Dinosaur Breakout

by Judith Silverthorne

  “Get up, both of you! Now! MOVE!” Daniel screamed at them. He’d just caught sight of what he thought might be a Troodon, coming down a path through the trees some distance away. Although a Troodon was human-sized and small in comparison to other dinosaurs, it was one of the smartest and fastest of the meat-eaters. And one of the most vicious!

  Daniel yanked both of them to their feet amid a flurry of splashing water and mud. He’d also noticed what looked like a long, rough, greenish log a few metres away, turning slowly in their direction. Probably a Borealosuch-type crocodile, but he didn’t want to find out for sure! And he didn’t want to scare the still speechless Nelwins any more than they already were.

  They slogged through the muddy sea bottom through the reeds and cattails. When they reached the shore and Daniel tried to make the Nelwins pass the tanklike Ankylosaurus, they balked.

  Huge horns projected from the back of its head and large oval plates similar to medieval armour scaled its leathery skin, except for two rows of spikes along its back. The most dangerous part looked to be the powerful club-like tail. One flick and they’d all be ancient history too!

  “We’ll be eaten alive!” Craig whimpered, falling back behind Todd.

  “No! It’s a herbivore!” Daniel urged them forward. “It eats plants!” he yelled when they didn’t move. “Come on, we have to get to safety, FAST!”

  The Ankylosaurus looked up as they passed, but otherwise paid them no attention, continuing to dig at tuberous roots of some kind. Daniel peered about as they headed for the trees in the opposite direction from where he’d spotted the Troodon. Maybe the Troodon would be sidetracked by the Ankylosaurus, although it would have a hard time penetrating through the tough bony plates that protected the herbivore.

  Daniel herded the Nelwins along, keeping them hidden as much as he could by the cycads and other bushes as they made their way over to the tall redwoods. Could they climb a tree? He hoped so. They gawked about in stunned awe, plodding and stumbling along, their muddy pant legs and runners soaked. They didn’t seem to be able to take in what was going on.

  “Where is this place?” Todd whispered, as a huge dragonfly droned past him. He stared at it, slipping on some thick moss underfoot and startling a small rodent-like animal. Probably a Purgatorius, Daniel thought, having brushed up on the Cretaceous Period intently over the last couple of days.

  “Prehistoric time – the Cretaceous Period to be exact!” Daniel informed him, jabbing a finger into Craig’s back. “Thanks to your bone-headed brother.”

  “What’d I do?” Craig asked, astounded and offended. He still held the piece of bark.

  Daniel wasn’t sure what to do about the bark. He figured if they let it go, they’d go back into their current life, but besides needing to convince them of the need to drop it, they probably all had to be touching for it to work, so that someone wasn’t left behind. He hoped it wasn’t him! First, he had to make them understand what was going on.

  “That!” Daniel pointed to the bark.

  “This? It’s just a dumb piece off a tree,” Craig said with disdain, opening his palm where the chunk lay.

  “It’s not just any ‘dumb piece,’ ” Daniel declared. “It’s the reason we’re here! Don’t drop it! Better yet, how about giving it to me?”

  “No way!” Craig said, clenching the bark inside his fist.

  “See those giant trees over there?” Daniel pointed. “Now look at the piece of bark.”

  All three of them stared as if mesmerized.

  “You don’t see that kind of tree back home, do you?” asked Daniel, as he dragged them under a cycad while they discussed the situation.

  “I guess not,” Craig answered, crouching tight beside his brother.

  “But how did you get it?” Todd asked, as Daniel pulled at his legs so they weren’t sticking out.

  Daniel sighed. “That’s a long story, I’ll tell you sometime. Trust me, it’s why we’re here. So how about handing it back to me and we’ll go home now?”

  “No way!” Todd said, suddenly. “You’re making this all up. You just want that piece of bark because it’s valuable. You used some sort of visual projection thing to make us think we’re in dinosaur time. We’ve had enough! Turn off your wacky dvd machine or whatever it is and let’s go home.”

  Daniel stared at Todd in disbelief. Why wouldn’t he believe where he was? How much more proof could he possibly want?

  “How would I be able to do that?” Daniel asked, astounded. “Where would the power come from?”

  “You and that old bone hunter probably cooked something up between you!” Craig defended his brother. “You two are weird!”

  “Is that so?” Daniel said, pointing at the ground beside Todd. “Well, then I dare you to touch that snake coming your way.”

  Todd leapt out of the ferns. Obviously, real or not, snakes terrified him. Daniel and Craig followed Todd. The creature with its menacing-looking head, beady eyes, and long fat body slithered past them in a rustling of underbrush. If the reptile hadn’t been so scary, Daniel would have laughed at the look on Todd’s face. But they had other terrors to handle. Straight ahead was the back end of something larger than a school bus!

  Daniel motioned them to a stop and mouthed to them to be quiet. Slowly, he dropped to his knees and crawled towards some bushes as quietly as he could. He inspected it for inhabitants, then seeing it was safe, motioned the others to follow. They crowded under the branches of several white flowering bushes, perhaps small magnolias.

  He whispered to them, “I don’t know what kind of dinosaur it is yet. I can’t see enough of it, but we’ll assume it’s dangerous.” He pointed to the redwoods several yards away on the other side of the bushes. “That’s where we need to go.”

  He stared hard at Craig. “How about giving me the bark now?”

  Craig shook his head defiantly.

  “Well, then, at least put it in your pocket, so you don’t drop it or lose it!” Daniel commanded. There wasn’t any time to argue!

  When the bark was safely stowed in Craig’s jeans pocket, Daniel motioned them to follow. He led them through the underbrush on their hands and knees. They swatted at strange flying insects and kicked away several crawling things on the ground. Although they’d existed in a cocoonlike space while in the bushes, a cacophony of sounds whirled all around them.

  From his previous experiences, Daniel could pick out the loud screeching of the pterosaurs, which flew overhead in the direction of the water. The droning of insects and snuffling of small mammals in the forest cascaded around them. And the earth seemed to tremor from time to time as some large creature plodded over the terrain. With any luck it wasn’t a T. rex!

  Reaching the outside edge of the bushes, Daniel looked around. The redwoods were several hundred metres away across an open, marshy meadow. They also had to find a way across the narrow riverbed. He hadn’t seen it when they’d started out. He felt little doubt that he’d returned to the same time and place, although he didn’t understand how that had happened.

  They plunged forward, carefully making their way through the tall grasses and down to the riverbank. They followed the river’s meanderings along the edge, looking for a shallow place to cross. Several hundred metres ahead, Daniel saw a curve and a likely looking place. As they plodded along, they kept watch all around them. Daniel assigned Todd the ground, Craig the water, and himself the sky and the top of the riverbank. Secretly, though, he watched for any kind of movement anywhere. They were too out in the open and could easily be attacked at any moment.

  As they rounded the curve, Daniel heard some sort of snorting sound. He stopped in his tracks and motioned the others to stay still. As he crept forward, the noise became louder and he thought he heard a little squeak. Slowly he moved closer to the bend. His heart pounded as he peered around a piece of protruding earth.

  In amazement he stared at the bulky body of an Edmontosaurus lying on its side curled by a huge nest. She lay underneath an emba
nkment of earth several yards high that had once been carved out by a raging river. It hung precariously over the nest where some of the eggs were cracked as if the babies were going to hatch.

  Daniel inched closer. The mother’s huge left hind-quarter seemed bent at a peculiar angle. Her sides heaved and her breathing came in short snorts. Her eyes were closed and she seemed oblivious to his approach or to her hatching babies. She let out another moaning snort. She was hurt! Was she the Edmontosaurus from the first time he’d been transported into prehistoric time?

  Daniel trembled in excitement! The T. rex must have injured her before he attacked the Stegoceras. Was there anything he could do for her? She didn’t seem able to move. And she was huge!

  Before he had time to think of anything, Craig called shrilly, “Daniel, hurry!” Backing away from the Edmon-tosaurus and her nest, Daniel headed back to the Nelwin brothers.

  “What took you so long?” Todd demanded.

  “An injured Edmontosaurus,” Daniel answered, peering around for danger.

  “Todd thought you’d left us!” Craig declared. Todd stomped on his brother’s foot to keep him quiet.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Daniel saw a flying reptile circling farther down the river. Time to get moving to safety! That’s when he noticed some kind of huge dinosaur he’d never heard about before, standing in the middle of the river a few yards downstream. It stood about fifteen feet high with a long neck, munching on water plants. Daniel could see most of its legs. The river wasn’t that deep. They could probably walk across it!

  Choosing a narrow point nearby, Daniel waded into the water, keeping a sharp lookout for crocodiles and other dangerous water creatures. Looking down, he noted that he could see his feet, and the water was clear all the way across. Good thing, because he wasn’t much of a swimmer, and didn’t relish going for a dip in the unknown river.

  He motioned the Nelwins forward, and they crossed as swiftly as they could. Craig and Todd seemed to know that silence was best and they kept the ripples to a minimum so as not to attract predators. Daniel tried not to think about anything that might be lurking in the water. The sandy bottom sucked at their sneakers each time they took a step, but once they’d started, they didn’t stop until they reached the opposite side.

  Daniel sighed in relief when they stepped onto the other bank. It was only a short distance to the redwoods now. Eerie sounds erupted to their left, and Daniel gulped involuntarily.

  Earnestly he asked, “Can you climb trees?”

  The brothers nodded in unison.

  “Quickly?”

  They shrugged in uncertainty. They’d obviously never tried before.

  “You’ll have to! And you have to go really high, so nothing can reach you. Understand?”

  They nodded again, their mouths tight with worry. Daniel could see the beads of sweat forming on their foreheads, and knew he was perspiring too. And it wasn’t just from the moist air. He pointed at each boy in turn and then to a tree, indicating where they were headed and which ones to climb.

  “Okay, when I say, ‘go,’ you run as hard as you can and start climbing. Got it?” Daniel whispered. “Your life depends on it! I’m not joking!”

  Daniel surveyed the surroundings, making sure as best he could that they would be safe venturing out. He couldn’t hear the huge creature any more, but he was sure it was to the left of them somewhere. Before something else came into view, he decided it was as good a time as any to make their move.

  “Go!” he whispered hoarsely.

  He led the way as they raced across the open meadow to the redwoods. They dodged potholes filled with water, rounded a cycad, avoided lizards, and stopped short when a Stegoceras suddenly appeared in front of them.

  “Easy now,” Daniel said, holding his hands out towards the two-metre-long herbivore, who eyed him curiously. Quietly, he explained to Craig and Todd, “It’s just curious, it won’t hurt us, but go slowly.”

  With slow, sure-footed steps, they passed the Stegoceras as it twisted its thick dome-shaped head to watch them. Then it turned to forage the leaves of a small sycamore tree, and soon lost interest in them. They scrambled the last three feet to the edge of the redwood stand. Daniel pointed to the trees they should climb.

  There was a sudden squawking of winged creatures lifting off from the forest.

  “Climb!” yelled Daniel, as the ground suddenly trembled beneath his feet.

  Chapter Twelve

  Without even thinking about it, Daniel clambered up the tree trunk, automatically searching for and finding toeholds and pulling himself upwards. Although he felt his arms and hands scraping along the bark, he didn’t even worry about it. When he’d gone several metres, he looked over to where Todd and Craig were supposed to be. Craig clung desperately to the rough trunk of a tree, but Todd suddenly lost his grip and plunged to the ground.

  “Quick!” Daniel yelled at Todd, but he could see the older brother wasn’t good at climbing. He struggled to grab onto a low branch and brace himself against the trunk with his slippery sneakers. Daniel held his breath for a few moments, watching. His progress was too slow! Loud sounds reverberated through the forest. Something was approaching. Todd wasn’t going to make it!

  Although he was shaking, Daniel shimmied back down the tree and dropped to the ground. Then he ran over to Todd, who continued to struggle with climbing into the lower branches of the tree. Daniel saw the fear in Todd’s eyes, and he motioned for him to try again. Then he gave Todd a heaving boost against his bulky backside, and at last Todd grabbed the branch and pulled himself onto it. Then he reached for another cautiously.

  “Higher!’ Daniel urged him, watching as Todd slowed down the higher he went.

  The booming sound reverberated closer to them. Daniel didn’t have time to run back to his tree, and Todd had stopped moving. Daniel followed Todd up the tree.

  “Don’t look down!” Craig yelled from high in his tree.

  Todd looked down.

  He came to an abrupt halt, clinging to the tree fearfully, not daring to move.

  “Climb!” Daniel yelled at him.

  Todd had only gone a couple of metres, so that even a small T. rex would be able to nibble at his feet.

  “Move, Todd!!” Daniel pleaded, but Todd seemed frozen where he was, breathing hard.

  Daniel had to do something!

  The trees quivered as some monster beast advanced through the forest. Whatever was approaching was getting close! Without a moment to lose, Daniel grabbed a branch and pulled himself upwards behind Todd. He pried Todd’s left hand from the tree trunk and placed it above them on another branch.

  “Todd, climb!” Craig’s shout pierced the air.

  “You have to climb!” Daniel said urgently, and gave him a strong push that propelled them both upwards.

  Suddenly a Troodon skidded to a stop below them! The deadly creature leapt towards Daniel, trying to grab his lower leg. Daniel screamed at Todd and gave him a powerful heave. The immediate threat below them seemed to release Todd from his terrorized stupor. Todd moved just in time for Daniel to swing upwards. The Troodon leapt again and ripped a chunk out of Daniel’s pant leg before he managed to pull himself up.

  “Faster,” Daniel pleaded, shoving Todd and climbing with huge surges of adrenalin pumping through his veins.

  All of a sudden, Todd skittered up the tree, well out of reach, faster than Daniel had ever seen anyone move before! Craig didn’t waste any time either, going as high as he could.

  Soon the three of them were a good seven or eight metres high, half-dangling from reasonably sturdy boughs. Daniel sighed in trembling relief as they caught their breath. Luckily, when the Troodon found he couldn’t reach them anymore he had been distracted by a group of Stegoceras and had hastened off, scattering the small herd.

  From where he sat, Daniel suddenly saw the school bus-sized creature from its front. It was a Triceratops! Harmless enough, because it was a herbivore, but still, it could have charged them.


  As he clung to the branch, he dared to look straight down to the ground, and wished he hadn’t. It was one thing to look far and away, but another to look below his feet from so high in the air. This was the second time he’d been so far above the ground, and it didn’t make it any easier. At least he couldn’t see a Pterosaur nest anywhere close by. All he had to do now was convince Craig and Todd to give back the strip of bark, and maybe they’d be fortunate enough to go home.

  “Are you convinced this is for real yet?” Daniel asked. He could hear horrific screams and the sounds of a skirmish going on somewhere in the forest. The group of Troodons must have singled out a Stegoceras.

  “Guess so!” Craig’s shaky voice resonated from the redwood he was perched in some two metres way. “I think you’re at least smart enough not to do something like this to yourself.”

  “What about you, Todd?” Daniel asked the older brother above him.

  “You’re pretty persuasive, Dino boy!” Todd said quietly, but his name-calling held a touch of respect.

  Daniel suggested they rest for a few moments while he got his bearings. The Nelwins stared out through the forest at their strange environment, gawking in awe. They were sweating profusely and breathing hard.

  “Have we really gone back into prehistoric time?” Craig whispered, turning with wide startled eyes towards Daniel from his tree a few metres away.

  “Yes,” Daniel answered, not wanting to say much for fear of alerting some creature to their presence.

  Todd said in a croaking voice, “So no one else has ever been here before?”

  “Just me, that I know of,” Daniel whispered back.

  “Wow, this is incredible!” Craig said. “Imagine! We’re seeing something that nobody else has ever seen. Just the three of us.”

  “You sure do know how to get a thrill,” Todd said, swallowing hard.