NARRATION 5: THE SHEPHERD

With great care they negotiated the pathway that circumvented the ravine.
Finally they descended onto a plateau rich in vegetation where the earth had been
constantly fed by abundant waterfalls.
Huge palmacites, bound together by complicated masses of creeping vines, grew
above carpets of graminivorous plant life. Deprived of the vivifying warmth of the
sun they were colourless and without perfume.
Mesmerised by this wondrous sight, they somehow became oblivious to all
sounds and movement emenating from within the forest.
Suddenly they were awakened from their inner dreams as the dense foliage wall
spread open before them and they found themselves confronted by a manifestation
that surpassed all known human comprehension.
In front of them stood prehistoric creatures of the Tertiary and Duaternary periods.
A herd of gigantic mastodons. They in turn were marshalled by a human proteus
who stood over twelve feet high.
The giant shepherd turned and walked toward them in a slow and deliberate manner.
Unarmed, and with no place to hide, they remained transfixed as he came within two
metres of where they stood.
Without acknowledgement he passed them by, his eyes motionless and staring
directly ahead at all times.
The shepherd had evolved in darkness and without natural sunlight had no need of
sight.
His world was without vision.