The jaws never moved closer. I looked up at the face of an enormous bird, easily big, if not bigger than a man. It seemed to be only calmly observing me, two fiery eyes set in a skull bearing a long, toothy beak and two horny crests atop its head, one stretched back towards the sky, the other atop the beak. The skin was naked and grey, blotched with green. It was certainly no bird I had ever seen. My implant glowed, and the bird squeaked in surprise. Then words flashed, and I read...

"Pteranodon."

Then it clicked.

Pteranodon.

It was a God damned pteranodon. Somehow, the word came to me in a flash. This was an animal that went extinct millions of years prior, with the dinosaurs.

It tilted its head curiously, and exhaled a big cloud of breath that reeked of dead fish. Drool dripped onto my chest, and the huge bill clacked together, sheathing the pointed, gleaming teeth. Then, without any warning, the huge reptile leaped over me and into the air, unfurled its leathery wings, and soared off. I watched its beautiful grey-green wings reflect off the bright blue waters, and unconsciously wished I could have the power of flight as well.

And then, yet another thing clicked. The purpose of the experiment was much less foggy now. This creature surely had some reason to do with why I was placed here...right? And worse, if there were pterodactyls, there was no telling what other creatures might roam these strange shores.

The sun had reached the middle if the sky, and I realized there was little time to lose in gathering tools to survive. Some primal instinct buried deep inside of me was warning me that bad things would happen after the sun had disappeared, and that if I were to encounter any other perils, I would need some good tools and a place to call a home.

After a good deal of splinters, sweat and hard work, I had managed to bind together a crude pickaxe. But aside from building a camp, there were bigger problems at hand.

My suspicions proved correct. To my right, further up the beach, was a massive mountain of flesh, towering over even the tallest trees. From one end rose a huge neck, like a giant snake, with a pitifully small head at the end. Two small, stupid eyes, much like a cow, stared calmly at the world, while its toothy, grinning mouth pulled entire branches off trees. On the opposite end, a long, writhing tail constantly twitched and swirled in the air, lashing occasionally from side to side, like a whip. Despite its enormous size, the dinosaur still occasionally looked from side to side, as if there was something even bigger out there. However, for the most part, it marched aimlessly, grazing on bushes and trees, so I decided that, as long as I stood my distance, it wouldn't attack. I couldn't tell the exact species, but it seemed to me a Brontosaurus or Apatosaurus.

There were others, too, but all herbivores so far.

Along the beach, I saw many, many large, fat chicken-like birds with huge beaks. As I approached, they did not run; rather, they looked curiously at me. I guessed immediately what they were,

"Dodos."

Two other animals frequented the beach as well. Parasaurolophus, and what looked like Triceratops, wandered about in a loose herd. I choose to stay away from the second dinosaur, as it seemed much more nervous and aggressive.

Aside from the creatures, the island seemed primordial in another way: it was completely untamed. A vast tract of undisturbed rainforest came to meet the beach, which was unpolluted. Rugged cliffs rose up from one section of the beach, decorated with sparse trees and grasses. To one side, my right, the beach stretched inland, along the banks of a river. Across it, I could see more beach and jungle. To the other, on my left the beach curved along the cliffs, and formed a large bay or cove. Far in the distance across the cove, tall cliffs and wild jungle made me think it wouldn't be a good idea to explore there.

Across the ocean, I could also glimpse a small, mysterious island.

The sun began its journey into the west from the center of the sky, where it had been when I awoke on the beach. A cold wind began to blow, and, realizing I was naked except for a pair of crude underwear, I started to gather resources for a campfire, so that I would not freeze to death. It was tedious to gather wood and stones without venturing too close to the dark, tangled jungle, but eventually, I had a firepit and enough fuel to last for the night. After I had finished, I realized that I was hungry. Searching through the plants, I found many that had berries; however, I had no way of knowing which were poisonous, if any. As I pondered there with an empty stomach, a Dodo approached.

"Gluck." It was squawking.

It picked off a yellow-colored berry, and hastily gulped it down, followed by several others. I cautiously tried one, and found it was delicious. I decided to follow the Dodo, and soon found that it ate from all bushes, except those which had round, black fruit. I gathered all I could carry of the red, yellow, blue and purple berries, carefully avoiding the black, and returned to camp. Confident that I was prepared for the night, I lay down to rest.

A brown, crab-like creature crawled up to me, curious. I held my implant up to it.

"Trilobite."

Experimentally, I flipped the Trilobite upside-down. It squirmed, but could not right itself. I quickly killed it with one powerful, quick stroke to the head with my pickaxe. Seeing that they would be a good source of meat, I quickly set out to catch as many trilobites as I could. That's when I found it.

Further up the shore, a Trilobite scuttled over a rock and into a crevice. I reached in for the arthropod, and felt something else. Fabric. There was no doubt about it. Hurriedly, I hacked at the crevice, until the rock began to give way. Out fell several chunks of rock, a surprised trilobite, and a crusty, beaten-up backpack. I couldn't believe it. Quickly, I opened it up.

I reached in, an pulled out worm-eaten book. The spine was worn away, and the leather cover seemed to be torn by claws. I flipped it open.

A cloud of moldy dust made me cough. The paper was damaged by seawater and scratches, and stained by what could have been ink...or blood. I could not make out any of the words. Disappointed, I flipped to a new page.

There, in the middle of the page, was a beautiful, though faded, drawing of a fierce dinosaur, in full colors. I knew it before I even read the title.

"Tyrannosaurus."

The words on this page seemed to be much more readable. Under the name, which was actually "Rex", it said other things, such as the species, diet, and temperament. Along the sides, there was writing accompanied by sketches. It seemed to indicate that there were, at least at one time, many people on this island-tribes, even. Additionally, it indicated someone might tame these primeval beasts. However, this made me extremely uneasy, as well. Were there Tyrannosaurs about, right here? I recalled how uneasy the Brontosaur was. I slipped the book back into the pack, pulled it over my shoulder, and hastily returned to camp, determined to study the book more, so that I might be prepared. The sun sank deeper into the sky, and the wind blew harder, sending chills through my body. Just then, I remembered I had no way to light a fire, no flint, and that I would freeze...and something snarled behind me. I whirled, as a something with two crests and a flapping frill leapt at my neck...