No Time For Dinosaurs

by John Benjamin Sciarra

  He opened the door and reset the alarm. Then he disappeared behind the house and climbed over the fence to the neighbor’s yard. Two eyes peered out from behind the small opening to the doghouse. They were evil looking. A low growl came rolling out and across the ground that would have scared anyone—anyone but Kyle.

  “Godzilla,” he whispered. “Come ‘ere boy, come on. I’ve got a cookie for you.” The strong sense stress on the word “cookie” was a signal for the two hundred pound Rottweiler. Godzilla stopped growling and began lapping at his lips sending saliva spraying in every direction. The massive dog approached Kyle with his head down and nuzzled right between his armpit.

  “Here ‘ya go, boy. Good dog!” Kyle gave Godzilla a couple of big dog treats and then he continued his journey. He needed to get to the lab and it was a long walk through many yards in the black of night. Somehow, after his journey back in time to the land of the dinosaurs, nothing in this time period seemed as frightening—except maybe math class. Even that was beginning to seem less intimidating.

  Once Kyle arrived at the lab, he took his father’s keys out and turned the lock until he heard a loud clicking sound. Then he typed in the code, the same one: 122448 and went in. The keypad to the laboratory door itself was different, but he remembered from before and punched in the sequence. The door clicked open.

  Bypassing the large, vault-like door that housed the time capsule, Kyle headed for the main computer station on the second floor. He walked past all the other computers that were networked to the mainframe upstairs. He knew he had to get to the master control computer in order to initiate the program.

  He walked past all the computers and what seemed like miles of green glowing tubes, he came to the first real impediment of the night: the elevator. He shined his flashlight across the keypad to make the fingerprints more visible. There were smudges present, but they didn’t add up to his father’s birthday this time. Kyle cringed. What if they’re Dr. Bashan’s birthday? What will I do then?

  A wave of nervousness threatened to scare him out of the building altogether. Okay, calm down. Think! What do the numbers mean? Oh how I hate math!

  He thought of his mother’s birthday. No. They were the wrong numbers. Teresa? Yes! It’s Teresa’s birthday! He keyed in the sequence. That didn’t work. What could be wrong? Maybe backwards? Is my father getting crafty in his old age?

  Kyle keyed the numbers in backwards. Still it didn’t work. Now he was starting to sweat. If he got it wrong a third time, the alarm would go off automatically. He only had one more shot and one more idea. It either had to be Teresa’s birthday forward—then backward—or the opposite. Most people would enter it forward first. But what if his father was being clever?

  Kyle punched in the numbers and held his breath—forward, then backward. The elevator came to life and the door opened.

  I always knew they liked her best!

  ***

  Dr. Donavan awoke, fluffed his pillow and tried to get back to sleep. He pulled the blanket up over his head and curled up like a baby, but it was no use. He couldn’t sleep. His conscience bothered him. He had been abrupt with Kyle and his mind wouldn’t let him forget it. He had to admit he had been short with him. Maybe Kyle really did care about string theory, he thought. Maybe I just crushed the one thing that could wake the young boy up and get him to think seriously about his life.

  Dr. Donavan got out of bed and headed downstairs for a glass of milk. He opened the refrigerator door. In the distance, he heard the neighbor’s dog barking. Then he had an idea. Maybe he’d go up, get Kyle out of bed, and apologize. Maybe Kyle would want a glass of milk. He turned and headed for the stairway.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Kyle entered the upstairs laboratory from the elevator and was stunned by the view of hundreds of computers all linked to three screens situated on a console. There were banks of hard drives on shelves that ran the length of the room. Only a single purple light lit the room and gave it an eerie glow. He could smell the ozone—as if a thunderstorm had just occurred.

  Cautiously, he walked over to the first station and sat down. The screen was black. He moved the mouse and it jumped to life immediately.

  “Wow! This is fast!”

  Several icons were visible on the screen off to one side and the bars were clearly Microsoft Windows. He thought he could handle it.

  First, he scrolled over to the programs file and up popped a window with a long list. He didn’t recognize any of the names, so he moved the mouse off and the list disappeared. He tried one of the icons. It was a green glowing circle with a skull and crossbones in the center. He double clicked the mouse and up popped a log-on window. However, it was password protected. He decided to try a name—Teresa—his father’s favorite child. Up popped a warning: “Invalid Password. Please Make Sure the Caps Button is OFF and Try Again.”

  Kyle thought. Maybe his mother: Medina. He typed in his mother’s name. Same result. He tried their names frontward and backwards, the name of the dog, the mail carrier, his father’s name, his grandmother’s—on both sides—then grandfather’s and even the neighbor’s dog. He knew there wouldn’t be any danger of setting off an alarm like on the security system, but he was wasting time. It had taken him an hour to get there and another half hour to get upstairs into the lab.

  Finally, out of sheer frustration, he typed in K-y-l-e. “Password Accepted.”

  You’ve got to be kidding!

  Then the screen came to life with thousands—maybe millions of numbers scrolling across. The banks of computers all came on simultaneously. He could see the light on every one of them blinking rapidly as data processed.

  The whirring and clicking sounds went on for what seemed like an eternity, but took no more than two minutes. Then everything became quite and the screen went blank. Kyle’s heart sank. He knew he only had a few more minutes before he would have to go back home and try again tomorrow night.

  Then, without any warning, the fluid in the tubes began to move. Slowly at first. Then more quickly. It stopped as quickly as it had begun. Kyle wondered if he had accidentally hit the keyboard, but his hands were rigid and frozen to the side of the console in fear. He looked at the computer screen and a small window had popped up. It read: “Do you want to initiate new program changes?”

  Kyle thought a minute. He wondered if his father and Dr. Bashan had made corrections in the program. Considering the overwhelming task of trying to figure out the millions—maybe billions if not trillions of bits of information that scrolled across the screen earlier, Kyle decided to go ahead and hit the “enter” key. Another window popped up with a bar. It was filling from left to right. Below it said, “15 minutes to launch.”

  Kyle brought both his hands to his face: “Yikes! I’ve just launched the time capsule!”

  Frantic, he hit the “delete” key. Nothing. The “escape” key. Still nothing. It seemed there was no way to stop the launch. Kyle ran back to the elevator. The door was closed. He had to punch in the password all over again. The first time it didn’t work. He was so nervous; he mis-keyed one of the numbers. He tried to breathe slowly to calm himself. Then he entered the code again. The elevator had gone to the bottom floor. Fear rushed through his body. Had his father called the elevator? Was he coming up now? He’ll kill me!

  ***

  Teresa heard someone walking up the staircase. She thought it might be Kyle.

  She ran to the door and swung it open hoping to scare him. Instead, she scared her father half to death. He spilled a glass of milk all over the rug.

  “Dad? Why are you walking around in the middle of the night with a glass of milk?”

  “Why did you try and scare me? Look at this mess! Your mom is going to have a canary.”

  “I thought you were Kyle.”

  “Why? Does he usually walk around in the middle of the night?”

  “No. Well…maybe lately.”

  “Why? Has there been something bothering him?”

  “Uh�
��no…not really. Gotta go. I need to get my beauty sleep. Night, Dad.”

  Dr. Donavan went into the adjoining bathroom for a towel and detergent to pick up the stain. When he was done, he decided it would be best if he waited until morning to talk to Kyle.

  ***

  Kyle stood outside the capsule as the sound of the violins grew faintly in the background. He considered his options nervously. If he decided not to go, his father would find out what he had done and ground him for the rest of his life. If he went in and took the trip back, he didn’t know if he’d be able to figure out how to get back to the present. He remembered that the computer screen had said something about a new program, but did that mean someone had changed the destination?

  The sound of the violins increased. He would have to make his decision now—or it would be made for him. Kyle pushed on the green gel and it parted. Once inside, he quickly untied one of his sneakers and placed the shoestring in the opening—half in—half out. No sooner had he done that than the gel began to move.

  Kyle watched the gel swirl with awe as the violins increased in pitch and volume. The gel began to move faster and faster as all of the colors of the rainbow pulsed up and down. The sound became almost deafening, but Kyle refused to hold his ears this time. He wanted to understand what was going on and didn’t want to miss anything. The gel turned blue and then appeared to change into a pure liquid—like water. Pulses of electricity danced above the dome. The music filled his ears and his mind. Faster and faster, louder and louder until he felt he was going to burst and then…silence. The gel returned to its green color and consistency. It was now solid.

  All was quiet outside the capsule unlike the previous trip. There were no sounds of thunder and lightning—no sounds of any kind. It was eerily quiet.

  Kyle felt surprisingly exhilarated. It was if he had just been on the octopus ride at the carnival. His mind felt clear and sharp. He even had the unusual thought that he could do math and without feeling ill.

  He breathed in and out, as he nervously wrestled with the idea of going back. The practical side of his brain, in the meantime, processed the situation. He decided to venture out of the capsule after waiting a few minutes for the sound of approaching apatasaurs or other creature from history’s past. Kyle checked to make sure the shoestring was still half in and half out of the capsule first, then without any further deliberation, went through the opening. No sooner had he gone through than the capsule started to spin again. The sound of the violins filled his mind with its soothing music. He no longer felt the need to hold his ears. The music made him feel good.

  When the capsule was gone, Kyle turned to see where he was. He inhaled sharply at the sight of what was awaited him.

  Chapter Twenty

  The time was 5:00 AM back in the future and Dr. Donavan rubbed his eyes. The sun glared through the morning window and it was so bright it was painful. Medina, his wife, was up long before and busily went about the task of making breakfast. Teresa helped by making the coffee, while her mom scrambled the eggs and started the sausages. Theirs was a family that loved to eat breakfast. Like many families in modern society, it was the only meal of the day all of them were together. Life went on as usual.

  “Where’s Kyle?” asked Dr. Donavan. “It’s not like him to be late for breakfast…or any meal, for that matter.”

  “Probably still asleep,” said Medina. “The only thing he likes better than eating is sleeping. Teresa, why don’t you go and knock on his door.”

  The invitation to wake Kyle from a deep sleep was too tempting for Teresa to pass up. “Why, sure Mom! I’d be happy to do that!”

  “Now, don’t get fresh, Teresa. Don’t start a fight so early in the morning. Just knock on his door and tell him it’s time to eat.”

  “O…kay,” said Teresa dejectedly.

  She bounded up the stairs, ran up to Kyle’s door, and listened. She could hear Toby scratching at the door and whimpering to be let out. Teresa knocked loudly. “Kyle! Time to eat! Mom said you have to come! NOW!”

  She listened, but all she could hear was Toby barking and running in circles obviously anxious to get out. She tried again, but no response from Kyle.

  Maybe he’s listening to that music again with the earphones on.

  She decided to try the door handle and was surprised to find it open. Toby flew out of the room and down the stairs like a rocket. She could see the outline of Kyle in bed. He was still asleep.

  At the top of her voice, she yelled, “Kyle! Wake up!”

  There was no movement. Concerned, she went over to the bed and shook him. He felt soft.

  “What on earth?”

  Teresa pulled the covers back. “Oh my god! He’s gone!”

  Quickly she pulled the covers back up and over the pillows Kyle had piled on the bed. She didn’t know what to do. Her first impulse was to run downstairs and tell her parents. Then she wondered if Kyle had decided to go back without her and get Priti.

  ***

  “Did you wake him?”

  “He’s still asleep, Dad. Says he…uh…doesn’t feel well and just needs some extra rest. He says he’ll get up later.”

  Dr. Donavan thought about it for a minute and then said, “Okay. Let him sleep awhile. I’ll talk to him when I get home.”

  “If Kyle isn’t feeling well, maybe I should check on him,” said her mom as she picked up the cloth from the sink and wiped her hands.

  “No! I mean…you don’t want to wake him…uh…just yet, Mom. He really, really wants to just sleep some more.”

  Now her mom became even more concerned and raced up the stairs. Teresa covered her ears.

  “David!” came the scream from the top of the stairs. “Kyle’s gone! He’s run away!”

  ***

  “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have been so hard on him yesterday.”

  “What do you mean, dear? How is this your fault?”

  “Kyle wanted to know about my work…with string theory. I…I thought he was just being his usual self. You know…a wise guy. But he must have been serious. Teresa, do you know what Kyle’s up to?”

  “I…uh…know he’s been listening to classical music. Maybe he’s going insane?” she said with a half-hearted smile.

  “Kyle? Listening to…classical music?” said her mother. “That is odd.”

  “Well, maybe not,” said Dr. Donavan. “What kind of classical was Kyle listening to, Teresa? Do you know?”

  “Not really. I wouldn’t be caught dead listening to that stuff. All those violins make me ill.”

  “Violins?” said her father alarmed. “Kyle has been listening to violin music?” He stood up and walked around the room deep in thought while Teresa hoped her father wouldn’t figure it out. Her mother sat there with a puzzled look on her face. Then, it was as if a light went on in her father’s mind. He looked right at Teresa and she sunk in her chair.

  “Did Kyle go near the lab the other day when you kids were in the lounge?”

  “Uh…I don’t know.”

  “Did he leave the lounge?”

  Teresa knew that they had come back in time before they left and her father couldn’t know they were in the lab. “He went out and looked in there. Then he came back.”

  Dr. Donavan wasn’t convinced. He knew his daughter well enough to know she was hiding something. She had just tried to cover for her brother and now she was acting evasive in her answers.

  “Medina, I’m going to the lab. Don’t call the police just yet. Let me check on something. Teresa, get dressed. You’re coming with me.”

  Teresa’s chest felt heavy as her heart sank.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Kyle turned to run back into the capsule even though he knew it was gone. Fear racked his body. He wanted to run, but instinctively knew it would be the wrong thing to do. Staring at him were seven vicious looking raptors—velociraptors—just like the ones in Jurassic Park only smaller. He remembered the animals in the movie where they were portrayed as h
ighly intelligent creatures with an unquenchable thirst for human flesh. Kyle read about the real velociraptors in the news and believed the animals in the movie were embellished for the sake of shock. Nevertheless, Kyle was certainly intimidated.

  These animals appeared more curious than aggressive. They bobbed their heads up and down licking the air—trying to taste him to see if he was, in fact, edible. They were much larger than Priti. The talons on their front paws were longer and more menacing in appearance. However, they didn’t act as if they were ready to pounce on him. At least not yet.

  Kyle decided the best defense was a quick offense. He assumed that they would begin to posture before they pounced and by that time it would be too late. He needed to forget the movie and remember that this was reality. These were animals and not intelligent creatures, unless one determined intelligence as instinct. He remembered what the man at the museum had said about bambiraptors—that they were carnivorous flesh-eaters. It wasn’t true. Kyle decided to treat the velociraptors just like any aggressive animal.

  He ran up to the closest animal and screamed at it. At the same time, he smacked it across the face. Not hard. Just enough to startle the animal. The response was immediate. They backed down and ran away from him.

  “Get out of here you skuzzy-looking stupid toads! Or I’ll pull the gizzards out of your throats,” commanded Kyle.

  The raptors were buying the tough guy image at the moment, but they weren’t frightened either. They kept their distance and began spreading out while licking the air and bobbing their heads again. They were still thinking about eating him, apparently. “I’ve got news for you bird brains; I’m not on the menu today.”