Greetings and good tidings!

K.N. Nguyen here. I decided to take a break from working on the second book in my Fallen series to listen to the rain. After listening for a few minutes, I realized how lucky I am to be able to sit at home and work on my passion, all while being soothed by the gentle plinking of raindrops. Not everyone is so lucky to get this luxury, and I am truly grateful for this opportunity.

I originally started this post as a call to authors. Starting in January, I will be working on a new short story anthology with, hopefully, my fellow authors from the New Beginnings anthology. However, I would love to allow for another author to join in our new venture. If you are interested, please message us on our Facebook page. 🙂

And now, as promised in the previous post, here’s a little sneak at our Dinosaur Time Lords shorts:

When Dinosaurs Roamed the Earth or   Of Paradoxes and Theropods  by  Nicholas Walls

“Hello, good urchin! Would you like an adventure?”

Billy Tattler jumped at the roaring voice, his sulking interrupted. He wasn’t sure what an “urchin” was, but from what he remembered from English class it wasn’t real flattering. He’d already been ticked that his buddies stood him up, leaving him wandering around the old soccer field, with just his teenage angst and rusting, netless goals as company. The jean and sweatshirt clad teen turned to tell the loud jerk off. He froze, jaw open mid retort.

Now, Mrs. Tattler would surely have chided her son about catching flies, but she might have made an exception in this case.

It isn’t everyday one sees a Tyrannosaurus Rex in a top hat.

It loomed twice the size of a Volkswagen, a tad small for a Lizard King, but its jaws seemed plenty wide to the thirteen-year-old boy. A top hat sat propped at a jaunty angle on its head while a monocle glinted in the Saturday afternoon sun. It wore a vest of brown leather and a belt, festooned with bright widgets, gadgets, and what looked like a hair dryer with a row of light bulbs bolted on.

Yes, Billy’s mum surely would have forgiven his slack jawed faux-pas.

As the silence stretched and Billy gawked, the T-Rex cleared its throat, startling nearby birds to flight.

“I say again, human boy, would you like an adventure?” It grinned at Billy, rows of razor sharp teeth gleaming in the sun, a bit of spinach trapped by his gums.

“You’re a dinosaur.” Well, the obvious had to be stated.

The resulting snort set dogs barking several blocks away. “Bright one, aren’t we? Dear urchin, I am Professor Tekles Grammaticus and I am a Temporal Marquee, thank you very much.”

Billy raised an eyebrow. “You gotta be kidding me.”

“I most certainly am not!” Tekles’ face betrayed outraged indignation. A herculean feat for an apex predator from the dawn of time. “My title is granted directly from the Great Saurian Deliberative. Quite official, I assure you.” A tiny claw reached into a vest pocket and drew out a golden pocket watch. “Now come along, tiny mammal child. Mustn’t miss our flight window.”

Even as the erudite reptile trundled off, Billy followed after him, mind reeling.

“Wait, if you are a time master-thing, why do you need me?” Billy’s addressing of the elephant in the room would have no doubt impressed Mrs. Tattler, had she been present for the sequence of increasingly bizarre events.

The oversized lizard, which Billy started to think of as a “he”, rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Because that is how adventures work! You can’t do one alone, then it’s just perverse.”

The two marched in silence until they came to an abandoned gas station. Professor Tekles tutted and checked his watch repeatedly while Billy looked around. Joggers, dog walkers, and other passersby went about their business. No one seemed to be giving the giant lizard a second glance. Billy wondered if he was being pranked or just lost his marbles.

“So….um….what are we doing here?” Another obvious question and further theoretical approbation from the boy’s mother.

“Meeting our ride, of course.” The dino’s eyes scanned the skies unceasingly.

Billy nodded like he understood and kicked an empty soda can. On the second clang the skies opened up with thunder.

Lights and sound crashed from the sky with a fury, a gale kicking up dust and tearing the can farther down the lot. Tekles’ giddy laughter could just be heard above the riot. Descending from the sky came what looked to be the unholy love child of a zeppelin and a yacht, all done up in shiny brass and polished wood accents. Stabbing spears of multicolored light zigged and zagged over the ground, coming to alight upon the Temporal Marquee and comparably diminutive traveling companion.

It alighted with a stately thumping, vestigial wings at its back flapping furiously, obviously too small to support the ship’s bulk. A boarding ramp, sized appropriately for the dinosaur, descended with a clank.

Professor Tekles looked smug as he ascended into his ship. “Well there we are! Right on time. We just made our departure window. Come along, hairy one.”

Billy ran up the ramp after him, legs pumping to keep up with the larger being’s stride.

“This is your ship?”

Tekles did the offended look again, which still seemed impressive for a supposedly extinct carnivore. “Of course it is. What did you expect, a blue box?”

 

Until next time! 🙂