264 Holi Wars: A Prelude

It was late in the evening when the hunters came back to the village. The sun had long disappeared over the horizon. Stars covered the darkening sky. The moon hadn't showed up yet, but I knew it was its last phase before disappearing for two years. I sat on a bench, observing the cosmos in its primordial beauty. 

The villagers organized a large bonfire for the bounty that evening. I learned that the village's name was Imlil, which meant the happy place in their native tongue. Later that evening, three hunters arrived to the village, carrying an enormous boar. I would have mistaken it for an elephant if it weren't for its snot. Even its long tusks looked like an elephant's. 

The villagers cheered as the hunters made their way through the wooden gates. They'd placed crude wooden walls around the valley they inhabited. Around their caves, they had also placed large boulders which could easily be slid to cover the entrances by the use of wooden planks.