First love (Five minutes freewrite)

marie-jay (61)in #freewrite • 6 years ago (edited)

The man is sitting by the fire, quietly munching on a piece of stringy meat, something to do while he keeps watch. It’s not animals that he’s afraid, not many beasts around here. It is the fire that needs watching, as some of the logs are wet and it would be a shame to let it die and have the cold autumn wind wake her up from her sleep.
They’re still two days away from their cave and her day has been as rough as his. She fell asleep the moment she laid her had on the soft bed of fallen leaves and he watches the strand of black hair plastered to her cheek, partly obscuring her sleeping eyes. And he wanders. About her eyes, maybe. Her eyes are much the same as the eyes of all the other women, yet there’s something stirring in him when she looks at him.
Maybe that’s how is should be since she is his designated mate and heavy with child already. Yet, no other man that he knows seems to have any special treatment for their mates. It’s just women, it’s only natural to have a mate to look after you and raise the young, that’s how it’s always been since a past so remote the story-teller could spend a whole night talking and still not get to the oldest memories of their clan.
An insolent fly stops to stretch its legs on her peaceful brow and he swathes it away carefully, lest a sudden movement should scare her awake.

He’d love to get near and trace with his finger the delicate curve of her neck, barely visible under the heavy fur, yet he dares not.
He’d love to bend and put his lips over hers, to taste the sweetness of the mead they shared on them, but the idea scares him. No man does that, what would be the point of touching her lips with his mouth? That doesn’t mean anything and his fellows would probably look at him funny. He is the youngest of the hunters and he still has a lot to learn about manly ways. Women are useful and needed, but it would not do to go soft, like a little girl chasing bunnies. Bunnies are useful, too, everything has a purpose on this earth. You teach little girls how to skin a rabbit, just as man must learn how to act.
He fights to keep his eyes open, but there’s this pain in his chest, a sudden ache he’d never felt before and he’s never heard of before. The pain grows larger and stronger, till he cannot bear anymore. He slides under the fur, careful not to disturb her sleep, and he puts his arm around her to take in the warmth of her body and the smell of her skin. The pain subsides as he kisses her hair softly. There’s no one around to see his silly behavior, but he doesn’t care anymore about that. The only thing that matter is her and this wonderful feeling he cannot name, which one day people with bigger brains than his will call love.