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One of the worst disasters in history happened in waaaay before we were born and it is said that no one survived. Well, guess what? Time machine lands and Prof T opens up the hatch. He sees animals running for higher ground. He looks around, confused. PROF. T- "Where are they going?" The ground begins to rumble lightly, then we hear the rumbling getting louder. A musty smell and fog emerge from behind the audience and continues towards the stage. Smoke billows in the distance and......he steps out and he can feel the heat. He goes back into the time machine and gets a fan, loosens his collar, grabs a can of sunscreen. People milling around the audience very confused, speaking Italian to each other. Prof. T. checks the date on the time machine, checks the GPS and realizes he is in Pompeii. He walks over to a sign that says "POMPEI" with one of the "i"s that has fallen down and picks it up and places it at the end. Prof. T- "It used to have two "i"s, modern times thought it was rather redundant and left one off. For our journey, let's put it in its proper place." He looks at the can of sunscreen, tosses it aside and says: Prof. T- "Well, my time traveling friends, where we are, sunscreen won't help.....in fact, nothing will help. Now I know where the animals were going. Animals have an instinct that tell them to flee if danger is imminent. Time for us to get to higher ground ourselves!" While Prof. T attempts to move the time machine, he passes Antonio who is arguing with his donkey. Antonio- (pulling the donkey who obviously does not want to go) "Vienni, vienni, perche sta tirare? Dove vai? Come with me, why are you pulling? Where are you going?" Darius the Donkey- "Antonio, don't be an ass, Mount Vesuvius, she'sa gonna blow!" Antonio- "Darius, my special friend, we have many earthquakes here in the city of Pompeii, you should be used to it. This is not like the earthquake of 62 AD. Believe me, you were not even a thought in your mamas tiny donkey brain when that happened. The town was destroyed and we have been rebuilding ever since. Oh, and what a town it was. ::sigh:: she wasa beautiful. She had an amphitheatre, a palaestra with a central swimming pool, and an aqueduct that provided water for more than 25 street fountains, at least four public baths, and a large number of private houses and businesses. Oh my dear donkey friend, these streets were paved with gold. The Romans would come here to vacation. Pompeii was the place to be and to be seen. Then, one day, the earth shook violently, fires everywhere, people panicking. ::sad sigh:: Pompeii, she wasa never the same. That's why you and your family are here, my dear Darius, to help us rebuild." Antonio looks around..... Antonio: "Not too shabby, my friend! Not too shabby!" RUMBLING Darius- "Uh......Antonio.......this doesn't look good. Dude.....I'm telling you.....my friends, my family they're all running away, somethings happening! I can feel it!" Antonio: "Ma Darius, you are a donkey......your friends, your family, they are all donkeys, are you trying to tell me that you know better than we humans? You are a dumb animal!" MORE RUMBLING, SHAKING, a mist starts to form. Italian woman: "The animals are running for higher ground, we must run too, remember the earthquake, remember the earthquake!" Darius: "Dude.....I told you! Antonio: "Va bene, va bene........ok, ok, let's go, but you will soon see, this will be nothing like the earthquake 17 years ago!" Darius: "I concur, this is nothing like the earthquake, this is much different, Antonio, do you smell that?" Antonio sniffs the air. There is a smell of smoke and ash in the air. Antonio: "Yes.....what is that?" Darius: "That, my smarter-than-I-am friend, is ash." Ash becomes more apparent now on stage, going thru the aisles. Antonio: "Ash?" Darius: "Yes, Antonio, ASH! Do you know what that means?" Antonio: "Thatsa no good, is it my donkey friend ?" Darius: "No, Antonio, that's really bad, like I said......." Antonio and Darius together: "SHESA GONNA BLOW!" LOTS OF RUMBLING NOW, SMOKE, MIST, FIRE ON STAGE. Lava flows from the aisles in the audience. On stage a giant volcano IS emerging. Lava spewing from it's core down the steps of the stage and continuing down the aisles. People running, yelling in Italian, complete mayhem. PROF. T- "That's our cue.....time to leave!" Prof. T fumbles with the controls. PROF. T- "Fasten your seatbelts, here we goooooooooooo!" On screen/on stage, lava covers the town. Prof. T- "That was a close one. The city of Pompeii was covered in 13 to 20 feet of lava. Because there was no air or water that sunk inside, the city was very well preserved for centuries. Let me show you!" Time machine lands. Prof. T. opens the hatch and is on the coast. He sees a pretty little donkey. Prof. T: "Oh, hello. I'm Prof T, who are you?" Dina: "My name is Dina." Prof. T: "Hello Dina, pleased to meet you. Do you live here?" Dina: "Yes, my family has lived here for centuries. Is that a time machine?" Prof. T: "Yes, my own little invention, we just went back to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius!" Dina: "Did you see my Uncle Darius?" Prof. T: "Yes, we saw him! Handsome gent that he is!" Dina: "Oh that was a long time ago, but I have heard so much about my Uncle Darius and his not-too-bright-friend Antonio!" Prof. T- "Can you tell us any more about the eruption?" Dina: "Well, where we are right now used to be coast land, but the flow of lava made the land bigger, so Pompeii is some distance inland now when it used to be much closer to the water. That mountain in the distance is Mount Vesuvius, we are about 5 miles away. It was 170 acres and about 11,500 people called Pompeii home. Vesuvius erupted on August 24th, 79 AD, ash rained for 6 hours on the city, covering it in up to 25 meters in some spots." Prof. T: "Oh my gosh, just awful!" Dina: "No one survived, it was just way too hot! The heat from Mount Vesuvius blasted the city with 452 degree temperatures, even those that were inside buildings shielding themselves could not survive that intense heat." Prof. T: "The animals were right!" Dina: "Yes, Professor, the animals were right, they knew something was happening. Did you every notice when it's about to thunder, your dog hides under your bed or your cat starts meowing at you? They know something is coming, animals sense these things." Prof. T: "My feeling has always been if you put an animal into the wild, they'll figure it out. Put a human into the wild and they create a weekly reality tv show!" Dina: "Next time you hear someone talk about a "dumb animal" tell them about all the 'dumb animals' that were running for higher ground way before any human thought to do the same." Prof. T: (looking around) "Wow, look at this! This town is a museum and a monument to those lives lost. We've learned so much from this! You can't beat Mother Nature!" Dina: "And animals are smart!"