FFfAW : A creature out of place and time

This week’s photo prompt is provided by Iain Kelly. Thank you Iain for our prompt photo!

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‘See it?’ said Dad.

The surface was dimpled like sand but set hard as concrete. Ripples were caught in the rock, fingerprints left by long evaporated waves. But there were other marks too, deeper, with a formal pattern.

‘I think so.’ Claire sunk her fingers into one dip, then the next, touching soft moss at the bottom, the sides of each chasm lined with lichen.

Dad smiled. ‘Footprints,’ he said. ‘Well, hoofprints – left by Mesohippus –  late Eocene. Three toes on each foot – hoof.’ He pointed towards an imprint with the stem of his pipe. ‘Imagine a pony two feet tall. Unknown outside the Americas until this trace fossil.’ He smiled, eyes twinkling. ‘A creature out of place and time.’

Claire took in his sock suspenders, the green waxed jacket, the pheasant feather poking from the crown of his stained leather fedora. She squeezed his hand.

 Mesohippus wasn’t the only creature out of place and time.

 

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Written for Priceless Joy’s Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers. See the pic and write a tale to suit it. See here to join in and to read the other stories.