CHAPTER 9
EVENT HORIZON
That night, that familiar sleep story took place again, and Michael and Bonnie were right in the middle of it! They found themselves on the top of the rocky slope that bordered the stone wall. They saw they were surrounded by longnecks as far as the eye could see. Matter of fact, they all lined up all around the top of the slope! There were literally thousands of them!!
Then the sky suddenly grew dark with clouds! The clouds eventually blocked the sun completely. It then got so dark, it was almost as dark as night time! Then they saw something really strange: All of the longnecks around them closed their eyes, then they started to levitate! After they reached roughly ten feet in the air, they stopped levitating, and just floated there.
Then they heard the familiar drone of KITT's engine towards their left. He, too, was levitating in mid air! When he got to the same height as the longnecks, he stopped levitating; and just floated there alongside them.
"What's happening, KITT?" Michael heard himself say as he held an obviously frightened Bonnie in his left arm.
"It's the event horizonononononnnn...." KITT's voice echoed everywhere.
"Is it the end, Michael?" he heard Bonnie say beside him.
He looked over to her, and saw that she was young again. Almost as young as the day he met her! Back when he first started working for the Foundation. He didn't know it, but Bonnie also saw him as a young man. In her eyes, he looked almost thirty five years younger than he really was!
When they looked up again, they saw that all of the longnecks were generating a yellow beam of light towards the cloudy sky. KITT was also generating his own beam of light! All of the beams converged twenty feet away from them to form one gigantic ray of light that touched the cloudy sky. That ray of light suddenly made the cloudy sky dissipate!
Then several meteorites erupted from the cloud mass and streaked across the sky. Michael and Bonnie could hear the sound they made as they hissed across the sky above them, headed East beyond the stone circle. Then the sky became clear again as the beam of light finally melted away the cloud cover!
Then they saw that all of the longnecks were gone. Only KITT remained. The steady drone of his engine echoed everywhere as he slowly floated back down to the rocky ground.
Then a terrifying shadow fell across them as something in the sky was blocking off the sun's rays. They saw a giant asteroid hurtling towards them.
"What's that, KITT!?" Michael terrifying hollow sounding voice said.
"It's the Big Onenenenene..." KITT's voice echoed.
Both Michael and Bonnie lay themselves flat on the rocky ground as the giant black fiery rock passed just a few feet over their heads and headed for a crash landing right in the middle of the stone circle oasis. It sent up a huge black dust cloud as it impacted the ground.
Michael and Bonnie then turned back around to face the outside of the stone circle where they saw another strange sight. All of their dinosaur friends and their children were standing in front of a portal of blue light that looked strangely like the time vortex generated by Dr. Anders' time travel machine. They were all looking back at them. After a few moments, they then turned to walk through the portal and disappear inside.
"Where are you all going!?" Michael shouted at them, but none of them answered.
They turned back around to see the shock wave of the asteroid impact speed towards them. They braced themselves for the impact of the wave. KITT's WHOO WHOOO sound could be heard just before the shock wave hit them and blew them off the side of the slope, including KITT.
Michael woke with a start. He just lied there in his sleeping bag and sighed in relief that it was only a dream. He looked over towards Bonnie. It was still night, but the light of the shining moon at least allowed him to see somewhat in the dark. He could see that Bonnie was as wide awake as he was. She glanced sidelong at him.
"Same dream?" he asked her.
"I think so... Event horizon? Asteroid?"
Michael nodded. "Yeah."
"Hope we find out eventually what it all means..." Bonnie said.
"We'll worry about that tomorrow..." Michael said as he rolled over in his sleeping bag and fell asleep again shortly after. Bonnie did the same.
The next morning, Michael and Bonnie woke shortly after dawn.
While Michael was heating up some water in a coffee pot using the propane grill he brought with him, he saw that the big longneck Shirkan was grazing nearby. He thought to himself how he could make this big stubborn oaf reconcile his differences with Lesik and Bron. Then he got an idea.
He moved over to KITT, opened the driver's side door and punched a few buttons on his dashboard console. Soon after, the melodies of a particular song could be heard loud and clear. He had a plan, and he knew this song would fit in quite nicely with his intentions.
I got the call today that I didn't wanna hear
But I knew that it would come
And old true friend of ours was talkin' on the phone
She said you found someone
Then I thought of all the bad luck and the struggles we went through
How I lost me and you lost you
What are these voices outside love's open door
Make us throw out our contentment and beg for something more
Shirkan looked in Michael's direction curiously. Michael waved when he saw he was looking straight at him. "It's just music!" Michael shouted at him with a smile. "You don't mind, do you?"
Shirkan simply humpfed and went back to grazing.
I'm learning to live without you now
But I miss you sometimes
The more I know the less I understand
The things I thought I knew I'm learning again
I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter
But my will gets weak
And my thoughts seem to scatter but I think it's about
Forgiveness! Forgiveness!
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore
These times are so uncertain
There's a yearning undefined
And people filled with rage
We all need a little tenderness
How can love survive in such a graceless age?
Trust and self assurance that lead to happiness
They're the very things that we kill, I guess
Pride and competition cannot fill these empty arms
And the work they put between us, you know it doesn't keep me warm
I'm learning to live without you now
But I miss you baby!
There more I know, the less I understand
The things I thought I knew I have to learn again
Shirkan noticed Lesik and Bron over by the river quenching their morning thirst. He didn't quite know why, or how, but Shirkan felt compelled to go talk to the two males who were, deep down, a part of his family; and an important part of his life.
I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter
But... everything changes
And my heart is so shattered but I think it's about forgiveness, forgiveness
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore
There are people in your life who've come and gone
They let you down! You know, they hurt your pride
You better put it all behind you, baby! 'Cause life goes on
If you keep carrying that anger, it'll eat you up inside, baby!
Michael watched the three male longnecks talk amongst themselves. He held his breath the whole time, anxious at the outcome of this tense, REAL family reunion.
He saw Bron move in to embrace Shirkan in the longneck fashion as he was visibly sobbing and in tears. Over the din of the music, he could hear Shirkan cry out "I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY!!"
He could see Bron mouth the words "It's okay..." as he was comforting his adoptive son. Lesik did the same with moist eyes.
I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter
But my will gets weak
And my thoughts seem to scatter when I think it's about
Foregiveness! Foregiveness!
Even if, even if you don't love me
I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter
But the flesh and will get weak
And the ashes will scatter, but I'm thinkin' about
Foregiveness! Foregiveness!
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore
Foregiveness, foregiveness, foregiveness, foregiveness, foregiveness...
Michael's eyes grew moist themselves! The desired effect of one of Don Henley's more famous songs was more than what he expected.
Bonnie then emerged from the forest carrying a basket full of fruits she had gathered for their breakfast. She came up next to Michael and followed his gaze towards the edge of the lake where Lesik, Bron and Shirkan were now sharing a drink of water. "What?" she asked in puzzlement.
"Oh! Just enjoying the beautiful morning!" Michael smiled as he wrapped his arm around his wife.
They both walked back to the tent to set up the picnic blanket and have their breakfast. "Were you playing 'Heart Of The Matter'?" Bonnie asked Michael.
Michael nodded. "I was..."
Later on that morning, most of Lesik's herd were gathered around the far edge of the lake chatting about various things. Then Petrie just happened to look up at the sky. His eyes went wide as he pointed. "LOOK!"
All of the longnecks who heard his cry all looked to where he was pointing. A small dark convex shaped wedge appeared to block out the sun. Little by little, all of the longnecks looked up to see this occurrence. "It's beginning..." a lot of them muttered as they sprung into action. They started moving towards the rock slope and began to climb up to the top.
Almost in a trance, Lesik's herd began to move towards the rock slope themselves. Michael and Bonnie put on their sunglasses to gain a better look at what was happening.
"Do you see that, Bonnie!?" Michael exclaimed.
"Incredible!" Bonnie commented.
"What is that!?" Cera asked with a hint of fear in her voice. "What's happening, Myk'l!?"
"It's a solar eclipse..." Michael said in awe.
"A WHAT!!?"
"I'll explain later! I think we're about to find out the purpose of this longneck migration... Come on!" Michael said as he moved to follow the longnecks.
"It's as if the bright circle is being eaten by a large dark shadow." Chomper said. "Are the longnecks here to keep the bright circle from being eaten?"
Nobody answered him, though. They were too preoccupied with observing this grand phenomenon.
Once the longnecks were all in place on the top of the rock slope, they all closed their eyes as if to focus their combined energy. The non longnecks were all watching this occur with a mix of awe and confusion. Meanwhile, the convex shaped wedge grew steadily bigger and bigger; and the landscape grew darker and darker as the sun began to disappear behind the increasing shadow.
Then, almost all at once, the longnecks stood on the balls of their feet as if to increase their energy output. KITT himself tried to imitate them by jacking up his wheels. Michael and Bonnie observed this and chuckled. They didn't even recall giving KITT that ability, but they thought it was cure nonetheless!
Then, when the bright circle was replaced by a dark circle, and it was almost as dark as night, all of the longnecks stood on the very tips of their toes. KITT jacked his wheels up to the maximum. Meanwhile, a large meteor shower could be seen as several fireballs streaked across the sky in every direction. All of the non longnecks looked at this with great fear, as if the world was about to end; while Michael and Bonnie remained undeterred. They just smiled as they observe these two great celestial occurrences.
When the dark circle began to disappear, and the bright circle re emerged, all of the longnecks came down from their tiptoed position and slowly opened their eyes. KITT brought his suspension back down to it's regular height as well.
"Wow! THAT was amazing!!" Michael commented as he looked at Bonnie, who smiled and nodded her agreement.
"Now that I think about it..." Cera began. "I remember seeing this kind of thing before."
"Now that you are remembering, what is it that you have remembered, Cera?" Ruby asked.
"I've followed Little Foot here once before when I was a young threehorn, and I saw this kind of thing back then, too... Looks like the longnecks saved the world... AGAIN..."
Alaina and Petrie also nodded as they remembered as well! This was news, however, to Ruby, Chomper and their respective mates. Wendyk was also curious to know about this other great longneck migration. Cera was only too happy to tell everyone about it. Michael and Bonnie were especially astonished that there was another solar eclipse on this exact same spot not a decade ago!
