The Nibiru Effect

Memory 65

Kara stares at me in stunned disbelief.

"You're afraid of heights?"

I nod. "It's called acrophobia."

"Who cares what it's called? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I-I was embarrassed." The truth is, Kara didn't give me much time to come clean, but now doesn't seem like the right time to bring it up. Speaking of bringing things up, Kara's snail is now quite high. So high, in fact, it's now impossible for her to jump off without injuring herself.

"You have to climb," she says.

"I can't."

She stares deep into my eyes.

"Yes, you can."

I'm not sure why, but I believe her.

"O-okay," I mutter as I scan my surroundings and pick a snail at random. I carefully approach it and circle it in the hopes of finding an easy way to scale it. Unfortunately, snail shells aren't designed for passengers. Kara managed it quite competently, but I'm far less athletically skilled, a fact that is proven when I attempt to mount the snail, miscalculate and land face first into the trail of mucus it leaves behind.

"Uh!" I groan as I pry myself off the ground. I try to wipe the slime from my face, but that only makes things worse. Now both my face and my hands are sticky with snail mucus.

"Try again," urges Kara. I peer up at her, only to realize she's now a quarter of the way up the cliff.

I hurry toward the snail I selected and use my momentum to propel myself onto its shell. Unfortunately, I overcompensate, and instead of landing smoothly on the apex of the shell, I go flying over it and face-plant once more. Unfazed, the snail slithers around me and continues its journey toward the cliff.

Now more angry than afraid, I pry myself off the ground and stomp over to the snail. I catch up to it just as it reaches the wall. Given its current position, all I have to do is grab hold of the rim of the shell and let the mollusk's movement guide me onto its back. It's so simple I hesitate.

Bad move. This momentary delay not only expulses the anger and embarrassment from my frame and replaces it with fear, but it allows the snail to begin its journey up the wall. Within seconds it's out of reach.

I missed my chance. Luckily, there are dozens of snails for me to pick from. In the end, my success will depend on whether or not I can overcome my fear. Or so I think until Kara's voice reaches my ears.

"Watch out!" she yells.

At first, I think she's trying to motivate me by tricking me into thinking I'm in danger, but one look at my companion proves the theory incorrect. Her once beautiful traits are contorted into a mask of horror. Her left arm has released the snail's shell and now points at something behind me. I follow the trajectory of her finger all the way to the dinosaur standing a dozen metres from me.

I immediately recognize it.It's a Velociraptor. While smallerthan the other prehistoric reptiles I have encountered thus far, it's one ofthe deadliest. Why? Because Velociraptorstravel in packs and don't give up until their prey is dead. In other words, I'mtoast.