30. Dinosaurs
2045 Words
I stretch big.
"Now you're awake angel. Are you hungry?"
"A little."
"Let's get some food."
We barely sit, and a brain comes in. "We have arrived at META. Would you like to go, Nadine?"
"No. I want to stay here."
"Of course."
Marcus puts his arm around me. "Why don't you want to go to META? You love that place."
"I don't want to get in trouble. I'll make someone mad. I'm safe here."
"I love you. You want to go down with me? We can do whatever you want, and I promise I won't get mad."
I shake my head. "No, I want to stay here. You go."
"I'm not going without you. What about 1 ride and some lemonade? Then we come back."
"I do like lemonade."
"Ship she wants to go to META now. Let's get some dinner first."
I order everything I had for lunch.
"You are going to turn into a cheese pizza, angel."
We eat and get the trackers in.
"Touch here for the disguise." I hit the button, and I'm a teenage girl I've never seen. "It's random here. Will she work?"
"I don't like shorts. They hurt my legs. Can I have a dress?" Marcus rubs his eyes. "I'm sorry."
"We can try until you get a dress or pants."
"I don't want to. I want to be alone. I want to be me."
"Touch right here." I push the orb and I am me. Dressed in orange. "Marcus, I will show you to the exit."
"No. I don't even know what the hell happened."
"It will be much less traumatic for her if you walk out on your own."
He kisses my head. "I'll be on the ship angel. Summon me soon please." He hugs me tight. "Very, very soon. I love you."
"I love you Marcus."
The nurse waits for him to leave. "Do you want to go ride something with us?" I shake my head. "No one will ever know. We'll go in disguise. We can do a couple rides and come back. It'll be good for you if we try."
"I don't like shorts."
"We can find one with a dress."
"But not long?"
"Until you're ready to come back."
"I'll go."
She brings the black box over, and I click on it until I turn into a girl in a dress. I'm fairy small. Built quite like myself. "My hair is so blonde now."
"You like blonde hair?"
"I don't know. It's different."
"That it is. Come with me." I follow her to the desk. "Nadine decided to go to META. We're going to ride a few rides."
"Yay. I love any kind of ride." The other nurse jumps up, and they get disguises on. Then a guard comes over and gets one on too.
We get in the shuttle and my boys step in behind us. Damn it. I never shut Dipak's feather off. I sit down and stare at him. I know his disguise. He won't look at me. I check the feathers and they're not there. The disguise takes them off. Maybe they don't know it's me. Maybe the disguises shut it off.
My boys are in the shuttle and Kane and 1 I don't know. No doubt Nikolas. He's got an arm tattoo.
The nurse holds my hand. "Are you excited? I know kids love this place."
"Kind of. I like the rides and the horror part."
"Oh my. We got a brave girl, Nance. She likes the horror stuff."
"Braver than me. I'd probably pee my pants."
We transfer shuttles and go to the amusement area.
I drag them into the earthquake ride. The boys follow us in. This is confusing. They don't even follow me around this much when they know who I am. Maybe they are showing Nikolas some of the rides.
The ground starts shaking. One of the nurses screams her head off.
"GET HER OFF THIS."
"WHAT IS HAPPENING?"
I am laughing so hard.
"WE'RE GOING TO GET SWALLOWED BY THE GROUND."
The ride ends, and I lose it.
"It was part of the ride, Nance. Relax a little."
"I thought we were going to die."
"This child is going to pee. Moving to the next ride, Nance. Remember rides are not reality."
"Sorry, I'll try not to forget... But that was realistic." They laugh, and I get pushed out.
I lead them to a roller coaster. Nance reads the sign. "This isn't that is it?" She points to the big coaster we're about to get on.
The guard shakes his head. "No, this is for a ride in the back."
The boys chuckle.
Nance watches the boys. "Suddenly, I trust them more than you, Harold."
"No, it's for a ride in the back. You can't see it from here."
"Fine."
We get in. That thing flips us and turns us. It does so many turns and loops. I climb back off and my stomach is turning. Nance gets off and sits on the ground. "I'm never going to be the same."
I grab the trash can and puke. "I should not have done that after I ate."
The guy running the ride looks at us. "You have to exit the area, so the next people can go."
I puke again. Nance crawls for the exit. Harold picks her up.
The nurse walks me out. "Maybe something less moving next time."
I puke in the bush.
Harold lets go of Nance. "I think this one is good now."
Nance pukes in the bush.
"Maybe not."
My boys laugh. Why are they following us?
The other nurse pulls my hair back. "Let's sit down and try to rehydrate."
I sit on a bench and Marcus sits on 1 beside me. Nance and the guard sit on another bench and the nurse who talks to me most sits beside me. "What rides do you like? I'm assuming not those."
"They aren't bad. I ride a couple of the big ones and then Marcus sits with me. We have lemonade, then we do some of the other types of rides. I like roller coasters, but I like the earthquake kind the best, or the screen kind. Those are fun too."
"Have you ever been on an animal ride?"
"No."
"I'll show you. It's nice and more my speed. Actually, there are a few of them like that, for different animals. But I'll show you 1."
We get in this big open carriage thing. It has a roof and rows of seats, but the sides are open. The 4 of us sit close to the front. I check and Dipak and Marcus are the only people behind us. Then the ride people close the sides. It's fencing of some kind. But we can see through it. It follows a path and the nurses and guard point out different animals. Then this huge animal comes running at the carriage.
It makes a "GRRRRRR" noise.
I jump over 3 rows of seats. I sit between Dipak and Marcus and cover my eyes.
Nance yells, "NOW SHE TRUSTS THEM MORE THAN YOU TOO HAROLD." She climbs back to me.
"Please remain seated."
She sits in front of me. "I've never seen a bus almost get attacked. That was new. Usually the animals are peaceful."
"We should take her on the dinosaur ride, Bell."
"I don't know. Those things are huge and mean. They might cause nightmares."
I jump up. "I CAN DO IT."
"She'll be fine. We're caged in." I nod at Bell.
"Oh fine."
Dipak, Marcus, Kane, and I'm assuming Nikolas follow us on the dinosaur ride. Dipak and Marcus sit 3 rows behind us. Kane and Nikolas are 4 rows back. The 4 in my group sit in the same row. I'm comfy between the 2 girls.
The bus this time is a lot more solid. It also sits lower.
These animals are massive. I've never seen anything alive this big. Even the birds are huge. I see a dinosaur with 2 baby's. I jump straight up and point. "LOOK!" I turn around and make sure everyone sees. "AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Nance jumps up and puts her hand over my mouth. This big ass dinosaur is beside the bus. He's leaning down so he can see in.
"Shhh." She sits us down.
It opens its mouth and the biggest teeth I've ever seen are in front of me. I freeze in fear. It makes a "grrrr" noise and lights in the bus go out. The lights outside the bus turn up brighter. But it stares at us. We keep creeping along slowly.
We hit a bump and it breaks my concentration. I run for it. I land between Marcus and Dipak. But they are watching those teeth. The dinosaur is watching me. Apparently, jumping around like that got its attention.
It opens its mouth and lets out a roar.
"AAAAHHHHH" I scream with it and jump on Dipak. I straddle him and wrap everything I can around him.
He rubs my back but doesn't say anything.
The dinosaur hits the bus with his nose and tilts the bus. I can't help it. I cry.
"You're alright sweetheart." He keeps rubbing my back.
"Please remain seated."
"He's gone. You can detach now. I am concerned about how you run to random men for help. This will have to be discussed with your counselors."
Kane loses it.
Dipak tries to move me and I hold him tighter. I shake my head, then he relaxes. "I'm not a random man. She knows exactly who I am."
"Do you know who she is?"
"She's my sweetheart." I snuggle him.
"Bell, they know who she is. We have to go back."
"She obviously trusts these 2. Let's see who they are." Bell tosses back a black box.
Nance eye scans them. "Dipak... Marcus... Kane... I have no idea. It says no record. How is that even possible, Bell?"
"I have no idea. Who are you?"
"Nikolas."
"We'll tell Amy. She'll make someone make him a file, so he exists."
Nance smiles. "I don't know if you know, but 1 day long ago. You landed on a planet with your mates. And the entire planet had so many of these dinosaurs. There was no human life, no life beyond dinosaurs, fish, and plants. You and your mates decided to explore. You got far away from your shuttle and a bunch of those big 1's came after you. You had to fight your way back to the shuttle." I shake my head fast. "Oh yes it happened. And you never went back." The boys chuckle. "But after that, a bunch of scientists and smart people went to that planet. We have learned lots from that. It is still researched to this day. That's also how we have dinosaurs here for this ride. They have been moved directly from that planet. You never know how much 1 small thing can effect everything."
"How do you mean?"
"If you hadn't gone to that planet. The medicine you took this morning would have been completely different. That medicine is extracted out of the roots of 1 of the plants on that planet. It helps millions of people every day. All because you were curious about a planet." She winks at me.
Bell stands up. "Also, if you wouldn't have went to that planet. I wouldn't have nearly pissed myself. So it is still effecting things."
"Let's never ride this again."
Dipak puts me on my feet when we get all the way out. "It's ok. Only a lot of teeth. It can't get you."
That damn dinosaur screams again. I climb right up the front of Marcus and wrap around him. I snuggle him and he rubs my back.
"Did you see Dipak tense up when that thing screamed?"
"I was preparing for the spider monkey."
Marcus pats my butt and I whine. "I'm sorry angel. You're alright."
I snuggle into him and close my eyes.
"She's done."
"We'll take her from here then."
Marcus's grip tightens. "I can carry her."
"He has access. It doesn't matter, Bell."
"Yea, I guess that's true. But no disguise in the orange level."
I feel Marcus nod as he kisses my head.
- Writer
