A Bundle of Dinosaurs
Three Dinosaur Stories
Earthshaker
Elly and Aargh!
King of the Killers
Emma Laybourn
Copyright 2014 Emma Laybourn
Emma Laybourn’s website is at www.megamousebooks.com.
Table of Contents
Earthshaker:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Elly and Aargh!
King of the Killers:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
EARTHSHAKER
Chapter One
BOOM…BOOM…BOOM…
The earth shuddered.
Trees shook, dropping leaves on the tidy nest below.
The nest belonged to an iguanodon. As the eggs rolled around, their mother Brenda steadied them with a claw.
“What on earth?” she wondered.
BOOM…BOOM…
Then, through the trees, appeared the biggest dinosaur she had ever seen. It was like a grey mountain on legs. It had a long, long, neck and a long, long tail.
“Who are you?” asked Brenda.
The long neck snaked towards her. Weak eyes in a little head gazed at her.
“I’m Seismosaurus,” said the enormous dinosaur, in a voice so tiny she could hardly hear it. “I’ve come to live here.”
“Sei – Seis – ” tried Brenda.
“It means Earthshaker,” said the dinosaur. “Call me Sizo if it’s easier.”
“Well, Sizo, could you please tiptoe?”
“All right,” whispered the dinosaur. He took two more steps.
BOOM…BOOM…
Pteranodons fell out of the trees. A group of hadrosaurs began trumpeting in alarm.
George, the old triceratops, came to see what was going on.
“I can’t sleep for the noise,” he grumbled.
“It’s Sizo here,” said Brenda. “He’s a little bit, um, heavy-footed.”
“Can’t you tiptoe?” demanded George.
“I am tiptoeing,” said Sizo in his tiny voice.
“Hmph!” snorted George. “What a racket! I hope he’s not staying.”
“Oh, please let me stay,” begged Sizo. “I’ve been alone for ages. I want to live with other dinosaurs.”
“Give him a chance, George,” said Brenda kindly. “You can see he’s a plant-eater. He’s not going to eat us, are you, Sizo?”
Sizo shook his head. “I’ll only eat the highest leaves,” he whispered, “the ones you can’t reach.”
“Hmph! All right,” grunted George. “But only if you remember to tiptoe!”
Chapter Two
So Sizo settled into his new home.
He liked the other dinosaurs. But he wasn’t really happy.
He worried about making too much noise. Although he walked as quietly as he could, his footsteps made the earth tremble. The other dinosaurs blocked their ears and grumbled.
“Tiptoe!” George would bellow.
Sizo tiptoed, but that wasn’t any quieter. In the end, it was easier not to walk at all. He just stood in one place for most of the day, eating whatever he could reach.
And life was peaceful, for a while.
Until–
BOOM…BOOM...BOOM…
The ground shuddered. Brenda’s baby iguanodons tumbled over and began to cry. The hadrosaurs wailed in protest.
George came storming out of the forest.
“Oy, Sizo!” he roared. “I told you to tiptoe!”
“But it’s not me,” protested Sizo.
“It’s true,” said Brenda. “Sizo isn’t moving.”
The dinosaurs stared at Sizo. He stood quite still; yet they could hear thuds and crashes.
“It must be another big dinosaur,” said George uneasily. “Another Sizo.”
“Oh, no!” said Brenda. “Come with me, children. You don’t want to get trampled on!”
All the dinosaurs hurried away into the forest – all except Sizo.
“Another Seismosaurus!” he thought excitedly. “Another Earthshaker! I wonder if it will be my friend?”
So he set off joyfully towards the noises to find out.
As he walked, the earth shook harder. The crashes grew louder. He could smell a strange, fierce, burning smell.
“Funny dinosaur, this,” thought Sizo.
He came round a bend, and stopped. Ahead of him a hump rose out of the forest.
“That’s a huge dinosaur!” he thought.
The ground beneath him trembled.
“It’s an Earthshaker all right,” said Sizo.
Then he saw that smoke was billowing from the hump. Down its side ran a glowing river of red.
“It’s bleeding!” he whispered.
The thick red river flowed past a tree. It ripped it up, and threw it down with a crash.
Sizo blinked at the river with his small, weak eyes. It wasn’t blood. It smelt of rock, and it was smoking.
“I don’t think that’s a dinosaur at all!” he said.
The smoking river hissed and sizzled. Two more trees thudded to the ground, and burst into flames.
The river did not stop. It kept on flowing through the forest.
“Oh, no! It’s heading for our home!” gasped Sizo. “I’d better warn the others!”
He plodded back as fast as he could. There was no-one around. Sizo cleared his throat, and shouted.
“Danger!”
It was a tiny shout. He tried again.
“DANGER!”
Still nobody heard him.
“Help!” thought Sizo. “Whatever can I do?”
Chapter Three
Nobody could hear Sizo’s voice.
But he knew that everyone could hear his feet. So he began to dance.
He started with big, slow steps. Then he danced higher and higher, faster and faster.
Trees dropped their branches. The ground began to crack. And Sizo kept dancing.
All the other dinosaurs rushed up to stop him.
“I said TIPTOE!” yelled George.
“Sizo, what do you think you’re doing?” cried the dinosaurs.
“I’m dancing,” whispered Sizo.
“Dancing?” said George. “That’s it! You’re banned!”
“But there’s danger coming!”
“Danger?” said Brenda. “Where?”
“There’s a river of fire coming towards us,” whispered Sizo. “It’s flowing out of a hill and burning everything up!”
“What?” cried Brenda. “That’s a volcano! We must get out of the way.”
The dinosaurs didn’t wait to hear any more. Together, they thundered through the trees. A cloud of smoke followed them. Behind them, burning branches crackled and crashed to the ground.
“Where are we going?” wailed George.
“We need to get to higher ground,” said Brenda.
But her babies began to squeal. Hot ash was falling like rain.
“It’s burning us, Mum!” they cried.
“Quick!” said Sizo. “Come and shelter under me.”
The baby iguanodons crept beneath Sizo. His huge bulk kept the hot ash off them while they walked.
“You’ll stand on them!” protested George.
“No, I won’t,” said Sizo. He had had so much practice at tiptoeing that he never once trod on a baby’s tail.
The dinosaurs climbed to the top of a hill and left the smoke and ash behind.
At last they stopped. Brenda’s babies peered out from under Sizo.
“Is it safe yet?” panted George. “I can’t see.”
“Let me look.” Sizo craned his long neck over the treetops. “Yes, we’re safe here,” he said.
“Thanks to you!” said Brenda, gathering her children round her. “Sizo, you’re a real friend.”
“Am I?”
“The best. From now on, you can thump all you like. We won’t complain.”
“Yes, we will!” said George.
The other dinosaurs glared at George. He coughed.
“Er, sorry. Thump away, Sizo. You can even dance if you want.”
“All right!” whispered Sizo happily. “But I promise that I’ll only dance on tiptoe!”
The End
Elly and Aargh!
Four young dinosaurs were having a race.
It wasn’t a running race. They were ankylosaurs, which meant that they were covered with huge plates of bony armour. The armour was so heavy that they could only waddle.
All the same, they could waddle quite fast. And Elly was determined to beat her three brothers.
She reached the river just ahead of them.
“I won!” she shouted. She wagged her tail in triumph.
“Ow! Ow! OW!” cried her three brothers behind her.
Elly looked around and saw them lying in a heap.
“What happened to you?” she asked.
“Your tail happened to us,” groaned Lenny.
“You wagged it again,” moaned Kenny.
“It knocked us over!” croaked Benny.
“My tail knocked you over?” Elly was sure her tail hadn’t done anything of the sort. She wagged it again to check.
“NO! Don’t wag your tail!” shrieked her brothers.
“Why not?” demanded Elly. “What’s wrong with my tail?”
“It’s a lovely tail,” said Kenny.
“It’s just not the same as our tails,” said Benny.
“It’s got a great big club on the end of it!” said Lenny.
Elly looked at her brothers’ tails. They were slender and pointed at the end, like her mother’s and her father’s tails.
She twisted her head round to look at her own tail. But she couldn’t twist far enough to see it properly.
“It looks fine to me,” she said.
“It is fine,” said Lenny. “It’s a very special tail.”
“It’s unique,” groaned Kenny.
“Just don’t wag it!” pleaded Benny.
This wasn’t easy for Elly. When she was happy, she wagged her tail. And since she was a very happy dinosaur, she wagged her tail a lot.
But whenever she happily wagged her tail, anything in its path went flying.
Her tail bowled her brothers over. It felled small trees. It demolished the nest of rocks that her parents had built so carefully. Yet Elly usually didn’t notice.
“I don’t see the problem. Now let’s play tag!” she said.
“Let’s not,” said Kenny. “Whenever you’re being chased, you wag your tail.”
“We could play kick-the-coconut!” suggested Elly.
“No, we couldn’t,” said Benny. “You wag your tail each time you kick. I’m still covered in bruises from the last game.”
“Then what can we play?” she asked.
The brothers thought hard about it.
“I know!” said Lenny. “Hide and seek!”
So they taught Elly how to play hide and seek. It was a great success. Elly was very good at hiding. And while she was hiding, she kept perfectly still and did not wag her tail.
They played hide and seek all morning. Apart from one small accident when Elly wagged her tail and Kenny ended up in a ditch, nobody got any bruises.
It was Elly’s turn to hide. She found a good place amongst the trees and kept very still.
She waited. And waited. But nobody came to find her.
After a while, Elly poked her head out to see where her brothers were.
“Maybe they’ve gone for lunch,” she thought.
She couldn’t see them anywhere. But she could see a strange dinosaur sniffing around.
Elly lumbered out of her hiding place and trotted over to greet the stranger. She had never met a dinosaur like it. It wasn’t an ankylosaurus. It was taller and thinner, with long, strong legs and big, curved claws.
“Hallo!” said Elly.
The strange dinosaur turned round and grinned a wide, toothy grin.
“Well, hallo there!” it said.
“Have you come for lunch?” asked Elly.
“Oh, I hope so,” said the stranger, giving her a still wider grin. It had a great many teeth.
“Do you know my brothers?” she asked. “They’re around somewhere. We’ve just been playing hide and seek.”
The stranger licked its lips. “How delicious – I mean, how delightful! Let’s look for them together. Do you know where they’ll be hiding?”
“Oh yes!” said Elly proudly. “I know all the best hiding places.”
“Excellent!” said the stranger.
Elly was so happy to meet this new friend that she nearly wagged her tail. She stopped herself just in time.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
The dinosaur looked puzzled. “I don’t think I have a name.”
“Well, what do other dinosaurs call you? I’m Elly.”
The dinosaur scratched its head with its claw.
“I suppose I’m called Aargh!” it said. “At least, that’s what everybody says when they see me.”
“All right, Aargh!” said Elly. “Let’s go and hunt for my brothers, and then we can have lunch!”
“What a wonderful idea,” said Aargh.
“I bet I know where Lenny’s hiding. Come this way!”
Elly trotted off towards the thorn bushes. She was so happy to be playing with her new friend that she nearly wagged her tail. Again, she stopped herself just in time.
When they reached the thorn bushes, she could see a nose sticking out.
“Found you, Lenny!” she shouted.
Lenny sat up and stared at the strange dinosaur.
“Aargh!” he cried.
“Oh, do you know him, then?” said Elly. “That’s good.” She was so pleased that this time she couldn’t help it. She wagged her tail.
There was a whack and a THUD.
“Aargh’s come for lunch,” she said. “Aargh? Where are you?”
Aargh crawled out of the thorn bushes. He had hundreds of long, spiky thorns sticking out of his skin.
“Are you playing hide and seek in there?” said Elly. “It’s a bit prickly, unless you have thick skin like ours! Are you all right?”
“Fine,” muttered Aargh, trying to pull thorns out of his nose with his long claws.
“Let’s go and look for Kenny next,” said Elly. “I bet I know where he’s hiding!”
She lumbered off towards the swamp. Aargh followed her, although, for some reason, Lenny didn’t.
When she reached the swamp, Elly could see an ear poking out of the reeds.
“Found you, Kenny!” she shouted.
Kenny sat up and stared at the strange dinosaur.
“Aargh!” he screamed.
“That’s right,” said Elly. “Aargh’s come for lunch.”
And she wagged her tail again. She just couldn’t help it.
There was a whoosh and a PLOP. Suddenly Aargh was in the swamp.
“That’s not a very good hiding place, Aargh!” called Elly. “It’s rather muddy!”
“You don’t say,” gasped Aargh as he crawled out of the swamp. As well as hundreds of thorns, he was now covered in sticky black mud.
“It’s nearly lunch time,” Elly told him.
“Oh, good,” sighed Aargh.
“We just need to find Benny. I know exactly where he’ll be hiding! Come this way!”
She set off again. Aargh followed her, although for some reason, Kenny didn’t.
Elly waddled happily to the edge of the forest, where there were dozens of huge ant hills.
Sure enough, when she got there,
she could see a tail poking out from behind the biggest ant hill of them all.
“Found you, Benny!” she shouted.
Benny sat up and stared at the strange dinosaur.
“AARGH!” he yelled.
“Yes, isn’t it nice of him to play hide and seek with us?” said Elly. She was so delighted that she couldn’t help it. She wagged her tail.
There was a whop and a SPLAT.
Elly looked at Aargh, who was now inside the ant hill.
“That’s quite a good hiding place,” she said, “but I can still see your back legs.”
Aargh wriggled and squirmed, and at last managed to pull his top half out of the giant ant hill.
As well as mud and thorns, he was now covered in angry ants. They scurried all over him, nipping him with sharp jaws.
“Ow!” said Aargh. He ran to and fro, trying to shake them off.
“Are we playing tag?” asked Elly. She began to waddle after him eagerly. As she did, she wagged her tail.
THUNK went her tail against a coconut palm. A shower of coconuts fell on top of Aargh. He tried to kick them away.
“Oh, goody!” said Elly. “You’re playing kick-the-coconut! I love playing kick-the-coconut!” She began to kick the coconuts at him. As she kicked, she happily wagged her tail.
BIFF went the coconuts. WALLOP went her tail.
WHEEE went Aargh, bouncing head over heels.
“That was clever!” said Elly. “Can you do it again?” And she wagged her tail some more in admiration.
“Aargh!” cried Aargh. Wildly waving his claws, he galloped away.
“Are we running races now?” called Elly. She tried to race after him, but Aargh ran too fast. She couldn’t keep up.
Soon Aargh had completely disappeared.
Elly was now quite tired and hungry. So she gave up the chase and trotted back to look for her three brothers.
A Bundle of Dinosaurs: Three Dinosaur Stories Page 1