The Thing on the Bottom of the Lake

"WE HAVE TO LEAVE HERE," Loma, the stone-age tribe's headman, told the villagers. The guides had told him a great drought with dirt and sand-filled winds would soon sweep over their village in the woods by the lake. The lake would quickly become a dry sand-filled basin and great dunes would cover the woods. The entire region would be barren. No food. No water.

The guides who talked with the headman were mysterious beings with many strange powers. The tribe's oral tradition was that long, long ago the guides took them from a very bright star to a far distant land. When the village in the far distant land was attacked by fierce warriors the guides swooped down from the sky and destroyed or drove them away. The guides led the survivors to an isolated home in the woods by the lake where they have lived in peace for many generations.

Now the guides will lead the tribe to a new home far, far away. The journey will take many seasons. The guides tell them the sons and daughters of those who are elders when the journey starts will be the tribe's elders when they arrive at their new home, where they will be safe with ample food and water.

Along the way to their new home the tribe endures hardship, learns to cope with change and discovers a new way of life.