Time Travelling

She remembered it clearly, the dream/vision was vivid .....

There was a blinding light, so bright that she had to close her eyes briefly.

And then, when her vision finally cleared up, Barnacle Bay had gone!

Before her stood a clean, sanitised city with jagged skyscraper structures, astroturf and chemically clean ornamental pools.

And a strangely dressed man, standing waiting for her as she stepped out of the portal.

Greetings Prairie Prune. Welcome to Oasis Landing. And welcome to the future .... YOUR future.

Prairie had to blink. This place was so bright

A few questions for you.
Fire away.
Who are you, why are you here and how the hell did you know my name?
All in good time Prairie.
Time .... is something I don't have. And you haven't answered any of my questions.
Okay, first things first, my name is Emit Revelart .... I'm the 'Time Traveller'.
Oh really? And what does that entail?
That, my dear, is irrelevant. As for 'time', I'll show you how to utilise that on your journeys.
Journeys? Where?
Why here of course. Welcome to Oasis Landing!
Don't you mean Barnacle Bay?
Nope, this .... is the future.

She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.
It's .... very bright here. Do I need a visor like yours?
Only if you really need to, your eyes will adjust accordingly.
Has anything happened here in the future that we need to worry about?
Not that I am aware of, but that is entirely up to you. What you are seeing at this future time, is what will possibly happen or continue to happen if you follow the path you and your family will tread along.

And if it doesn't?
Time has a very sensitive string running through it. The slightest deviation, that will affect the future minimally, or dramatically.
What about my family? What happened to them?
I can't tell you that, but you can find out for yourself.
You mean they are here? In.....
Oasis Landing, yes.
Then they didn't end up on the colony at Lunar Lakes.
I've already told you too much as it is.
Am I ever going to get a straight answer here?
Perhaps.

CHIRRUPPPP!!!!
The agitated sound of her purple dragon cut through her consciousness, throwing her completely out of her brain charging exercises.
Funny how she never had these visions before, but now they were becoming more and more frequent. A bit like a waking dream....
.... or was it?
It certainly seemed real to her.
And if anything could be gleaned from this 'dream', it is that her family.... or at least her future decendants were safe and sound. Even if they were living on what looked like a utopia of sorts.

Oh, if only she could meet them, but meh. This, was just her imagination running riot as always. Besides, this little crittur this dragon/pet/experiment/whatever was only agitated because it had been locked indoors. It needed some exercise.

And yes, it was definitely a dream. Since the condensation on the windows of her rented house told her that campus was caught in yet another icy grip. Whereas this .... 'Oasis Landing' place was sunny and bright and ...... surreal.

Most definitely surreal.

Come on you.... she said, letting it hop onto her arm.
 
She hadn't officially named it/him/her. She wasn't sure what gender - if any - it was, nor how any of the other students would react to seeing a miniature dragon in her possession.

But, it needed exercise, and since she had a free day before graduation, she also needed a little fresh air, so she stepped out.

Oh man, that's so cool!

The man's voice stopped her short.

Oh great, she muttered, all I need, some snap happy photographer on my tail.

Can I take some pics? I've never seen anything like that before, what's it called, what is it? Is it some kind of new reptile?

Prairie turned her head slowly and focused on the exuberant snapper.

Are you paparazzi?
Hell no, I'm working on my college paper, studying visual arts and photography.. That pet of yours sure is a cutie.

Although it was tempting to use mind control over this guy, Prairie chose not to. It was bad enough being spotted. Any further publicity and it would put her and her current family in serious danger.

Maybe it was common sense, maybe not. But something niggled at the back of her mind that dream or not.... she'd be bumping into Emit Ravelert in the not so distant future........