Jurassic Punk

Story Submitted by Roy:

Back when I was just out of college, I met Angela.  She was good company, but seemed nervous, as if a loud clap would make her jump a mile high.  We were at dinner, on our first date, and we somehow got on the topic of our biggest fears.  She asked me what mine was and I replied, "I don't know.  Death, maybe."

She said, "Mine's getting eaten by dinosaurs."

I said, "That's an easy fear to have."

She shook her head and sighed.  "Not anymore.  There a tribe in Africa that says that a family of dinosaurs lives in the forest near their village and eats their babies."

"I'm sure they're mistaken."

She said, "No, anthropologists have gone down and asked them to describe the dinosaurs, and they all report long-necked lizards.  They're dinosaurs."

Remembering what I did about dinosaurs, I recalled that the long-necked ones, sauropods, were herbivores.  I said, "I don't think that the long-necked ones ate meat."

"It's been millions of years," she said, "Maybe they evolved to."

I said, "Well thank goodness you live far away from Africa.  Unless they also evolved to make boats.  They might be coming for you."

"Stop it!" she yelled, louder than necessary, "It really freaks me out!"

"Are you serious?"

She nodded and said, "If there's one family of them, there's probably more than one.  They're breeding, and it's only a matter of time before they rear their heads again.  Nothing can kill them!"

After dinner, we decided to go for a walk around the town.  It was dark out, but there were plenty of streetlights and other people around.  After about fifteen minutes, we passed in front of a park with plenty of trees.  I stopped and stared within, and squinted my eyes, as if I saw something amiss.

"What is it?" she asked me, bending close.

I couldn't resist.  It was too good a joke.  I turned to her and yelled, "Fuck, it's a dinosaur!  Run!"

She screamed and ran down the street as if a pack of Velociraptors were after her.  As I watched, she leaped over a low fence, ran onto someone's property, and kept going.

This was close to ten years ago.  I never saw her again.  The dinosaurs probably got her, after all.


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She might have been referring to this.