Time The Trail Blazer

On the road to Ice Mountain, you stop. Beneath your feet, you sense a deep crack in the icy ground. In awe, your father points to Ice Mountain. The freeform ice sculpture of nature, frozen on the mountainside, is gone. It is a flowing waterfall of crystals, shimmering like diamonds. In crude sign language, he points to the sun and touches the ice that has turned to water. Like the cry of a wolf, your father howls, as if he is saying, “My family! How will they live?” Warm air comes out of nowhere. It brushes your cheek. In a hot rage, you stumble down the steep hillside. You rush ahead and see a ferocious bear at an entrance to a cave. Although a young teen, you don’t have time for fear. Unaware of an inner courage, you act quickly. Without thinking, you screech as you jump down and face the bear. The bear stops in its tracks. You bounce about and waive your arms in all directions. You hop, skip, and jump like a mad man. As you lunge forward with your spear, your screeches that echo from the cave and your crazy behavior drive away the cave-bear. You signal to your father and enter the cave. Dirt and rock debris are everywhere. Bears have pushed away bones and small rocks. In cave dust, they have scratched out nests to hibernate. You think, “What a mess!” Your father sees the cave as a natural wonder of cold air and a safe home for his family. When grasslands replace trees, food becomes scarce. The change in an Ice Age alters one’s diet of plant roots to a menu of date palms, seeds, peas, beans, barley, and water lilies. No longer hunting large animals, you become scavengers and eat scraps of dead small animals, too little meat to guarantee a long life. You walk upright, climb, and move about with ease. You have a thinking brain, the source of motor-skills, memory, and foresight. You communicate with gestures, animal sounds, and screeches. You have taken the first primitive step in developing a spoken land