March 15 17,732BC Anakoha Bay, Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand

Sid the sloth woke up with a start.

Letting out a yelp, he sat bolt upright on his sleeping rock and looked frantically about.

He was back at the edge of the clearing where his herd slept. It was just before dawn. Sid could tell by the lightening sky and glowing clouds, tinted orange on their eastward side. Birds sung merrily in the tall beech trees.

Sid sighed, and tapped the side of his triangular head thoughtfully. He had been having a very strange dream.

It had started off with a brilliant flash of light. As soon as the light had vanished, Sid had found himself in a strange metal room. He was standing on one of six circles on a raised platform. A blonde haired human in red clothing had looked up at the sloth and given him a respectful salute.

Sid had then made his way to a big circular room, where many humans sat at desks with lots of flashing lights and screens.

Three humans had stood in a group just to Sid's left. One of them was wearing blue, and had brown hair and a serious face. Another also wore a blue uniform, but had black hair and strange, pointy ears. The last had blonde hair and wore a decorated yellow suit.

The two men in blue had been deeply engaged in conversation.

"I'm a doctor, Spock, not a physicist!" the serious man had said.

"That may be so, Dr McCoy," the pointy-eared man had said, "but surely it is simple to see…"

Suddenly, the yellow-suited man had glanced in the watching sloth's direction.

"Sid!" he had smiled.

Instantly, 'Spock' and 'Dr McCoy' had looked over to the sloth. The doctor's grouchy face had transformed into a friendly smile, while 'Spock' had lifted his right hand in a strange salute, with the middle and ring fingers separated. Sid had returned the salute as best as he could, for he only had four claws on each hand.

Then the sloth had turned to the man in yellow. "Captain Kirk…" he had begun, wondering how the heck he knew that man's name.

"Jim," the captain had corrected. "We're friends, Sid. Call me Jim."

Then the scene had dissolved.

The sloth had found himself flying through the stars, beside a sleek ivory starship. He had felt exhilarated as he glided beside that beautiful creation.

Then the ship had exploded.

In fact, everything had exploded. And through the cloud of flames, Sid had heard an evil laugh, as a familiar face flew at him through the fire…

'No!' Sid thought. 'He's dead. He's gone. He can't hurt us anymore.'

But the rest of the dream had been so fascinating, and almost…real. He had felt like he had known the humans very well. And the yellow-suited man, Jim Kirk, had said they were friends.

Sid so desperately wanted to tell somebody about his dream. But who?

There was Manny, a chocolate-furred woolly mammoth. One of the original three members of the herd, he had rescued Sid countless times from angry rhinos, lava rivers, dinosaurs, and pirates. However, he was fast asleep, and Sid knew better than to wake up his pal. Manny could get quite annoyed when aroused from a deep sleep.

Ellie, Manny's tan-furred mate, was very gentle in comparison. She treated Sid like a surrogate son. She often (but not always) understood him. However, she was asleep as well. And Ellie was impossible to wake up once she fell asleep. Plus, Sid could hardly reach her, as Ellie liked to sleep upside down, hanging from a tree branch by her tail.

Peaches, Manny and Ellie's teenage mammoth daughter, was asleep next to her mother. She had stayed up late with her friends the previous evening, and so she needed a long rest. Sid wasn't going to deprive her of that. He knew exactly what not getting enough sleep felt like.

Ellie's possum 'brothers', Crash and Eddie, were no help at all when it came to psychology. They would laugh at Sid and tease him for hours as soon as they saw any reason to do so.

Louis the molehog, Peaches best friend, was not on the scene. He was fast asleep in his burrow.

And Sid's cranky old grandmother was tied to a tree by her walking stick, perpetually sleep-shuffling around and round the trunk, calling for her pet whale Precious. Granny was often very rough with her grandson, whacking him on the head whenever he woke her up or surprised her.

'Then who can I talk to?'

Sid's eyes suddenly darted towards two empty spots near the centre of the clearing. These had once belonged to the sabre-tooth tigers, Diego and Shira.

Diego was another of the original members of the herd. At first, he had only joined to turn Manny and Sid into dinner for his pack, but had soon become close to them, and betrayed his leader.

Diego had also gone on adventures with the herd as well. He had learnt how to swim (from Sid) when a huge flood had threatened their lives; he had gone to save Sid from an angry T-Rex; and he had braved storms and huge waves during the continental drift.

But the biggest adventure the sabre had experienced yet was falling in love with Shira.

Shira was a lean, beautiful, silver-furred sabre who had once been a pirate determined to capture Manny, Sid, Diego, and Granny. But, along the way, she had fallen for Diego, and helped the group escape the pirates.

Now, Shira and Diego were officially mates. For their own privacy, they had moved into a secret cave somewhere up in the highlands about four months ago.

Moving in with a herd had softened Shira somewhat. She was now more caring and friendly than when she had been a pirate, although she was still sarcastic and joking.

Sid knew that Shira would understand his dream, even though her mate was often unhelpful on that subject. For she was killed in a field that very few mammals were: counselling.

Many animals (including various members of Sid's herd) had gone to see Shira for help for many issues ranging from personal problems to horrid nightmares. But whenever anybody asked her how she had learnt her skill, she would merely say, "It's a gift."

Sid's mind was now made up. He would go see Shira.

Even the fact that Shira and Diego's den was supposed to be hidden didn't trouble the sloth. He had spied on the sabres, and knew the exact location of their cave.

The sloth slowly got up from his rock, tiptoed across the clearing, and out into the trees. Once out of earshot, he set off at a slow jog for the den.

It was not an easy route to the den. The ground was covered in thick grass and bushes that seemed to spring up right in Sid's path. The sloth fought his way through prickly bushes and up steep, slippery inclines. He fell over more than once. But he didn't stop trying.

After picking his way up a rocky hill, Sid finally came to a bank near a thick pine forest. There, half-hidden by bushes, was a small hole in the ground: Diego and Shira's den.

With a smile on his face, Sid waddled up to the hole.

"Hellooooo!" he called softly. "Anybody awake?"

There was a grunt from within the den. Then the sound of movement. And finally, Diego poked his tawny-brown, sleepy-eyed head out of the cave.

"Sid?" he asked in a sleepy voice. "How in the world did you find our den?"

"That's not important," Sid said sheepishly. "Listen, I need to talk to Shira, I've had a dream and…"

"No, you can't," Diego snapped. "Shira is asle…"

"Shira is awake," said another voice from within the cave. "And, yes, he can talk to her."

Sighing, Diego stood aside to let the sloth into the den.

The sloth blinked as his eyes adjusted to the low light levels inside. Lying near the back of the den was a silver silhouette.

"I hope Sid didn't wake you up," Diego said to his mate.

Suddenly, the sloth remembered that sabres didn't like being woken up early. (Shira had once nearly eaten Crash and Eddie because they woke her up before dawn)

"Shira!" Sid exclaimed. "I am so, sooo sorry for waking you up! I really am! Sorry, sorry, so…"

"Sid," Shira giggled as the sloth babbled on. "It's alright. You didn't wake me up."

Sid looked confused. "Huh? But then who…?"

The sloth's answer came a second later as Shira came into full focus.

The silver sabre nodded at her stomach.

Her swollen stomach.

Her pregnant, swollen stomach.

A few weeks before Diego and Shira had moved into their new den, they had spent a particularly romantic night together. And not long after that, Shira had found out she was expecting.

Her three-and-a-half month long pregnancy had gone quite smoothly. Ellie had given Shira many tips and hints on how to cope with the problems and disadvantages of pregnancy. She had also told Shira about all the times Manny had panicked when she was expecting, much to the sabre's amusement.

Sid had offered to babysit. Manny, Crash, and Eddie had each offered to make mobiles for the cubs. And Peaches was to assist during Shira's labour.

Now, everybody was counting down the last few days before the birth. But as labour approached, Diego seemed to be getting more and more protective of his mate. Every time she winced he would instantly go into a panic.

"The cubs are kicking?" Sid asked in glee. "Can I feel?"

"What am I, a touchstone?" Shira asked in a false scandalised voice.

Sid's face sunk.

"Of course you can, silly," the sabre laughed. "I was joking!"

And before you could say, 'Six sloths sip broth', Sid was kneeling beside Shira, and placing a paw upon her bulging stomach. The sloth giggled as he felt the pulses coming from inside her.

Shira turned her face towards Sid "You said you had a dream that you wanted to talk to me about,"

Sid nodded. "I guessed you'd understand me. Even if my dream is totally crazy."

"Which it probably is," Diego said shrewdly.

Shira carefully readjusted her position, so she was comfortable while she was facing Sid.

The sloth laid down on a flat bed of rock.

"Why are you doing that?" Shira smirked.

"I don't know," Sid smiled. "It just feels relaxing. I think I've started a trend!"

"That'll never catch on," Diego shook his head.

Shira did not need to prompt Sid to run through his dream. Straightaway, the sloth was explaining every detail of his dream, from the flashing lights and screens, to the human's uniforms, to the shape of the strange starship. The only thing he omitted was the terrifying laugh and face at the end of the dream. He knew Shira did not want to see or hear about that mammal again.

When Sid had finished his description, Shira smiled at the sloth.

"It seems to me that you've had a perfectly normal fantasy dream, Sid. Nothing extraordinary there."

"Unless you count that it's extraordinarily weird," Diego added.

Sid ignored Diego's comment. "How do you know it's normal?"

"Because I've had dreams just as crazy as that one," Shira said.

"Unlikely," Diego snorted.

Sid still wasn't convinced. "Guys, this could have been a sign! Something big could happen! I mean…"

"Have you ever explored the possibility," Diego suggested, "that you want to believe this dream is a sign?"

Shira smirked at her mate. "Well, what do you know? Softie's been picking up on psychology!"

Diego sighed, covering his face with a paw.

"Captain Kirk, the human in yellow…" Sid said slowly, "…he said we were friends."

Shira nodded. "This dream could show a desire to have more friends."

She gave Sid an understanding smile. "Don't worry, Sid. New friends will show themselves in time. And you'll always have us."

The sloth smiled slightly. "Thanks."

Then he got up from his rock, and walked back through the cave entrance into the bright morning sunlight.

Once he was out of Diego and Shira's den, Sid sighed sadly. It would be another normal day for the sloth, which meant pestering Manny, sleeping, eating leaves, sleeping, falling down a cliff, and sleeping. Same old routine for the past six months since the Continental Drift.

"Still," Sid said to himself, causing a passing bird to look at him curiously, "I would like to go up there."

He looked up to the sky, where a nearly full moon still shone in the dawn light, and imagined himself flying through the stars again.

"Where no mammal has gone before."

Sid: (