A Tale Of Two Juniors!


For every Yin there is a Yang. For every light there is darkness. And for every happy ending there must be a dramatic one. This is A Tale Of Two Juniors! But it is not an interview, for I am truly tired of those! This is yet another attempt to bring the Speckles Project to a Full Circle conclusion. "Junior, we rescued you from the Beast of Fire Mountain yesterday!" - Speckles.


Sunrise The Next Day…

December 26th. 2024. It is the day after the miracle had taken place. Our boys Gareth and Junior had rather cheekily helped themselves to Humanity Park's alcohol supply and had one too many!

They both awake with nasty headaches. "Oh, blimey. I had no idea fantasy booze would hit that hard." Spoke a blurry-faced Gareth! "No kidding." Replied Junior. "How do you humans make this a way of life?"

"And how are we this morning?" A voice boomed from above. Gareth and Junior struggle to look up to find Speckles and Blue-Eyes standing over them!

"Err, hello. And how are you this fine day?" Junior puts on his best adult voice. "We are fine son." Replied Blue-Eyes. "But, while you two were partying we came to a decision…"

Speckles takes this one. "It is time to end this current life before we begin our new one. But before we do…we would like to tour the world. Myself and your mother want to see with our own eyes what we saved and what we fought so hard to protect."

"But without magic or portals. Just the two of us together." Said Blue-Eyes. "And when we are satisfied we will lie down together and begin the next life anew."

"Then we will be young again, and find each other again. And bring you into this world once more." Speckles says to Junior. "This is where our journey ends. This is where it begins…"

"Goodbye Junior. Goodbye Gareth. Let us meet each other back at the start."

Junior starts to tear up again but has been through this many times. He smiles at them both.

"Goodbye mom and dad. Till we meet again." Junior sniffed. Speckles and Blue-Eyes wander off to enjoy their remaining time together. What will they see as they tour the world of dinosaurs?

Junior weeps a little as does Gareth. "Do not lose heart brother. Soon, it will be your time to be born again. And when you awake, you will see your parents for the first time. Both looking down on you with love in their hearts. Oh, to be young once more. I miss it so much. But time and nature cannot be stopped."

"This is my ultimate gift to you all. To live, die and be born again. Or perhaps it is better to live a single life, knowing it will end? To shine brightly once, then never again know…?"

"Wow, that drinking certainly made you ponderous today!" Said Junior. "But what of your destiny now? What does The Author do next?"

Gareth grips Junior's forearm. "Never forget my brother, you have your father's courage and your mother's compassion. In the end that is all you need. I have to return and bear witness."

"White Dino and Time's Arbiter grow tired of man's inhumanity to man and have reached a conclusion. I can no longer control them. It is time…"

"That sounds serious. What do you mean by that?" Asked Junior.

"JUDGMENT." Said Gareth sternly.

"NO WAY!" Shouted Junior. "Perhaps if I go with you, we can stop…"

Junior at once collapses and lies there unconscious. Gareth stoops down to him and strokes his cheek. "Sleep my brother, sleep. Already a new Junior is being born, and he will possess all your memories and experience. Until the next time…"

Gareth smiles down at the sleeping Tarbosaur. He snaps his fingers and vanishes…


Their Judgment Cometh…

December 31st. 2024. In the field behind the children's playground, Gareth suddenly appears. A scene that has played out many times is taking place before him.

White Dino and Time's Arbiter face each other. In the sky above a gigantic asteroid is hurtling towards them. But this timeline is different. Speckles is no longer there to reason with them. And Gareth has long stopped being conflicted and emotional. It is time for a different ending…

The two Dino Gods look to the asteroid and then back to themselves. They speak as one.

"Time and again we stood at these crossroads. Either way we committed a terrible crime. In order to save the dinosaurs…we had to sacrifice mankind!"

Gareth whispers to himself, "Time's Up."

The asteroid slams into them all and the planet along with them. With a massive bang it explodes. A trillion tons of rock and dust are thrown into the atmosphere, a huge wave of fire and brimstone engulfs the Earth. One after another the great cities of man are swept away, 8 billion voices cry out for salvation and are silenced. And the labor of generations…is gone forever.

As we pull back into the sky a scene of complete devastation is revealed. Millions upon millions of humans and free creatures are dead. Eventually the entire planet is revealed, completely swept clean. The oceans boiled away. All have turned to rack and ruin…

It is a scene…FROM HELL.

The age of humankind is over. Who knows what might have been? But, do not let your thoughts turn to hopelessness and despair.

For, in the aftermath of this catastrophe…the dinosaurs will rise again!

And after them, a new generation of humans will be born, perhaps they will do better?

This will happen over and over and over again. Until time and nature brings us all home…


And, So It Came To Pass…

With a big jump Junior wakes up! He is confused and disorientated as a newborn would be. He was expecting to find himself inside an egg, but is rather shocked to find himself already alive and developed. As he collects himself, he finds his father Speckles lying asleep next to him.

He throws himself at Speckles to wake him up…

"Dad, Dad, wake up Dad. Something is not right. Come on Dad."

With a huge yawn Speckles heaves himself up and stands over his infant son. "Morning Junior. How are you doing my child?"

"I think Eternity's Seal misfired again. We are not supposed to be here yet. Why am I not a hatchling?" Asked Junior frantically.

"Eternity's Seal? What are you talking about son? You are the age you are now."

"Dad, don't you remember? We have all lived for millions of years and experienced thousands of lifetimes. We built a great city and called it Humanity Park. You and Blue-Eyes and myself have been reborn many times and lived many lives. And it all started twenty years after you rescued me from the Beast of Fire Mountain!"

"Oh, my dear boy, he must have hit you much harder than we thought." Said Speckles.

"Junior, we rescued you from the Beast of Fire Mountain yesterday! After we escaped the collapsing volcano, we found this magnificent vista. We all drank from the clear water then you fell asleep. The rest of us followed shortly after, and have only begun to wake up!"

Junior looks around him and sees Fang, her daughter Blue, and Dusty and Blade all starting to regain consciousness!

"But what of my mother Blue-Eyes?" Asks Junior. Speckles is shocked.

"Blue-Eyes is gone my son. She has been for a long time, but she gave her life to save us. I am so sorry to have been so hard on you about it. Now it is time to accept, she will live forever in our hearts."

Junior begins to cry, but he also starts to realize, the entire Speckles Project could have just been a dream!?

"Come." Speckles speaks to all of them. "Before we begin our new lives, there is something we must do."

Speckles, Junior, Fang, Blue, Dusty and Blade, all walk to the nearest summit to watch the sun rise over a new day. Speckles bows his head and prays…

"Thank you Blue-Eyes, for everything. Your sacrifice was not in vain." He turns to them all…

"Come my family and friends, our time in the New Paradise has only just begun."

Twenty Years Later…


And that I think, concludes the entire Speckles Project.

Four months to prep. Four years to execute.

So big in fact, that I had to split it across two FanFiction accounts. Holiday Required!