He shot it, saw it fall over as it was about to leap at him. When he
dug his arrow out, he saw that it was no wormlike insect, no segmented
creature. It was a recognizable animal, a creature with two short
stubby feet, two small extensions that were like hands on each side of
an oval body. A definite head surmounted this, with one eerie eye set
in the middle over its wide mouth. Two little breathing holes in the
side attested to its possession of lungs. A long, curving rod grew out
of the top of its skull and held a large yellow light-ball over it.
There was yet another peculiarity about this Moonhound, as Robin
called it. It had no definite color. Its skin was faintly transparent,
and he could see its inner organs shadowy within.
All this reminded Robin that there must be vast cavern worlds totally
without light, yet having flora and fauna.
When there is no light, there is no need for pigmentation. Hence, this
creature had none.
Robin also surmised that it was probably the cold that drove this
beast into the lighted cavern in search of food, for he had never seen
evidence of anything that large during the warm period.
Robin brought the carcass back to his cave and went to work to skin
and cook it. At first he was not going to, for the hairless, colorless
nature of it was rather repellent. But one thing Robin had learned long
ago was not to let his emotions dictate to his needs. Like it or not,
he was going to make use of everything here he could. He had a task,
and that was to survive.
As a matter of fact, the meat cooked very nicely, turned brown in the
fire, and tasted good. Further, it had a bone structure, which the
Moonworms hadn't, and Robin saved these bones, knowing that there were
many things that they could be used for. He remembered museum exhibits
of bone needles, bone knives, and bone implements, including arrowheads
and buttons that the Indians had made use of.
After that, Robin deliberately hunted for these Moonhounds and caught
several others before the winter was over.
The warmth returned about when Robin had figured, starting a day or so
after the surface sunrise. It rose rapidly, faster than it had fallen,
and just as fast, new Moontrees were shooting up, new Moonmushrooms
were growing, and the river was becoming warmer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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