31 March 2012
Dr. Chan paused in the laborious field excavation of a fossilized Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton to wipe sweat from his brow. The specimen was an unusual one, showing damage to the skull region as well as charring to certain of the bones themselves.
The burned areas of the bones were troubling as the T-Rex was not discovered in a region known to have been wooded at the time that the creature was alive; subsequently, the ancient reptile was unlikely to have perished in a forest fire. Equally disturbing was the damage to the cranium of the T-Rex. An apex predator, the formidable dinosaur had few known enemies capable of inflicting this kind of injury, especially since the blows appeared to have been administered from above.
Dr. Chan furrowed his brow as he considered what circumstances could have caused the damages to the specimen which reposed before him. In a flash he had an epiphany; his culture and many others around the world bore legends of dragons, mythical fire-breathing creatures possessed of the power of flight. In his mind's eye, Chan pondered a mighty battle occurring in a past age where the great reptile had fought an even more formidable opponent and succumbed to his wounds, the evidence now preserved in the rock at his feet.
Chan shook his head and smiled to himself, knowing that his theory couldn't be shared. He'd be ridiculed, and considered a fool. But the paleontologist hoped that someday the bones of a dragon would be discovered, the remains which would prove him right. That faith would sustain Dr. Chan, as it was "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen..."
The Dig • Opuss № I