Image was created with https://ideogram.ai/ Greetings everyone. This is my entry for the Finish the Tale Contest.
No one in the village had seen the stars for a hundred years—until the night Charlie disappeared. Actually, our people were not a village as such, we were a nomadic tribe. It was much easier for us to find an uninhabited cave and squeeze in there to defend ourselves from the elements and also from other predators. The world was considered a hostile and dangerous place. When dark fell, we would take shelter inside the cave around a big fire made by the elders. Very few of us knew how to make a fire. But once it was made, everyone would take a share and create their own small fires to cook food, among their families. We are a close-knit society and perhaps a bit cowardly. We were not used to putting our lives in danger until that night when our brother Charlie was not among us. Charlie was different from all of us, he was my brother from another mother, who was a little different from us. He wasn't as strong as us and he used to spend his time doing different things than we used to do, like hunting and looking for mates. He usually liked to watch how weapons were made, fire, how meals were prepared, a lot of those things delegated to the women of the tribe and the elders. Also, he liked to gather rocks, which we thought was crazy. He had the patience to stay and watch things that we, the other kids, didn't have, and he could last for hours. We were different. When the light came back, we would run through the meadow in search of food and excitement. We would take a stick, some stones, and throw them at any animal we saw to eat them. The women often searched for fruits and roots in the surrounding vegetation. But when night fell, we ran to hide in the safety of the cave. The elders said that the light died every day, and anyone who dared to leave the cave would meet the same fate. That night, I became aware of his absence, and despite my demands to look for him, everyone hesitated to expose themselves to danger. A collage of emotions enveloped my being and made me decide to go for him; between anger, fear, and a bit of courage, I went through the veil of darkness. Surprisingly, the night was not completely dark; the sky was full of small lights that twinkled like fireflies. I followed my groping path until a small glow in the distance caught my attention. My face lit up with a big smile when I saw Charlie by a campfire, cooking fish. We shared the meal, and I spent hours listening to how fascinated he was with the dots in the sky. Soon, the darkness began to dim, and the dots faded to the glow of a large dish of light rising on the horizon. It was our first sunrise. We returned to the cave among laughter and stories. We were greeted with great joy and jubilation, stunned to see that we had returned alive. Furthermore, we gathered to tell of our adventure. One of the elders commented that many years ago, he had heard about the "stars" when he was just a little boy.
Thanks for passing by *See you next time*