| It all began when a nuclear reactor was struck by a 6.8 earthquake in Japan . The newspapers told the world’s people that the earthquake had caused a “tolerable” amount of radiation-contaminated water to leak from the world’s most powerful nuclear reactor and into the Sea of Japan. Everything was under control, they assured, and the rest of the 65 nuclear reactors on the earthquake-prone island were all safe and undamaged. “The level of radioactivity in the 317 gallons of leaked water, which flowed into the sea from damaged pipes, is far too low to harm the environment,” they said on the day of the strong quake and nuclear spill. The actual reality was revealed three days later when the nuclear company itself released a report, saying that the tremors had tipped over “several hundred 55 gallon special lead lined containment barrels of radioactive waste ( not just 317 gallons of minimally contaminated radioactive coolant water as had been initially reported ), ” and |
that the lids had opened on most of the barrels, spilling very high levels of radioactivewaste, mixed with water, into
the surrounding landscape. Further, the big earthquake had opened up deep fissures in the rocks and the toxic
brew had ominously seeped deep down into the earth below.
Unbeknownst to the engineers and experts, some of the water worked its way into prehistoric caves and overflowed
into some chambers inside. The primordial caverns had been buried, seemingly forever, under layer upon layer of
solid rock. They were tens of millions of years old and were last used by dinosaurs, before they were sealed shut
by the volcanic lavas and ocean sediments that had entombed them for eons.
In one chamber of one cave, there was a petrified egg. The radioactive water soaked the egg and somehow
reactivated the DNA, making it once again a living egg. .From that egg, a dinosaur hatched. He quickly grew to be
one hundred times larger than the size he was originally meant to be, the size that his ancestors millions of years
ago had been, because of how the potent radiation had affected his body.
the surrounding landscape. Further, the big earthquake had opened up deep fissures in the rocks and the toxic
brew had ominously seeped deep down into the earth below.
Unbeknownst to the engineers and experts, some of the water worked its way into prehistoric caves and overflowed
into some chambers inside. The primordial caverns had been buried, seemingly forever, under layer upon layer of
solid rock. They were tens of millions of years old and were last used by dinosaurs, before they were sealed shut
by the volcanic lavas and ocean sediments that had entombed them for eons.
In one chamber of one cave, there was a petrified egg. The radioactive water soaked the egg and somehow
reactivated the DNA, making it once again a living egg. .From that egg, a dinosaur hatched. He quickly grew to be
one hundred times larger than the size he was originally meant to be, the size that his ancestors millions of years
ago had been, because of how the potent radiation had affected his body.
| Godzilla Meets the Internet |
by Michael Domino
Copyright © 2007 by Michael Domino
| Short Stories Page 1 2 3 4 |
Denis Proulx / Shangri-La Studio