THE TOWN OF BEDROCK, ONE MILLION YEARS AGO

Fred rolled his eyes. He dreaded these weekends alone with Barney. Over the years, the kids had gotten settled in with their family, and dealt very well with the stress of life in Hollyrock. Wilma had joined the City Council, though her advocacy of Bronze over Stone had gotten her labeled a radical on occasion.

"Hey, Fred? Don't ignore me. Its rude."

Betty, accepting that her husband wasn't quite all there anymore, made a good go of catering, using all the recipes she and Wilma had made over the years.

"Barney, I'm working on the car. On my only day off, might I add? I don't have time for this."

Fred himself had founded his own quarry, after Mr. Slate had dug his one level too deep, never to be heard from again. It took almost all his time, so Barney was even more of a nuisance than when he was on a kick about stealing Fred's breakfast, all those long years.

"C'mon, Fred. This is one of the big 'What-If's' of all existence."

Barney had just plain gotten weird. His disability pension was massive, so it gave him all kinds of time to annoy people. The grandkids had actually asked Fred to take Granpa Barney off their hands for four weeks as their Christmas, Birthday, and Stonecutters Day's presents.

"No, Barn. Not even close. Plus, the man is a friend of ours. His family's stayed at my house, and vicey-versey. Cross-time or no, we get on just fine."

Nowadays, the only rude question Wilma's mother asked Fred during visits was if he had brought Barney. That really had to say it all.

"You're scared of the implications of the issues I raise. Just like all the others."

Fred stopped his work and sighed. Betty would be home in two hours, and sometimes the only way to get around Barney was to plunge in headfirst. By the time Barney really got going, Betty would bail Fred out, a meatball hoagstone in hand as a thank-you for doing this.

"Okay, Barn. But before we start, I need to know one of the parameters."

The increasingly disturbed man nodded in triumph.

"Shoot."

Fred fought off saying, 'don't tempt me', for fear of hearing Barney's stupid laugh yet again. Instead, he asked his question.

"Do George Jetson and his friends have weapons?"