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"The Day is Done" is a 5000 word short story by Lester del Rey, about one of the last Neanderthals and his conflicts with the neighboring Cro-Magnons. It was first published in the May, 1939 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.

Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.

Plot

Hwoogh is a neanderthal who lives in a cave near a Cro-Magnon encampment. A Cro-magnon woman, Keyoda, lives with him, but he has not seen another Neanderthal for many years. He’s getting old, and all of the best game is killed by the Cro-Magnons, so he has a hard time surviving. Sometimes Keyoda will beg for food among her people, and on one occasion, the Cro-Magnon leader Legoda allows Hwoogh to take some food from a recent hunt. But the Cro-magnons despise him and make fun of him, and Legoda, though he is kind and generous, treats him like a child. Legoda reports that he knew a family of neanderthals a few years earlier, but they died. When Hwoogh returns to his cave, some Cro-Magnon children are there messing with his possessions; they tie him up and throw him in the river. He survives, but catches a cold. Over the next several days, Keyoda and Legoda care for him, but Legoda notices that he has lost the will to live. Hwoogh dies, dreaming of the days when he could hunt with his people, and when there were no Cro-magnons around.

Additional Notes

This story has been reprinted in, among other things, Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories 1 (1939).