TIMESCAPE

12

Evelyn's heart felt like it was going to explode. Something in the grass was moving towards her. There was nothing she could do. Her breath caught in her throat, her muscles tensed, waiting for the strike...

Then she saw them. Small dinosaurs, the size of chickens. They were almost the same color as the grass, they were finally close enough to see. Evelyn turned and saw another run behind her. The dinosaurs were all around them, circling them. They outnumbered the humans ten to one. But they were so small! How much damage could they really do?

One of the dinosaurs stepped forward. It stood on its hind legs, flicking its small arms and showing off a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. The thing squaked and cackled, getting their attention.

"Looks like a raptor," Will said. He and Lincoln wouldn't take their eyes off it.

"A baby raptor, maybe." Lincoln had his hands out in front of him, as if that would protect him.

"Actually this is the raptor's real size, Jurassic Park exaggerated things to make them scarier," Evelyn said, correcting them. She was sure of that, she had a near photographic memory and had studied history for years. Dinosaurs weren't her specialty, but she knew how big a raptor was supposed to be. She'd seen their fossils.

"Can they hurt us?" Lincoln's eyes were wide with fear. He took a step back from the encroaching raptor.

"I guess we'll find out. They've never seen humans before. Maybe they're trying to figure out what we are and if they should eat us or not."

"I'm telling you, I should have brought a gun," Will was constantly turning, never leaving one side of himself exposed too long, a tactic he picked up in the military, Evelyn guessed. She tried to do the same.

The lone raptor, probably the leader, came up to Evelyn's feet. It was almost cute, Evelyn thought, it was just about the size of her cat. Evelyn couldn't imagine having a pet dinosaur. The raptor looked over her shoes and legs curiously. It lifted a claw and began to scratch at Evelyn's boot, then it lifted its head and bit into her leg.

"Ow!" Evelyn cried "It bit me!" She kicked at it with her foot, shooing it away. The creature hissed at her, then withdrew into the grass. Evelyn put her hand over her wound, it wasn't deep, thank goodness. But that didn't make Evelyn feel any better. It still hurt and a large amount of curse words were circulating in Evelyn's head.

"Um, guys. They're moving!"

Evelyn lifted her head to see a line of raptors moving toward them in a neat formation, they were closing in. Curses! And they had been so close to getting home! Evelyn lifted her foot. The bottom of her boot was her only defense now. Soon, Evelyn, Lincoln, and Will were all back to back, forming an outward facing circle.

The raptors were inches away, hissing and baring their teeth, there had to be almost fifty of them! What a way to go, thought Evelyn, pecked to death by raptors. Not many humans could say that!

A horn sounded in the distance. At least it sounded like a horn. Evelyn looked around. On a distant hillside stood a giant dinosaur with a long neck and enormous body. It sounded off again. The raptors had frozen. They hissed and began chattering amongst themselves. Soon they turned and ran away through the grass. The brontosaurus had scared them off.

Evelyn shielded her eyes from the setting sun. The dinosaur really was beautiful. It was so big, bigger than any animal she had ever seen! Majestic and peaceful. A leaf eater, she remembered. It was hard to imagine that something so big was actually a kind creature. And it had saved them. The brontosaurus lifted its head as if waving to them, then took a big bite out of a hanging leaf. Evelyn smiled. She'd never been so relieved.

"That's not something you see every day," Lincoln muttered. Even he couldn't deny its awesomeness. For some reason that made Evelyn love the creature even more.

"Come on, we gotta move." Will turned towards the volcano, now closer than ever. "Let's finish this and go home."

Evelyn had to fight to turn away from the dinosaur on the hill. To her dying breath she would never forget it. Maybe nature wasn't such a bad thing after all.