"I got some berries that I recognized from a book, they're not poisonous, and I saw some Triceratops eating these berries, so they should be safe too…."
Cindy laid out a bunch of berries on some big leaves so that they wouldn't get sick from whatever was on the cave floor. It seemed okay enough, but they had no idea what had lived in that cave before they got there.
Jimmy stared wide-eyed at the berries. No food had ever looked so good to him, but he supposed that when you're starving and millions of years from home anything looked good.
Cindy began to divide up the berries, giving one to Jimmy, one to herself, one to Jimmy, one to herself, back and forth until all the berries were gone. The each held one up and hit them together as kind of a cheers, but before they could start eating a huge tremor ran through the ground. They looked at each other, surprised.
"What was that?" Cindy asked.
"I dunno, felt like an earthquake or something…."
The ground began to shake again.
"I think it is an earthquake!" Jimmy said, excited.
"Wonderful, just what we need," Cindy said.
"This is great," Jimmy said. "It really is!"
"May I ask why?" Cindy said.
"Because, earthquakes occurred most often during the middle of the Cretaceous period. Continents were beginning to form, mountain ranges were appearing, that sort of thing."
"So?"
"So? If we're in the middle of the Cretaceous Period, that means that the comet that wiped out the dinosaurs won't be around for another few million years."
"Great. Instead of getting killed by a comet, we're gonna get killed by a bunch of earthquakes," Cindy said.
Jimmy opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment the ground started to shake, about three times harder than it had a couple minutes ago. A couple of small rocks dislodged from the cave roof, and one hit Cindy on the head.
"Ow!" Cindy yelped.
"Um, Cindy? I don't think this place is safe anymore," Jimmy said, as quite a large chunk of rock landed next to him.
"I think you might be right," she said nervously. She helped Jimmy up and then grabbed his arm and started to run, half-dragging him out of the cave. The ground was still shaking, making it very hard to keep their balance, but they made it out, and not a moment too soon. The cave caved in right as they ran out of it. The two of them stared at the pile of rubble in front of them.
"One second longer and we'd have been toast," Jimmy said.
"No kidding," Cindy said.
Jimmy looked around at all the trees surrounding them. "I don't think we should hang around in here anymore. If those 'quakes start up again, those trees could fall over right on top of us."
Cindy nodded. "Good idea. But first," she added, as Jimmy started to stand, "we're putting a splint on your leg."
Jimmy groaned a little but didn't say anything. He wasn't about to start another fight. Cindy scanned the area and found a couple of sturdy sticks, both about the same height. She picked them up, then walked over and sat down by Jimmy.
"I think these should do, they seem pretty sturdy and all. The only problem is that we don't have anything to tie them to your leg with, unless you've got a belt." Jimmy shook his head. "Then we'll have to use my hair bands, which will work, I guess, but they won't keep everything very still. They'll have to do, though."
Cindy pulled her hair bands out, then set them down. She ran her fingers through her hair quickly, trying to get it to lay flat. When she was done her hair was pretty much straight, except for a little wave showing that it had been up in pigtails. It was fairly long, going to a little past her shoulders. Jimmy tried to keep from staring. He had never seen her with her hair down before, and it looked really good, not that he would ever tell her that, of course.
"Okay, you're going to have to stand up, and you might have to move your ankle around a little, so be ready. If I hurt you, I'm sorry," she said, helping him to his feet. "Now, I'm going to need to take off your shoe first, because it'll be too hard to get the hair bands on otherwise."
Cindy untied his shoe, loosened the laces and tried to slide it off without hurting him, though she thought she felt him wince a little.
"Okay, now I need you to hold these two sticks in place, and keep your foot lifted a little too, so that I can get the hair bands on, this might hurt a little bit, I'm sorry about that…."
Cindy slid one of the hair bands onto Jimmy's leg and wrapped it around three times, then slid it up toward the top of the sticks. She did the same thing with the other hair band, except left it toward the bottom. She then put his shoe back on, tied it, and sat back to look at her handiwork.
"It's definitely not hospital material, but it'll hold," she said. "Does it feel okay? It doesn't hurt or anything, does it?"
"No, it's fine," Jimmy lied. It did hurt a little, but he wasn't going to tell her that.
"You're sure?" Cindy said.
"Yeah," Jimmy replied.
Cindy gave him a look, she knew he was lying but she didn't want to say anything.
"Come on," Jimmy said, "we'd better get out of here before the earthquakes start aga-"
He was cut off by a rumbling beneath their feet.
"Wow, I'm psychic!" he joked.
"This is no time for jokes, Jimmy, let's get out of here!" Cindy said, starting to run. Jimmy followed her. It was a little hard to keep up because of the splint, but he was able to. The only problem was, they had no idea where they were going. Getting out of the forest was easier said than done.
"What is this, the never-ending forest?" Cindy complained.
"It can't be that much farther," Jimmy said.
"I sure hope not, I'm sick of running," Cindy said, just as they ran into a large field. Only it wasn't really a field, because there was no grass or anything. It was just all dirt.
"Wow, quite the landscape change," commented Jimmy.
"No kidding. But at least out here there's nothing that can fall on us," Cindy said.
"Yeah, we're safe out here," Jimmy said. "At least, I hope so."
Another earthquake started up again. In the distance, Jimmy and Cindy could hear a loud crack and a thud.
"Sounds like one of those trees fell," Cindy said.
There was another loud crack, this one much closer, and the ground began to split. The crack went right between Jimmy and Cindy, and then began to get wider and deeper.
"Jimmy, jump over here!" Cindy yelled, trying to be heard above the cracking and rumbling.
Jimmy leapt, but his foot caught on a root and he fell. Meanwhile, the crack was still widening, and it was now too large for either of them to jump across. Jimmy stood up and looked across the gap, some of the ground on Cindy's side was beginning to crumble and Cindy was having to run around to keep from falling off.
The ground beneath Jimmy's feet began to loosen and fall away. Jimmy backed up to keep from falling with it. When it didn't stop, he turned and ran until finally the cracking noises stopped. Turning around, he surveyed the damage. The crack was huge, he couldn't see the end of it, and also very deep. There were some islands in it, and a whole bunch of trees from the forest had fallen into it. He couldn't see any way across it or around it. Oh well, it wasn't like anything important was over there….
"Oh man, Cindy's over there!" he exclaimed, slapping his forehead. "I totally forgot!"
He sighed. This was great. Just perfect. The only other human on the entire earth was on the other side of the crack. And he was responsible for her, too. He'd been the one who got her into the whole mess. Well, he thought, I'd better start looking for a way across.
Cindy laid out a bunch of berries on some big leaves so that they wouldn't get sick from whatever was on the cave floor. It seemed okay enough, but they had no idea what had lived in that cave before they got there.
Jimmy stared wide-eyed at the berries. No food had ever looked so good to him, but he supposed that when you're starving and millions of years from home anything looked good.
Cindy began to divide up the berries, giving one to Jimmy, one to herself, one to Jimmy, one to herself, back and forth until all the berries were gone. The each held one up and hit them together as kind of a cheers, but before they could start eating a huge tremor ran through the ground. They looked at each other, surprised.
"What was that?" Cindy asked.
"I dunno, felt like an earthquake or something…."
The ground began to shake again.
"I think it is an earthquake!" Jimmy said, excited.
"Wonderful, just what we need," Cindy said.
"This is great," Jimmy said. "It really is!"
"May I ask why?" Cindy said.
"Because, earthquakes occurred most often during the middle of the Cretaceous period. Continents were beginning to form, mountain ranges were appearing, that sort of thing."
"So?"
"So? If we're in the middle of the Cretaceous Period, that means that the comet that wiped out the dinosaurs won't be around for another few million years."
"Great. Instead of getting killed by a comet, we're gonna get killed by a bunch of earthquakes," Cindy said.
Jimmy opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment the ground started to shake, about three times harder than it had a couple minutes ago. A couple of small rocks dislodged from the cave roof, and one hit Cindy on the head.
"Ow!" Cindy yelped.
"Um, Cindy? I don't think this place is safe anymore," Jimmy said, as quite a large chunk of rock landed next to him.
"I think you might be right," she said nervously. She helped Jimmy up and then grabbed his arm and started to run, half-dragging him out of the cave. The ground was still shaking, making it very hard to keep their balance, but they made it out, and not a moment too soon. The cave caved in right as they ran out of it. The two of them stared at the pile of rubble in front of them.
"One second longer and we'd have been toast," Jimmy said.
"No kidding," Cindy said.
Jimmy looked around at all the trees surrounding them. "I don't think we should hang around in here anymore. If those 'quakes start up again, those trees could fall over right on top of us."
Cindy nodded. "Good idea. But first," she added, as Jimmy started to stand, "we're putting a splint on your leg."
Jimmy groaned a little but didn't say anything. He wasn't about to start another fight. Cindy scanned the area and found a couple of sturdy sticks, both about the same height. She picked them up, then walked over and sat down by Jimmy.
"I think these should do, they seem pretty sturdy and all. The only problem is that we don't have anything to tie them to your leg with, unless you've got a belt." Jimmy shook his head. "Then we'll have to use my hair bands, which will work, I guess, but they won't keep everything very still. They'll have to do, though."
Cindy pulled her hair bands out, then set them down. She ran her fingers through her hair quickly, trying to get it to lay flat. When she was done her hair was pretty much straight, except for a little wave showing that it had been up in pigtails. It was fairly long, going to a little past her shoulders. Jimmy tried to keep from staring. He had never seen her with her hair down before, and it looked really good, not that he would ever tell her that, of course.
"Okay, you're going to have to stand up, and you might have to move your ankle around a little, so be ready. If I hurt you, I'm sorry," she said, helping him to his feet. "Now, I'm going to need to take off your shoe first, because it'll be too hard to get the hair bands on otherwise."
Cindy untied his shoe, loosened the laces and tried to slide it off without hurting him, though she thought she felt him wince a little.
"Okay, now I need you to hold these two sticks in place, and keep your foot lifted a little too, so that I can get the hair bands on, this might hurt a little bit, I'm sorry about that…."
Cindy slid one of the hair bands onto Jimmy's leg and wrapped it around three times, then slid it up toward the top of the sticks. She did the same thing with the other hair band, except left it toward the bottom. She then put his shoe back on, tied it, and sat back to look at her handiwork.
"It's definitely not hospital material, but it'll hold," she said. "Does it feel okay? It doesn't hurt or anything, does it?"
"No, it's fine," Jimmy lied. It did hurt a little, but he wasn't going to tell her that.
"You're sure?" Cindy said.
"Yeah," Jimmy replied.
Cindy gave him a look, she knew he was lying but she didn't want to say anything.
"Come on," Jimmy said, "we'd better get out of here before the earthquakes start aga-"
He was cut off by a rumbling beneath their feet.
"Wow, I'm psychic!" he joked.
"This is no time for jokes, Jimmy, let's get out of here!" Cindy said, starting to run. Jimmy followed her. It was a little hard to keep up because of the splint, but he was able to. The only problem was, they had no idea where they were going. Getting out of the forest was easier said than done.
"What is this, the never-ending forest?" Cindy complained.
"It can't be that much farther," Jimmy said.
"I sure hope not, I'm sick of running," Cindy said, just as they ran into a large field. Only it wasn't really a field, because there was no grass or anything. It was just all dirt.
"Wow, quite the landscape change," commented Jimmy.
"No kidding. But at least out here there's nothing that can fall on us," Cindy said.
"Yeah, we're safe out here," Jimmy said. "At least, I hope so."
Another earthquake started up again. In the distance, Jimmy and Cindy could hear a loud crack and a thud.
"Sounds like one of those trees fell," Cindy said.
There was another loud crack, this one much closer, and the ground began to split. The crack went right between Jimmy and Cindy, and then began to get wider and deeper.
"Jimmy, jump over here!" Cindy yelled, trying to be heard above the cracking and rumbling.
Jimmy leapt, but his foot caught on a root and he fell. Meanwhile, the crack was still widening, and it was now too large for either of them to jump across. Jimmy stood up and looked across the gap, some of the ground on Cindy's side was beginning to crumble and Cindy was having to run around to keep from falling off.
The ground beneath Jimmy's feet began to loosen and fall away. Jimmy backed up to keep from falling with it. When it didn't stop, he turned and ran until finally the cracking noises stopped. Turning around, he surveyed the damage. The crack was huge, he couldn't see the end of it, and also very deep. There were some islands in it, and a whole bunch of trees from the forest had fallen into it. He couldn't see any way across it or around it. Oh well, it wasn't like anything important was over there….
"Oh man, Cindy's over there!" he exclaimed, slapping his forehead. "I totally forgot!"
He sighed. This was great. Just perfect. The only other human on the entire earth was on the other side of the crack. And he was responsible for her, too. He'd been the one who got her into the whole mess. Well, he thought, I'd better start looking for a way across.