The Land Behind the Mirror | ONC 2022

Chapter 10

Alba continued eating, thinking it was probably one of the weird guys she had met earlier. That they were trying to figure out why she was the one who ended up in this impossible world where dinosaurs roamed free with humans whom they wanted to snack on from time to time.

Ana's aggravated voice reached her from the hallway, but Alba didn't give it much thought. After all, Ana didn't really like surprises, never had, and whoever it was, it seemed like they were not expected.

"Fine, you might as well come on in. Although, for the record, I don't think this is a good idea," Ana said, entering the room while throwing a frustrated look at whoever was behind her.

Remembering her manners, Alba rose to greet whichever curious human had come barging in. Yet, upon noticing the newcomer, she froze. Her mouth opened wide as her eyes scanned the room in terror, looking for some way to defend herself.

At first, all she could see were rows upon rows of sharp white teeth. It made the smaller dinosaur as terrifying as T-Rex had been. Even though it wasn't taller than 1.8 meters, its enormous claws and shiny teeth made it equally dangerous in Alba's eyes.

As its long tail whooshed back and forth, barely missing Ana's furniture, Alba could no longer stand the slow, steady motions with which it was approaching, the monster playing with her. She screamed from the top of her lungs, diving under the table, hoping that its awkward form wouldn't be able to follow.

I thought you said she has already seen dinosaurs. What's wrong with her?

The voice Alba heard sounded worried, but she wasn't ready to let that trick her. She might have fallen into one trap when she allowed her friend to take her to the monster's feeding grounds, the seemingly safe city, but she wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.

"I know what you are! You won't trick me into becoming your lunch!" Alba yelled from under the table, her voice shaking as much as her body.

She was out of ideas, and well aware of how dumb diving under the table was. However, caught off guard, thinking she was safe with Ana, her survival instincts refused to kick in with the same intensity as earlier.

What is she talking about? Didn't you tell her about the agreement? About my kind?

"I was getting to that, Wisetail. If someone had listened to me, then we wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place, would we?" Ana said sternly.

"Alba, come out, please. I promise you that everything is okay. Wisetail would never hurt you or any other being," Ana said to Alba, trying to put all her honesty into that one simple statement.

"But he is a velociraptor. They are the bad guys," Alba said, her voice so tiny that they could barely hear it.

I resent that label. I will not be judged based on my species by some newcomer.

"You are right, Alba. Wisetail is a velociraptor, but he isn't bad. Things aren't black or white. That's something you'll understand soon enough. Not all carnivorous dinosaurs are like Terrance. Most of them respect the agreement," Ana said, unsure of how to convince her friend of Wisetail's utter harmlessness.

Oh, she had the displeasure of meeting Terrance. I apologize in the name of all dinosaurs who ever existed.

The sincerity in his voice and the fact that he hadn't shown any signs of aggression, convinced Alba to pop her head from behind the table and survey him more thoroughly.

Upon taking a closer look, she realized that the vicious grimace was Wisetail's attempt at a smile which was negatively interpreted by her because of her previous bad experience. Furthermore, from his curled-up tail and slumped posture, she could tell that he was trying to seem less intimidating.

"Come on out. I am sure the chair is far more comfortable than the floor. Besides, you haven't finished your meal," Ana said, offering Alba her hand.

Alba took the offered hand cautiously, hoping that her friend hadn't changed.

She hoped the light of honesty she saw in her eyes was genuine and not an elaborate act that she was putting on for unknown reasons. Furthermore, she realized that if Wisetail wanted to hurt her, the fragile-looking table wouldn't have been an obstacle for him.

"I am sorry. I am just..." Alba said, getting back to her seat that she had so abruptly abandoned.

"Overwhelmed, I understand. Still, you must know that no matter how much we both changed, I will always do my best to protect you. If you can't trust anything else, please trust that," Ana said.

"I do. I am sorry I overreacted. I just feel like I am constantly on edge," Alba said, looking at them apologetically.

Understandable. We are a lot to get used to.

Wisetail sounded good-natured once again and, what was more comforting, his voice was more like a voice of a curious child than a savage beast intent on devouring someone's flesh.

What have you told her so far, Ana?

"Nothing much because someone was far too impatient to let us rest up and give me time to explain things and came barging in and scaring my friend," Ana said bitingly.

I apologize. Perhaps I can make up for it by telling Alba the story of how we all came to be. After all, I was the one who taught you everything you know.

"Not everything, but I guess it's better to hear it directly from the source," Ana said, making peace with her favorite albeit impatient dinosaurs.

From the beginning of time, we have existed with each other, sometimes fighting, sometimes making alliances, friendships even. But only when humans came into existence we ended up on the fast-tracked evolutionary road.

"Wait a minute, how is it possible for both species to develop simultaneously?" Alba asked as she started picking at her food.

"Basically, this world evolved differently than ours. No species disappeared. It has both dinosaurs and birds. Monkeys and humans," Ana interjected with her point of view that she hoped would be more familiar to Alba.

It's far more complicated than that, but I guess your friend is right. That is the basic idea.

"What happened when humans were thrown into the mix?" Alba asked, eating automatically while all her attention was on the velociraptor telling the story.

We realized that we needed to evolve at a more rapid pace to be able to communicate with other beings and telepathy was the only way. After all, we aren't equipped like the chimpanzees so that we can learn human sign language or barking or chirping. We had to adapt.

"Sure, sure, and telepathy was the simplest way," Alba said, dripping with sarcasm.

Perhaps not the easiest but certainly the most efficient way. It was our first conscious evolution. The evolution that we chose to happen.

Alba's head was spinning at the impossibility of it all. But then again, she thought that if she could fall through a mirror into another world, it only stood to reason that anything was possible. For dinosaurs to decide to evolve, to use telepathy and being on seemingly friendly terms with humans. Well, at least some of them.

"So are all animals sapient, intelligent life forms like humans?" she asked.

Well, maybe not exactly like humans, but yes, humans aren't the only intelligent beings on this planet.

"What do you do for food? I know humans love meat, some can't even live without it, and I am guessing it's doubly so for the carnivorous dinosaurs. So do you eat people or something?" Alba asked, trying to follow the threads of logic that spread throughout her confused mind.

"Alba! You don't go around asking those around you if they eat people! It's rude," Ana said, worried that her friend's offhand comment might have hurt Wisetail's feelings.

That's alright, Ana, that's an understandable question. I will explain. Maybe it will help ease some of her fears.

"I am all ears," Alba said, finally relaxing because knowledge was power. And she was about to receive quite a bit of the said power judging from the comfortable position the dinosaur took before starting his tale.