The Clan of the Cave Bear

A Cro-Magnon girl of about five years old is playing near a river when a violent earthquake strikes. The earth splits, and her family’s lean-to shelter, along with the girl’s mother, falls into a deep chasm. The girl flees and struggles to survive alone in the woods. She drinks from the river but has nothing to eat and grows weak from hunger.

At night, she hides beneath piles of leaves. She reaches the steppes beyond the forest, where the heat of the open plains drains her, and her hunger makes her hallucinate. She finds massive aurochs grazing near the cliffs, but also a pride of cave lions. One lioness brings down an aurochs while another, guarding her cubs, threatens the girl. The child scrambles into a small cave opening just barely big enough for her, though the lion manages to claw deep gashes in her thigh first.

The girl remains trapped in the cave, suffering from pain, hunger, and infected wounds. When thirst finally forces her out, she discovers the lions have abandoned the area. Barely able to walk, she crawls toward the river to drink. She collapses on the bank, and carrion birds begin to circle overhead.