300,000 BCE
An immeasurable amount of time had passed since this world began nurturing something.
The ground was moving. Splitting, colliding, pushing up mountains, then sinking again. The oceans kept reshaping themselves to fill the gaps.
Above it all, living things walked.
Those with protruding brows lived deep in the northern forests. Short, sturdy ones inhabited the cold highlands. Those with narrow jaws moved across the eastern grasslands. They did not know each other. Under the same sky, they lived in different times.
In one place, a group had settled around a watering hole to sleep. In another, someone was running from a beast. Along the coast, waves kept carving the rock. No one was watching that.
Among them were ones slightly different. Few in number. What made them different, no one yet knew. Like every other species, they could have vanished at any moment.
The thread connected.
For the first time.
To this one.
Everything was given. Everything that was held.
Just walking, just running.
Seeking water, seeking anything to eat, driven by instinct alone.
The body grew slightly larger. Something changed.
Eventually, even standing became difficult.
That night, something burst deep inside the skull.
The body trembled. Heat flooded behind the eyes. A soundless sound ran through the inside of the bones.
No one in the group noticed. That this one had crumpled to the ground. That teeth were clenched, both hands clutching the head.
Morning came. Nothing was remembered.
Only that the body was heavy.
Pain shot through the belly. The women of the group were around. There were no words. They were simply there.
A small voice was heard. It was heard.
That was all.
What came after, this one did not know. Eyes were open, but nothing was seen.
Eventually, they closed.
The child was crying. Someone in the group picked the child up.