He leaned the bundle of thick sticks against each other, and they instantly collapsed to the ground.
“Arghhh,” Alro grumbled.
He tried again.
Nearby, creatures were nestled in their cozy dwellings, safe and dry. A twitching nose with little whiskers peeked out from inside a hollow log. A small brown animal snored from his hole beneath a boulder. A bird sat comfortably inside her sheltered nest. It seemed all the little creatures fit neatly and comfortably into their tiny dry homes. One of them watched as Arlo struggled, trying to get his stick-shelter to work. Once Arlo managed to get the sticks balanced, he sat inside and stuck his tongue out at the creature. He was proud of himself.
Drip.
Drip.
Seconds later, raindrops dripped through the shelter and right onto Arlo’s face. The creature squeaked, almost like it was laughing. Then it disappeared. When the creature returned, it had brought friends, and they all watched. They squeaked, staring at Arlo as if he were their evening entertainment.
Too tired, wet, and hungry to care, Arlo groaned. He decided to try and rest while the rain poured down, soaking him and everything around him.
Then some shrubs nearby rustled. Arlo sat up, anxiously looking around for the source of the noise. He began to breathe rapidly as he became more and more nervous. The noise was coming closer and closer. The bushes stopped moving for a moment and suddenly, the boy from the trap came prancing out from behind them.
“You again!” Arlo said, infuriated.
The boy held a lizard in his mouth. He dropped it on the ground in front of Arlo, offering it to him. But Arlo wasn’t interested. “Get outta here!” Arlo yelled. The boy backed up and carefully watched Arlo, as if waiting for something to happen. Arlo wondered what the boy expected him to do. Still alive, the lizard hopped up and quickly scurried away. The boy scampered off again, leaving Arlo in his shelter. As the setting sun turned the sky a dusty shade of pink, Arlo fell asleep.
The sound of the boy growling woke Arlo from his slumber. The boy appeared again, only this time he was dragging a huge, ugly bug toward Arlo. The boy flipped the bug on its back and signaled to Arlo. But Arlo was confused. What did the boy want him to do? Eat the bug? Arlo was disgusted. The boy sat still and stared—as if he were trying to read Arlo’s expression.
Then the boy ripped the bug’s head off with his teeth! He spit it out and tossed it aside, then dropped the bug’s lifeless body in front of Arlo. He stepped back, waiting and watching him again.
Arlo was horrified. Repulsed by what he’d just seen, Arlo grabbed a branch and swept the bug away; he didn’t want any part of the boy’s headless bug.
The boy barked and ran off.
Moments later, berries dropped to the ground in front of Arlo. The dinosaur was skeptical, but he was also starving. He quickly ate a few berries but said, “I told you to…STAY—AWAY—FROM—ME!”
The boy climbed up on top of a boulder and watched dutifully as Arlo devoured every last berry.
“I’m still going to squeeze the life out of you…” He paused to reconsider his position for a moment. Arlo was still hungry, and he’d already eaten all the berries the boy brought. “But before I do, could you find me some more?” The boy didn’t seem to understand. “You know…um…nom nom nom,” Arlo said, and then he pretended to chew on a branch.
The boy grabbed the other end of the stick with his mouth and started pulling, playing tug of war. “No…no…Stop!” Arlo scolded, letting go of the stick. The boy gnawed on the stick and then took off with it!
“Hey, wait!” yelled Arlo. Curious, he followed the boy as he rushed off with the stick. Arlo watched from a distance as the boy dug a hole and placed the stick inside, burying it. The boy spit and kicked dirt over it to fill it back up. Then the boy ran off again.
Arlo wondered what the boy was thinking. He was starting to get frustrated. “You don’t even know what you’re doing,” he said angrily. But he continued to follow the boy.
The boy jumped onto a nearby tree and nimbly ran across a branch like a squirrel. Arlo followed as the ground beneath him got narrower and narrower. Soon Arlo found himself on a cliff ledge! He started to panic, looking at the deep drop below, rocks crumbling beneath him. The boy stood for a moment, trying to figure something out.
“I knew it!” Arlo yelled, breaking the silence. “I’m gonna die out here because of you!”
The boy turned to Arlo and started to push his feet out. Arlo tried to keep his balance, but he was very wobbly. The boy scampered to the other side of Arlo and shoved him toward the cliff edge!
“No, no, no. Stop! Stop! STOP!” Arlo screamed as he lost his balance and fell forward. His feet stayed on the ledge, but his body fell over the ravine. He crashed onto the ledge on the other side, landing on his teeth! Arlo was now stretched out, connecting the two cliff edges over the ravine, like a giant dinosaur bridge!
Excitedly, the boy rambled across Arlo’s body to get to the other side. “Why, you little…come back here!” Arlo growled through clenched teeth.
But the boy kept going, sniffing the ground and searching. Finally, the boy’s body quivered and his foot tapped repeatedly against the ground, beating it like a drum.
“Heh-heh-heh-heh,” he panted excitedly, and looked back at Arlo. He seemed to be gesturing toward a bush.
Arlo followed the boy’s gaze and instantly understood. “Berries!” Arlo joyfully exclaimed, seeing thousands of juicy berries covering the bush. The glorious sight of food gave Arlo a sudden burst of energy, and he was able to propel his body up to the ledge. He ran toward the bush, chuckling with delight.
The boy pounced in front of Arlo and started to growl and bark. “What’s with you?” Arlo asked. “We found them. They’re right here.” He continued toward the berries, and the boy growled and barked louder and louder. “Crazy critter,” Arlo muttered, breaking off a branch of the berry bush.
Hisssss!
All of a sudden, a venomous snake fell out of the bush and landed right in Arlo’s face! Arlo screamed. Then the ground beneath him crumbled, and he plunged down off the cliff, crashing into trees and cracking branches along the way.
As he hit the ground, Arlo groaned in pain. He tried to get his bearings, but the snake rose right up in front of him, hissing and ready to attack! Arlo gasped.
“Ahhhhh!” he screamed. He was terrified!
In a flash, the boy appeared in front of Arlo, growling at the snake! The snake lunged at the boy, but he instinctively jumped out of the way and managed to get behind it. Then the boy grabbed the snake and started gnawing on its scaly skin! With one last strike, the boy bashed his head into the snake, causing it to fearfully slither away. Arlo quickly got up and ran to the boy, who panted excitedly. Arlo couldn’t quite believe it, but the little critter seemed happy to have protected him.
Arlo and the boy were walking along the river when they heard a strange voice call to them from behind the trees.
“Hello.”
Arlo looked around, timidly. “Hello?”
“We’ve been watching you,” the voice said.
Arlo walked toward the voice and saw a collection of creatures perched on the branches of a tree. They were all staring directly at him.
“We thought you were going to die,” the voice said.
Arlo still couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from. He searched the animals in the branches, trying to figure it out. He kept looking.
“But then you didn’t,” the voice said.
Finally, two eyes appeared, revealing a Styracosaurus with big branchlike horns. Small creatures of all sorts perched on the outstretched horns. The dinosaur took a step forward, abandoning the camouflage created by the woods.
His name was Forrest Woodbush, and he was a collector of pets. The animals sitting in his horns were his friends, and they protected him from the wild.
“That creature protected you,” Forrest said. “Why?”
“I—I don’t know. I’m
going home,” Arlo said. “Do you know how far Clawtooth Mountain is?”
The red bird sitting in Forrest’s horn chirped, and he responded, “Good idea…” Forrest turned back to Arlo. “We want him.”
“Wh-why?” Arlo asked.
“WHY? ’Cause it’s terrifying out here. He can protect me, like my friends.” Forrest introduced all the creatures to Arlo, explaining how each one helped to keep him safe in the wilderness. He pointed to a slothlike creature first. “This is Fury. He protects me from the creatures that crawl in the night.”
Then he pointed to a furry critter. “This is Destructor. She protects me from mosquitoes.”
Next, he pointed to the cutest, big-eyed creature of the bunch. “This is Dreamcrusher. He protects me from having unrealistic goals,” he explained.
Finally, he pointed to the red bird. “And this is Debbie.” She chirped again, and Forrest nodded. He said firmly to Arlo, “We need him.”
“W-wait,” Arlo said. “He—he’s with me.”
“If he’s with you, what is his name?”
“His name? I—I don’t know,” Arlo answered.
“Hmmm…then I will meditate on this.” Forrest calmly closed his eyes for a moment. He opened one and quickly blurted, “I name him. I keep him.”
Forrest continued to hum, closing his eyes and shouting out names as they came to him. “Mmm…Killer!”
All eyes darted toward the boy. He gave no response.
“Mmm…Beast!”
The boy still didn’t answer.
“Mmm…Murderer!”
Arlo was all of a sudden nervous. He started throwing names out, too. He had no idea what he was doing. But Arlo couldn’t lose the boy now.
“Uh…Grubby!” Arlo said, trying to get the boy’s attention.
The boy sniffed around in the dirt, ignoring them.
Arlo and Forrest continued to blurt out names, but nothing seemed to stick.
“Funeral Planner!”
“Cooty!”
“Hemorrhoid!”
“Squirt!”
“Fffffrank!”
“Stinky!”
“Manic!”
“Funky!”
“Violet!”
“Spike!”
“Lunatic!”
Finally, Arlo cried out, “Spot!”
The boy stopped, turned, and looked up. A big smile grew across Arlo’s face. “C-come here, Spot! Come here!”
The boy happily trotted over to Arlo, and Forrest sighed. “He is named. You clearly are connected….Good for you. On your path to Clawtooth Mountain, that creature will keep you safe. Don’t ever lose him.”
Then the red bird began to chirp loudly and angrily. “No. No…no! You—you can’t have him, Debbie!” Forrest scolded the bird. She took off and flew at Arlo, chirping wildly, scaring him. Spot jumped at her, growling. Then the two ran as the bird continued to follow.
“ Debbie!” They heard Forrest call. “Stop! You’re better than this!”
Arlo and Spot hid behind a boulder to escape. As Debbie flew by with Forrest chasing behind her, the two unlikely friends looked at each other and laughed.
After the strange experience with Forrest, things changed between Spot and Arlo. Now they walked side by side. Instead of scowling and feeling angry at Spot, Arlo began to like the little guy Spot helped Arlo forget about feeling afraid, even if just for a little while. The wilderness was less scary with Spot around…and a lot more fun.
Arlo watched Spot as he stopped to sniff an insect wing on the ground, investigating it. Spot followed the scent, sniffing along the ground and winding through the wilderness with Arlo following behind. Finally, Spot stopped, quivering as he thumped his leg against the ground in excitement. He led Arlo toward a bush, then grunted as he lifted up a giant leaf. Beneath it was a big, beautiful bug! Arlo smiled, checking out the bug’s amazing eyes and incredible colors. Then Spot tore it apart! Arlo cringed, watching through squinted eyes as Spot ripped his meal to pieces.
Later, Arlo stepped on something small and hard, and crushed it with his weight. He lifted his foot and saw a delicious-looking nut split in half. Spot sniffed the ground curiously. Figuring Spot could find more, Arlo let him smell his foot. Just as Arlo had hoped, Spot set out, sniffing along the ground in search of more nuts.
As they approached a tree, Spot’s leg started to shake against the ground and his whole body trembled with excitement. Arlo looked up. Spot had found them! There were dozens of nuts hanging from the branches of the tree. Arlo took some down and began to chew. They tasted a little funny, but he swallowed them down. Then he leaned in and took a closer look at the nuts in the tree. One of them moved! They weren’t nuts—they were BUGS! And the tree was home to a whole colony! Gagging, Arlo tried to spit them out. But the colony was already bothered, and they started to swarm. Arlo was terrified and could do nothing but run away! Spot followed, and the two ran until they couldn’t hear the buzzing behind them anymore. When they finally stopped, all Arlo and Spot could do was laugh.
SQUEAK!
A strange, high-pitched noise startled Arlo. He looked down and saw a gopher peeking its furry head out of a hole in the ground. Surprised, Arlo backed away. A second gopher popped up. SQUEAK! Spot tried to pounce on it, but it quickly ducked back down into its hole.
Spot smiled, and then he put his mouth over one of the holes and blew. The force of his breath caused a gopher to fly up into the air! When it fell down to the ground, it slipped back into its hole. Arlo laughed and joined in the fun, blowing and watching another gopher fly up. The two friends laughed as they orchestrated the airborne gophers.
The gophers were not pleased with being disturbed, and in frustration, one turned and bit Arlo. He and Spot were so surprised, they ran for safety and found themselves on a ledge above the river. From there, Arlo and Spot turned and watched as the gophers slowly and mysteriously sank back into the earth. Arlo was just about to climb toward solid ground, when, out of nowhere, one of the gophers popped back out and bit him. Then it quickly dropped back down into its hole. This shocked Arlo so much that he slipped, losing his footing and falling into the river below.
Panicking and gasping for air, Arlo struggled to keep his head above water. Spot jumped in after him and swam around, paddling his arms and kicking his legs. He continued to circle Arlo, as if trying to teach him how to swim. Arlo tried to imitate him, paddling and kicking his way through the water. It was difficult for the big dinosaur at first, but slowly he got the hang of it. Soon Arlo wasn’t just keeping his head above water, he was swimming! Once he got a little more comfortable with his underwater moves, he followed Spot swiftly to shore.
Spot jumped out of the water, panting happily. Arlo proudly stepped out, then realized his body was covered in leeches! He screamed and ran, wiggling and flailing his body around, trying to shake off the blood-sucking worms. Once again, Arlo ran away shrieking. He had to dance for quite a while to shake them off. Luckily, Spot was there to help peel off the ones that wouldn’t let go!
Later on, Arlo and Spot came upon some pieces of fruit scattered across the ground. Arlo ate as much as he could, then offered some to Spot. Laughing, the two stuffed their faces. It had been a long day. But after a while, they started to feel a little funny. Arlo looked at Spot, whose face had started to grow in all kinds of crazy ways. Spot looked at Arlo, who suddenly had five eyes! Something strange must have been in that fruit. They laughed and laughed. In fact, it almost felt like they would laugh forever. But eventually they grew tired. And with their bellies pleasantly full, they finally fell asleep on the ground.
They woke up as night fell. Arlo and Spot walked through a meadow. Arlo saw a firefly and had an idea. He was reminded of that night with Poppa, back in the fields of their farm. “Spot, watch this!” he said.
Arlo brushed his tail through the tall meadow grass and hundreds of fireflies floated up. Spot loved it! He chased them excitedly, jumping and snapping at the air, trying to catch each one he s
aw. Arlo joined him; there were so many to chase.
Then Spot caught one with his hands and showed it to Arlo. The dinosaur smiled and gently blew on it, just like Poppa had. Spot and Arlo watched as the firefly lit up, glowing brightly inside Spot’s hands. Then Spot released it, and the firefly opened its wings and rose up into the sky. They watched it flickering and flashing as it flew off and disappeared into the night.
Arlo’s smile soon faded as he thought about Poppa and his family at home. “I miss my family,” he said quietly.
Spot looked up at Arlo with his face twisted in a confused expression and tilted his head. He didn’t seem to understand.
“Family,” Arlo said, trying to think of a way to explain.
Arlo broke some sticks and made dinosaur shapes with them. “That’s me,” he said, placing it on the ground in front of Spot. He continued, placing each one down as he spoke. “There’s Libby, and Buck, and Momma…” He placed the last one down. “And—and Poppa.” He drew a big circle in the dirt around all the figures and said the word again: “Family.”
Spot sniffed the figures curiously but still didn’t seem to understand. “That’s okay,” Arlo said, trying to hide his feelings of disappointment.
Arlo rested on the ground as Spot scurried off, rummaging through some nearby bushes. He returned with some twigs, broke them, and set them down. They looked like three human shapes. Then Spot drew a big circle around his stick figures.
“Yes,” said Arlo, perking up. “That’s your family.”
Spot took two of the figures and laid them flat on the ground. He covered them with dirt and looked up at Arlo, sniffing sadly. Arlo understood what Spot was trying to say: his parents had died.
Arlo took the figure of Poppa and covered it with dirt, too. “I miss him,” Arlo said.
Spot reached over and patted Arlo’s leg, comforting him. Then he returned to his stick figures and howled at the moon. “Arroooowah!”
Even though Spot didn’t talk, he had a way of communicating that he was sad. And that he was still hurting as he remembered painful things. Arlo had been hurting over Poppa for a long time. And until now, he’d never really tried to talk about it.
The Good Dinosaur Page 3