More Future Reptiles

It was an early spring day started and the bright orange sun was slowly peaking over the eastern horizon. There was very little noise to be heard near the dark and tranquil lakeshore. The usual early morning fog drifted tendrils in and out of the trees, which grew so close to the water. Large slow drops of water plopped down from branches and leaves higher up and were reminders of the late rains from yesterday evening. As the night shift went to their various caves, burrows, and hiding places the morning shift of local inhabitants were just starting their search for this morning’s breakfast.

It was still quite cold near the water, but this would change as the day wore on. Even the buzzing insects had not gotten up to speed yet. It would be another couple of hours before the frenetic scramble would really shift into high gear. Peaceful tranquility was the rule early in the day. This morning, however, there was going to be a change of routines. For today was the day when the new King would make his appearance for the first time in his unsuspecting kingdom.

The first sign that he was arriving was a series of ripples in the distance. These ripples soon became waves washing the shore and finally a showering cascade of water droplets as I arrived in a rainbow of color on the wide sandy beach.

What am I doing here I asked myself. And I got no answer. Water continued to flow down my entire heavily muscled 18 foot body and disappeared into the sand as I looked at my body in amazement. My tail arched out of the lake as if proclaiming "I have arrived." My head stood an impressive 10 feet above the sand on upright legs and was counterbalanced by my powerful tail. A golden green color was much the same color as the surrounding growth of waterside plants and my outlines was broken up with brown and rust stripes that made me almost impossible to see if I was standing still in the lush undergrowth around me.

Okay, what's going on. I know this is some kind of a dream or something, but I have never had one this real. And yet it didn't feel exactly real either. Something felt wrong. I had had dinosaur dreams before, what kid hadn't? And yet no dinosaur ever live that looked like this. Of that and nothing else I was sure.

After taking few moments to survey my surroundings I was sure this was not in the past. These plants were familiar but unrecognizable. I realized suddenly that I could smell these botanical creations both individually and as a group. The sensations hit me like a blow to the head and I wobbled a little until I got control of my new body again. Better drop back to automatic pilot until I sort this all out. Also better get off this beach in case there is something nastier than I appeared to be walking around looking for breakfast. I quietly slipped into the vegetation surrounding this narrow but long lake. It was in the middle of what looked like a semi tropical South American forest.

As I blended seamlessly into this vegetation I marveled at the grace and strength this incredible body that I was wearing possessed. When I stopped trying to override this body's command I found these unusual feelings that nearly overcame me were easier to handle. What I was calling autopilot seemed to be some sort of instincts the body possessed. And then if I overruled them and took charge I seemed to be using my native intelligence.

How interesting. When I was back in school I remember studying how some reptiles like monitor lizards, tegu's and pythons have demonstrated this dual kind of behavior. So this creature apparently had these same abilities, only it was my intelligence directing anything that the instincts couldn't handle. I test this theory out several times and it seemed to work. And right now my instincts were telling me I am hungry.

Great, what did I eat? My tongue tells me that my teeth are very sharp. Okay, probably a carnivore. But do I run my meal down like a great cat or wait and ambush it like a Komodo dragon does? Better turn this over to autopilot. Or rather instincts. Okay, I stop between two bushes that look like rubber trees. Not a muscle quivers. Half an hour goes by and not a move, but no food either. How long do I wait? This second-guessing could drive me wild. Maybe this creature that is me has been programmed for patience but my intellect has not. Wait, what's that?

The first to pay tribute to my hunger was a small lizard-like insectivore hunting for his own breakfast. This lizard was in a hurry to get down to the water where insects could now be heard droning. He failed to notice the new growth by the edge of the well-trod pathway. With lightning like speed I lunged onto the path and snatched this dog sized creature in my mouth. Crunch, shake, crunch, violent shake, chew, chew and I had a dead something in my mouth. Head tilted toward the sky, jaws unhinged slightly and a convulsive swallow and I had a start on breakfast. Not quite a full meal the regal tyrant I was but a good start. And it didn't cost me a dime. McDonald's, eat your heart out. This was the start of an interesting adventure. Guess it's time to wake up now.

Hmmm. Nothing happening here. Guess I'm not in charge of this dream or whatever it is. I settle down on my muscular haunches to wait for what happens next. And shortly, the next target of opportunity comes along. With my almost perfect camouflage it wasn't long before it was time to rest on a full stomach. What do I do now? Most reptiles look for some patch of sun or a warm rock to help digest meals the most efficiently so I guess I'll try the same. But I notice that I am not a slave of the temperature around me. Maybe I'm warm blooded like mammals or dinosaurs from long ago. I wonder exactly when this is supposed to be taking place. This sure seems to be Earth and my instincts seem to confirm this thought. And yet I don't feel all that comfortable with all that meat inside me. Okay, l am just guessing now but maybe I'm not totally cold blooded and not totally warm blooded. This could be interesting if true. Possessing most of the best qualities of both lifestyles would make me a very impressive creature. When there was a good reason for it that means I can slow down my metabolism and thus conserve energy or get more from less. And then within a relatively short period of time I should be able to revert to a high energy warm-blooded creature, although my eating requirements would go up equally fast. Oh well, all life is a trade off of various functions versus varies penalties. In this I may be much more like the ancient dinosaur ancestors of the birds than the more recent lizards of my time.

What was most interesting to me right now was my ability to quickly assess and then understand much about this world. It was almost if I was getting some coaching from an unknown source. Fine, I'll take it until I figure out what is going on here.

Somehow right then I knew with a chilling certainty that I was definitely on Earth. But far into Earth’s future. Was mankind still around? What was this Earth like? Was I one of the dominant creatures here or were there nasty surprises in store for me? My new body seemed pretty confident. I just hoped I could trust these instincts.

Several hours later I'm draped over a log just up slope from the creek which flows into the eastern end of this nameless lake. I wasn’t really hungry again but something inside me felt the urged to get up and start exploring this new territory while my energy level was at a peak.

My instincts told me that I was a creature of voracious and non-discriminating appetite. And that it took a lot of food to keep my 1,500 pounds on the go. Luckily I knew I was not fussy in what I would eat and very good a finding my next meal. Ripe fruit, carrion, fish, bird, and even other reptiles were fair game to my hunting prowess. I could hunt on the ground, in the water, or anywhere edible food could be found. This was good since it could have been 25 million years since packaged microwave meals had gone extinct. Looking at my impressive claws it would seem that microwave cooking wasn't going to be in my future even if I could find one.

I also knew that as a day time predator I relied mostly on my eyes, ears, and sense of smell/taste to locate meals. I had tried out my legs earlier and found that my speed was mostly of the quick burst type. I tired quickly and relied on the fact that I could go through most heavy forest growth while my prey had to go around or over and thus were initially slower in escaping then they would have been in open ground. I was definitely in my element in this type of cover. Interesting that I was getting to experience for myself what I had only observed or suspected when studying animals as a zoologist in my other life. My other life. I could clearly remember myself but found myself really starting to merge with this new experience. Going with the flow or is this all a superdream of some kind. Oh well, I'll just see where this all goes.

As I wandered back toward the area around the lake the scientist in me noted that it was composed of dense semi tropical trees competing for sunlight like down near Alamos, Mexico. There was just enough light reaching the forest floor here to provide a fierce competition for available space and the undergrowth was thick. The exception was the well-beaten trails toward the water that also seemed to extend around the lake. I decided to scout the perimeter of this watery basin to see the terrain and survey my new kingdom. My instincts told me we were also looking at available prey. Moving by instinct in a clockwise direction I soon came upon several interesting scents. My long tongue, which I now noticed, was forked, flicked in and out of my mouth, as I tasted these new stimuli. Suddenly a long drawn out hiss escapes from my powerful jaws. My whole body sent tense and I started to shake. Something was wrong. And that something was what? Oh, better let my instincts take over. Danger/opportunity. There was another of my kind near by. But not close. The scent was faint. My thoughts were that this was intolerable. My fighting instincts were never far from the surface, it seemed, and I was prepared to unleash them. Again testing the air I decided they were stronger toward the slowly setting sun that-a-way and so started off in a rapid shuffle. I felt I was ready for anything in this new body as I settled into a brisk walking pace in the direction where I knew I would find another of my kind. But then my intellect started working over this situation. What if my adversary was much bigger or more skillful at fighting? And do we fight to the death or just check each other out and the loser walks away. There more questions than I had ready answers for. Okay, let's go get some answers.

Normally I was a silent hunter, but my instincts made no pretense of subtly now. I wasn't sure this was the wisest course but didn't know how to stop this machine that my instincts made me. Hearing me coming, all the other denizens of the area scurried quickly away from the paths I was using and into the surrounding vegetation toward safety. If I was in a hunting mood they would have been followed tenaciously through dense foliage, across streams, into burrows, and even up larger trees until my determination and ferocity caught up with them or they totally eluded me. That was the way. Nothing stopped this incredible biological; hunting machine in its search for a meal or turned it away from a kill once it had it. It didn’t matter to it if some other creature had made the kill. It only knew that it must be his and so it was. This was his mood now as I searched for the adversary my senses told me lay at the end of this scent trail. The tell tale molecules lingering in the air told me that I was getting closer to the confrontation that could be bloody and violent. Was this what I wanted. Part of me screamed yes, but another part said wait a minute here.

The closer I approached my target, though, the stranger the scent became and the more prepared I was to do violence. Okay, its take control now or never get the chance. I stopped to let some of the fight hormones clear from my body. My head was pounding and a haze momentarily overcame my vision. Wow, just like getting out of a fight back in junior high. Excess hormone backlash. Slowly I got my body and instincts under control. I was determined not to rush into this.

Sure enough, I was getting conflicting readings. Something was wrong. I needed to scout this situation out. Something was not right with this scent. I stopped and tasted the lingering aroma again. My tongue flicked in and out of my mouth several times rapidly until I knew what was wrong. There were actually two related odors. A male of my kind and a female. Her pheromones said she was a young female about to come into heat and she should be just up ahead.

But where was the male. Across the shallow stream and up the slope beyond I continued searching. No, the scent was weaker. This was the wrong way. Quickly backtracking I turned up the stream. Yes, this tasted right. Another hundred feet and I could barely see a small clearing. There she was, sunning herself on a granite boulder jutting out over the gurgling stream. She was magnificent. She was highly desirable. My instincts screamed to go to her and if the other male got in the way to chase him off, to fight savagely for this queen. The sight and scent of her made me expand my awareness and desire multiple times. I must have her. She is everything I need in life. To me she is life.

Was this my instincts or intellect talking? Maybe both. But I can't give in to this rutting instinct. I had to be careful in this unknown situation. But I wanted her now. Nevertheless, my cautious approach won out.

I decided to circle the clearing and see if I could find the other male. Slowly and quietly I started the search. I was almost back to where I had started when a slight rustle behind me alerted me to his presence. I must turn and attack the one who stood between my queen and me. Instead of doing what my instincts said I quickly burst out in a sprint for the stream just below me. I could hear him right behind me. He was breathing hard but not gaining on me.

Dodge the tree, jump the log, and plow through the bushes. Almost to the water. There, as I hit the water a blinding spray hid me for the instant I needed. Flipping onto my back I pointed my deadly hind feet in the direction I knew he would be coming from. Sure enough, he dived straight to where he thought my fleeing back would be in the water spray. Instead he found massive six-inch claws which instantly raked his tender underside with long deep gashes before he was cartwheeled over the stream to land on his back among the thick bushes lining the bank. A classical karate maneuver except the claw bonus points.

Turning the fight over to instincts I found myself rushing over to him while he was still untangling himself from the shrubbery. Now I closed my massive jaws over the back of his neck and started to bite. Instantly he stopped struggling and collapsed limply to the ground. To my surprise I didn't bite down. Instead I shook his limp form a few times and then stopped.

The entire fight had been soundless until now. My foe emitted a high whining sound that I new meant defeat. One more shake and I released my hold but didn't move away. My former antagonist slowly started crawling away from me. After about ten feet of progress he stood up and shook himself free of debris and looked at me. He made a slight bow of his head to acknowledge my victory and then without further action simply turned and strode off into the forest away from the clearing and me.

Her head came up quickly when she saw me. She was larger than my own body I now knew as were most females of our species. Standing upright on stiff legs she clearly showed me her majestic size. Partially this was to impress me, but equally important I knew was to warn me in case I had any ideas of attacking.

She was truly what I had waited all my life to find. What am I thinking? She is a giant lizard, not a blond on the Riviera beach. No, a voice whispered inside my head, she is your mate. She is your other half and your true love. Go to her and become complete. Where once you were incomplete now you will be whole. The two shall be one. What matters the body, look at that soul.

Okay, I guess I can do that I thought to myself. My breath hissed out from between my sharp carnivore teeth. I almost dropped to the ground at the sight of the slender in front of me. Swirling rainbow colors that somehow I knew I could wrap myself in and complement. She really was my opposite half. I had never experienced this kind of feeling. It was part desperate longing and part hopeful rapture. It was clear to me that the form mattered not. I must go to her. My instincts kicked back in.

I now approached her bobbing my head and upper body up and down, up and down. She watched me cautiously from atop her bolder. Slowly, but then with more vigor as she warmed up, she started returning my bows and then suddenly jumped down beside me on the soft forest floor. Nipping each other’s shoulders and slowly turning in circles we started what I knew was the prelude to the mating acceptance dance. It must be done just perfectly and not just the moves. It gave us a chance to look at each other’s souls and see if we were compatible. I knew we were. But would she? I never wanted someone more in my life, human or otherwise.

Apparently she had sensed some flaw in her other suitor and turned him down flat. But he was large and so had hung around to drive off other would be suitors. And he had done so apparently for some time. Until my unexpected tactics had turned the tables and allowed me to try my dance for her.

Now it was the female who quickened the pace as she became satisfied with my so far ritual advances. She now started a courtship dance that was elaborate and difficult. She was incredible, I knew I couldn't hope to match this skill. This passion. Okay, I've got to try. Acting strictly via instinct I matched her move for move, but I could see she was starting to lose interest. Worse yet she was getting ready to drive me away like she had the other male.

No go, I said to myself. Wait, I'll bet she never saw the bossa nova before. I didn't know if I could do it in this new body. But I had nothing to lose. Step, step, bow, bow. Step, whirl, bow. What the heck, let's let it all go. I danced my frustration, my need for a true love, my loneliness, and my hopes. I threw everything I had into it. I danced until I was ready to drop. She watched me closely and silently.

And then she bowed to me and clicked her teeth. I knew that meant she was impressed. Back on instincts and we went side by side and started the mating ritual.

After a fast and furious few minutes we completed the eons old dance and just like that became a mated pair. The new king had his queen. My instincts told me we would stay together for several days while repeating the dances and mating rituals several more times and becoming bonded before we mated. I wondered just what that would be like and then suddenly I did wake up to the sound of low and deep laughter. Where was it coming from?