Author's Games: History

Task One: Entries

Spot 2: Sara_R_Stark

  "Peter! Peter wake up!" Peter's eyes opened groggily, his vision swimming as he struggled to identify the face hanging mere inches in front of his own.

"What? What do you want?" he asked, stifling a yawn as he sat up slowly. It was in the early hours of the morning, sunlight just barely streaming in through the thick blinds of the museum's massive windows.

"Something's gone wrong," the young man gasped. Peter's eyesight finally adjusted and he made out the blurry figure of his close friend, Heiron, crouching by his bed. "Come on, everyone is assembling in the main hall."

He yanked Peter to his feet, the German swaying tiredly as they made their way through the museum. As they approached the hall, hushed whispers could be heard, and Peter's eyes widened at the size of the crowd filling in the small space. They were all surrounding the museum's only working time machine, one of the ones that Kenneth's agents often used to scout out more people for their exhibits. Why was everyone assembling this early in the morning?

"Why is everyone here?" he asked. "Are they bringing someone new in?"

"I do not think so," Heiron grinned childishly. "I heard they will look for people to go back. Something bad happened on one of their searches and they don't want to risk their workers getting killed."

"Then why did you drag me in here? I won't be going on anything of the sort."

"They wanted all of us." Peter sighed deeply, eventually nodding. This seemed to excite Heiron. The man was already 23, though he acted as though he was a child with his constant enthusiasm and wonder. He had always wanted to go on adventures and explore areas outside of Greece, though his family's situation never allowed him to. Heiron still seemed to consider the museum an adventure to be had, and Peter never bothered to explain to him the gravity of their situation.

All at once the crowd hushed, and Heiron murmured something excitedly in Greek, straining his neck to see over the heads of the others. One of Kenneth's agents stood atop a platform by the machine, holding a clipboard in his hand, his eyes sweeping over the crowd as he waited for complete silence.

"Thank you for coming here at such an early hour," he said, his voice gravely and intimidatingly deep. "I am going to make this quick. There has been an issue with our most recent expedition, and an avalanche caused by our carelessness has trapped a town within its own borders. This could negatively affect surrounding towns in ways that we can not identify as of yet. Those who will go have already been decided and there will be no dispute. I will read from the list and those on the mission will step forwards." He looked around once more before glancing at his clipboard. "Freydis, Anne Elizabeth Myers, Elanor Lincoln, Heiron Condos, Ammon, Cassius and Peter Fischer."

Peter groaned in annoyance.

. . . . . . . . . .

The time machine was like nothing Peter had ever imagined. The trip was quick, nothing more than a brief jolt and a nauseating dizzy feeling before they hit solid ground. Heiron was the first one out of the machine, laughing gleefully at the sight of the expansive winter wonderland they landed in. They had been briefed by the agent about their time period, the ice age within the time known as the 'Pleistocene Epoch.' Though it was considered summertime, the ice never melted and the weather barely rose over its average temperature of around 9-18 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Let us make this fast," Ammon, a young man from Ancient Egypt grumbled. "I am not fond of cold."

"Then we'll hurry," Peter responded, beginning to make his way out of the clearing.

A brief sweep of the land gave Peter all the information he needed. Mountains rose in the distance, grey peeks poking through the cloudy sky. Sparse golden prairie grass grew underfoot, barely poking through the snow and ice and scratching at Peter's boots. They were in a large empty clearing, pines and firs stretching as far as they could see in any direction. Through the trees, animals continued on with their days, not paying any attention to group of humans invading their territory. This was what caught Peter's attention the most. Animals he had never thought to see, such as a large woolly mammoth, tramped through the forest around them. A hawk screamed as it flew above their heads before swooping down into the trees, flipping back up into the air moments later with a small rodent clamped between its beak. More tracks, likely of animals much larger than any of their group, trekked across their clearing. That was Peter's cue to get their group moving as fast as possible.