Terra Nova: A Second Chance

Terra Nova: Two

Flora

I stared at my feet as we walked along the dirt track that took us to the town. You see, the rip in time was located quite a few kilometres away from the town as the land is better there: more fertile and vast.

Beside me walked Sam, who walked silently, only talking occasionally to marvel over trees and plants that you would never even dream of seeing back at home. Your old home. This is your new home. I kept having to remind myself that this wasn’t a vacation. There was no going back now. A few paces ahead walked Doctor Shannon, talking to a tall policeman with his gun lazily slung over his shoulder. He looked calm and casual.

The ground beneath my feet was so solid and smooth it was almost unbelievable. It was natural and unharmed and beautiful. Amazing how much nature was taken for granted back in the days. Or should I say forward in the days?

“Wow,” Sam’s voice brought my gaze upwards to what he was looking at. Flapping around in front of us was a beautiful orange and black butterfly, it’s delicate wings shining in the sun. “I’ve only ever read about butterflies,” he said.

“Me too,” I breathed, unable to break my gaze from it. It flapped about for a while until it caught the wind and flew from sight. “Cool.”

“So,” Sam started, “Flora. Tell me about yourself.”

“Well, what is there to tell really? I’ve got no family, watched my parents die when I was ten and lived on my own ever since.” I sighed.

“Ah,” Sam said, “I see.” I was glad that Sam showed no sympathy- I hated it when people always looked at me with pity on their faces as they think “aw, poor girl”. It’s just annoying.

“What about you?” I asked him as we walked on.

“I was abandoned as a baby,” he spoke calmly. “Never met my parents. I was found on the street, nearly dead from lack of oxygen when the orphanage found me. When I was ten, ran away with my rebreather and lived on the streets. They needed another solo traveller and here I am now.” He didn’t even seem the slightest bit sensitive towards his past- almost bored. Obviously finished his life story, he looked at me, “That’s it.”

“I got that much,” I gave a small smile then turned serious again, “But you don’t seem too upset?”

“Nah,” he grinned playfully, “Never met my parents, didn’t like the orphanage or anyone there and my life on the streets was much more fun. No regrets.”

“No regrets,” I repeated as I kicked up a rock in my path. Sam kicked at the same rock and it bounced off several trees before landing in a small pond to the right of the path. “Smooth,” I retorted.

A loud roar stopped all of us in our tracks: the hundred or so of us from the eleventh pilgrimage, all spread out along the path. We all looked up to see a dinosaur. An actual dinosaur! I’d forgotten all about the whole ‘travelling back to the time of dinosaurs’ thing. Luckily for us, it was only a Argentinosaurus, the world’s largest discovered herbivore.