Kheppa and the Cave © story adaptation by Steven Hickcox
Reaching his outstretched hand towards the warm, humid air above the hot spring, Kheppa wondered to himself if this is what sunlight might feel like. Kheppa continued to squat on a large flat rock, listening to the sound of water flowing as it echoed through the cave, and thinking about the stories Papa would tell him about the outside. When I was smaller than you, I would run between the shadows of trees into the bright, warm sunlight, hearing the laughter of my brothers closing behind me in a game of chase. We'd climb the branches to pick the ripest fruit and sit under the shade, Kheppa recalled. Papa would go on about how delicious the fruit tasted and Kheppa tried to imagine what it would be like to taste something so sweet.
He plucked a mushroom from a nearby rock after reminding himself what he had been sent out to do and knowing that his mother would be expecting him back soon. So he began to fill his pouch with mushrooms that grew on the large, flat rocks near the hot spring. As he ran his fingers across one of the rocks, feeling for the mushrooms in the darkness, he was startled by the sound of breathing nearby, though no one called out to him. Kheppa stood motionless with all his senses keen to the strange presence.
Then out of the dark, came a strange voice, "Who are you, and why are you in my cave?"
Kheppa did not move or make a sound, wishing that he was back with his family on the other side of the cave. After several seconds had past, his voice finally cracked, "I, I am Kheppa, and I was born in this cave."
"Oh," replied the stranger as he exhaled, "So you've only known the darkness."
Suddenly full of pride and forgetting his fear for a moment, Kheppa replied, “Yes, but my grandfather has told me about the sunlight beyond this cave. He says that one day I too will see it."
"Indeed," cackled the stranger, followed by a moment of silence. "Well, child of this cave, you have taken something that belongs to me."
Kheppa held the pouch close to his body, "My mother sent me to gather mushrooms. She is waiting for me to bring these back to her."
A low growl came from the stranger, followed by a long pause of only the sound of breathing. Then, the stranger spoke, "Since you have been brave, I will let you take what is mine, but do not come back here unless you have something useful you can give to me in return."
A faint whistle from off into the distance of the dark cave had Kheppa's feet fast into the air as he leaped from stone to stone until he reached the ground. "Thank you mister, but I must go!" he shouted back towards the stranger as he ran in the direction of his mother's call.
"You were out too long!" cried Kheppa's mother. "You know that it is dangerous to be alone in the cave for very long."
"Yes, Mama," replied Kheppa, whose heart was racing from the strange encounter and the fear of upsetting her.
“Let us join together for meal!” Papa exclaimed.
(excerpt)
.......
