A Story

By Hector M. Rodriguez

Hamster Dunnigan, amateur paleo-archeologist, was on an illegal dig in the mountains of southeastern Washington State. He was looking for graves to loot. His area of interest was on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, federal lands. He was a short man and kept himself lean and strong. His long auburn hair was always pulled back in a braided ponytai

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hector M. Rodriguez
• Release date: May 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9781735558448

Hector M. Rodriguez

Originally from San Antonio, Texas Hector Rodriguez received his bachelor's degree in Geology from St. Mary 's University. He worked in the private sector in the 1980's developing policy and procedures for Resource Conservation Reclamation Act, especially Leaking Underground Storage Tanks Programs. He served three years in the United States Army assigned to the III Corp Engineering Intelligence providing detailed terrain analysis to battalion level command. He joined the Department of Energy in 1994 serving in the Environmental Compliance and Assurance Division at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Southeast Washington State. While at Hanford he managed site-wide numerous environmental programs and contributed to policy development, program implementation and project management. He transferred to National Energy Technology Laboratory in 2004 as sitewide manager and coordinator for environmental programs and related site projects. He retired from Federal service in 2016. He currently pursues various passions and interests including environmental issues and mega problems. He is currently working on solution to our desires and dependency on plastics. He is a gardening, scouter, writer, traveler, guitar/mandolin player, avid reader, actor, lecturer, investor, cycling fanatic, and award-winning cook. He is passionate about spending quality time with his family and friends. He considers himself a pretty good example of an aging, middle of the road boomer, coming to terms with his eventual demise but still disrupting the norm. He is an advocate for environmental issues, specifically the understanding of global warming, clean air and water issues, and sustainable plant based human existence. He believes the most important thing we can do is provide for the education of our families and the recognition that all lives matter and should be treated with dignity, respect, and equal opportunities for education, including his.

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A STORY

by

Hector M. Rodriguez

A Story by Hector M. Rodriguez. © All rights reserved

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-7355584-5-5

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-7355584-4-8

For all Humans

FOREWORD

Part of the issue we have is we don’t have evidence to corroborate what our ancient ancestors were doing and thinking with any degree of certainty. We are occasionally surprised when a discovery is made in the world of paleo-archaeology that changes our perceptions of what was really going on five hundred thousand years ago. We have little tangible evidence, and our stories are based mostly on loose theories referencing fragments of bones, stone tools, and cave paintings found in ancient shelters or etched on rocks. Pure organic matter or tissue such as brain mass, eyes, lungs, and kidney type organs are long gone. Radioactive carbon dating provides a sketchy timeline and nuclear carbon dating is only a little better. However, it is still a relative guess and gives no true information as to what was being thought and how the mind was developing. But the genetic codes were established and mapped and are connected in our genome to this day. I have always wondered how the mind was working back then. I find the possibility of self-awareness and emotions developing in early hominoids a fascinating concept. I view our ancient predecessors with respect given what they did, how they did it, and how they were able to keep the hominoid genome from dying out.

In my story the mixing lineage of various genetic mutations would eventually become Homo heidelbergensis, then Homo neanderthalensis and eventually the Homo sapient. However, this evolution did not happen in a linear fashion. As I imagine one example, green eyes would become the mutation and characteristic genetic marker of the Homo Naledi line. Brown eyes would become the marker for Homo erectus, and other distinct mutations would be the foundations of other ancient hominoid relations. The one thing they all would have in common was walking upright. Once the early hominoids stood upright an explosion of thought began. Rituals, curiosity, love, hate and our senses were sharpened and keenly enhanced.

The bones of this story were constructed during the November 1-30, 2022, National Write a Novel in a Month challenge. I had been flirting around for my next project and I bit on the challenge. I am a geologist and a closet paleoanthropologist. I enjoy the outdoors and the subject matter of this story was familiar. You will see that love come through and I hope you see a lot of other things as well.

I need to acknowledge many people that have contributed in some way to this story. First, I want to thank the people of the town of Atapuerca, Spain for gracious hospitality and access to wonderful artifacts and dioramas from Sima de los Huesos. It was here I experienced a strong sense of connection with my past ancient ancestors. I want to thank Dr. Lee Berger of the University of Witwatersrand South Africa, and the first two spelunkers to make the Homo-Naledi discovery, Rick Hunter, and Steven Tucker. Thanks to Berger’s team of Naledi sized explorers for their courage and persistence to delve deep into the unknown and exploring the Rising Star Cave. This discovery opened a world of human genome related possibilities and fortified genetically imbedded memories for me. Special thanks to Taylor McCoy, the Blackwater Draw Museum Collections Manager with Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) for access to the marvelous collection under her purview. The Department of Anthropology and Applied Archaeology at ENMU is second to none. The Esalen Institute the for-hosting the Healing Waters workshop with the Essalen Tribal Nation. Special thanks to Koltala-Little Bear, Tihikpas-He who flirts with all of life, Sanga of the Valley for giving rhythms life, Douglas Drummond of 5Rhythms, Nick Ayers-the rock of sound savant, Mac Murphy – Sweat Lodge Guide, Nick-Fire Keeper and watcher of the Stone People, Hunter- Fire Keeper and watcher of the Stone People, Kumal – The Faithful Healer and all my brothers now tied by The Healing Waters, dance, and sweat. We are all tied together through the ceremonies of our ancient ancestors.

The Special thanks to Dr. Simon Johnson, Professor Emeritus from Oregon State University, my mentor and harshest critic, and the team of writers at C3. In no particular order, I want to thank Arona Rosegold, David Bickell, Deborah Wolf, Ruthanne Jepson, Gene Stemmann, Dr. Gerald van Belle, Jerri Austin Marler, Jo Sutton, Dr. Johanna van Belle, Karen Llewellyn, Marilyn Singh, Marion Whitney, Richard Raymond, and Sarah Roome. All are accomplished writers, and I am privileged to know each of you.

Everlasting gratitude goes to my family Carole, Simon, and Mateo. Thank you for putting up with my talking to myself, wandering around the house thinking, and then forcing the opportunity to share my first drafts with you. One day you will realize that when you spend the time reading my stories, you are spending time with me. I hope, long after I am gone, that you will read my stories and find a smile or two hidden in the pages. I hope you will recall my voice and how I grew to love telling a good story. I don’t know what I would do without all of you. Long live the eleven elf brothers!

Peace, Honor, Grace, and Gratitude Always.

HMR

How to Write a Creative Story

When in doubt, use a comma.

Use exclamation points frequently.  This makes a story appear exciting!

Do not worry about subjects in a sentence.  This is an old idea handed down from English teachers who liked to draw diagrams on the chalkboard.

If there is an s on a noun that is plural, use an apostrophe on either side of the s.  And the period wherever you wish.  Remember this is creative writing and it is your story!

If a sentence appears in all capital letters in your story, leave them there.  This means you are accenting your point.

If QTFZR appears on the screen do not be concerned.  Leave them there.  It just means your cat walked over the keyboard, and the reader will understand, if they, too, have a literate cat.

An important point:  Do not worry if a pronoun does not agree with the subject.  The readers will catch it.

Very is a very boring, empty adjective.  Avoid using the word, instead substitute another word like pretty big, sorta big, kinda big. Be creative.

Cliches are fun.  Make up your own. Start a new trend.  But don’t put all your apples in one basket.

Woke is past tense of wake. Ex:  The kitties woke early.  I woke early.

Marion Whitney

(The best English teacher I ever had!)

‘Twas in another lifetime one of toil and blood

When blackness was a virtue, the road was full of mud.

I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form.

Come in, she said.

I’ll give you shelter from the storm.

Bob Dylan

Prelude

(Once upon a time, in a not so faraway place…)

Hamster Dunnigan, amateur paleo-archeologist, was on an illegal dig in the mountains of southeastern Washington State. He was looking for graves to loot. His area of interest was on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, federal lands. He was a short man and kept himself lean and strong. His long auburn hair was always pulled back in a braided ponytail. At first glance, even though he was twenty-nine years old, he looked like a small Native American kid. His Indian name was Tiphkalit, translated means small furry rodent who is quick. Hamster was the English translation he preferred. It was better than rat. He was poking around scree covered hillsides with several nearby glacial melt water streams flowing to the Columbia River. He accessed the area using his dented fourteen-foot Valco aluminum boat and twenty-year-old, ten horse Mercury outboard motor to travel eight miles upriver. The river system was part of the dendritic patterned watershed that contributed to massive flood runoff into the Columbia River Gorge.

The floods known as the Missoula Floods carved the region over hundreds of thousands of years of erosion. There were numerous flooding events in this area over the eons of time. The events were due largely to the rupture of ice dams built up on tributaries to river basins during periods of climate cooling and then warming. The region was also directly on the path of the first inland hominoid migration to this part of the world associated with the Kelp Highway Theory. Because the Bering Sea land bridge was exposed during much of the early Pleistocene era, evolving creatures of all species migrated back and forth over the land bridge in search of sustenance. It has been theorized that early hominoids stuck close to the coastline as they traveled using wooden boats now long rotten and decayed back into the earth. Small curious groups of hominoids ventured inland when the opportunities arose. In our evolving world of evolution, hominoids searched and competed for sources of protein and carbohydrates with everyone and everything else, exploring all corners of the world. They explored more than was previously imagined.

Dunnigan’s was walking on a low ridge recently exposed by a receding ice pack and occasional volcanic activity in the form of tremors. The scree covered slopes had been under the ice pack and the temperatures stayed well below zero for eons. Tremors over the last five thousand years caused calving of great glacial ice pack, exposing Pleistocene era strata and soils untouched by erosion or any other environmental factors. The Pacific Northwest of North America had been rattled by basalt spewing volcanos and earthquakes for the last five hundred million years. The area was still an active volcanic region with unique geologic formations. Large and small gas vents created deep networks of cave systems. Many of the caverns were habitable and scattered randomly throughout the steep valleys. There had been a few archeological finds in the region since the St. Helens eruption thirty-five years earlier. Most of the items found were stone age tools pushed to the edges of the glacial front face over eons of time. The finds were attributed to Native American origins for lack of any true means to identify them. Without greater detailed study and organic matter for accurate DNA and genetic analysis, it was always a guess. Dunnigan had numerous buyers for authentic artifacts and good pieces always brought high prices.

In several locations Dunnigan surveyed, he identified crude stronghold positions used during ancient battles. He found stone monuments and built-up alcoves on the hillsides. They were arranged in front of caves in specific defensive patterns and arrays. Numerous whole and broken arrow points and larger spear tip type artifacts littered the fixed stations indicating many attacks or perhaps one large battle. He did not understand what the defensive positions were for but guessed they were used to protect territory. He collected all the arrow points he found. Even those brought good money.

Behind one crude defensive structure, protecting a small alcove, he spotted a slightly exposed flat obsidian panel. Upon closer inspection he could tell the unusual obsidian panel had been chiseled and knapped around the exposed edges. Someone had taken the time to shape the stone into some type of defensive door like structure. As he started to move a series of smaller basalt boulders around so he could gain better access, he immediately saw that the three foot by four-foot oval panel was blocking a chamber, which looked like it had been purposefully sealed in place. He was mesmerized by what looked like images in the form of figures and glyphs etched into the black glassy surface. As his flashlight swept across the stone panel the refracted light brought the images to life. The animals moved in a brilliantly animated choreographed dance running over etched mountains. The images of people, although stick figures also moved in wonderfully uniformed action type patterns, jumping up and down and waving their arms saying, Hey look at me! It was magical.

There was an unusual type of cement lining the edges of the translucent pane. The unique patterns on the obsidian and its size were extraordinary. It was almost like a dirty window, opaque with a dark gray hue. When he finally managed to delicately break the seal, air whooshed in. Eventually, after several hours of gently chipping with a small hammer and chisel, he was able to pry the cover stone out. He rotated the cover, inspecting it; the opposite side held more detailed etchings of scenes with animals and backgrounds of mountains and more stick hominoid type figures.

Setting the panel aside, Dunnigan found a chamber approximately four foot wide, five foot high and twenty feet deep, which had been carved into the pure basalt outcrop. Given his small stature, he could easily stand up in the chamber. As his flashlight swept across the chamber, he was in awe. The contents had been preserved for eons, more than five hundred thousand years. It was a shamans ceremonial dwelling.

The articles he inventoried included elegant animal hide clothing and carved bone and antler artwork. There were a series of yew wood bows with sinew strings still intact, and several quivers of delicate arrows. On a ledge just below his feet was an unusually carved arrow launcher, elegant eight-foot-long spears with long fluted points and a series of finely knapped obsidian knives and scraping tools. There was a strand of sacred sweetgrass braids mixed with wrapped sage bundles, decorative jewelry of long thin conical black and white seashells strung together and setting in a place on its own. With it was a small one-inch diameter rough shaped gold disk with a hole in the center.

At the back of the cave, neatly rolled up along the wall, was the unmistakable cape of an enormous tiger. It appeared to be animated and decorated with pictures and unusual glyphs. They were etched into the hide with images like the ones on the chamber’s outer door. The hide was in perfect condition. Hundreds and hundreds of images adorned specific sections and covered the still supple pelt. When he moved his flashlight across the images, they moved like an old stop gap motion picture. Scattered on the floor were dozens and dozens of flint and obsidian shards and tools for knapping, pieces with ultra-fine tips used to create the message etched in the hide. In another location hollowed out in the wall, he found finely knapped obsidian projectile tips, some thirteen to fourteen inches long, the longest he had ever seen, wrapped in still soft and supple rabbit skins, and tied with an intricately braided leather strap, carefully put in place. In another, he found a pouch with a stone-carved pipe with a residue of cannabis.

As the tomb robber started to move his hands and fingers across the pelt, a strange feeling gripped his mind. It was a spontaneous connection, an incredibly strong Deja-vu feeling of consciousness. He was thrust back violently to another time. As his mind connected to a story and his light slowly swept across the tiger hide, imagery began to unfold that would change the way modern homo-sapiens viewed their ancient ancestors. This find was a time capsule from the early Pleistocene era, a message from our earliest upright walking hominoid ancestors. This is the story Dunnigan was able to tell.

CHAPTER 1

Our relationships with the natural world, charting the ecological losses caused by hominoid activity has been an ever-present dilemma and will be our own demise.

Anonymous

With the physical connection, the touching of the glyphs Dunnigan found etched into the tiger skin, an incredible vison and recollection shook his consciousness. Dunnigan saw an early hominoid and felt a name resonate in his mind and body. The gravelly voice of Voltek, an early upright walking hominoid, started to recite an intricate story that began after a long and arduous journey. Dunnigan jumped back startled, and the recitation stopped. He touched the skin again and felt the story seep back into his entire being and continued. In an instant he could feel the entire story. Etched into the tiger skin during a time when hominoids brain cases were evolving and learning about spirituality, perception, self-awareness, communications, and emotions, Voltek spoke.

As Voltek spoke, Dunnigan was connected and immediately understood the population was relatively small with perhaps one or two million of the hominoid species and sub-species roaming the earth. Dunnigan’s mind was reeling as his fingers gently floated over the soft skins surface, it was at a time of an evolving mix with much of the genetic pool contributed by the kindred hominoids Australopithecus Robustus and Homo Naledi shouted from past eons, voices of the true ancient past. Robustus had been roaming the earth for more than one and a half million years and contributed significantly to neural connections in the developing hominoid brain and its twisting DNA and genetic structural connections. The Naledi hominoid roamed the earth for just under a million years. Both linages were at the cusp of hominoid mindfulness.

As the cryptic story began to unfold in Dunnigan’s mind he sensed Voltek was infused with a feeling. Someone with strong medicine and power in the immediate family died. The apparent death took place in the high mountains, and Voltek