Dum’s family were gathering berries and reeds from the dunes by the beach when Wah-Wah’s sudden cry made Dum turn round and race back to where Yum and the baby were and he found her writhing on the ground with the baby still strapped to her back.
Dum pulled
Wah-Wah off and turned Yum over to find she was frothing at the mouth and
delirious with a few black berries still in her clenched hand.
He quickly
strapped Wah-Wah to his own back, picked Yum up and struggled to carry them
both to the sea shore where he placed her in a sitting position.
He scooped up
some sea water and forced her to drink it until she vomited with a mighty explosion. He kept repeating the
treatment until she shook her head and looked at him and pushed a hand in his
face and shook her head again.
Satisfied she was
on the mend he carried them both home to the cave with difficulty and gave her
water from the stream to drink and then she lay down to sleep.
Dum now had a
problem, would it be safe for her to feed Wah-Wah or should he get another
mother in the cave to feed him?
OOOOH Conflict! Where are you coming up with this stuff? Its a fun story! May I ask what the photo is above?
ReplyDeletePhotolacca Americana, with various common names like American Pokeweed, American Nightshade and Inkberry.
DeleteHow clever Dum was to use seawater to induce vomiting. He very likely safed Yum's life that way. And yes, the safety of her milk would be in question, though I can definitely see some possibilities for problems headed Dum's way! Love your story Old Egg!
ReplyDeleteWe tend to assume our ancestors were experts on plants and animals, but I'm sure a lot of it was trial and error, and mistakes were sometimes made.
ReplyDeleteOh, no, I missed some! I had to catch up, thanks for letting me know. I hope Dum finds out who he should let feed Wah-Wah.
ReplyDelete