“Are you guys hungry? “ Steve asked the group before they settled around the fire. “How about we go fishing instead?”
“Fishing?” Harold asked. “How do we go fishing? Do dinosaurs even fish?”
“I do!” T. R. announced. “I find it relaxing. I have some fishing poles over here. George, can you help me go get them?”
George laughed and ran over to the tyrannosaurus rex who lowered his head to allow the six-year-old boy to climb on his back. They turned and walked into the woods.
“So what’s going on?” Harold turned to Steve.
“Well, it’s like this,” Steve turned toward Harold, Olivia, and Grandpa. “There is this key that will get you back home.”
“Wait, wait,” Harold cautioned and took a few steps to the stegosaurus. “First of all, where are we?”
“You are where we live, Captain Obvious!” Steve shook his head at him.
“Aww, you are so frustrating!” Harold yelled at him.
“Be nice!” Olivia ran and stood in front of the dinosaur protecting him from Harold.
“But how did we get here!” Harold screamed at Steve and Olivia.
“Okay, now, calm down, Harold,” Grandpa went over to Harold and stood beside him. “Maybe that isn’t important right now. Tell us more about this key, Steve.”
The ground shook again, and the trees crashed behind them as T. R. and George returned. In George’s arms were several fishing poles.
“Let’s go fishing!” T. R. yelled as he passed them and stopped near the shoreline. Harold looked at Steve who turned and followed T.R. Grandpa shook his head and smiled at Harold and then led the two children to the lakeside. Soon, two dinosaurs, Grandpa, Olivia, George, and Harold were holding fishing poles that had fishing lines in the water.
“I didn’t know dinosaurs went fishing,” Olivia said.
“Not all dinosaurs do,” Steve replied. “Just T.R., Ricky and me.”
“Yeah, it’s relaxing,” T. R. added. “Oh, I have a bite.”
He quickly yanked the pole with his small arms and pulled. A huge fish with a large sail on its back flew into the air ad T. R. pulled it onto the ground behind them. He laughed and the hook suddenly released from the fish’s mouth. T. R. threw the hook back into the water.
“I have a bite, too!” Olivia announced. She pulled her pole and a smaller white fish flew into the air. She pulled the pole over her head and her catch landed next to the first fish. Her hook, too, magically released from the fish’s mouth. Behind her, she heard George laugh as he pulled a fish over his head and it landed next to the other fish.
Harold was not interested in fishing at all. He dropped his fishing pole on the ground and stomped toward Steve. He stopped in front of him, crossed his arms and said, “Who’s Ricky?”
“He is our friend. He is part of our group. Right T. R.?” Steve raised his fishing line and redropped it into the water.
“Right. Oh, I have another bite!” T. R. yelled.
“What is this key?” Harold continued to ask Steve.
“The key allows us to get from one place to another. If we can find the doors.”
“Doors?” Harold asked.
“I think that is how you got here, through one of the doors,” Steve shook his head.
“What kind of doors?” Harold asked another question.
“Magic doors.” Steve said and faced Harold. “They show up and, if you have the key, you can go through it.”
“So, first, you have the key and now you think Ricky took the key,” Harold summarized for Steve.
“Yes,” Steve answered.
“Where is he then?!” Harold yelled at the dinosaur again.
Steve bent down and put his face right in front of Harold and said, “You do not have to yell. I am right here. I think he is up in the cave at the top of that mountain.” He raised his head and looked across the lake at the mountain in the distance.
Harold sat on the ground and sighed.
They ate supper. Grandpa helped T. R. get all the fish ready and Steve cooked them in the frying pan on the fire. Afterward, Harold and Grandpa leaned up against the T-Rex who laid down on one side of the fire. Olivia and George settled against Steve, who laid down on the other side of the fire and they all fell asleep.
They woke up the next morning when T. R. went hunting and returned with a huge egg. Steve scrambled it in the frying pan. They all ate scrambled eggs from the one egg. Harold and Grandpa crawled up on the back of the T-Rex as the other two children got on Steve’s back. They were heading for the mountain.
“How long will it take to get there?” Harold asked. “It looks so far away.”
“It’s not that far away,” T. R. said. “You are riding on dinosaurs!”
T. R. started to run, and Harold was afraid that Steve would not be able to keep up. He didn’t have to worry because when he turned back to see where Steve was, he was running right behind them. As they broke into a clearing in the woods, Harold saw a lot of tiny dinosaurs walking toward the lake.
“What are those dinosaurs, T. R.?” Harold asked.
“Those? Those are Aquilips. They won’t hurt us, they could, but they won’t. Hello, James!” T. R. called out. “Where are you guys headed?”
“For a swim in the lake,” a small squeaky voice answered him. “Where are you guys going?”
“We are looking for Ricky. We think he is in his cave.”
“He is. Bob said he saw him yesterday.”
“Where did you see Bob?” Steve yelled from behind them, surprising Harold.
“Up ahead, in his usual spot. He loves those trees. See you later!”
The two dinosaurs continued through the clearing and returned to the trees.
“Who’s Bob?” Harold asked T. R.
“Another friend of ours,” T. R. answered him. “And there he is!”
Harold looked up ahead of him and saw a brontosaurus. Actually, he saw the bottom of a brontosaurus as it stood in front of several tall trees. A small pond was nearby, and the two dinosaurs stopped and let the people on the ground.
“Bob!” Steve yelled up into the leaf covered ceiling. The ceiling started to crumble as a long neck pushed through it and small, pleasant looking face bent down to look at them.
“Oh hi, Steve. What’s up?” the brontosaurus asked the stegosaurus.
“We’re looking for Ricky. Have you seen him?” Steve asked.
“He is in his cave. I can see him. Need anything else?” Bob asked.
“A drink?” Harold asked.
Bob looked at him and said, “You are Harold, and is that Olivia and George?! Nice to meet you. Grandpa, you are here, too? It is a pleasure to meet you all. Yes, you can have a drink, but you guys use the pump I just put in. The well water is much colder than the pond. Well, my neck is starting to hurt so I will see you later.”
“Thank you!” Olivia called.
After they all drank some water, Harold asked Steve. “How much farther?”
“Not much but I have to warn you. It’s a spider cave and the spiders here are mean and huge. Still want to go?”
“We need that key,” Harold told him.
A short time later, the two dinosaurs and their riders were at the base of the mountain.
“The cave is near the top,” Steve said. “So let’s make a plan.”
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
“When we get to the entrance, you guys will get off of us and we will walk ahead of you to take care of any spiders, okay?” Steve asked them.
Again, they all shook their heads, yes. The two dinosaurs started up the side of the mountain walking on a path that looks like they have been on at least once before. They were heading to Ricky’s cave.
To be continued…
My First Stories 