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Ultra-Fauna
(© Jesus Riddle Morales)

Page 1

"I told you there would be diversity here!" An athletic woman prodded scornfully.

"Diversity, you say? My dog was just eaten alive!? The master angler griped.

Aaron Cobalt was a middle-age fisherman with a world renowned reputation. At just five-foot seven, he wasn’t the tallest or strongest angler of his era, but he was certainly the most famous. He had a hit cable show that aired in seventeen nations and large expedition funding from some of the best naturalist organizations on the planet, which now included corporate advertising. But today, he was angered over an extremely bizarre notification from his wealthy client.

Celina Rivera was a slim Hispanic girl from Mexico with a Bachelors Degree in biodiversity and a Masters in evolutionary biology. As a scientific muse, she followed in the footsteps of greats like Ward, Dawkins, Wilson, and Gould. However, a month ago, she had stumbled upon something far more vital to the history of the planet than her predecessors could ever imagine. Yet, for the moment, she had to explain a few things to Aaron, being as how some unknown species of river fish had just gulped up his prize Labrador.

"I realize that your dog has been…er, eaten, but could you calm down for a moment?" Celina asked.

"I fished in this part of the Amazon basin for years, lady," Aaron replied, while wiping the drenching sweat from his forehead. "I have never seen a fish like that before; hell, it just leapt on the boat and ate my damn dog!"

"Okay, let me try to explain; do you feel a little hotter than usual?"

"Huh? What kind of stupid question is that, brainy?"

"It’s good one; please, just answer me."

Aaron let his thoughts drift. It was unusually hot, even for this time of the year when the Amazon River flooded the forest ridges. He glared out in the odd colored reddish gleam of the sun, and then peered back towards the river’s rising tide line. The jungle around them looked thick and unfriendly as it always did, but something seemed particularly eerie about this afternoon.

"Yes, it’s a little hotter than normal, but I don’t see how that has anything to do with the fish I just seen."

Celina had on a thin pair of shorts on and an even thinner white blouse that did a poor job of hiding the sports bra that wielded her ample bosom. Aaron had to turn his face from the smart woman to avoid being caught admiring her salacious form. Since the heat made her sweat profusely, a sensual gleam of shining slime gave the bronze and green-eyed woman a very lascivious glazing. Celina may have been a knock-out physically, but her demeanor was pure nerd, she even wore the stereotypical cat-eyed glasses that sported a bind of tape along its cracked inseam.

"Look at this," Celina said while offering the small river boat’s thermometer. "It’s 109 degrees, over twenty degrees higher than when we first launched the boat two hours ago."

"So what, we’re in a heat wave; all that means is we should be heading back sooner. I don’t want you to have a heat stroke; then who would sign the checks for this expedition?"

"I don’t think money or even your dog will be of much concern to you once you find out where we are."

"Puh-lease, lady – can you please make some sense already?"

"Okay; look at your compass can you tell me where we’re at?"

Aaron pulled out his compass, aiming it and three other navigational tools towards the freakishly orange sun of the Amazon’s pink horizon.

"Ah ha, here we are; were at Tribal Tributaries, southwest of the Peruvian gulch."

"I really don’t think so, Aaron."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Do you recall those Mayan ruins we passed thirty minutes ago?

"Do you mean the Sun-Dials?’

"Yes; collectively they have long been known as a primitive type of sundial structure, but I’ve recently learned they are much more than that.

[ Continue to page 2 ]

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Genre:General Horror
Type:Short story
Rating:6.67 / 10
Rated By:39 users
Comments: 2 users
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