Prologue: A Quetzalcoatlus, You Say?
Twelve years earlier
Daniel Matton had many memories of his mother, but none beat the day he found a fossil in the Valley of Green. His father was out on another space exploration, so Dan and Becca had the whole house to themselves for the past week.
Driving a three-wheeled, spaceship-like car, Becca pulled up to Green’s entrance. “Here we are, Dan.” She shut off the AC and removed a barrette from the glove compartment. Becca pulled back her gingerbread-colored bangs and tucked them behind her ear.
Dan unbuckled himself and almost threw the car door open. He climbed out and yelled, “Mommy, Mommy, show me how to hoverscoot! Show me how to hoverscoot!” He shared his mother’s gingerbread hair, but unlike her, the tufts in it resembled spikes that wafted under Greenville, SC’s warm breeze.
Becca muffled a cough and climbed out of the car herself. She passed Dan on her way to the trunk and patted his little shoulder.
“No, No!” Dan stamped his foot. “Carry me. Carry me, please?” He tugged Becca’s pant leg.
She chuckled and picked him up. Becca carried him in one arm and opened the car’s trunk with her free hand. While she unloaded the red hoverboard, Dan played with her shoulder-length hair.
Eventually, he let go and pointed at the hoverscooter. “Hoverboard, Mommy. Hoverboard.”
Becca bounced him. “Patience, pumpkin. We’re getting there.”
“I want to be like Daddy,” Dan explained while approaching Green’s central valley. “I want to fly. I want to go into space.” His big, brown eyes widened further, and he gestured at the cloudless, blue sky.
“Maybe one day, it will happen.” Becca kissed his forehead. “But for now, my angel, let me teach you how to hoverscoot.” She waited until they were in the valley before she put Dan down.
He rolled around in a cluster of flowers and ferns like a dog. Becca called to him, but Dan didn’t listen. The flowers intrigued him, and he picked one, sniffing it. “Mommy, Mommy, I have something for you.” Dan stepped out of the plants and offered her his flower. “How long have these flowers been here?”
“Since dinosaur times,” Becca answered, accepting the flower. Thank you so much, Dan.” She placed the flower in her hair and slid the hoverboard between her and Dan.
“Dino-four?” he asked, plopping onto the ground into a mud puddle. It covered the back of his pants, and Dan chuckled when a potty joke came to mind. He started to stand, but his hand hit something hard in the mud.
“Daniel, what are you doing?” Becca inquired at the sight of him digging in the puddle. She stood him up and saw that he held something in his palms.
“Mommy, I found a rock!” he chanted, jumping up and down.
“A rock, you say?” Becca squinted and set her palm on Dan’s back. She escorted him to the center stream of the Valley of Green, which led to the crater. Over time, that crater evolved into a lake renowned for its glass-like surface and perfectly circular shape.
Becca took the rock from Dan and kneeled to the stream, starting to wash it like a bird in a birdbath.
“Mommy, what is it?” Dan questioned, clutching her arm.
Becca’s hoverboard snuck up on the two as if it refused to be left alone.
She removed the now-clean rock from the stream, and her eyes widened. “Da-Daniel, I don’t think this is just a rock.”
Before she could say anything more, a blue, holographic light left the hoverboard and scanned it. Its artificial intelligence booted up. “Scanning fossil. Trilobite.”
“I knew it!” Becca cheered. “You found a fossil, Dan! A fossil! Too bad it’s not a Quetzalcoatlus.”
