Time Mishaps

𝕻𝖆𝖗𝖙 𝕿𝖜𝖔

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"DUCK!"

"I BEG OF YOU TO STOP CALLING FOR A WATERFOWL AND COWER!!!"

The two girls from the past were running from the past—a sharp-toothed tyrannosaurus rex. They both hid under a rock as the dinosaur stood above them, wondering where his meal disappeared. The dirt sitting atop the rock scrambled off the edges, like a waterfall, from the vibrations of the heavy stomps, and they progressively stopped as the dinosaur walked away. The girls did not move at all, frightened at the fact that the monster could come back any second. Cold sweat trickled down their foreheads as they found it hard trying to control their rapid breathing. Was this going to be their fate for the rest of their lives? Running from giant beasts with giant teeth that could rip their flesh into pieces in seconds or chop their heads off in one bite from their giant mouths.

"Do you think it's gone?" Maxine asked with staggering breaths, shivering from fear.

"I-I do not know. Do you know what that was?" Ædrie dusts off herself with shaking hands.

"A T-Rex. Tyrannosaurus Rex. It's a dinosaur. They're thousands of years old. Or maybe I should say, like, 'zero years old' thanks to that stupid science dude. Basically, they're waaayyy before you—if you are after the Flood."

"So, if I am comprehending this properly, you say that we are...in the Beginning? Before the Great Flood?" Ædrie clutched her face. "This cannot be. It's all that witchcraft, I said it was!"

"Y'know, I'm gonna agree with you on that one. If I ever get to see that dude's face again, I'll give him an unforgettable black-eye!"

Ædrie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but shook her head knowing it was another thing she did not know. They waited another ten minutes before she suggested leaving. It would be foolish to be bait for another, she mentioned—or as Maxine called it: "sitting ducks". The duo carefully maneuvered the stretching plains, their eyes always on the lookout for anything that moves. Occasionally, Ædrie would comment something like how "phenomenal it would be to meet one of the ancient ancestors" and Maxine would add how "cool it would be to ride a dragon".

The entrances of deep forests and mountains faded in the far distance, the ambient lighting of the sunset sky coloring them a washed-out orange. It seemed as if civilization was nowhere near. Correction: there was not much civilization anyway. It was before the Flood after all. The fact that they could not have any help was downright terrifying. The red button just happened to teleport the girls to the ancient days. As the minutes passed, the sun finally began to shut its eyes as the moon and stars opened theirs. The occasional roars of the diurnal dinosaurs silenced, replaced with the low rumblings of nocturnal ones and the familiar chirping of crickets and frogs. In some way the muted sounds of the great and small animals and insects were calming.

Maxine and Ædrie rested under the safety of huge, draping leaves from a lofty plant. Similar plants grew around them, offering a sort of safety. Remembering from her science class back in elementary school, Maxine was able to create a small, but helpful nonetheless, fire that kept them warm despite the chilling air of the night. Flickering flames launched tiny sparks into the air. Hunching, Maxine sat criss-crossed, while Ædrie sat on her knees with an upright posture.

"Soooo," Maxine dragged out, being the first to speak in minutes. "What was your life like? Y'know, before this madness, duh."

Ædrie kept her gaze on the small fire. She breathed in before speaking, "Well, I was the eldest and only daughter of an average family. My fellow brethren are quite the nuisance. I am—well, I suppose it is 'was' now—a scholar at an academy in Florence, though I come from Great Britain. What else is there to know?"