M.A. Kleen

Twenty-five years ago, I self-published The River of Rain, a philosophical exploration of freedom, human nature, and the modern world. To mark its anniversary, I’m releasing a fully revised edition, one chapter every Wednesday. This is the novel as it was meant to be. Continued from Chapter 11.

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Ariana woke beneath the bearskin with no memory of how she had gotten there or where Victor had gone. It seemed to be early afternoon, though there was no way to tell for certain. All she knew was that sunlight poured into the mouth of the cave. After lying there for a while, she finally forced herself up and shuffled toward the pile of dried meat. She took a few pieces, knowing Victor would not have approved, but he was nowhere to be seen.

A sudden noise from deep within the cave made her jump backward. Something rustled in the darkness. She wanted to scream, but the fear caught in her throat.

Victor stepped from the shadows wearing a broad grin.

“You scared the hell out of me,” Ariana cried, still shaken.

“There’s no reason to be afraid. Not yet,” he said quietly. “There’s something you’ll want to see back there.”

She managed a weak smile. Even after all this time, part of her still wondered if one day he might decide to get rid of her in some cruel way. He frightened her sometimes. More than she liked to admit.

“What is it?” she asked, fidgeting nervously.

“You’ll have to see. Come on.” He motioned for her to follow him deeper into the cave.

“It’s dark in there,” Ariana said, stating the obvious.

Victor smiled and produced a crude torch. When he lit it, the flame cast long, uneasy shadows across the stone walls. She followed close behind as they moved steadily forward, passing the pile of clothes and other things Victor had “found.” More than once she nearly stumbled over his feet.

“Relax,” he said softly.

She did not tell him that he scared her more than the cave did. It would not have been fair. After all, he had saved her life.

The tunnel stretched onward. The torch revealed narrow side passages, jagged crevices, colonies of bats, and strange limestone formations that looked almost alive in the shifting light. Ariana noticed the temperature slowly rising. Not warm exactly, but warmer than outside. In summer it was probably cool down here.

“I didn’t even know the cave went back this far,” Victor said. “Never felt like exploring it until this morning. Don’t know why.”

“Where are we going?” Ariana asked again.

Though still uneasy, she had begun to relax, even if she kept glancing over her shoulder. The darkness behind them swallowed the way back like some formless, hungry thing.

At last they entered a large rounded chamber that felt almost like a room. A broad underground lake shimmered in the torchlight. Victor raised the flame toward one wall.

“Look.”

Red handprints covered the stone alongside faded paintings of deer and hunters chasing them.

“Stone Age people lived here once.”

The boy stared at the images in open awe. Ariana, characteristically, was unimpressed. What did she care about dead people who had not even invented combs?

“And look,” Victor said again, pointing toward the floor.

There, half buried beneath dirt and mineral deposits, lay the remains of an ancient fire hearth. The ashes had hardened into pale crystal long ago, untouched for thousands of years.

“I wonder what made them leave?”

“I don’t like this place,” Ariana interrupted. “Let’s go.”

“It’s perfect,” he said, suddenly forceful. “There’s fresh water. It’s warmer than outside. No one would ever find us down here.”

Ariana stared at the loose dirt beneath her feet, absently dragging her shoe through it. Another sign that people had once lived here.

“I want to be found,” she whispered. Then louder, “I don’t want to stay here anymore, Victor. I want to see my friends and my family. I want to sleep in my own bed and watch TV.”

The words surprised even her. She had always imagined that kind of talk was dangerous around him, but she could not hold it back any longer.

Victor’s jaw slackened. A few weeks ago she had said she wanted to stay with him. They had survived together, so what was changing now?

“I don’t understand,” he said, shaking his head. “Why would you want to go back there and live like that?”

“You wouldn’t understand!” Ariana shouted, tears rising in her eyes.

Victor rested a hand on her shoulder and guided her back toward the entrance. “Well, you can stay out here and freeze,” he said flatly, stripping all emotion from his voice. “But I’m going deeper in.”

“You’re so damn stubborn!”

She struck weakly at his chest with her fist, more out of frustration than anger. Ariana knew that wherever he went, she would probably have to follow if she wanted to survive.

Victor laughed off the blow and walked past her toward the open air. On the outside he appeared as calm as the bright winter day beyond the cave mouth. Inside, though, his thoughts churned into a muddy confusion of fear, uncertainty, and hurt.

Continued in Chapter 13…