Dear readers, tonight with us is a man from pre-history, frozen for the past ten millennia and now revived. He’s here to tell us about life back then, and about being forced to learn about our modern world.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

I grew up with my people in the north of what you now call British Columbia. We spent winters near the ocean and summers in a mountain valley inland. It was a peaceful childhood surrounded by family. Then I became a man and had my own family. To be honest, I lost my father and most of my first family—my woman Roo, four children—when a big sickness swept through my village. People became covered with red spots and grew weak until they died. I was not even sick! Much later, I left my people and while I was alone I was attacked by a bear. I almost died then, but I was found by hunters from another tribe and healed by a young woman. She later became my woman and I began my second family.

Did you have any favourite toys as a child? Any cherished memories?

I do not remember having toys, but I always liked to draw and paint. I played with my brothers and sisters. We fished and collected plants for eating and medicine. My father taught me to hunt and make stone tools. My mother taught me how to make baskets, clothes, and string. How to make medicine from plants. When I was fifteen, I spent a month alone in the forest to become a man. I will never forget that special place and time. I left my mark in a small cave to say to others that I was there.

What do you do now?

Now? I am trying to survive in this world I do not know or understand. I spend my days in Doctor Walter’s hospital. Vee takes me outside to visit places in the city. Sometimes, she takes me to her place, where she has two cats. They are like the wild cats I know, but smaller and soft and friendly. They even have names—Rusty and Scout.

What can you tell us about your latest adventure?

To be honest, every day is an adventure, and not always a pleasant one. I woke up in a place called a hospital only to realize that everything and everyone I ever knew is gone. I am learning to speak the language called English. Learning everything all over—to sit and eat and dress and walk—as if I am a child.

What did you first think when you woke up?

I thought I was dead. Then I realized that being dead, I would not be in such pain. But I was lost. I did not know where I was. Or how much time had passed while I slept in the ice…

What is the scariest thing in your adventures?

Everything is scary. But the worst was waking up and not being able to speak or even move. I couldn’t understand anything anyone said. Didn’t know what had happened to me. My last memories were of the mountains, of falling, and of my two grown sons come to give me strong sleep drink and help me join the spirits of those who went before me. I was ready for that. I was not ready for the life I now live…

What is the worst thing about the modern world?

Oh! The noise and the smell. The first time I heard an alarm go off, I nearly had a heart attack! And the smell of this city. Oil and smoke and those things called cars that make both noise and smoke. I miss the smell of the earth and the forest after a rain. The smell of fish cooking on an open fire.

What is the best thing about it?

I have nice white walls to draw on with markers in so many colours! I am making friends with some of the people around me. They take me out of the hospital to see the ocean and the forest. And there is food. Much of it is strange to me, but there is always food. I am never hungry or cold. Oh, in this world, horses are not animals to hunt but to keep for pleasure and ride. Vee and her sister took me riding and I saw the beautiful big sky, big land that made me remember my before life.

Tell us a little about your friends.

Well, first, there’s Vee. She studies people who lived long ago. I guess that includes me. She tries to make sure I am happy and treated well. Ty helped me learn to walk again and he brings his dog Daisy to play with. Then there’s Chloe. She teaches me to read letters that make words and she is always kind to me. She even makes me laugh sometimes.

Any romantic involvement?

No. I miss my woman Lil-lia even though I know she is dead and gone since many years. Chloe… Yes, I like Chloe much. She is from my people but… how can I have feelings for her when my heart is still in my time?

Whom (or what) do you really hate?

I have never hated anyone and I do not hate him, but Doctor Walter is not kind. He has helped me get well, but he does things he calls tests, which I do not understand and which sometimes hurt. He is needed but he is not truthful. He is not a friend.

What’s your favourite drink, colour, and relaxing pastime?

All of the food and drink here are different from what I know. I like coffee. I like donuts, especially the honey ones. I do not like lemon. Eww, sour! And milk makes my stomach sick—but only babies drink milk anyway! I like to draw and I like to teach my friends about my people and my world. Vee’s cats are nice, but I like the dog Daisy better. But what I like most are the walks I take in the mountains with Vee, Chloe, and Ty. This was hard at first, but I am getting stronger every day.

What does the future hold for you?

I want to return to the homeland of my people, the place of my time. Dr. Walter will take me when I am strong enough—along with Vee and Chloe. He wants to see the place where I became a man. I know he wants to find something there for himself, but he does not know that I want something too.

Can you share a secret with us, which you’ve never told anyone else?

As soon as I learned that it was possible to go back to my homeland, I made a plan. I have not told anyone, not even Vee or Chloe, and I am sorry for that. I hope they will understand.

Donna Marie West has published over 500 short stories and non-fiction articles on a variety of subjects and two novels so far—The Mud Man and Next in Line. She loves the mysterious and unexplained, often finding ways to weave these themes into her stories. She spends her free time reading, doing research, or serving as a slave to her three kitties.

You can find Dom on the pages of The Mud Man.

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