Page 26, Line 26 by Charlotte Jane Berney
Inspired by page 26, line 26 of 'Dancers on a Plane' by John Cage, Merce Cunningham, and Jasper Johns.
The right-hand side of the drawing shows an arm.
Or is it a trunk, or could that be the shape of a wing? Ella shifts the beam of light across the surface trying to see if it is connected to another form. The earliest human mark to be discovered was the shape of a hand, the original by a Neanderthal over 60,000 years ago, she knew that, but this scratching seemed different.
And out of place.
Everyone knows that Africa is where homo sapiens originated from. Not here.
The shadow shifts to reveal a torso, stunted.
She steps back, holding the light above her.
It is the shape of a bovine creature. A pig? With two arm like extensions. She reaches up to touch a hand to the marking. Oh. My. God.
This could be massive. This could be the new direction for her interminable doctorate. A book, a film, international lecture circuit. A Ted Talk at the very least. That would put Professor Theresa Hyphen Know it all, in her place.
The air is damp, gritty and she feels a little like Kristin Scott Thomas in The English Patient, left lying in the cave. Her bones would have been beautiful. Unpicked by carnivores though insects would have made a gracious meal of her.
Ella fumbles in her pocket for her phone to video the discovery, at the same time dropping her light.
In the sudden darkness the phone slips from her hand. It skitters down the rock face.
Almost a minute later a ‘plock’ echoes up from black water.
Charlotte Jane Berney