2188 And The Mysterious San Antonio Fossils

This is our last day in Texas :(. But at least tomorrow we're flying over to New York! Sorry for no posts in the last couple of days, there is no excuse on a holiday, but I can tell you that the last two days have been very eventful! We left the town of Fredericksburg, which was was disappointing in the way that its "Wild West" town status had been undermined by tourism (but that's a post for a rainy day, and today is sunny :)), for a brief stop at the beautiful sunset over the Enchanted Rock in the middle of the desert, before arriving in San Antonio (to stay with some of my dad's awesome old friends David and Pat – hi guys!). We've had a great time here yesterday and today seeing the sights – a baseball game, a missionary church and the ubiquitously famous Alamo (and a restaurant with a giant burrito eating contest :/) but I'll talk about all of them some other time. Because today's fantasy story plan was set in stone (or rather concrete).

When we were walking by the river today, there was a stretch of walkway devoted to art installations, my favourite of which has become the basis of my latest blog fantasy. Basically it's a load of old tools set in the concrete to imitate fossils, to say in the least professional terms. But this is starting to seem like a rambling stream of consciousness, so I'll start the story now…


The Oddest Shape So Far

"Who'd thought it! 2188, 300-odd years after the birth of archaeology, and we're still digging up supposed gems like some dumb gravedigger!" Grumpy historian H. Parker, as the team all knew him, was tired of this louse of a pastime. J. Timpson however, the newest thing at the archaeology department of the Museum of 21st Century History, had other ideas.

"Shut up, H! Just because we don't have webbed feet like the old journal entries and novels we find said that we would and frankly we're all made to look and think the same, and the skeletons aren't doing much better, does not mean this isn't worthwhile!"

"Oh, come on. That's what all the newbies round here think. Totally naïve…" H tutted in reply. "All we found today was a pathetic hipbone, and if you think that's real value, you should be one of those people they talk about in the old books, what do they call them? Doctors, I think!"

"See, you're contradicting yourself already. You're cynicking on about how we never find anything of use, but if you weren't an archaeologist you'd never know what a doctor was!" J's response stopped H in his tracks.

"OK, fine, newbie wins again." H countered, rather patronisingly. "But still what use did doctors give to the world? Nothing after some smart politician came up with the medical-training-for-all law!"

Archaeology had sort of gone down the drains when the world went equality-crazy round about the 2090s. Everything found was turned down as being offensive towards some party, because some people in a painting had different jobs or were from different towns. But a hundred years on, the equality bug still hadn't stopped H and J's arguments. However, J's next find just might have done.

"H, here's something you'll like!"

"Is it another damned bone!"

"No! And it's not offensive! At least I hope so! Fact is, I don't know what it is!"

"You don't know! Did your knowledge surgery fail! There's no such thing as 'don't know'! On Earth, everyone is born knowing everything! It's not news! It's part of the World Equality Movement of 2089!"

"Look, d'ya think I've been under a rock! 'Course I know everyone looks, thinks, talks, knows, does and so on, the same things! And we have machines to create and repair everything for us, so minimal jobs are required! But what if something else is discovered! That's not covered by the Movement."

"OK, what rubbish did you find now!"

The archaeologists peered over at the new finding. A concrete coating protected a thing that would confuse the world forever.

"Hmmm, silver outside, straight edges, heavy, weird symmetry there, a bone-like shape… nothing like anything we've seen before…" mused a Leader Of The Equal Earth. "Perhaps it was an Equality Rebel trying to put colour surgery on their bones…fool!"

"It seems older…2020 maybe,"J wondered aloud, "A ritual device, but then religion was pretty much gone by then…"

"Oh, what mystery, all the pieces to bolt together!" H remarked sarcastically to a disapproving J.

"What about this circular thingy with the holes and the curvy edges? Maybe it was one of those things they used for their animals to walk around? I always liked animals, but they're not equal to us, of course…"

"Mmhmm," replied the Leader "Or maybe a wheel of luck. I heard the old idiots had them… Tsk, luck! No equality there at all!"

There was a sudden passionate tone in J's voice. "Whatever these strange things are, they're our oddest shapes yet!"


Thanks for reading! I have the pictures of the tools we saw, so you know what J and the Leader were seeing for the first time. And yeah, cynicking is a madeup word; hopefully it'll be a reality in the future!
-DP :)