(Previous)
I
started to stand. The dinosaur watched
me, eyes blinking. I couldn't tell if he
was brown and green or if that was only the shadows. He was huge and if we could get to some place
with a lot of trees --
"You
aren't going to run, are you?" he asked and sighed.
"I
am considering it," I admitted.
He
sighed again. "Well, at least you
said something to me. The last one
yelled 'Jerk Ass Park!' and took off running.
I'm still not certain where he ended up."
"Jurasic
Park," I corrected. "It was a
movie."
"Ah. And what's a movie?"
Oh,
this was going to be a long conversation.
I needed to cut it shorter or I'd be spending months bringing the
dinosaur up to speed. "Just
something related to human culture. I'm
afraid they've painted the dinosaurs as rather blood-thirsty sometimes."
"Some
are." He lifted his head and looked around, higher than I could see. "But I'm an herbivore. Jobaria species. And no, real dinosaurs didn't talk back then
but . . . Things are different here, you know."
"So
what now?" I asked. I felt
calm. And hell -- a dinosaur! That was kind of neat, as long as I believed
it wasn't going to eat us. I got a look
at some of the teeth. They did look
rather blunt. No teethy-daggers to tear
us apart.
"Now,
since you didn't run, I can help you out!" He sounded pleased. Good.
A
glance at Edmond showed he wasn't quite so assured. I suppose it paid to be cautious but right
then I think I had gone numb. Talking
dinosaur will help us. Right. Why not?
"What
should I do?" I asked.
"Get
farther away from the swamp," Jobaria said with a glance back the way
Edmond and I had traveled. "It gets
crazy here at night."
"There
is night?" I asked. "The light
just seems even all the time."
"Up
on the bridge it was just light," I said.
I stood carefully.
"It's
a different place up there. Grab your
companion there and let's go. Listen --
you can hear the snakes coming out."
I
held still for a moment and could hear things in grass and leaves. I looked down and saw another huge snake
winding his way towards the pond.
"Oh,
no, no, no," Edmond said. He
sounded panicked.
"Your
companion does talk. Good. I like
conversations with others. Come on, I'll
give you both a ride." He moved
closer and lowered his long neck.
"Just sit there at my shoulders.
You don't have to worry about the snakes while you're with me."
"If
you're an herbivore --"
"Doesn't
mean I don't have big feet. They've
learned not to bother me."
"Let's
go," Edmond said. He stood on his
back legs so I could pick him up and then draped over my shoulders.
I
didn't have much trouble climbing on the dinosaur. It turned out to be a good place to sit,
too. Job asked me about our adventures
and I gave him the rundown on what had happened.
"Wow. You've had quite a journey. Wish I could help you out more than I can,
but I'll get you to the shore, at least."
"Shore?"
"The
water," he said. "There's
usually a boat there. We'll see."
"I'm
not the only human here?" I asked.
"A
few wander in, along with a few other creatures now and then. Mostly they want to avoid the bridge."
"Is
it dangerous?"
"Everything
is dangerous. I think they don't like
the idea of the unknown. I don't know
where the bridge goes. It just sort of
disappears, you know. Everything around
here does. Oh, don't panic. It goes somewhere. People have come back and said so."
Worry
had started. It eased back to a bit of a
flutter instead of pounding fear. But
hey, I was riding a dino. Life couldn't
be all bad. And even Edmond seemed to
have relaxed some. He walked back along
Job's wide back and looked the way we had come and came back again.
"So,"
Edmond said as he settled in my lap.
"Many other dinosaurs in this area?"
"A
few. We try to stay out of each other's
territory, you know. Be polite and
all. I don't want to eat all my
neighbor's berries. Though, to be
honest, they do have some really nice bushes right at the edge of my land and I
sometimes do nibble a bit. Grass is
always greener, you know?"
"So
you have an understanding, everyone in their own place," Edmond
replied. He stood up with his paws on my
shoulder and looked back again.
"Mostly,
yeah. There are a few of the predators who
-- did you hear something back there?"
Job turned his huge neck until it had almost doubled back on his
body. "Oh. Well."
"What
is it?" I asked.
"Afrovenator. Nasty little beast," Job said. "And fast. I didn't expect him to show up. I think he must have scented you and your
friend. I'd run -- but not a good place
to go charging off. Muck and ponds and
traps you don't see until too late.
Maybe you two might want to climb up a big tree. There's one up a
head. Get up high. They don't like to climb much. And if we're quick, he won't see you go. I can lead him somewhere else."
He
started moving a little faster. I saw
smaller creatures darting out of the way.
Edmond still watched behind us and I suspected the high-pitched squeals
I heard were the creature coming for us.
Jerk Ass Park for sure.
"There's
a good tree!" Job said. He was
bouncing along now. "Grab it as we
go by!"
"Ready,
Edmond?"
"No."
"What?"
Job and I chorused.
"No. I think we can take him."
"Edmond
--"
"Trust
me," Edmond said, looking into my face.
"We
go with the cat's plan," I said.
Maybe
I should have heard it first. . . .
To Be Continued. . . .
998 Words
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