by Saxon Andrew
• • •
Three days later, Melody was sitting on top of the wall looking out from the old wall toward the new higher wall. She looked at the cliff that had been cut out and knew where the material for the new wall had come from. She jerked when she heard, “It took more than twenty years to complete the new walls.” She turned around and saw a beautiful dark haired woman walking toward her. “I didn’t mean to startle you. My name is Lyla and I’m Maxius’ wife.”
“He’s one of the leaders here, isn’t he?”
Lyla smiled, “He is on the Council. I thought you might need someone to take you around and show you our new home.”
Melody heard a loud mewing sound and looked down at the pen of dinosaurs next to the base of the wall. She shook her head and said, “One of those creatures keeps jumping up the wall trying to get my attention.” Lyla looked over the wall and saw Melody had her front legs on the wall and was jumping up and down. Lyla’s eyes narrowed and Melody said, “What’s wrong?”
Lyla shook her head, “That runner was Harmony ‘s. She must think you are her.”
“Runner?”
Lyla sighed, “The poor thing has stopped eating after Andy rode away with her mother. She is losing weight. We’re afraid we’re going to have to end her misery.”
“Do you mean kill her?”
Lyla looked at Melody, “Starvation is a terrible way to die.”
Melody looked down and the dinosaur who was wagging her tail and jumping up and down. “She doesn’t look starved to me.”
“She’s the biggest Cursor we’ve ever had. She’s much smaller that her normal size.”
“What do you mean by runner?”
“We ride those dinosaurs. She is the one Harmony chose to be her Cursor, which means, runner.”
Melody looked down at the Cursor and said, “Take me to her.”
Lyla shook her head, “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Are you concerned about me or the Cursor?”
Lyla looked down at Melody jumping up and down and said, “Both…I think.”
Melody stepped down from the wall and heard the wail from below as she moved out of the Cursor’s view, “Take me to her!”
Lyla was in over her head. She sighed and said, “Follow me.” Melody climbed down off the wall and followed Lyla through the gate and around the wall. They walked up hill and Melody saw the large Cursor push the other Cursors aside as it rushed to the wall of the pen closest to her. They arrived ten yards from the pen and Lyla put her hand on Melody’s shoulder, “I think this is close enough.”
Melody pushed Lyla’s hand off her shoulder and walked up to the giant Cursor. She tentatively put her hand out and the Cursor extended its head toward her and closed its eyes. Lyla held her breath and then said, “Rub her under her jaw.”
Melody reached forward and rubbed the giant dinosaur under its jaw. The moan that started was loud and the Cursor was shaking with enjoyment. Lyla watched what was happening and couldn’t believe it. The Cursors had the most advanced sensory apparatus of any dinosaur on the planet. This one really believed that Melody was Harmony. That meant their odor was identical. She thought for a moment and said, “Come with me.”
Melody looked at Lyla as she walked along the pen and she followed her to the gate. “What are you going to do?”
Lyla looked at Melody, “I want you to try something.”
“What?”
“I’m going to let…that Cursor out of the pen and I want you to hold up your hand like this in front of you and say, ‘STOP!”
Melody looked at the huge dinosaur standing at the gate shaking and said, “That’s all?”
Lyla took a deep breath and shook her head. “No, say, ‘Melody, STOP.’”
Melody stared at Lyla, “Are you telling me that its name is Melody?”
Lyla tilted her head and nodded, “It is. Are you ready?”
Melody was afraid but she nodded. Lyla opened the gate and the Cursor came running out and turned toward Melody. She raised her palm and said, “MELODY, STOP!” The Cursor slid to a stop four feet in front of Melody wagging its long tail.
Lyla couldn’t believe it. She walked up to Melody and said, “Walk with me toward the river.”
“Why?”
“I want to see if she’ll eat.”
Melody turned with Lyla and started walking toward the river. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the huge Cursor still standing still behind them. Lyla said, “Now I want you to lift your arm directly out in front of you and bend your arm at the elbow and bring your hand to your mouth. Melody started at Lyla who smiled and said, “Go ahead.” Melody extended her arm and brought her hand to her mouth. They continued walking toward the river but the giant Cursor ran by them at an incredible speed and stopped in the middle of a tall patch of river grass. It began eating and Lyla smiled.
Melody looked at the giant dinosaur and looked at Lyla, “Does this mean you won’t have to kill her?”
Lyla stopped and hugged Melody, “Indeed it does.” Lyla led Melody to the river and they watched the Cursor eat for an hour. Lyla looked at Melody, “Now you know how to feed her. I’ll show you how to take her back to the pen and I want you to take her down to the river each day until she is at her full weight and healthy again. Can you do that?”
Melody nodded and walked over and rubbed the Cursor on her neck. The Cursor continued to eat but they heard the joyous moan. Melody hugged the huge neck and the moan grew louder. She closed her eyes and felt the Cursor’s love. It was the first time since her family was killed that she felt it.
• • •
A week later, Lyla showed Melody how to saddle her Cursor. She showed her how to issue instructions so that the Cursor would slowly walk with her in the saddle. She had to constantly command it to walk but she could tell it wanted to run. She asked Lyla about letting her go but was told that running would come later. First she had to learn to control the giant beast.
“She’s not a beast.”
“Then what is she?”
Melody struggled for words and finally said, “She’s a Cursor.”
Lyla laughed and said, “Very well said. Now let’s work on the commands for her to look for predators.”
“Say what?”
Lyla looked at Melody, “The Cursors have the finest sense of smell we’ve seen. The Pteranodons might be better but if they are, they aren’t by much.” Lyla was on her Cursor and she raised her arm over her head and unclenched her fist. Her cursor stood up on its back legs and extended its head high in the air and sniffed. After a moment, it came back down. “Give it a try.”
“How did you stay in the saddle?”
“Grab the front edge with your free had and hold on tight. You can use your other hand if you start to slip.” Melody gripped the saddle and raised her right arm over her head and unclenched her fist. The Cursor went up on its back legs and Melody held on as tightly as she could. She refused to use her free hand and stayed in the saddle until Melody went back to all fours. Lyla smiled. She used her non-dominant hand to make the command. That was good.
• • •
Andy finally arrived at the tree where he had found Harmony. He saw the bleached bones of the T-Rex crumbled to the ground a hundred yards away and sighed. He slid off Dinah to the ground and raised his arm. She went up on her back legs and snorted. He motioned her down and she laid down on the ground. Andy pulled his whistle to his mouth and blew it. He heard numerous roars in the forest and knew that some of the predators were familiar with the sound.
He looked into the tree line close to his location and saw the T-Rex’s head sticking out of the trees. He blew the whistle again and it shook its head but didn’t run away. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and looked to the south. He saw another T-Rex at the edge of the forest two hundred yards away. He pulled his blaster out and started walking toward the first giant carnivore blowing his whistle. The giant roared and rushed out of the forest. The one to
the south rushed out to join the one bearing down on Andy.
He waited until the first carnivore was even with the old bones and fired his blaster at the giant that was rushing toward him with its head lowered. The front third of the giant exploded into an orange mist and its body fell and slid along the ground. The second T-Rex saw the first one die in an instant and it stopped running and almost fell down as it came to a stop. Andy continued to blow his whistle and he turned and walked toward the second T-Rex that was a hundred yards away. It looked at the carcass of the first and turned and fled into the trees. He heard Dinah roar and he saw two Utah Raptors running across the clearing toward her. He raised the blaster and fired the beam five feet above the ground and both of the Raptor’s heads disintegrated. The flock following the two stopped and reversed course immediately. Andy walked back to Dinah and continued to blow the whistle. He finally jumped on Dinah and rode to the water hole several hundred yards away. He allowed Dinah to eat and drink as he watched for predators. He went to the stink bush and it looked exactly as it did the first time he came. He used the cutter to cut twenty pods off the bush being careful not to break them open. He walked back to the tree and lined them up on the ground fifty yards away between the tree and the forest. He continued to blow the whistle as he took his cutter and cut a small slit in each of the pods. Thank God the wind was blowing toward the forest. He cut the fifteenth pod and his body caused a small eddy that blew some of the smell back toward him. He fell backwards and gagged. It was awful. He finished cutting the last five pods by extended the cutter to its full length to make the final cuts. One sniff was enough. He looked at the trees and saw herbivores to the north and south of the pods were running away. He smiled and chuckled, “I can’t blame you.” He saw several Raptors stick their heads out of the trees and start shaking them. They disappeared back in the forest.
He walked back to the tree with Dinah walking behind him and saw the tarp that was covering Harmony when he found her was still under the tree. It was in tatters and barely holding together. He gathered as much of it as he could and put it in a pouch. He sat down under the tree and relived the moment where he had found her close to death. He closed his eyes and remembered the journey from there to the south. She was so incredibly beautiful…and her spirit was amazing. He began weeping and soon the dinosaurs heard a strange sound coming from the trees. His wail could be heard a long way off. Dinah slid her head over to him but he continued to be racked by his grief. Dinah felt his sorrow but didn’t know what to do.
• • •
The sun finally touched the horizon and Andy stopped crying. He was so weak; he could barely lift his arms. He shook his head and saw the pouch with the book on the saddle. He raised his arm and Dinah stood up on her back legs and sniffed the air. She came back down and went to the ground beside him. He leaned over and pulled the pouch off along with the cutter. He extended the blade in the handle of the cutter and stuck it in the ground. He activated the blade as the sun disappeared over the horizon and used the light from the cutter’s blade to see. He opened the book to where he had left off. Andy had taken a glider and was going to fly south to scout the caves for enemy activity. He turned the page and it was blank.
He turned another page and it was also empty. He turned several more and every page was blank. He took the remaining pages and gripped them at the back of the journal. He ruffled through them and nothing appeared…until he was close to where he had stopped reading. He saw a flash of black and he stopped and turned back. Ten pages from where he stopped, there was more writing. He started reading.
• • •
“Linnae is dead. Carrie flew south and managed to catch me. She told me that the community was under attack by strange humans from the north. She said they were using a gun that fired a red beam that killed anything it touched. She had captured one from one of them she killed that was going back to bring reinforcements. She fired it at the ground; the beam was incredibly bright. We flew back and landed on the cliff overlooking the clearing in front of the cave. It was a standoff. The red beam would not penetrate the stone wheel at the entrance but the community was trapped in the cave. I sent Carrie to the north and I went to the south. We started blowing our whistles and herded the dinosaurs toward the community. We forced them in front of the gates leading into the clearing in front of the cave and they stampeded through the gates. The invaders killed many carnivores but were all killed in the end. We went back to our gliders and flew over the caves entrance blowing our whistles. The predators rushed out of the gate killing many small dinosaurs in the press to escape. We landed and there wasn’t a body on the ground. I looked around and saw five bows lying in the sand. One of them was Linnae’s. Carrie landed and told me that the invaders had shot and killed her.
I don’t remember anything after that. I’ve often wondered what insanity looked like. I think I know now. You just leave reality and disappear. I remember thinking that this entire planet was nothing but a death trap and that all of us were biding time until we were killed. There was no love, only death waiting to take us all. That was my last thought.”
Andy turned the page. He knew what his ancestor felt.
• • •
“But then I heard Anna appeared out of nowhere and put her head on my lap. Maxius later told me that she pushed him forcefully away. Her moan is what brought me back to reality. I opened my eyes and rubber her head and felt the love she had for me. I realized that the planet had given me an animal that loved me unconditionally. Everything was not death; love did exist in small places. I saw Maxius on the ground and I asked him how long I had been gone. He told me ten days. I rubbed Anna and fell asleep.
When I woke, I started the community planning to attack the ones that had killed Linnae. We were successful in defeating them and bringing them into our community. I was going to order the Archers to kill them all…but Carrie told me that Linnae had killed one of them first and that the others had fired in self-defense. They ended up being good people. It took all I had to let my rage and anger go…but I did it for the good of the people I have sworn to protect.
I remember the last conversation Linnae and I had before I flew away. She had persuaded the community that the couples would have to accept another woman into their family. There was a real issue with women out numbering the men more than two to one. I told her that we would not accept anyone else into our home.
She looked at me and said that we were going to be the first ones to do it. I told her that I could not love anyone but her. What she said still runs through my head. She said that the heart has no limits on how much or how many it can love. We choose to place limits on our hearts. She said we were going to invite Carrie to join us and that I would love her as deeply as I did her and that she would love Carrie just as much. She looked me in the eye and said she would not allow me to make my heart so small that there was only room for one.
I’m sitting here now on the wall and I’m watching Carrie unfold her glider and start running up the beach to launch it. Her smile is huge and is growing larger as she leaves the ground. Linnae chose her to join us. She also chose me to be her mate. I have to believe that she knows what my heart needs to heal. I will marry Carrie and I will love her until the day she or I die. I can feel my heart opening and I love Linnae for teaching me the real joy of living. My destiny is to prepare my people to move into the future. Part of that task is to move forward with a loving heart.
This is my last entry. I intend to write more for those that follow me. But if I can impart any wisdom to those that read this, it would be that a heart is bigger than you would ever believe. Anything I say after this would diminish this lesson. I will not disappoint Linnae by choosing to live in sorrow.”
• • •
Andy pulled the book to his chest and felt his tears again. But this time they were different. Andy was right. His life wasn’t over; it was just beginning. He leaned back against the tree and fell into a sound sleep. No predators came near him
that night. Was it Harmony taking care of him? Dinah also slept and felt the peace of her friend sleeping close to her.
Chapter Sixteen
Melody walked her Cursor a hundred yards out and had her stop and immediately reverse direction. She had wanted to allow Melody to run at full speed but Lyla cautioned against it. The huge Cursor was incredibly nimble and could change direction in a heartbeat. She kept picking up speed and Melody had to command her constantly to walk. The previous four weeks had passed quickly and Melody knew it was because of the incredible Cursor she was riding. She saw Lyla motion her to come to the pen and she turned and headed toward it. Lyla was putting her Cursor in the pen and Melody said, “While you’re doing that, I’m walking out about fifty yards and then come back.”
Lyla smiled, “Just can’t get enough.”
Melody laughed, “You better believe it.” Lyla opened the gate after she removed the saddle and pointed into the pen. Her cursor ambled inside and she turned around to call Melody. Her eyes went wide and she sprinted away from the pen.
• • •
Melody smiled as they walked slowly up the beach. She said ‘stop’ and her Cursor stopped. Melody looked up the beach and saw something in front of them in the twilight moving toward her. She squinted and saw that it was some kind of dinosaur and it was moving quickly toward her. Her heart went into her throat. Lyla had the only weapons and she was defenseless. Suddenly, Melody shot forward at an incredible speed and she was barely able to grab the front of the saddle before she fell off backwards. In an instant, they were moving at a blinding speed and she started to yell stop but knew that if she did she would be thrown over the Cursor’s neck. She thought furiously and then yelled, “MELODY, SLOW!” She saw they were less than fifty yards from the dinosaur as the huge Cursor slowed and came to a slow trot. She ran up to the other dinosaur and stopped to rub heads with it. Melody fought to control her breathing and saw that the dinosaur was another Cursor. She looked and saw that an archer was riding it. She looked closer and saw that it was Andy. Her heart went into her throat and she thought, “Ohhhh noooo.”
