“Breathe in and out quickly, Gramps. We’re going to be under for a while.”
“Hyperventilate. I know how. I’m ready.”
Both of them breathed in and out rapidly and then held their breath as the great water dinosaur rose and then dove into the bottom of the cavern, past all of the colorful ore into an abyssal darkness. Down they went. Kyle knew what to expect, but his grandfather didn’t. Caleb was very much on the verge of panic. He cleared his ears several time to adjust to the increasing pressure at what must have been around a hundred feet deep. Then the water monster suddenly changed direction and headed for the surface.
Kyle opened his eyes and saw the surface of the water. Unlike the last time, it was orange and yellow looking. He turned to see how his grandfather was fairing. Caleb had his eyes squeezed shut and was struggling not to breathe. When it appeared they were about to give up, the creature broke the surface like a humpback whale breeching.
Together they took in huge breaths of air—hot air.
“Where are we, Kyle?”
“I think we’re somewhere off the coast of New England, Gramps. The last time I was in this predicament, Nessie swam for hours very fast and dropped me off about five miles from the capsule. I think this time it’s a little closer to the actual event. The comet must have hit while we were under ground. That’s why the animals survived as well and their descendants are still alive in the future. I don’t think anyone has ever discovered these caverns before.”
“What were you saying before you fell in the water? Something about an ape? Maybe you saw a dinosaur that looked like an ape.”
“Well…what did we just see in the tunnels? Something with a measure of intelligence. The creature was about nine feet tall, hairy and hunched over with its knuckles in front—just like you described. It had the face of a gorilla and it appeared angry. I’m glad we didn’t stick around to find out what we did to make it so mad!”
“I can’t believe it!”
“You…you don’t believe me?” said Kyle hurt.
“I believe you. It’s just so unbelievable. Can you imagine telling anyone we saw an ape near the end of the cretaceous period? They’d lock us up. I wish I could stay and explore the tunnels and figure out what they are.”
“If we get back. It’s starting to get dark again. This happened the last time. Oddly enough, Priti survived the last time, too. Look! I think I see land up ahead!”
“I see it. This is so…unbelievable!”
“I wish you’d stop saying that. Clearly, it is believable because it is what it is, Gramps. If this is an echo…I’ll…I’ll…I’ll eat my shoelaces!”
“Okay, okay. I’ll try not to say it anymore. Who’ll believe us anyway?”
“Well…it’s like you said. We’re the only ones that need to believe it. It’s our secret for now. But, who knows. Someday we might just find evidence these creatures walked…or swam the earth.”
“Well spoken, lad. You are wise beyond your years.”
“Yeah, too bad Dad doesn’t know.”
“He does, Kyle. He just doesn’t know how to express himself very well. A common problem among men. Your grandmother didn’t understand why I couldn’t express myself, either. I think she finally couldn’t take it anymore and went back to New Mexico, which, by the way, is about as hot as it is here.”
“Don’t worry. That’ll change quickly and you’ll wish you were back there, too. I didn’t know that Grandma left you and went back home. Did she…divorce you?”
“No. Funny thing about your grandmother. She didn’t want to live with me, but she didn’t believe in divorce either. She writes…sometimes. I really miss her. Your mother is the spitting image of her. Boy could she cook!”
“Well…maybe when we get back we can both go see her? Would that be okay?”
“We’ll see. Let’s just get back first. I think after this adventure, our lives are going to change drastically!”
***
Nessie eased herself up to the shore and Kyle and Caleb debarked. Kyle reached over and patted the animal on the forehead. Nessie bent over and sucked on Kyle’s hand, then raised herself up and whistled. Three little heads popped up behind her and the four of them whistled a beautiful harmony.
“Thanks, Nessie. I hope I see you again someday. At least now the future is right…I hope.”
“It will Be, Kyle. I just know it.”
The two trudged inland toward what Kyle hoped was the same route to the distortion field. He hoped they would run into Priti again and she could show them the way. But that was too much to hope.
They walked for five hours, past fallen and burnt carcasses of dinosaurs. Fires smoldered all around them and there wasn’t a single tree left standing.
“It’s sort of sad, isn’t it? All these beautiful animals destroyed in a matter of hours?”
“That’s true, Kyle. But wasn’t it you who told me that in the paradoxical future man and dinosaur coexisted? It didn’t sound like the kind of future I would want to live in.”
“I know that, Gramps. And I understand completely why it had to be this way. It’s just that…well, having a chance to see these animals alive! It is just so…so…”
“Unbelievable?”
“Yeah. I guess that fits, doesn’t it? It doesn’t mean we don’t believe it. It’s that, even though we see it, even we find it hard to believe. Sometimes I wonder when I’m going to wake up from this dream. Maybe nightmare is a better word. But I wouldn’t change this experience for a thing. To think. Me. Kyle Donavan is one of the greatest explorers of our time. You, too Gramps!”
***
As the weary pair made their way through hot fires and burning flesh, the sky darkened considerably. A dark haze filled the valley and the smog choked their lungs. They were still damp from the water and the temperature plummeted. Snowflakes fell on them as blackened soot. Hardly anything was left standing that hadn’t been singed by the firestorm that swept across the surface of the earth. Kyle was near exhaustion.
“Grandpa, do you think we should find a place by a fire and get some rest?”
“I’m just concerned about the capsule. What if it returns to the future? What will we do then?”
“I’m willing to take the chance. I really don’t think I can go on.”
“Okay. We’ll rest. Let me round up some burning wood and get a central fire going. You sit over by the ledge.” Caleb pointed toward a large outcropping of stone that would make a good place to get out of the falling snow.
“Thanks, Gramps. By the way, don’t eat the snow.”
“Why would I eat the snow? It’s covered in—“
“Just kidding, Gramps. You used to say that all the time when I was younger.”
“Ah, I see. Didn’t I say, ‘don’t eat the yellow snow?’”
“Probably. If I get any hungrier, I just might have to eat the blackened snow.”
“Don’t do that! I’ll scrounge around and see if I can’t find something to eat.”
“Okay…yawn. Wake me up if you find anything.” Kyle lay down and curled up against the back of the rock. Caleb gathered up a large pile of burning embers and built a fire making sure the smoke blew away from the overhang, but radiated heat in that direction. Then he ventured off to find a source of food.
Within seconds, Kyle dropped off to a dreamless sleep.
***
“Kyle. Kyle. Wake up. Are you hungry? Wake up. I have some fruit for you.”
“Huh?” Kyle chased the sands of sleep out of his eyes and focused on his grandfather. He was sitting in front of the smoldering fire still throwing off a good amount of radiant heat, making it all the more difficult for him to wake. Then it seeped in.
“Did you say food?”
“Yes. I have some fruit and nuts. At least that’s what I think they are.”
“How…how do you know it’s safe to eat?”
“Let’s just say a friend said they were safe.”
His grandfather crawled
back out of the overhang and headed toward the other side of the fire. Then he saw it. His grandfather was talking to someone.
Kyle rubbed his eyes and tried to focus again. Then it came into focus and Kyle inhaled sharply. There sitting next to the fire eating what appeared to be a large pear was one of the nine-foot-tall gorillas. The creature looked over at Kyle and grunted.
“Grandpa. What…is…that?”
“Come on out and meet him. He’s a little shy, so don’t make any threatening moves to startle him. And close your mouth, there are still bugs flying around and you’re apt to eat one.”
Kyle slowly crawled on his hands and knees, not because he was afraid to startle the big ape, but because he felt he would pass out. Of all the things he had seen in his trips forward and backward, this was the most unbelievable creature he had ever seen.
“You realize, of course, that you were asleep for about twelve hours, don’t you?”
“I…uh…I think I’m still asleep.”
“Is this the creature you saw in the cavern?”
“Uh…yeah. And…he was angry at us.”
“No, not at us. He didn’t understand what was going on up top. I can’t believe how much this animal looks like the Yeti I saw in the Himalayas. I wonder if they’re related.”
“Did they build the tunnels? Are they that smart?”
The giant gorilla just sat next to the fire. Every so often, it would reach out, then jerk its hand back, grunt, and then look to Caleb as if expecting an explanation.
“No. I don’t think so. They’re bright like a chimpanzee. But they’re no geniuses. It really is quite a mystery and one I sure would like to know the answer to.”
“How did you find him?”
“Well, while you were sleep, I went looking for the distortion field, as you call it. I found it and it’s still there. We still have time, but not much. It’s about a three-mile walk and the snow is getting deeper by the minute. Not to mention the temperature. I found the remains of a dinosaur and removed the skin with the sharp edge of a piece of shale I found. At the risk of looking like a caveman, it’s pretty warm. I have a skin for you, too.”
Kyle shivered despite the warm fire as he pulled the skin over his shoulders.
“We should leave, then.”
“Yes. Soon. Here, have a piece of fruit and a couple of nuts. It’ll give you energy for the walk ahead.”
Kyle ate all the fruit and nuts Caleb brought as the enormous ape watched in fascination. Off in the distance they heard the sounds of animals. Some crying out in pain, others calling to mates.
The ape suddenly got up and bellowed. Another distinctly similar bellow in the distance answered and the gorilla looked at Caleb, then Kyle, turned and scampered away quickly.
“Well, either that was his mom calling him for dinner, or his mate is wondering where he went off to,” said Caleb. “Alright, let’s go.”
The two trudged off through the still falling snow, although it turned to white snowflakes after a time. The land looked peaceful in the perpetually darkened sky lit occasionally by ribbons of the Aurora borealis rippling brilliant green and blue across the horizon.
As they neared the distortion field, Caleb said, “You know, Kyle. This is the most exciting adventure I have ever been on in my life. Thanks to you and your dad, I was given something truly special. When you get back, don’t try to convince anyone what you’ve seen here; people will label you a nut case all your life, and that’s hard to live down. I wish I had kept certain other things to myself.”
“Yeah, but it’s hard, Gramps. When you know things that others don’t, you want to blurt out and correct them.”
“I know what you mean. We’ve seen so much that flies in the face of modern science, you just want to ring their ignorant necks. I guess it will have to be our little secret. Maybe it’s best if no one ever finds out. Best for the dinosaurs…and best for you. We have to destroy the capsule, Kyle. No more forays into the past. At least until you can better control the capsule. If that day comes, then you can visit virtually any place, any time. Then history can be written with far more accuracy than it has been. Imagine visiting Columbus as he discovers America, or meeting Abraham Lincoln.”
“Yeah. Maybe. But nothing will ever equal this last trip I made with you, Grandpa. To have an adult believe me…I can’t tell you how special that is. Thanks, Gramps.”
Kyle and Caleb walked up to the distortion field. It shimmered like the Aurora borealis on earth instead of in the sky.
“Well…here goes nothing,” said Kyle as he walked into the field. Kyle watched the walls flicker and then filaments of blue electricity danced across the top. He looked up and watched as the sound of the violins began to play their celestial song—a hundred violins in perfect harmony.
“Isn’t this beautiful, Gramps?”
There was no answer.
Kyle turned as the green gel appeared and began to move. On the other side of the gel, his grandfather stood with an enormous smile on his face.
“I decided to stay and discover the secret of the Yeti caverns!” He yelled over the top of the violins. “Maybe someday in the future, you can come back and I can reveal the secret to you. Goodbye Kyle. I love you.”
In an instant, the walls spun faster than any time Kyle could remember. The music reached a crescendo with earsplitting music and then—it stopped. Kyle blacked out.
Chapter Sixty-Eight
The hands on the clock moved incessantly forward in their march into infinity. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Kyle watched the hands move. Slowly at first. Then the hands began to move with ever-increasing speed. Faster and faster, the hands moved across the face of the old clock until it was a blur.
Kyle blinked his eyes several times and shook his head. Sitting bolt upright, he realized he wasn’t looking at a clock at all. The room was pitch dark.
He got up out of bed and opened the door to his room. The house was silent—too still and too quiet—as was if no one was home. But that’s silly, he thought. Everyone is asleep, of course. That’s why I can’t hear anything.
He descended the stairs somewhat hesitantly. A nightlight illuminated the walls, an eerie green light. Suddenly, a shadow whisked across one of the walls. Fear shot through him as if struck by lightning. For just a moment, he could have sworn it was the head of a tyrannosaurus. His mind was playing tricks on him. Maybe he was still asleep. That’s it, he thought. I’m asleep and this is a dream.
Kyle chuckled that his mind would play such games. In the middle of the night, everything was just a little more frightening.
The living room appeared to float in the small, glowing, nightlight at the base of the stairs. His mind swirled and he felt as if the room was moving. To bring a sense of reality to the night, he walked to the door of the kitchen and felt for the switch to turn on the light.
The light slowly came on as the gases in the fluorescent bulbs sparked to life. Finally, the light flickered once, twice and then popped to full illumination. Kyle closed his eyes in the intensity of the bright light. Slowly he opened them as his eyes adjusted.
The first thing he noticed was the clock on the wall. The shorter hand pointed closest to three and the long hand at ten as the red second hand smoothly moved across the green face of the clock.
As he looked around the room, he noticed that the furniture wasn’t quite right. The kitchen table had been moved against the wall, whereas he remembered it in the middle of the room. The walls, too, were painted a different color. The pictures were different as well. He couldn’t be dreaming this. It felt too real. Really, what is the difference between reality and dreams?
One picture hanging on the wall showed a family of four. His father was standing tall and important—a credit to his station in life as the chief scientist of his research company. He was a handsome man with a shock of white hair adorning each ear and a perfectly trimmed reddish mustache to match the reddish hues on his head.
His mother, much shorter, quit
e petite, with her long luxuriant jet-black hair, and perennially tan complexion, stood next to him with her arm around Teresa, his sister. She was much younger than he was by two years. But, something was wrong. The boy standing next to Teresa was—younger. Who was he? And where was his picture in the photo? Was his mind playing tricks on him again?
He looked back at the clock. The small hand was now on the five while the longer minute hand still pointed to ten. However, there was no second hand and now the clock was red, not green.
He rubbed his eyes with his fingers and blinked several times, and looked again. The hour hand was on the six, the minute hand on ten. Surely, he must be going mad.
Am I still asleep?
Frightened out of his wits, he ran up the stairs yelling.
“Mom! Dad! Wake up! Help! Help!”
He knocked on the door to his parent’s bedroom.
“Please! Open up! Moooom!”
The door opened slowly with a creaking noise. It stopped part way. A bright light shone from inside the room. Tentatively, he looked inside.
“Mom? Dad?”
He pushed the door open and what he saw scared him more than anything ever had before in his life. He stared into nothingness. Kyle screamed, but no sound came out. Suddenly, he was drifting, drifting, drifting…
***
Sunlight beamed into the room with all the intensity of a nuclear explosion and focused on the lump of blanket on the bed. Kyle moaned and then he stretched his arms causing the blanket to slip from his head. The sunlight hit his eyes full bore. He squinted and pulled the blanket back over his head. The cobwebs began to lift from his brain ever so slowly. He blinked a couple of times.
Where…uh where am I?
Something moved under the blanket near his feet. It was moving toward him. A head popped out of the blanket and licked his face.
“Toby… To…by stop that. Pahthew! Get that tongue out of my mouth—hey. How did I… Wasn’t…”
Kyle looked around the room and tried to focus. He couldn’t remember what he was doing. Maybe it was a dream, he thought.
I was in the past. I went back to change the future. We were running to the capsule. “Grandpa!”
No Time For Dinosaurs Page 30