Cave Man Make Baby (The First Mountain Man)

“I’m going to get us a fish from the ocean,” he says. “You want to stay here at the fire or come with?”

“I’ll stay here,” I say, stretching my arms overhead and nursing the cup of tea Flint made me. It is a rose petal tea that is delicate and refreshing. I know if Summer were here, she would have so many ideas on how to use plants, roots, and flowering vines.

My stomach growls and I remember the trail mix I packed. I head into the cave to search through my backpack. Smiling, I grab the bag of cashews and chocolate chips, thinking how it will be a great treat for Flint.

In the cave, my eye lands on a shiny object in the corner, nestled in a piece of fur. I must have been too distracted with Flint in here to notice it before. I kneel before it, picking it up, mesmerized.

An amber-coated egg. Not just any egg. A special egg that is millions of years older than everything else here.

It’s clean and placed in the corner with care.

I drop the trail mix, transfixed.

Outside, I run toward Flint, who is walking back to the camp with a fishing spear raised over his shoulder, a large, yellow striped fish on its end. He grins. “Breakfast!”

“Forget breakfast, Flint, why didn’t you tell me you had a dinosaur egg?”

8

Flint

Her eyes are wild with excitement, and I knew this woman was captivated by the idea of time travel, but this egg is next-level. She can’t contain herself.

“It’s a dinosaur egg, Flint. Like, an actual one. And it’s been amberized, which means–”

“I know what it means, Fancy. It means if you figure out a way to melt off that amber, you’re gonna get yourself a baby dino.”

“Right,” she says, breathless, and I pull the fish off the spear and begin to fillet it on the wooden table I built near the fire. “Which means I wouldn’t just be studying dinosaurs that lived millions of years ago, I would be actually encountering them.”

I lift my eyebrows, shaking my head. “I thought you were special, didn’t realize you were crazy.”

She runs her hand over the egg, cradling it like it’s a damn baby. “I’m not crazy, I’m ecstatic.”

“You realize a dinosaur being on this beach is pretty much end of story for us?”

“But then we would have lived to see a dinosaur. I mean, think of it. I wonder what kind this is.”

“Well, we aren’t going to find out,” I say, wrapping the fish in banana leaves and placing them in the fire’s ash. “First of all, the fire won’t melt that amber. You’d need a furnace to do that level of damage. And secondly, I’m not going to spend my last breath looking up at the raging mouth of a T. rex.”

“You won’t even consider it? I mean, the odds of this being a T. rex are incredibly slim. This region wasn’t known for that species–”

I cut her off. “Listen, it’s not happening. I don’t want to die even if it seems kind of cool to see a dinosaur.”

She presses her lips together, thinking. Holding that egg in her hand like it’s the most precious thing. I think it’s more like a grenade.

“Why do you have this egg then,” she asks, “if you weren’t hoping to hatch it?”

I slice off the top of a coconut, handing it to her. “Look, when I fell through that cave, I landed on my ass, thought I was going to faint. Freaked the fuck out, right? Well, I stopped to drink some water and what did I find? That egg. It looked like it was glowing, waiting for me. I figured it was a talisman or something because I’ve never been attacked since living here, and what are the odds of that? It’s like my good luck charm. So before I go hunt in the jungle, or need to deal with a hungry predator getting too close for comfort, I rub this egg for good luck. Works like a charm every time. This egg and me, we’ve gotten through shit together.”

She smiles. “See, it was fate. This is all fate. We were brought here for a reason, Flint. For this dinosaur.”

“If we’re talking fate – let’s talk you and me. That feels like destiny. I need you, Fancy, in a way I’ve never needed anyone. And I’ve known you less than a damn day.”

“If that’s true, then you’ll help me with this egg.” She kisses it, like it’s her damn baby.

“That feels like an ultimatum,” I tell her, reaching for the fish. I open the leaves, then squeeze the juice of a fresh lime over the fillets. I hand her one of them, and tell her to dig in.

“I lost my appetite.”

I grunt. “You messing with me here, or are you really gonna throw a fit for not getting your way?”