Wait

I watched throughout the day as the members of the Bone tribe came and went. They seemed to have made the clearing of the public meeting place where they walked here and there. I immediately noticed the difference between our tribe and the Bone tribe. In our tribe, everybody contributed to the happiness of the village. Young children helped their parents grow crops in our small fields on the opposite side of the clearing. The men either hunted or grew crops. The women made the food and helped in the fields. The older people discussed the growth of our village and ways to distribute the food evenly between everybody. However, in the Bone tribe, there were a few who were used like slaves and who did all the work. All the other people were lazy and relaxed, walking around talking to each other or far away relaxing by our lake. I watched as day turned into night and the crowd in the clearing thickened. I wondered why until a man I recognized as their leader from how they treated him walked forward into the middle of the clearing. He raised his hand. Everybody said something and then sat down.

The leader started pacing up and down in the middle of the clearing. Suddenly, he stopped and looked around.

“Has anybody found them?” he asked. To my surprise, I understood what he was saying. He made it sound different with a different accent, but it was still our language.

In response to his question, one hand was raised. He indicated that the person who raised his hand should stand up. A young man with a large cut on his face stood up. He had many cuts on his back and chest that shone in the light.

“While on rounds of the perimeter, I spotted a person with a limp walking in the distance. He had a spear and was trying to hide from me behind a tree. I saw him only for a second before he disappeared, but I have a feeling that…“

”NO! NO, don’t have a feeling. I want you to be sure before I report to… him,” interrupted the leader, breaking off his sentence with a stutter. The young man gave the leader a cold stare.

“You know, it would be nice to know who you’re so scared of,” said the young man stepping forward.

“Scared?” the leader said, his gaze hardening, "who said I’m scared of him!” 

“Everybody knows it. You have become weak and are now not fit to rule us," said the young man, stepping even more forward, into the middle of the clearing. There was a hushed silence around the clearing.

“Oh? You dare to challenge me for leadership?” said the leader, trying hard to look menacing. The young man stared deep into the leader’s eyes. I watched as the young man stepped forward to stand in front of the leader.

“Yes, and as our custom says, I will fight you to death for leadership, how about tomorrow evening?” said the young man, not blinking or looking away from the leader’s eyes.

“To.. tomorrow?” the leader stuttered, all his courage waning. It seemed he hadn’t expected the young man to actually go through with it. 

"Okay fine, tomorrow you will know the meaning of the word pain,” the leader said, trying to sound scary. He failed miserably.