Part of the Stories anthology collection.
Alright, Sybil, time for bed. We’ve had a lovely day, and now it’s time to go to bed. Before we do that, I’ve got a bedtime story I would like to share with you. Settle down while I tell you the story of how we found you way back in the stone age….
Chapter 1:
The Baby
A hundred million years ago, when mankind was just starting to develop, there lived a bandaged cave girl named Cleo. She lived with her brothers, Resus the vampire and Luke the werewolf, in a cosy cave with their parents, surrounded by lush fields, green trees and fresh water. It wasn’t always like this. Sometimes it rained. Sometimes it snowed. During cold weather, they’d wear their furs and keep warm by the fire. During hot weather, they’d take off our furs entirely, and run around without any clothes in the warm air. They’d go swimming in the lake, or have a bath there. There were no modern baths in those times, so a lake bath was just as relaxing. The only problem we had with their lives was the amount of food they had.
Every Winter or Summer, they’d go hunting other animals who roamed the plains. Luke, Resus and Cleo would be accompanied by one of their parents, who were expert hunters. Resus’ dad, Alston, didn’t bite anyone, because even though he, Bella and Resus were vampires, they were the first to ever exist. They’d go hunting for snow lions, or mammoths, or woolly rhino…but all they brought back was a rabbit or two. A small, worthless rabbit makes a little filling meal for rumbling tummies, but at least they enjoyed our catch. They’d skin our catch alive and then eat its flesh. That’s how people ate these days, but Luke, Resus and Cleo didn’t mind. They ate their fill in small bites, and drank mammoth’s milk every night before bed. One Winter day, everything was about to change…
The snow was swirling like a whirlpool as Luke, Resus, Cleo and Niles trudged through the snow, trying to battle the cold and heavy wind as they held their wooden spears tight. “We’re almost there!” called Cleo over the wind, “I think we’re approaching some kind of cave!” “A cave?” asked Luke, “Finally!” They trudged with life and limb across the snow, then they stopped. The cave was big and hollow, and quite huge. “Hello!” called Luke, and his voice echoed. “Hello, hello, hello!” it went. He tiptoed inside to see if it was safe. In the darkness, he saw a huge white snow lion sleeping soundly. He tried to be careful and avoid any noise as he held his spear up and tiptoed up towards the lion…suddenly, he tripped! A small rock tumbled and bounced off a cliff and landed on the snow lion’s head. BUMP!
The snow lion instantly jumped up and growled at Luke. Luke raced out of the cave screaming, and Niles, Cleo and Resus all ran screaming too. The snow lion struck Luke with its sharp claws, and Luke felt red blood trickling down his back. He growled, his eyes turned black and purple, and he transformed into a sabre-toothed werewolf. “You get him from behind!” called Resus, “I’ll take him by surprise!” Luke chased the snow lion across the snowy plain and into the forest. Cleo galloped across the forest the other way, trying to search for Niles. “Dad? DAD!” she cried, but she tripped on a stone and tumbled downhill into a steep ravine. Luke was just about to pounce onto the lion and sink his teeth into its flesh, when he tripped and a thorn scarred his chest, drawing blood. At that moment, Resus jumped out, screaming and waving his spear. He stabbed it in the lion’s side. The lion roared in pain. “Your go, Luke!” called Resus. Luke knew he wasn’t about to give up yet. He roared, and leapt at the lion, biting into its back, harder and harder, until it drew its last breath from its mouth.
At the same time, Cleo was recovering from her fall. She looked up, and saw the snow was falling lightly now, and up above, Luke and Resus were cheering and whooping, shaking their kill in the air. “Woo! Look at that! We did it! We killed something other than a useless rabbit!” called Luke. Cleo smiled and yelled back, then checked herself to see if there were any bruises. There weren’t. Her legs didn’t break. Her arms weren’t broken either. She had the strength to climb back up the cliff and reunite with her brothers again. Luckily, they helped her up as soon as she reached the cliff ledge. “Finally.” said Niles, “We killed something that’s big enough for the whole family to eat. Come on, let’s move forward and get home.”
They trudged home through the snow. It was a long walk, but they finally made it back home, only to hear a strange noise. It sounded like…like crying. They raced to the front door and saw a tiny baby lying outside the doorstep in the freezing cold, wrapped in furs and waving her arms in agony. “Who’s that?” asked Luke. “Looks like a baby to me,” said Resus. “I don’t care, she’s mine,” said Cleo. She took the baby in her warm arms and began to cradle her gently. The warmth and gentleness of her arms soothed the baby and caused her to stop crying. “How sweet, princess,” said Niles, “You’re just like a big sister to this baby.” “Let me guess - we’re going to adopt it.” said Resus. “We’ll take it indoors with us. She has no mother, so I guess we should look after it ourselves.” Niles smiled. “She’ll be my favourite too, I don’t care how beloved my new baby sister is.” Cleo said, “I promise to be good to her and watch it grow up.”
Luke, Resus, Cleo and Niles went indoors and saw their parents sitting in the warmth of their cave, waiting for them to return home. “Are you alright, Cleo?” asked Sue. “I’m fine. I would like to introduce you to a new member of our family. She’s a little small, but you’ll soon get used to her.” Cleo introduced. Everyone at once sighed and chorused, “Aaaaaaawwww.” They said things like “Isn’t she cute?” and “Welcome to the family!” Once the cute noises died down, Mike said, “We haven’t given her a name yet.” “What shall we name her?” asked Bella. “Mammoth’s tooth!” said Luke. “Tortilla Tail!” said Resus. “No. We don’t need those names. All we can name her is…Sybil.” said Cleo. “Welcome, Sybil.” everyone sighed, as they quietly watched Cleo hold the baby close to her bosom.
Cleo was still cradling the baby as the family sat round the fire eating the remains of the snow lion. The fresh smell of killed meat filled the air as the family tucked into their first real meal they had in weeks. The snow whistled and blew great flakes of white outside, but they sat in the warm, feeling full, and talking about their day. Luke, Resus and Cleo were getting really tired, and Cleo carried on holding Sybil, feeding her the right amount of mammoth milk. She even patted her on her back, burping her. The family’s pet, the half sabre-toothed-dog Dig, and the sabre-toothed leech Lulu, gathered to look at the new baby with their family, and tickled and cuddled the new baby. Giggles and sounds of “Coochie-coochie-coo!” were heard all through the family as everyone admired Sybil and kissed her. Sybil’s eyes were starting to get a little heavy from all this fuss and attention, so Sue said, “Time for bed, everyone.”
Luke, Resus and Cleo prepared a bed for what was now four of them with Sybil by their side. They piled up some furs and placed a pillow made out of duck feathers at the very top of the bed. It was getting dark as they did that, as the sound of Winter wind blew outside, and yawning and calls of “Goodnight.” we heard throughout the house. Luke, Resus, Cleo and Sybil relaxed in bed, snug and safe inside their very own soft bed, under soft furry covers, as if a giant sabre-toothed cat was lying on top of them, keeping them warm and protected from the cold wind and weather. Our eyes grew heavy as the soothing sound of the Winter wind played its song outside the cave.
Cleo was lying right next to her new baby sister, whispering “There there. It’s alright. I’m here. Cleo’s here. It’s okay.” She kissed her and nuzzled her, touching her soft skin and snuggling with her. Sybil was so soothed that she and Cleo instantly fell asleep right away. With a new baby in the family, things will never be the same for them, because the family will have a new kid to look after and watch grow up through the next few years.