Cretaceous

"I promised myself that one day I would finally build a time machine."1

She laughed, "That's cool. When you succeed, be sure to call me up."2

He laughed along, nodding, "Definitely."3

That moment, twenty years ago, flashed back to him as he sat there looking at his work. Had he finally done it? After all these years, did he finally succeed? It felt right. It looked right. Then there was only one thing left to do.4

He ran out of the room and slid down the hard wood floors using his socks. Once in the tiny kitchen of his apartment he pulled out the phone book and flipped through it wildly, looking for the 'T' section. What if she had moved? What if she had gotten married and changed her last name?5

Right after these thoughts had crossed through his mind, he found it. Cameron Thorne. That girl from his high school, so many years back. He was honestly surprised to find her name. After slightly hesitating once he had the phone, he dialed the number. 6

Ring. Ring. Ring.7

It was almost unbearable. He was about to hang up the phone when...8

"Hello?"9

"Oh! Uh... Hi!"10

"Um... Who is this?"11

"Is this Cameron?"12

"Yes... but who is this?"13

"It's Jacob Cutts, from High School."14

Silence.15

"Do you remember me? Jacob... Cutts... Cutter-boy J as the jocks liked to call me. We were in classes together. We graduated together. We often talked to one another."16

"Oh. My. God." The words came out shallow and labored, they sounded faint, as if she was about it.17

"I take it that you remember me then..."18

"Of course."19

"No. Yay! How are you Jake? My life is dandy!"20

"You built one, didn't you?"21

The question was not directed as a question. It was a statement. She knew why he was calling. Years back, when he had joked around and said he would call her if he built a time machine she had felt this strange foreboding that she had yet to shake off. It felt as though it was crashing down on her now.22

"Need I answer that question?"23

"Can you give me directions to your place? I'll be right over."24

She hastily scrawled down the directions he recited to her and jumped in her car. She could barely drive her hands were shaking so much. Jake had actually done it. He has actually created a time machine. And he had called her.25

He answered the door as soon as she rung the doorbell, as if he had been waiting on the other side. She tentatively walked into his abode, as the two of them appraised one another, and what the powers of time had done.26

"You look the same," she said with a smile, "A little skinnier, a little hairier, but the same Jacob Cutts I knew back in the good 'ole days."27

"I can't say the same for you," he said, then caught himself and continued, "What I mean is... you look better. Not that you looked bad then."28

"Well," she said looking around, "Where is this thing? Or was this just some cruel trick to get me to come over."29

"It's over here."30

He led her through the apartment and over to the spare bedroom, which was obviously no longer a bedroom. As soon as she walked inside her jaw dropped. There sitting serenely in the middle of the room was... a trash can.31

"What is this?" she asked, turning to him, "If you wanted to see me again so bad you could have just said so. You didn't have to use this poor accuse."32

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," he said shaking his head violently, "That's it."33

"That's it."34

"Yes, that's the time machine."35

"That trash can."36

"Yes."37

"You expect me to believe—"38

"Just try it out," he cut off her rant, already they were falling back into the flow of argument and conversation that they used to with hold.39

"Alright, fine. Have you tested it yet?"40

"No..."41

"Than how do you know it works?"42

"I don't..."43

"Oh god... We're going to die aren't we?"44

"Probably, but we'll have fun doing it."45

With little more conversation, they positioned themselves near the 'machine' and got ready to proceed. Jake opened up the trashcan and examined the device that was held inside. After pressing a few buttons, he motioned for Cameron to come closer and grab a hold of the trashcan. Once they were set up comfortably enough, he pressed the large red button in the middle of the device and the whole apparatus began to glow and hum.46

"Don't they usually tell you not to press the big red button?" Cameron asked, slightly concerned about the hullabaloo the machine was making.47

"Hey, I'm the creator of it. I think I would know what buttons to press."48

"I swear if you kill me Jacob Ernest Cutts, I will haunt you forever. Even if you die with me."49

After that conversation was impossible, the humming had grown to a shrill buzz. Then, suddenly, without warning, they were no longer in Jake's spare bedroom, but sitting in the middle of a vast expanse of land.50

"That was all?" Jake asked, feeling himself all over to make sure nothing was forgotten, "No stomach lurching feeling? No flash through the door of time?"51

"Guess not," Cameron said, dusting herself off, "But where exactly are we?"52

"About 100 million years ago. Cretaceous Period."53

"What?!?"54

"I always said how much I loved Dinosaurs."55

"But you had to choose this as the first place!" she cried, exacerbated, "If anything goes wrong, we're stuck with Dinosaurs! I don't think you'll love them as much then."56

"Yes we'd be stuck with dinosaurs. Tyrannosaurus Rex, Brontosaurus, Pterodactyls, and Triceratops to name a few."57

"Alright," she started, ignoring his last comment, "You saw your Cretaceous period. Now let's go back home or to somewhere more interesting... like medieval Europe."58

"But we haven't see any—" 59

Suddenly there was a loud roar in the distance, and the ground began to rumble under their feet.60

"Dinosaurs..."61

"I don't know about you, but I think that's close enough," Cameron said.62

She grabbed his arm and shoved him toward the trashcan, knocking it over in the process. After shooting her a look, he picked up the machine and began punching in numbers. Anxiously they kept turning back to the direction in which the roar had come through. The forest was quivering now, whatever it was, was almost there.63

"Hurry!" she cried out to him, her eyes not moving from the forest.64

"This takes time," he snapped back, "Just shut up and let my concentrate."65

"Jacob Cutts, don't you tell me to... shit..."66

She stopped, unable to say anything else. For at that moment the roaring, earth trembling dinosaur had emerged from the forest. It was the classic, Tyrannosaurus Rex.67

"It's Rexy, isn't it," Jake asked, not even looking up.68

"Can you stop being right and finish up!" she yelled at him, getting her voice back.69

"Done," he replied, setting the trashcan back the way it was, "Now hold on and remain still."70

"Alright Dr. Malcolm, but he's getting quite close. And when that lovely buzzing starts... I'm not sure he won't be tempted."71

The T-Rex was getting quite close by the time the said buzzing and glowing began. The two watched worried as the dinosaur stopped, and looked around for the creator of such a noise. To their regret, he noticed them and began to come closer.72

"Oh god," Jake said, closing his eyes, "Please don't let him touch us. I beg of you."73

"You mean we could take him with us?" Cameron asked, suddenly quite angry.74

Jake looked up at her, his answer clear on his face. Neither of them looked now as the dinosaur lowered his head to sniff them. He lightly brushed the top of Jake's head when the machine began its shrill trilling, and then they were gone. With a crash, they landed on Jake's apartment, dinosaur, and all.75

Cameron and Jake scrambled away from the debris, dragging the dented time machine with them. Screams sounded from many a person as they noted the giant reptile. A few frightened cries of "Godzilla!" or "T-Rex" could be heard. The Tyrannosaurus stood still for a moment, confused, and then he roared a mighty roar before running away into the city.76

"So what are you going to do now, Mr. Scientist?!?" Cameron asked, with fire in her eyes, "You just brought the death of the human race back with that trashcan of yours."77

He didn't answer because he was busy pressing buttons and numbers into the machine again. Then, still without answering her, he grabbed Cameron's arm and dragged her and the time machine after the dinosaur.78

They ran for a time after him, dodging the frantic traffic of those trying to escape. Helicopters and jet planes could be heard from above them; somehow, the military had been informed of this disaster. The Tyrannosaurus had actually stopped at the edge of the harbor, probably not sure where to go next and maybe even frightened of the flying machines above its head spewing things down upon him.79

"Okay," Jake said, stopping to catch his breath, "This is it."80

"What's the big plan?" Cameron asked, not amused.81

"This," he said.82

And with that, he ran from her toward the dinosaur, pressing buttons on the machine as he went. Cameron screamed to him, things along the lines of how stupid he was and how he was going to be killed, but he kept running. He dodged the cars and military vehicles that had arrived with surprising haste.83

Once he was close enough to the creature, he stopped. He pressed the big red button on the object that had been twenty years of work for him, and then he threw it. He threw it as hard as he could at the dinosaur. The buzzing was loud, screaming, when it hit the creature, and instantly, both things disappeared.84

Jake collapsed on the ground, the noise of the cheers comforting him, knowing that he had accomplished what he had set out to do. He closed his eyes and lay on the cold pavement for a moment, not stirring.85

"JACOB CUTTS!" a voice sounded from behind him, "You are a crazy, insane, but absolutely brilliant person."86

He lifted his head to see Cameron running up to him, breaking quickly through the crowd that was forming. He smiled at her and she shook her head, unbelieving.87

"Well I did it," he said weakly.88

She sighed, sitting down beside him, "Don't ever make a promise to yourself again."