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This book has very little to do with me, but I suppose I should introduce myself all the same. My friends call me "Dr. E". It's not the name my mother gave me, but for now it will do. Yes, the initial stands for something but, like I said, this story isn't about me. The "doctor" part I earned, but it doesn't stand for what you might think. I am not a physician. I am a doctor of the past. Archeology is my field, and this is the story of my greatest discovery.
You could say I stumbled upon this tale many years ago. More than three decades back is about as exact as I can remember. I am not as young as I was when I tripped over that piece of brownish stone and nearly fell to an early death, escaping then what I am afraid no man can hide from forever.
But allow me to get back on track, for their tale is much more interesting than mine. Underneath that rock, buried in the hard clay soil, was a leather-bound book wrapped in an oiled cloth; a worn journal that dated back to well before the dawn of man. Back to that little-known period after the last of the great dinosaurs vanished from our Earth. It was barely a blip in time. A half-dot of history, about which little is known. I've been to every continent, trekked through varied climates, and seen just about all the cultures that remain more or less untouched. I've been to places that either forgot time, or were forgotten by it. What follows is a tale taken from part of that first diary, combined with a few of the others I've spent my lifetime hunting down across this vast globe.
The story begins where all stories must. At that single event that triggered all the events that followed. That moment when everything changed forever. My moment was the discovery of the first journal. Theirs? Well, let's not jump ahead. I will tell you this, though: The world they lived in wasn't much different from ours. Sure, it was more primitive, but it also contained a lot less gray than our world does today. At least in the beginning, it did.
It took me nearly three years to translate that first diary. Their journey became mine to enjoy. Their insights were mine to behold. Their discoveries were mine to treasure. At the time, I thought the last thing the world needed was another tale of good versus evil, right versus wrong. After all, we seem to have long ago blurred the lines between the two. And besides, most would view their story as little more than a fairy tale. But then again, isn't life?
At first I never considered writing down their story. After all, I've always had trouble with grammar, and spelling has never come easy, either. Recently, though, my body has become weak and my lungs hard of breath, and I figure it is "now or never," as the saying goes.
So, if you enjoy an adventure, turn the page and discover the world as it once was: A world, until now, known only by a few privileged souls. It is the world of the Greens and the Grays, a world of daylight and decay.
