Bal's Bane

Bal grasped Gom's shoulders, then slowly pulled the object from his son's death-like grip.

"Don't open it! Please, don't open it, Father!"

"All right, Son, all right. I promise I won't open it."

Sitting down with the object in his lap, Bal motioned for Gom to sit across from him on the dirt floor of the shelter.

The Mother's Breath was still. The Father's Love, slicing down through the fronds of the shelter, cast long shards of light across the dark, sweat-streaked bodies of the two men, increasing the feral quality of this breathless moment.

The object was hard and smooth. Its surface was brown, and although it looked like wood, Bal knew it was not. The thick edge was bright and shiny. There was a crack visible all around that edge.

"Where did you get this?"

"From the old cave, near the River."

"Tell me what happened."

"I found it in the back of the cave where that big piece of rock fell away. There's a huge place back there with all kinds of shiny things inside. It's really scary, Father. But, this was right at the opening, so I picked it up and ran back here with it. Then I opened it, and it started happening. Oh, Father, its so horrible!"

"It's all right, Son, I'm here, now. We'll see this through together. Whatever it is, we'll never let it harm any of us."

Bal lifted the object gingerly, and pulled the two halves apart at the crack in the edge. The bottom half slowly drooped to the floor, leaving the upper half slanted upward.

He pushed the upper half to the upright position. The inside of the upper half was smooth and shiny. The surface of the lower half was covered with markings in different colors. There were little pieces of material on its surface, all shining like the rest of the object.

A Ray of The Father's Love had moved, touching one of these pieces, and suddenly, an image appeared in the space between the upper and lower halves.

"It's happening again, Father!" Gom shouted, leaping to his feet and pointing at the image.

"Wait!" Bal shouted, just as Gom was turning to run from the shelter.

Gom stopped and turned slowly around, still shaking as he stood waiting for his father to speak.

"Sit down, Son."

Gom reluctantly squatted, again, across from his father.

Bal gazed at the image. It appeared to be the image of The Mother's Trees surrounding one of Her great Breasts, with The Father's Face above. Except that the Breast was shaped like a perfect square. And, the Trees of the forest seemed to be very small and close together. And, The Father's Love was not visible in His Face.

Bal reached forward as if to touch the upper corner of the white square. As his finger merged with the image, the image changed so that it was now the image of only a part of that corner. It did not take any more space in the shelter, but somehow Bal could see the corner of the white square as if he were standing upon it.

He withdrew his finger, and the image returned to its former appearance.

Next, he pointed his finger at the Trees. As his finger merged with the image of the Trees, a truly remarkable and frightening thing happened.