Journey Through
Title: Journey Through
Author: not_from_stars
Fandom: Primeval
Pairing/Characters: Taylor Craig
Rating/Category: G
Summary: She would have named it something like “Obnoxious Tunnel To Nowhere Interesting”
Words: 11 Drabbles at 100 Words Each (1100)
Notes: This was written for challenge #199 at primeval100
The first time she saw an anomaly, she wasn’t sure what it was. She had seen all of the sparkling shards of what looked like glass in that tunnel and when her dog ran into it, she had no choice but to investigate. She couldn’t leave her poor dog in some strange tunnel, right? The world she found when she went through those shards was like something she had seen only in films and books. Of course, she hadn’t expected to be chased by giant scorpions or whatever those things were. She didn’t think she had ever run so fast.
***
She hurt her ankle, but she made it to those rocks that she knew signaled safety. Her dog was gone, probably eaten by those things that had chased her when he first came through. She wanted to cry. Her dog had been her best friend and the last thing her mum had ever given her. What was she supposed to do without him? She buried her face in her hands, trying to get her tears to stop. She could cry later. Right now she had to find a way out of here and back home where things usually made sense.
***
When the soldiers first came through the lights she had been watching, she thought they were there to rescue her - not that she needed rescuing, mind you. But when she yelled to get their attention, they ignored her and she knew that no good was going to come of this. Even so, she tried to warn them about the dangers in the sand, tried to get them to run to the rocks. They must have been a special kind of stupid, because they didn’t pay attention to her. Turning away and plugging her ears still didn’t drown out their screams.
***
The sun had risen when she saw two more people come through the shards into the desert. They looked different than the soldiers - they weren’t wearing so much gear for one thing. This time, when she yelled and waved her arms, these two men paid attention and started running to the safety of the rocks. It was good to know that not all grown men were lacking brains. One was a science guy, she could tell. The other guy thought he was an action hero or something. She told them in very strong words that she didn’t need a rescue.
***
Cutter and Stephen were the names of the two men, and apparently the shards thing she had come through was something called an anomaly. She thought that it was a stupid name for it. She would have named it something like “Obnoxious Tunnel To Nowhere Interesting”, but they didn’t ask her opinion of the name. It was probably just as well. She had already established that she wasn’t helpless and that she was working on an escape plan to get home, just that it was harder with an injured ankle. They were welcome to come along if they wanted to.
***
It was Cutter who told her while they were limping along the rocks that her dog had returned safely home. That made her feel better. At least those things in the sand hadn’t killed him like they killed the soldiers before. Cutter and Stephen had acted like they felt bad over her having to witness that. She wasn’t a little kid, she informed them. She was more than capable of handling bad things happening around her. When the anomaly they had been trying to get to suddenly disappeared, Taylor became less sure that she would ever see her home again.
***
It probably wasn’t the nicest thought to have when she was glad that the mean looking soldier ended up being dragged beneath the sand to feed the bugs. She was pretty sure that she could get away with it since he had planned to just leave them out here to die while making his own escape with whatever supplies he could steal from Cutter and Stephen. It was bad enough that he was stealing from them, but it was even worse that he didn’t care that they would die out here without those supplies. His karma ended in the sand.
***
In retrospect, she probably shouldn’t have threatened to punch Stephen if he ever picked her up again. She might have appreciated that he could move faster than she could with her bum ankle, but she didn’t like being picked up and carried without permission. He made her feel like one of those stupid princesses in fairy tale books who always needed the handsome prince to rescue them. She wasn’t even a little bit helpless and Stephen was not a prince. He was especially not a handsome prince. No princess and prince here. She’d deny forever that she’d liked his muscles.
***
She couldn’t help but laugh when Cutter punched out the caveman and they saw what he was wearing beneath his costume. She was pretty sure that colors like that weren’t even close to being in good taste. It felt good to really laugh and it felt good to know that she was back in the right place and time - bad actors notwithstanding. She wanted to go home and see her dog and then take a bath to get all of the sand off of her. She felt like she had been at a beach without the fun of the water.
***
When the men took her back home, she was surprised that her step-father had been so worried about her being gone. She hadn’t thought he cared either way what she did or what happened to her since her mom had died. That was just one more thing she was going to have to think about and they were going to need to work on. For better or worse, they were the only family each of them had and they would need to find a way to work things out with each other and talk more. Her mum would be proud.
***
Before life returned to normal and she worked things out with her Da, there was something she needed to do first. She went to the door where Cutter was leaving and called out a question to him. He seemed surprised at first, but then he nodded his head and answered her with a serious expression. She grinned, satisfied. She went back into the apartment already making plans in her head. When she was old enough, she was going to go work with Professor Cutter at the Anomaly Research Center. She rather liked this plan for her future. It had potential.
Author: not_from_stars
Fandom: Primeval
Pairing/Characters: Taylor Craig
Rating/Category: G
Summary: She would have named it something like “Obnoxious Tunnel To Nowhere Interesting”
Words: 11 Drabbles at 100 Words Each (1100)
Notes: This was written for challenge #199 at primeval100
The first time she saw an anomaly, she wasn’t sure what it was. She had seen all of the sparkling shards of what looked like glass in that tunnel and when her dog ran into it, she had no choice but to investigate. She couldn’t leave her poor dog in some strange tunnel, right? The world she found when she went through those shards was like something she had seen only in films and books. Of course, she hadn’t expected to be chased by giant scorpions or whatever those things were. She didn’t think she had ever run so fast.
***
She hurt her ankle, but she made it to those rocks that she knew signaled safety. Her dog was gone, probably eaten by those things that had chased her when he first came through. She wanted to cry. Her dog had been her best friend and the last thing her mum had ever given her. What was she supposed to do without him? She buried her face in her hands, trying to get her tears to stop. She could cry later. Right now she had to find a way out of here and back home where things usually made sense.
***
When the soldiers first came through the lights she had been watching, she thought they were there to rescue her - not that she needed rescuing, mind you. But when she yelled to get their attention, they ignored her and she knew that no good was going to come of this. Even so, she tried to warn them about the dangers in the sand, tried to get them to run to the rocks. They must have been a special kind of stupid, because they didn’t pay attention to her. Turning away and plugging her ears still didn’t drown out their screams.
***
The sun had risen when she saw two more people come through the shards into the desert. They looked different than the soldiers - they weren’t wearing so much gear for one thing. This time, when she yelled and waved her arms, these two men paid attention and started running to the safety of the rocks. It was good to know that not all grown men were lacking brains. One was a science guy, she could tell. The other guy thought he was an action hero or something. She told them in very strong words that she didn’t need a rescue.
***
Cutter and Stephen were the names of the two men, and apparently the shards thing she had come through was something called an anomaly. She thought that it was a stupid name for it. She would have named it something like “Obnoxious Tunnel To Nowhere Interesting”, but they didn’t ask her opinion of the name. It was probably just as well. She had already established that she wasn’t helpless and that she was working on an escape plan to get home, just that it was harder with an injured ankle. They were welcome to come along if they wanted to.
***
It was Cutter who told her while they were limping along the rocks that her dog had returned safely home. That made her feel better. At least those things in the sand hadn’t killed him like they killed the soldiers before. Cutter and Stephen had acted like they felt bad over her having to witness that. She wasn’t a little kid, she informed them. She was more than capable of handling bad things happening around her. When the anomaly they had been trying to get to suddenly disappeared, Taylor became less sure that she would ever see her home again.
***
It probably wasn’t the nicest thought to have when she was glad that the mean looking soldier ended up being dragged beneath the sand to feed the bugs. She was pretty sure that she could get away with it since he had planned to just leave them out here to die while making his own escape with whatever supplies he could steal from Cutter and Stephen. It was bad enough that he was stealing from them, but it was even worse that he didn’t care that they would die out here without those supplies. His karma ended in the sand.
***
In retrospect, she probably shouldn’t have threatened to punch Stephen if he ever picked her up again. She might have appreciated that he could move faster than she could with her bum ankle, but she didn’t like being picked up and carried without permission. He made her feel like one of those stupid princesses in fairy tale books who always needed the handsome prince to rescue them. She wasn’t even a little bit helpless and Stephen was not a prince. He was especially not a handsome prince. No princess and prince here. She’d deny forever that she’d liked his muscles.
***
She couldn’t help but laugh when Cutter punched out the caveman and they saw what he was wearing beneath his costume. She was pretty sure that colors like that weren’t even close to being in good taste. It felt good to really laugh and it felt good to know that she was back in the right place and time - bad actors notwithstanding. She wanted to go home and see her dog and then take a bath to get all of the sand off of her. She felt like she had been at a beach without the fun of the water.
***
When the men took her back home, she was surprised that her step-father had been so worried about her being gone. She hadn’t thought he cared either way what she did or what happened to her since her mom had died. That was just one more thing she was going to have to think about and they were going to need to work on. For better or worse, they were the only family each of them had and they would need to find a way to work things out with each other and talk more. Her mum would be proud.
***
Before life returned to normal and she worked things out with her Da, there was something she needed to do first. She went to the door where Cutter was leaving and called out a question to him. He seemed surprised at first, but then he nodded his head and answered her with a serious expression. She grinned, satisfied. She went back into the apartment already making plans in her head. When she was old enough, she was going to go work with Professor Cutter at the Anomaly Research Center. She rather liked this plan for her future. It had potential.