it gradually came back to life. I added a couple of thicker pieces to keep it going a few hours.

I heard baby goat Wayne baying for his mother. I turned around and saw her eating some vines. SHE WAS CHEWING UP MY PURSE! Dang it!

Now I'd have to waste half the morning making a new one!

Wait? I had gone to sleep in the desert area.

How did we get to the forest? There was no way Holly could climb a sheer cliff with a bad foot, and the baby was far too small. There was no way I climbed a cliff in my sleep. Right? I began to doubt my sanity.

I walked back to the spot where lightning had made a breach in the clifftop the day before, but somehow I couldn't see a breach anymore. I didn't see any way I could get back to the desert.

I walked to a corner at the base of a cliff and emptied my bladder. It had been quite a while since I'd been with a woman, or relieved my tension. There were no other people around, and the goats wouldn't care. I leaned against the rock wall and took care of that too, thinking about my ex-girlfriend Manuela.

I washed up in the downstream area of my little creek. Near the base of a cliff, the water poured into a hole in the ground about twice the size of my hand. The sound of the water gurgling as it drained was relaxing. It would have been convenient to shower under the small waterfall that supplied it on the other side of the area, but I didn't want to pollute my drinking water.

Breakfast was avocado and fire-roasted carrots. Oh joy! But at least I had food. I washed down my banquet with another half bottle of goat milk and some water.

I was finishing my third carrot, when I heard a sound from the far end of the area. I figured it was probably the goats, but no, they were on the other side of me. I walked over to check it out. I thought I faintly heard a female say "low". I yelled with gusto. "Hello! Can you hear me?"

Faintly, I heard, "Yes! I'm so happy somebody is finally there! I'm Anna, what's your name?"

"I'm Pedro. It would be great to meet you! Do you see any way you can get past the cliff? I'm stuck here."

"I tried, but I can't make it to the top. I keep falling."

"Me too. I have some food. Avocados and carrots. Would you like me to throw you some?"

"That would be great! I have strawberries and coconuts. I can throw you berries, but I don't think I can get a coconut over."

I ran and grabbed a few avocados and carrots.

"Ok, I'm throwing them over now. Watch your head."

The first carrot I threw nearly made it over, but not quite. I could only get the avocado 2/3 of the way to the top. I climbed up a little, and got two avocados and four carrots over to her.

"Thanks so much! So much! Here's some berries!"

I saw about a dozen strawberries make it to my side of the wall. "Thank you! Thanks so much!"

I could tell from her voice that Anna was an older lady. She was polite and kind. It was good to talk to another person, after so long!

The strawberries were delicious, even after being half-crushed on impact.

We yelled back and forth quite awhile. She asked if I wanted her to try throwing a coconut over.

I said it wasn't worth the risk. It might fall back and hurt her, she shouldn't try it.

I had an idea!

"Hey! Anna! I'm going to try making a rope from some vines! If I throw you a rope, can you tie it to something, so I can climb up?"

"Sure! There's a tree close to the cliff."

"Great! I'll yell again when I have a rope ready to throw!"

"Good luck! And thanks again!"

It took a lot longer than I expected, peeling all the leaves off the vines and braiding them together to make a rope. It was getting close to dark, and I only had a rope long enough to reach the top, maybe.

I walked back to the wall and yelled for Anna, but she didn't answer. I yelled five or six more times, but nothing.

I worried if something bad happened to her. I hoped she was alright. It was getting too dark to do anything else, so I carefully made my way back to camp.

I had another avocado, two carrots, and some milk. My belly was full, but it still left something to be desired.

I had learned my lesson about goats eating things. I coiled up the rope and slept on top of it.

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Report of Caretaker 9042

Species WDT

Subject 071 - Cycle 4

Specimen WDT071 health 23/24.

Intra-species empathy observed.

Intra-species food exchange observed.

Progenation attempted. Genetic material deposited in soil, failed to germinate.

No written language.

No use of electricity.

No buoyant or powered flight observed.

No use of fission or fusion power.

No dimensional rift usage.

Results to date:

Primitive, worth further observation.

Technology level: 4/24

Resilience: 11/24

Progenation: 1/24

Auditory communication test successful.

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Supervisor 3614 notes

Open habitat area x7912y8562 to subject 071.

Perform intra-species empathy test.

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When I woke the ground was trembling, and I heard the goats baying in fear. Holly rubbed her side on my knee, and her baby tried to hide under her. Thankfully, the earthquake didn't last long, probably only thirty seconds. The sun was starting to rise over the omnipresent clifftop.

I petted the goats to calm them and got nearly a whole bottle of milk. Holly was recovering well. I walked to my bathroom corner and noticed a lot of loose black rocks at the base of one of the cliffs. Was it coal? There was tons and tons of it! If it really was coal, firewood wouldn't be a problem for a long time.

I picked up an armful and carried it to the fire. I put a few pieces on the remains of the fire from the previous night. It took a while, but the coal started burning. Great! Coal would burn a lot longer, too, so I wouldn't have to check the fire every hour or two.

I walked over to the wall where I had talked to Anna yesterday, to check if she was still there. A large pile of loose rocks laid below a gap in the cliff wall! I only had to climb five meters of loose rocks, before seeing a shoulder-wide path! I could see the tops of palm trees!

I yelled, "Anna? Hello?"

I heard, "Pedro! Help! Please help me!"

I carefully walked through the gap. Anna's area had hundreds of palm trees in the sand, and at least a third of the trees had a coconut or two hanging from them! Coconut would be a nice change from avocados and carrots every day!

"Over here! Help!"

I ran toward her voice, and found her laying on her back, with a large palm tree across her lower legs. I thought of digging her out, but she was on a large rock, instead of dirt or sand.

"I woke up when a tree fell on me, then the ground started shaking! Please, get it off me! I can't move!"

The tree was obviously too big for me to lift or push, but I had to try. I leaned into it, and pushed with all my strength. It only moved slightly.

"I have rope, but I don't think it's strong enough to lift this."

Anna surprised me, "I have an axe, over on the other side of my campfire. Can you try cutting it?"

The axe was actually a sharp rock, stuck in a hole she had burned through a long stick. For being only a rock, it worked very well.

It took me about an hour to cut through the log. I made sure to stay at least a meter away from her, for safety. While I cut, she told me she was 61 and her children and grandchildren had all moved out of town. Like me, a week ago she woke up naked next to a cliff with no apparent reason.

She had been alone most of the time, since her husband passed away five years ago. He was a machinist and blacksmith the thirty years she was with him. Tools and tool making was all he wanted to talk about. She said it bored her to tears then, but she was glad for the knowledge now. She knew how to smelt iron and make iron tools! Using the coal for fuel and mud bricks to build a simple furnace, we could melt down the old car door and make what we needed!

I got her out and saw her legs were badly bruised. She said she didn't think they were broken, but she wouldn't be walking for a while. She pointed out her other few tools, a very sharp obsidian knife with a wooden handle, and a torch igniter she had found.

The igniter used a flint and steel to produce a small cloud of sparks when squeezed, and made fire starting easy. If only I had one of them earlier! I could have saved a lot of time and frustration trying to hold a broken bottle at just the right angle and distance, without even getting a fire.

Anna told me her other food source. Birds would sometimes lay eggs on a hill. She would check the hill every morning, and collect all but one egg from each nest. The birds would stay if they still had at least one egg. Anna joked that she would have offered me eggs the other day, but falling fifty meters would do very bad things to them.

I checked the hill and found four extra eggs! I left them with Anna, and went to get some coal for her fire. Eggs for lunch would be great!

On the way back, I learned Holly had introduced herself when Anna shouted, "NO! My berries!"

Holly had eaten half the berry patch in the short time I was gone. She laid on her side, burping repeatedly. It was rude-sounding, but funny.

Once Anna and I had our eggs and some coconut, I built an improvised fence around the berry patch.

I noticed the coal seam continued into Anna's side of the cliff as well. It would be enough for months, maybe years!

Anna said, "You're so lucky to have bottles! I don't have any way to carry water, so I have to walk hundreds of meters back and forth, four or five times a day." I gave her one of them. It's surprising how something so simple can make a big difference in daily life.

I suggested, "If we had a drill, we could use coconuts to carry water."

She said, "A drill would be good, but even a metal knife would work, with some patience. My obsidian knife would just break."

"I have a sheet metal knife." I handed it to her.

"YES!"

I weaved a purse for Anna and another to replace the one Holly had eaten, as Anna made a couple of coconut canteens.

We ate some carrots and an avocado, and decided to call it a day.

As I laid down to sleep, Anna asked, "We don't really know each other that well yet, but would you mind if I cuddle behind you?"

"That would be nice." It was very comforting to feel another person and know that I had a friend.

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Report of Caretaker 9042

Species WDT

Subject 071 - Cycle 5

Specimen WDT071 health 23/24.

Contrary to earlier dislike, subject is now using compact combustibles.

Extensive intra-species empathy observed.

Advanced auditory communication observed.

Intra-species food exchange observed.

Rescue and care of disabled comrade observed.

No written language.

No use of electricity.

No buoyant or powered flight observed.

No use of fission or fusion power.

No dimensional rift usage.

Results to date:

Primitive, worth further observation.

Technology level: 5/24

Resilience: 12/24

Progenation: 1/24

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Supervisor 3614 notes

Allow auditory communication between subjects in x7912y8562 and new subjects in x7913y8562.

Open travel between x7912y8562 and x7913y8562 at Caretaker's discretion.

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