#TimeTravelingGhost Part 55: EP 5: Jurassic Era — Rabbits

#Wss366 #MastoPrompt #TimeTravelAuthors 12/9

The rumbling of the behemoths diminished and then vanished. I opened my eyes. Emily was seated nearby on a mossy log with her mouth set in a concerned line.

“You okay?” she asked, biting her lip.

I felt heavy, and my legs were numb, but I could sit up. “Yeah, but I need to rest. I panicked a bit there.”

A smile touched her lips, easing the pinched look on her face. “I’ll say. Anyone would with those things coming at them.”

“How much more of this is there?”

“The good news is we can cut over to the ridge about a quarter mile out. The bad news is the slope’s wide open, so we’ll be plain as day. And believe me, there are some mean customers out there. Those boys weren’t stampeding for the sheer fun of it.”

My smile felt stiff. I could picture “mean customers” with lots of sharp teeth.

“Buck up; it’s the toll for being able to enjoy food and drink. Besides, you’re pretty spry. You have turning ectoplasmic down pat. If you didn’t—Ghost flapjacks.”

I laughed, “Ghost flapjacks,” that was a wonderful turn of phrase.

“Well, we’d better get moving. It looks like the no-man’s-land after the Jerries gave it a good shellacking.”

I groaned and got up, but was pleased to find my knee was better. There were lots of advantages of being a ghost.

My pleasure didn’t last long. As Emily had indicated, the trail became a quagmire of churned mud, torn vegetation, and a #soapy froth. It was a hellacious quarter mile.

Despite the “doughboy” slog to the ridge, there was only one incident. We had reached an open conifer forest running at the foot of the ridge when a stegosaurus burst from behind a grove of trees where it had hidden.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a carnivore. The only damage I sustained was a near heart attack when the immense beast lumbered past. It was almost comical, with its plates rattling, the thud of feet, and its tail striking against trees. There was a #chipped plate midway down its back. It was only funny because I was far enough away for the tail to pose no threat.

A minute later, Emily landed and apologized for not spotting it.

Note 1: Stegosaurus

#TootFic #MicroFiction #Serial #TimeTravel #NMFic #NMTTA