Manganese

25

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Manganese

Premise for novella

Noah’s Nickel

“I’m not used to seeing the sun on our dates.” Squinting, Victoria Ventures teased her boyfriend, Tommy Garrison.

“I know. I thought a little hike in the mountains would be nice. Get some fresh air, have a picnic, and make love on a blanket.” Tommy winked.

“Our exploring trips usually end up in a cave.”

“You can never say no to a good spelunking.”

“Hey, watch your language, there could be children on these trails.”

“I doubt it. These trails are for experts.”

“And I don’t always meander into every cave I find.” Victoria pursed her lips.

“Yeah, ya do. I bet you couldn’t pass up a cave entrance if your life depended on it.”

“Wanna bet?”

The couple climbed the hiking trail which led them up into the mountain. The air grew cooler with the increased elevation. The spectacular view of the valley below greeted them.

“Isn’t this the mountain from the Bible where…”

“Yes, it is.” Tommy nodded.

“Cool. Glad I paid attention in Sunday school. Uh, oh.” Victoria stopped and stared at the mountain wall near the ledge.

“What is it?”

“I’m about to lose our bet.” She pointed to a cave entrance.

“Ah, there’s nothing like a good, ‘I told you so.’” Tommy beamed.

Victoria stepped into the cave’s entrance, not caring that Tommy was right about her insatiable curiosity.

The enormous cavern revealed itself, and the sun disappeared as the couple walked deeper into the cave.

“This place is huge. I wonder if someone lived here.”

“A whole tribe could live in here. And they probably did. Look at the soot stains in the center. I bet whoever lived here built their fire right here.” Tommy pointed to the cave’s floor.

Victoria shined her flashlight around the cavern walls. “I can picture cavemen living here thousands of years ago.”

“You brought a flashlight on a day hike?” Tommy asked.

Victoria glanced down, a tad ashamed of her nerdiness.

“You brought your archaeology tools, too. Didn’t you?”

“Occupational hazard.” Victoria referred to their joint passion and careers as archaeologists.

“Oh, my, God. Tommy, look at these.” Victoria shone her flashlight on the large back wall of the cavern.

“Cave paintings.”

“These must be thousands of years old.”

Tommy touched the black rubbings on the cave wall. Then he placed his fingers to his nose and smelled the black soot. Sticking out his tongue, he tasted it. “Sppt.” He spat out the soot.

“What is it?” Victoria asked.

“Manganese. Cavemen used manganese to draw cave paintings thousands of years ago.”

“Why did you spit it out?”

“One, it tasted nasty. And two, manganese is linked to Parkinson’s disease.”

“Oh, here. Wash your mouth out with water.” Victoria handed him her water canteen.

Tommy poured water into his mouth, slushed it around like mouthwash, then spat it out.

Victoria shone the flashlight on the cave paintings, studying them intensely.

The paintings depicted typical cavemen stories—men hunting huge animals with spears, and women gathering around a fire. But then the theme changed. Animals were drawn on the wall walking towards something big. Many species of animals were depicted, walking in pairs up a hill. Then water was drawn, flooding the land. The end of the cave painting depicted an enormous ship floating on top of the world.

“Does this cave painting depict what I think it does?” Tommy asked.

Victoria smiled. “Yes, this tells the story of Noah’s Ark.”