Monday, 20 January 2014

When you find the time you have to grab it…

Well, here goes, I had a bit of time that I decided to put to good use today, and using inspiration from my Year 8 English lesson first thing this morning, I decided to have a go at the descriptive piece of writing that they had been completing from last week.  The task was to write a short piece about traveling in a time machine to another time, and describing the place where they landed.  Success Criteria was all about using varied sentence types and the appropriate punctuation and leaving the story on a cliff hanger. 


My first problem was I’m not really a sci-fi kinda girl, so I was struggling for what my time machine might look like.  So, doing the obvious thing; I googled ‘Time Machine’ and had a look through the cars, make-shift sleighs and tardis’.  None of them really grabbed my attention; this however had my mind crawling with ideas immediately.  

(No copyright intended - the image belongs to Chris [Sparco2] on Deviant Art and I hope he doesn't mind me using his awesome artwork as my inspiration this morning)
Check out this link to have a look at some of his other work
http://sparco2.deviantart.com/

So, here you go; half an hours work!

   The world went blue as I concentrated hard enough to feel the beginnings of a warp headache begin to pulse behind my eyes.  Changing the time and date to around 150 million years ago, I planted my feet firmly on the ground and stood with my back against the cold brick wall of the alleyway. 
   Time started to speed up and I watched the hands spin on the clock that was perfectly in focus in front of my eyes.  Faster and faster, the hands began to rewind in time and I pressed my hands against the rough brick behind me in the hopes of grounding myself in both time and space.  I hated this part.  The overwhelming sickness descended upon my stomach in a gigantic wave as images started to flash past my eyes. 
   The scenes, along with softened noises and acute smells, disappeared as quickly as they arrived, making them hard to focus on, only adding to the pressure headache that pressed down behind my eyes; one I had nicknamed a warp headache, as I only ever felt it when travelling through time and space.  The icy blue haze that clouded my vision affected all the images zipping past, making me feel cold, not physically, nothing that was actually tangible; just an overpowering feeling in my head that made me shiver.  I fought the urge to wrap my arms around myself, knowing that breaking contact with the wall would make me stumble and fall when I landed in the Mesozoic Era. 

   With a thud that reverberated up my legs, I landed firmly on what appeared to be a parched landscape.  What should have been lush green grass beneath my feet was dry and scratchy against my bare ankles as I shuffled my feet to gain my balance. 
   There was no longer a wall behind me, and the disorientation that swept over me had me falling to my knees for support.  My fingers clawed the dusty earth as I put my head down for a couple of seconds to breathe through the pressure behind my eyes.  I blinked away the blue haze, no longer in need of the time device until I wanted to leave again. 
   Looking up from my position on the floor, I scanned the horizon.  The sun was disappearing slowly, casting a warm orange glow across the already burnt out plains, setting the edges on fire with colour.  Smiling to myself I made to stand up, locking my knees against the jelly-like feeling that always resided there after travelling so far. 
   The air around me was fresh and peaceful in a way that I had never experienced before living in the heart of a busy city.  Where I would normally smell exhaust fumes, factory rejects and hear the hectic bumble of people milling around, a fresh breeze carried the scent of pine trees and the faint smell of salt water.  If I listened hard I could hear the water running in what I could only assume to be a river crashing its way through the valley. 
   I began to turn slowly, taking in the luxuriously plain views around me when a rush of hot air on the back of my neck made me freeze. 

   Breathing slowly, I turned at the most sluggish pace I could manage, not wanting to alarm whatever stood over me.  Watching the floor carefully where a huge shadow had completely drowned out my own, I spun till I was face to face with the creature. 
   My history lessons raced through my head in an attempt to put a name to the beast standing in front of me, as if that was going to make the situation easier to handle.  I took a tentative step backwards and got a full view of the dinosaur that had taken an interest in me.

   My eyes were immediately drawn to the two long horns protruding from the top of its head and the shorter, stubbier horn half way down its nose.  A loud clicking noise filled my ears as it opened and closed its mouth in confusion.  Flat black eyes peering out from a burnt orange reptilian like skin roamed my body, trying to sum up my worth as prey and I took another step backwards, tumbling to the floor in a cloud of dust.
   The drastic sudden movement caused the dinosaur to huff out another loud snort of hot air and it took several shuffled steps forward until it was stood over me.
   Panic flitted through my body as I tried to summon up the time device to get me as far away from this beast as possible.  I took several deep breaths, closing my eyes to the view in front of me in the hopes of it being a nightmare, but when I opened them again, it still stood staring down at me. 
   I tried again to bring the time device to the forefront of my mind, but I knew better, I had to concentrate hard to gain control, and concentration was the last thing on my mind right now…


Hope you enjoyed reading my randomness.  Don't ask me why I picked the dinosaurs, because I know absolutely naff all about them, lol, but hey ho, I enjoyed writing it!

:) Louby x

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