Year 3, Day 1

Sea Surf, South Africa, from Morguefile.comWhatever else this planet may be, it is beautiful.

I teleported to one of the coasts I have found, far to the south, and sat for hours watching the waves roll in. Somewhere storms are raging, pushing the water into green hills, but here there is only a fresh breeze, droplets of spray wetting my hair, and the smell of salt and seaweed. Strange smells, when I arrived, but grown familiar now.

Shall I join the band I know at the gather? I open my hand to look again at the empty shell, miraculously unbroken, given to me by the waves. One of its like is the centerpiece of the necklace Storm Cloud loaned to Songbird. How long was the chain that brought that shell so far inland?

I would like to give this to Songbird, a small return for the help she gave me. Still gives me, as the incident with Lion’s camp proves. But how would that be regarded, in her culture? There was a sense of awe about Storm Cloud’s necklace. Was it because such shells are rare and precious? Because only the shamans wear them? What expectations would be raised by such a gift, to me a very slight thing indeed, but to them (in spite of all my denials) a literal gift from a god? So much I do not know!

I think I must go to the gather, if only to learn more about these people.

Jarn’s Journal is a fictional journal, recorded by a fictional human-like alien who was stranded in Africa during the interglacial roughly 125,000 years ago. His journal to date can be found on my author website. It constitutes the remote back story of the universe of my science fiction novels, Homecoming and Tourist Trap.