Bentbeak the bird
flew over the prehistory of the world.
He flew over wide
stretches of land and water, verdant fields of green and yellow grass that
swayed back and forth in a light breeze. It flew over vast expanses of water,
ducking low to glide over the waves and enjoy the company of its own
reflection.
It flew over the deserts and the badlands where nothing grew
for miles.
And finally it flew over the volcano.
The bird had no way
of knowing that it was flying over the volcano, since it gave no external
signs, except for a slightly higher land temperature than might have been
expected for that time of year. Unfortunately for the bird, it was not attuned
to imperceptible temperature errors, and it was also unaware of the increasing
pressure buildup beneath the surface.
The surface of the
planet began to split and crack, giant trees fell headlong into the cavernous
holes and returned as wisps of smoke a few seconds later. Any animals ill-fated
enough to be on the ground attempted to leave, but many plunged headfirst into
the holes to join the trees.
The surrounding
airspace took on the aroma of a poorly tended barbeque, singed meat rising
through the air and mingling with the clouds that had formed from the rivers
and streams that, until recently, had been flowing peaceably across the plains.
The bird was
oblivious to these changes.
He often found it
hard to concentrate on what he was doing, and right now he was quite interested
in the sudden appearance of the new clouds that were blocking his vision.
Two years ago he
had been flying through one of the greater mountain ranges on his way to a
party, when he was distracted by an attractively fish shaped cloud. He had
promptly flown into a mountain and bent his beak, which had resulted in a great
deal of teasing when he finally arrived. Ever since that day, his nose hadn’t worked
properly, and right now he was starting to pay the ultimate price for his
navigational mishap.
If he had smelt the
burning flesh below, he might have ducked below the cloud line and found the
time to escape. Instead, he flew on, oblivious to the danger below.
When the lava hit
him he was surprised, naturally. The presence of superheated rock in an area
you wouldn’t expect it is certainly something to be surprised at. But his real
surprise, looking back on it, was the speed of it. It was travelling, and it
didn’t seem to be slowing down. The volcano below, was forcing the lava above
onwards in an explosion of such violence that the planet shrank as its insides
flew upwards in one long stream of molten granite.
Eventually, the
pillar reached the upper atmosphere and started to cool. The liquid
re-solidifying into a giant cylinder that soared on through the upper
atmosphere, buoyed by the momentum it received from below. Just as it was
clearing the gravitational pull of the planet…it stopped.
The volcano was
done. The planet’s core was dry, and the event was over except for the tower.
The base was still liquid, while the upper part was sticking out into space.
Slowly- gravity started to notice and the pillar began to descend, cracking and
splitting along its length. The space pillar freed itself from its earthbound
relative and soared majestically into orbit, the splinters from the schism fell
like mighty bolts into the earth. Jagged and heavy, they fell into the ground
and sank, only to be covered by the setting lava from the end of the eruption.
Some fell wide over the surface, many miles from the epicentre, causing fiery
arcs to spread across the sky.
The tower stood for
a second, unsure of which way to fall. The wind swirled around it buffeting it
one way then the other, all the while, the lava on the ground continued to set.
Eventually it stood, as a giant totem, lording over the landscape and casting a
monstrous shadow well beyond the horizon.
The planet sighed,
and over the following millenia tried to adjust to the new space within. Many
of the giant fissures widened as the core contracted, and when the planet
cooled enough for the rains to fall, they became the new seas and rivers.
Thousands of islands now populated the area around the tower, some large, some
small, some that glittered like diamond and some that seemed to suck in the
light from the sun. The planet had taken the lives from most of its
inhabitants, and in return it had spilt its bounteous resources of the clean
across the surface.
| Number | Cumulative | |
| 6A | 0 | 18 |
| 6A+ | 1 | 18 |
| 6B | 1 | 17 |
| 6B+ | 5 | 16 |
| 6C | 1 | 11 |
| 6C+ | 1 | 10 |
| 7A | 2 | 9 |
| 7A+ | 2 | 7 |
| 7B | 4 | 5 |
| 7B+ | 1 | 1 |
| 7C | 0 | 0 |
| 7C+ | 0 | 0 |
| 8A | 0 | 0 |
Good times, might sunbathe later. So hot.
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