The Old Man in The Cave

#A cave in the Jungle and an old man

When the kid opened his eyes, it was morning. He was hungry. Through the thick foliage, tunnels of light connected the heavens to the damp, cold ground at the roots of the trees. His furry friends were visible. Black and massive wolves. Their dense fur gave the boy shelter.

One big wolf looked at him in the eyes, whined a little, and licked his ears. It stood up and started walking. The boy thought they were going away now. So, he started to walk with the wolf. Each of the wolves was taller than him. The cold subsided to some extent, but still, the boy needed shelter. The whole pack was walking.

The boy did not know how long he walked. He did not know what was happening to him, or why these wild animals were guarding and helping him. After some time the pack of wolves brought him in front of a cave.

"What is this place?" He became scared again, "Oh! You guys guarded your meal and now you will eat me?"

However, the wolves did not enter the place. The leader of the pack looked at him and then looked at the cave, "Humf..." the wolf barked in a low voice and pushed him toward the cave entrance with its nose.

"You want me to go there? Why? What's there?" The boy was terrified. The pack leader pushed him with his nose toward the cave, "Grrrr! Auuf!" The wolf kept pushing him toward the cave.

"Okay! But you come with me too!" The wolf pushed again.

The boy walked a few hesitant steps...then looked back. Clearly, he was reluctant to walk through that mysterious and dangerous mouth of the cave that looked like the gaping jaws of a mammoth dinosaur.

The cave entrance was covered with tree vines that felt like venomous reptiles. He looked back again. The alpha came and gave him another push with his nose.

"Okay, okay! I'm going!"

The little boy took very careful steps and finally, stopped right at the mouth of the cave. It was damp and molds found their eternal abode. There was no sign of life – no footprint. Nothing!

He hesitated one last time and looked back. But this time even the wolf did not come to give a push forward. With a final resolve, he took a deep breath, stood upright, and strutted forward.

"There is no going back now!" he moved inside hugging one of the cave walls. He stopped for a few minutes to adjust to the darkness. He looked back. The natural light from outside almost faded at the entrance.

With a few more rocky and stumbling steps even that light, too, vanished. He felt as if his umbilical cord to the outside world was yanked and torn from his body.

With fearful uncertainty, the boy walked forward, one step at a time. With every step he took, he stood and tried to listen, "Is something moving inside the cave? Or am I imagining things?"

He inched toward the belly of the cave. Only one way inward – damp, gravelly, and moldy.

Every second felt like an eon and every step felt like a thousand miles. Blinded by darkness and deaf from the silence, the only sense the boy had was the reassuring presence of a rugged cave wall.

It felt like a cosmic light year when he felt the darkness finally shedding layers of its thick veil.

"What is that? A light? A fire?"

With the possibility of a light or fire, came a certainty of a human existence. The boy felt his heart beating faster from the violent longing for a company of the same kind.

"Maybe there will be a human like me? Perhaps, he can help me?"

He paced faster as the light was acting as a beacon of hope. The distance felt so far away, yet he crossed it within a matter of seconds!

The boy was now running. He was drenched in sweat. He finally reached the end of the cave.

Once he got closer to the bright light, he saw an old man sitting. Sweat and tears of hope made his eyes misty and views obscure.

He rubbed his eyes. The old man was reading something. The boy stood a few feet away from him...hesitant but the warmth was reassuring.

The old man slowly gazed up from the book. He looked at him for a few seconds, then closed the book and put it away on the side.

"Little boy!" said the old man with a faint smile. He had long gray hair and a beard; had a white loose dress – a tunic, long covering below his knees. Long loose sleeves up to his wrists...plain white. The boy felt as if the man was glowing by the fire in a divine brightness!!

"Grandpa! Can you help me, please?" he hesitantly asked the elder.

The old man had a set of deep amber eyes...curiously looking at him.

"Hmm...little boy! How are you here?" asked with a friendly smile.

"Ah! I...ah...!" the boy looked at the old man and thought to point at the wolves outside but stopped thinking, "Will he believe me if I say a few wolves brought me here?" Then said, "Ah...I...I...don't know?"

"Is that an answer or a question, boy?" The old man smiled brightly.

"Don't stand there! Come, sit by the fire, boy! It's cold here." He beckoned him to sit by the fire near him.

The boy got some courage back. Pushing the overwhelming hesitation away, he slowly approached the old man and sat by the fire. Still keeping a bit of distance between them.

Seeing how the boy was not saying anything but with eyes full of hope and curiosity, the old man stood up and went to a corner of the little camp by the fire. He bent over and rummaged through some baskets.

"Hmmm...this should do, at least for now!" He turned toward the boy with his hands full of fruit.

"Wanna eat some, boy?" He eagerly looked at the little one.

"Can I?"

"Why, Of course!" He extended the fruits toward him.

The boy jumped and grabbed all of them. He didn't know the names of the fruits he was eating but they tasted so sweet!

The old man sat back down by the fire. Folding his hands to his bosom, he watched intently as the boy gobbled up the delicious fruits!

"Eat slowly boy! Here...have some water! Don't choke!" He handed over a strange old-looking waterskin. They did not know how to use it.

"This holds water...here...," he drank a sip from the waterskin removing a seal. The boy followed.

"This thing can hold drinking water for you. If you move around the jungle you need to carry drinking water...see?" The old man taught the boy a very important lesson.

"Thank you very much, Grandpa! For the food and water!" the boy said with teary eyes. It felt as if he came to see his kind after wandering around in the jungle for many many years!

When the primary need was taken care of, the childlike curiosity kicked in. The little one was now very relaxed, being assured that the old man was not a threat to his life. He looked around.

The boy felt a gentle breeze coming from somewhere. The cave was well-ventilated and dry. Not too cold or hot. It was just comfortable.

The old man smiled, "I believe you and I have a lot to talk about, right? I am known as Saleh around this part of the jungle! What is your name, boy?"

The question suddenly struck the kid back to reality. He tried to say his name, but strangely, he could not remember!

"Ah...Grandpa...I...ah...can't remember anything," he felt embarrassed for not knowing his name.

A sense of sadness and melancholy took over the old man's heart, "What kind of hardship did this boy go through? He can't even remember his name?"