Adama lives in a time long before recorded history, when the small population of human beings exist at one with nature. Intelligent, they still retain something of the wild animal. The climate is tropical summer, punctuated by a short rainy season that isn’t only a time of constant heavy rain, but also when the Grim appear. These creatures are the reason humans build burrows, to hibernate in during the rainy season. But the Grim have begun to detect these underground burrows and root out their inhabitants. When Adama meets Graf, a traveller from the north, they share a quick sexual encounter before Graf continues on his way. However, the rains have come early this year, and with the threat of the Grim, Graf turns back. They share Adama’s burrow, but even securely tucked away, there are dangers. Who, or what, is banging on the entrance to their burrow? Will Adama and Graf survive to explore their burgeoning friendship?

The Burrow

The ground was black and muddy beneath the bright green of shooting grass. The few sizeable puddles would be gone within a couple of sunrises, and with it, the fear of encountering the Grim. Which reminded him…


He began searching the area in front of the cave for the remains of the intruder Graf had dispatched all those many sunrises ago. He could recall approximately where the man had fallen, his essence ingested by the Grim, though his remains certainly weren’t anywhere he could see now. With further exploration, he discovered a skull and part of a spinal cord by some rocks much further down towards the trees. Perhaps wolves had claimed the rest, or the receding waters had carried the remaining bones to a new resting place.


It was impossible to say. Neither did it matter.


Chapter 12