The impact that wiped out the Slabosauruses

A herd of Slabosauruses walk the land, unaware of the environmental change about to hit them. For months now, they've sensed something in the air. But their species can't conceptualise what it is. Then they notice one of the clouds in the sky is glowing yellow and somehow moving down towards the ground.

The members of the herd look at each other, uncertain of what it is.

But there is nothing they can do. They try to ignore it, to feed as normal but they sense something. It unsettles them and they begin to stampede, their jaws snapping in confusion at each other.

Then the long yellow cloud in the sky touches the ground and the whole earth shakes. The old landscape is destroyed and the air is filled with its debris. Members of the herd collapse, choking, unable to breathe. Darkness fills the sky and land that was once theirs descends in clumps around them. The largest one, the leader of the herd, snarls at the air; it tries to fight back. But it is hopeless and the sky falls upon him.

Eventually, the ground stops shaking and the sky begins to clear.

A lone Slabosaurus staggers through the land, its feeble brain unable to comprehend the destruction around it. It wonders where the rest of the herd has gone.

Then it sees a new feature in the landscape, like a giant nest dug into the ground. It doesn't understand that it is a crater, that the yellow cloud in the sky was an asteroid sent by a distant collision.

From the crater emerges a new herd, young and vibrant, keen to explore its territory.

The lone Slabosaurus steps slowly, quietly backwards to find shelter in the shadow on a once volcanic hill. Its brain doesn't know much but it understands enough. Without a herd, it can't survive.

From its hiding place, it watches the newcomers; they look strong and there are many of them. It doesn't know what happened but it understands: this is their land now.