It is 1970. Gina and her mother, Abby, have settled in Newfoundland to be with Gina’s father, a paleontologist working on the fossil finds recently discovered at Mistaken Point. Gina’s grandmother, Anna, arrives from France to convince her estranged daughter to move to Paris. As the scene begins, we find Gina on the shore with her grandmother. Nearby is Richard, a young friend of Gina’s. It is a windless summer day. Waves gently lap the rocky shore.

Against Abby’s wishes, Anna has unwittingly led the children to the place where Gina’s father, only a few months earlier, fell from the cliffs to his death. Upon seeing the cliffs, Gina has one of the spells she has been having since her father’s fall, in which she sees living prehistoric creatures.

Gina, soprano, is a girl of about 12 years. Richard, tenor, is a boy of about 14. Anna, mezzo-soprano, is late middle-aged.

Although it is possible for one pianist to play the score, it is easier with two, the Primo taking the right hand staff while the Secondo plays the left.