[Narrative] 04: Caveboy and the Discovery of Fire - More Detailed Idea

Group 5: In the kitchen + Every cloud has a silver lining

"Every cloud has a silver lining" Every bad situation has some good aspect to it. (phrases.org, 2014)

Act I

The story takes place long ago, in the Stone Age, before the discovery of fire. Tonight the air rings with the crashes of lightning and the inevitable rumble of thunder. Sheltered inside a cave lit only by the glowing abdomens of many fireflies, lays a young boy, crying while rocking back and forth in fear of nature’s fury.

Lightning storm [Source]

This boy is all alone, with no family to comfort him, for he is an orphan; a fact indicated by primitive paintings on the damp cave walls. His only company is a small doll made of sticks and animal fur, with a stuffing of leaves, which he clutches tightly in his arms.

Cartoon cave boy [Source]

Soon - as if hearing the boy’s fearful whimpers - a majestic firefly, much larger than its companions, approaches the boy and nudges him to open his tightly closed eyes. This firefly holds a majesty outmatching any insect, its body a royal blue and an abdomen glowing a glistening golden.

Firefly [Source]

Act II

Shocked at the sudden contact by another creature, the boy instantly tries to hit out to protect himself, suspecting it may be a wild animal come to eat him. Luckily this seemingly intelligent firefly manages to move out of range of the shot, allowing the boy to properly look at its large size and almost magical appearance. The firefly’s beauty inspires awe in the young boy.

The firefly proceeds to move towards the cave entrance, in a manner suggesting it is expecting the boy to follow, of which he does.  Hesitantly standing at the threshold between the cave and the outside world, the boy looks out across the African savannah and spots a dead log in front of him, not two metres away. Suddenly this log is struck by lightning, setting it on fire. At which point the camera focuses on one of the boy's wide eyes, within which the reflection of the fiery log can be seen.

Savannah [Source] 

Act III 

10 years later…

We next see him as a young man inside his now somewhat ‘kitted out’ cave, lit not by fireflies but by torches of fire. He stands in a Stone Age style kitchen, reminiscent of The Flintstones, cooking meat on a spit above a log fire. On the walls are basic colourful cave paintings remembering the blue and golden firefly, which suggest that by reincarnation it had a connection to the spirits of his parents watching over him.

The Flintstones' Wilma in the kitchen. [Source]

Possible kitchen furnishings include:
Rock countertops; a table of stone in the shape of Stonehenge, with animal skin stretched over to act as the table top - or a table made of animal bones; basic utensils made entirely of flint (no steel/iron); animal skin sacks to hold any raw meat or vegetation; some form of primitive animal skin drinking flask; stone cups and plates.

What does this have to do with “Every cloud has a silver lining”?
The bad situation here is the storms and the boy's fear of them but the good aspect is it produced fire, and allowed him to discover fire resulting in him becoming more advanced.