[Child of the 7th Age]

The little hobbrim child ran across the shore. She was playing with the shells and stones and small creatures which she found on the sand. She was very careful not to harm or injure these little living things in any way.

Scampering down the sand, the child came to a bend in the shoreline where piles of drifwood often came to rest. She looked down the coast expecting to see heaped mounds of driftwood caught between large rocks as she'd found so many times on her explorations. She peered again in puzzlement.

Something strange seemed to be lying on the sand, right beside the water. It was very large and lifeless and green. Curiousity overcame the hobbrim. Against all her more prudent instincts, she reached out a hand to touch the silent body. A head lifted softly from the sand, but only an inch or two. The child could hear heavy breathing and looked to see one golden green eye open very slowly. With difficulty, it fixed on the youngster, seeing but not seeing. A voice came from the creature's mouth, "Is that you, Kali?" Then, the head fell again, and the mammouth slept.

The child responded swiftly. She raced from the coastline back to her home in the caves. Her feet pumped over the sands, as she sought the comfort and advice of family. "Mother, father, come see what I have found! It's as big as our cave. And, it talks. The big creature talks."

Together the three--mother, father, and daughter--walked back to the giant form which still lay silent on the windswept beach. Overhead, the sky began to darken.

[ September 20, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]