The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children 6)

For all that her full-bodied voice filled the space with sound, there was something comforting about it to Ayla. She didn’t hear every word, every sound—some verses just made her think more deeply about the meaning—but she had the feeling that if she were ever lost, she could hear that voice from almost anywhere. She watched Jonayla, who seemed to be listening hard too. Jondalar and Wolf both seemed to be as enraptured by the sound as she was. As the singing continued, Ayla was lulled into feeling the story but not really hearing every word, until Zelandoni came to the verse that Ayla loved best.

The Great Mother lived with the pain in Her heart,

That She and Her son were forever apart.

She ached for the child that had been denied,

So She quickened once more from the life force inside.

She was not reconciled. To the loss of Her child.

Ayla always cried at this part. She knew what it was like to lose a son and felt as one with the Great Mother. Like Doni, s

he also had a son who still lived, but from whom she would be forever apart. She hugged Jonayla to her. She was grateful for her new child, but she would always miss her first one.

With a thunderous roar Her stones split asunder,

And from the great cave that opened deep under,

She birthed once again from Her cavernous room,

And brought forth the Children of Earth from Her womb.

From the Mother forlorn, more children were born.

Each child was different, some were large and some small,

Some could walk and some fly, some could swim and some crawl.

But each form was perfect, each spirit complete,

Each one was a model whose shape could repeat.

The Mother was willing. The green earth was filling.

All the birds and the fish and the animals born,

Would not leave the Mother, this time, to mourn.

Each kind would live near the place of its birth,

And share the expanse of the Great Mother Earth.

Close to Her they would stay. They could not run away.

Both Ayla and Jondalar looked around the great cavern, and caught each other’s eye. This was certainly a sacred place. They had never been in such a huge cave and suddenly they both understood the meaning of the sacred-origin story better. There might be others, but this had to be one of the places from which Doni gave birth. They felt they were in the womb of the Earth.

They all were Her children, they filled Her with pride

But they used up the life force She carried inside.

She had enough left for a last innovation,

A child who’d remember Who made the creation.

A child who’d respect. And learn to protect.

First Woman was born full-grown and alive,