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Overview: Short stories – stories for children and teens

Stone Ages

Exhausted men trudge happily through the swamp. Dirt and traces of blood cover their fur clothing. Kor can clearly recognise them through a round gable hole in the clay house. Those are men from his settlement. Hunters! They are carrying slaughtered hinds on their shoulders. They are the largest animals Kor has ever seen. Kor’s older brother Tabo is there as well. He has been allowed to watch a hunt for the first time – just watch. However his family was still worried because a bewildered animal cannot differentiate between attacker and spectator. A few men are sliding the booty from the hunt along on wooden stretchers: The hunters have even managed to catch a couple of bison. This means that the village will have enough to eat for a while.

At the river, where the animals are gutted, women are making sharp slim blades on a flint stone. The animals are carved up with these. "Come on!" Thar, one of the hunters, calls the residents of the settlement together. "We want to thank God, our creator, for the good hunt and then we want to eat together."

"Thank you", sing the hunter folk, "oh great God, the one and only, the eternal heaven. You provide for us because you love us. You made us and all things." The flint stones are struck together and the sparks fly.

The dried grass finally sparks into a big fire and wood is added. The bison meat starts to sizzle. Kor knows the hunter’s hunting tricks only too well although he has never been on a hunt. He is still too young. However he has seen colourful paintings on the walls in the caves on the craggy mountains: In order to bring down the fast antelope the hunters dress themselves in the fur and antlers of the antelope. This allows them to sneak up on the herd unnoticed. Once the hunter is close enough he throws his wooden spear with a stone point to kill the animal.

Kor’s grandfather had painted these caves and Kor is impressed by the accuracy of the pictures. Each animal is painted life sized. Even the colours of the fur are perfect. His grandfather is a great artist. He had used the natural cliff forms in the cave walls and ceilings to paint hunted, peaceful or grazing animals. The black colour is applied with a charcoal pencil. His grandfather made the red colour from a stone with iron content. His grandfather does not use blood and fats as they would wear away after a few years. Kor had learnt from his father to keep thanking God, the creator, that he gave humans such capabilities. He does not believe in spirits and idols made of stone or wood unlike some of the neighbouring villages. Kor hocks on a little cliff. The things he heard yesterday are true because the men’s faces are full of worry. Kor remembers it well. People fleeing from the north had passed by the settlement and Kor has managed to overhear a few snippets of conversation between them and his grandfather, Jabet: “Destruction, violent desolation, meter high mud slides, fields of lava, volcano eruptions and earthquakes." Kor can imagine it well because the surface the earth vibrates almost every day and sometimes the sky is covered by a cloud of grey ash.

Kor knows where that comes from. His grandfather reminds the tribe every now and again: Those are the results of a large flood, which had destroyed the majority of life on earth around two or three hundred years ago. God, the creator, had performed a judgement because the people had ignored him and had praised other idols. Only Noah had followed his commands. That is why Noah and his family had survived in a large box-style boat. The water was seven metres higher than the highest mountain before the level slowly began to sink half a year later. Now they are living in the times of the post-flood catastrophes. "Hopefully the earth will calm down again one day", thinks Kor. However the tribe in Kor’s village is always reminded how important it is to search for God. They see what happens in other villages when the people forget the almighty eternal God.

Kor is pulled from his thoughts by the loud proceedings going on in the house below. His sisters are grinding corn between two large stone plates. Soon they will be baked into flat bread in the clay oven. His friend Unger comes along later: "Come on, Kor! We can help the others separate the fresh fur from the rest of the meat and fat. Afterwards we can hang them on wooden pegs and leave them to dry for a few days." That will give the village new materials for clothing. The old tool maker’s clay house stands a few meters from the tannery. He is knocking off splinters of stone from a large flint stone. These sharp blades will be turned into knives. Almost all of the tools are made from stone: scrapers to work on the furs, spear and arrow points for the hunt and bits to bore holes in the leather, wood and bones.

Kor is impressed when he sees the talents God has given these people. Everyone can do something well in comparison to others and almost everyday the villagers find new things to make their lives easier or more interesting. Thar is engraving some animals and geometric signs into bone.

One sign represents a certain event. This means that Thar can write down what he experiences for his children. "Grandfather, will we have to leave our home and flee too?" Kor asks fearfully after the evening meal. "Yes, Kor, that is most probable", Jabet seriously explains. "Thirty years ago we had to flee our settlement in the north and we came here. We were so thankful to God that none of us were killed. There were earthquakes in some places followed by demolishing volcanic eruptions. Then tidal waves meters tall reached the land. We had to flee and run for our lives. – A few days ago messengers came to tell us about approaching masses of ice." "How long will the catastrophes go on?" Kor asks. "Only God knows that", answers his grandfather. "But you know that all of these things are the results of sin. I am worried about how many people are praising idols again just like in the times of Noah. Every mountain is a God which they pray to. They fall to their knees for the sun, for the moon…and they forget the eternal God! That brings them bad luck in their lives! They lie to each other and hate each other. That leads to war and death! Protect yourself, Kor!" "Yes!" nods Kor.

The howl of the sabre tooth tiger pierces the night. Thar jumps up and grabs his spear. Jabet places more wood on the fire at the entrance to the settlement. That should stop dangerous animals stepping into the camp. Ungar places his hand on the dangerously growling wolf and the earth starts to quake again....

Possible parts of the bible relevant to the story:

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. (Romans 1,20)
Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19,4)
The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become (Genesis 6,5)
He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless. (Proverbs 2,7)
be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. (Deuteronomy 6,12)

(Source: "Der Kompass" edition 2000, a daily calendar for children and young people in Germany. The story was allowed to be included in the collection of materials (www.praxis-jugendarbeit.de / www.youthwork-practice.com) with kind permission.)
Copyright: Christian circulation (www.csv-verlag.de)