Page 47 of Caveman Alien's Bride

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- Bryar -

Korr'ax is puzzled by my request, but he agrees and soon we’re at the Borok tribe’s colorful totem wall.

“Up there,” I say and point to a white, unpainted part of the wall, high up. “But I can’t reach.”

Korr'ax commands his men to build a scaffolding, and it takes them about ten minutes.

Korr'ax lifts me up on it, and from there I can easily reach the unpainted part of the wall. He’s supplied me with the paints they normally use for this, even a mug of dinosaur blood for the red parts. But that’s the one thing I won’t need.

It’s my first time painting on anything other than paper, and it’s the first time I make any kind of public art at all. But I took an online drawing class way back when, and I feel somewhat confident I can add some new vibes to the caveman alien art scene. Though I’m not sure the audience will love it — I haven’t told Korr'ax what I’m planning.

It takes a while to get the outline right. But I use a charcoal stick to begin with, and I can have as many attempts as I want. I’ve asked Korr'ax to keep away until it’s done, and he makes sure nobody’s watching.

I’m going for an oversize picture, making it as big as I can. The eyes are hard, and I spend a lot of time on them. I was going to do a full body picture, but I soon realize that it will be only a facial portrait because I don’t have the skills at all. And I don’t want to paint an eight foot tall stick figure.

The sun has long since set and only the fire lights up the wall when I finally get the lipstick out of my little makeup pouch. Simply holding that squared-off little cylinder in my hand has often been a great comfort since the abduction. It reminds me that thereissuch a place as Earth, that itisreal, and that Iwillgo back there. Of course it’s been nowhere near my lips since then, but now I have an actual use for it.

Using a sharpened twig to apply it, I use up the whole lipstick. It’s far from the perfect shade of red, but it’s bright, and I’m confident it will make an impression.

Finally finished, I climb down from the scaffold and laboriously drag it to the side so it won’t obscure the wall.

Then I go to get Korr'ax.

He comes over, and so does everyone else.

They stare at the painting. Caveman jaws are dropping, there’s gasping, and even Korr'ax stops short and does a sharp intake of breath when he sees it.

“That is… special,” he manages.

It does stand out. None of the other pictures are portraits from the front, only small and primitive profiles. The eyes work, I’m happy to see — the blue is about the right shade, and they’re looking right at you. But they’re a little bit cross-eyed, and they’re too big. The cheeks are too hollow and the mouth too wide. Nobody would let this get anywhere near a real artist’s portfolio, but I don’t care.

To make it look less like a mugshot from straight ahead, I’ve tried to make a little smirk. It’s not super successful, but these guys don’t know what a mugshot is anyway.

But the main feature is the hair. It’s a big cloud of Clinique Cherry Pop, so red it seems to glow in the light from the fire. It completely overshadows the rest of the totem wall and makes the cavemen’s stick figures look like colorless scribbles.

And to make sure everyone knows who it is looking down on them, I’ve written it under the portrait in the same Cherry Pop red.

Piper McInerney

Abducted from Earth

MY life is not here.

The tribe is dead quiet. It makes me nervous — do they think I’ve vandalized their sacred wall?

A heavy hand settles on my shoulder and squeezes.

“Piper,” Korr'ax rumbles. “Now we shall never forget her.”

“Piper! Piper!” The tribe starts chattering, and the tone is filled with wonder.

“You said she could get dark corner on the wall,” I remind him. “But she my friend and she must have better.”

“She must have better,” he echoes thoughtfully and pulls me closer, my back to his chest. “And now she does, because of her friend. It’s a marvel!” His loud words echo from the wall. “No other tribe has anything like this! Again we see that the Borok tribe is the greatest tribe on Xren! All hail Bryar the Artist!”

The tribe cheers with a deafening roar that shakes my lungs.

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