Rongo, Krocks, and Ugh sat on a grassy ridge overlooking the wide plain below. Their stone-tipped spears lay by their sides and the first rays of dawn were just visible on the horizon. The as yet unseen herd would soon move west, but that might not be for hours. These things were impossible to know. After some time, Rongo broke the silence.

“I had an idea the other day.” A few moments passed. Ugh inspected his spear.

“Oh yea?” asked Krocks.

“I noticed that when Gerth-gerth pulled a stick out of the fire, she accidentally dragged the burnt end across the cave wall and it made a line. I was thinking that maybe I could do that on purpose.”

“What,” Krocks inquired, “make lines on the wall?”

“Yea. But like, the lines could depict things.”

“What kind of things?”

“Like, maybe us. Or bison. Or us and bison.”

“I think that’s a pretty neat idea,” affirmed Krocks. “Maybe you could makes lines for Hungry and Tired.”

“Uh, yea, maybe. Those might be things I could make lines of, I guess.”

“I think Hungry and Tired would make really good lines.”

“Yea, maybe. Anyway, I can’t wait to try it out. I’ve been thinking about it pretty much non-stop.”

Ugh, who had been continuously scanning the horizon, stood up and leaned on his spear.

“So, when exactly are you going to be making lines?” he asked. “While me and Krocks are out here Hunting?”

“No. I’ll make lines after Hunting and before Sleeping.”

“Oh yea? What about Eating and Fucking?” Ugh challenged. Rongo paused a moment.

“I can make lines after Hunting and after Eating but before Fucking and before Sleeping.” he said.

“Seems like a busy day,” Ugh said. “I think you’re going to end up skipping something, and we all know it’s not going to be Eating or Fucking. So that leaves Sleeping and Hunting. And if you skip Sleeping, you’ll be no good at Hunting. So you might as well just skip Hunting, which is what I said in the first place.”

“Ugh, I think you’re being very negative about this,” said Krocks.

“I just don’t see why he has to be making lines.”

Rongo looked at the ground. In the distance, the first silhouette of a bison appeared in front of a sliver of sunlight and the matter was dropped.