Chapter
1 ‘Yum Yum’ Page 2
Bright light pierced his eyes and he
quickly clamped his hands over them.
Slowly spreading apart his fingers Tommy saw the most extraordinary
thing... a forest! There was a forest
inside his bedroom closet! Tommy
lowered his hands. He was surrounded by tall trees and a variety of incredible
plants. Some of the plants looked like
ferns he’d seen on a school trip to the Botanical Gardens. Only these ferns were much bigger, nearly
the size of a car! The other plants had
unusual and colorful flowers.
Everything was so exotic. Tommy
wandered into a small clearing not far from the closet. The trees around him were much like the ones
in his backyard. The ground was covered
with dark brown dirt and patches of stubby grass. The air was warm and fragrant.
Tommy was so awed by what he saw that he hadn’t even thought about what
he could hear. There were unusual
sounds all around him.
Tommy found a fallen log and sat
down. He still couldn’t believe what he
was seeing. Was this place really
inside his closet? Perhaps he was
imagining the whole thing. Then he got
an idea. Tommy pulled a leaf off a
plant near him and put it in his pocket.
Evidence he thought. If he went
back to his room and the leaf was still there then that would prove this wasn’t
his imagination.
Across the clearing a clump of
bushes began to shake and a small creature jumped out landing nimbly on the
ground. Startled, Tommy fell backwards
off the log. Scrambling to his knees,
he slowly peered into the clearing. The
creature didn’t notice him as it wandered closer . It was about the size of a large turkey with a long tail, two
short arms and four clawed fingers on each hand. It stood on thin hind legs with three clawed toes on each foot
and was light green with dark stripes running across its back. A small head with beady little eyes and a
narrow snout sat upon a long thin neck.
Even from where he was hiding, Tommy could see it had sharp teeth. The creature's skin looked kind of scaly
like a reptile, and Tommy wondered if he had seen this thing somewhere
before. Without warning the reptile's
head shot up into the air and tilted to one side. It appeared to be listening to something. Tommy crouched down further behind the log
and hoped it wasn’t him it could hear.
Just then another clump of bushes began to shake. The reptile noticed this as well and watched
with great interest. A little mouse
like creature darted out from under one of the bushes. The reptile quickly leaped into the air and
pounced on the mouse. The mouse let out
a squeak of terror as it was forcibly pinned to the ground. The mouse continued to squeak frantically
but the reptile took care of that with one swift bite. It settled down to eat its meal.
Tommy watched with mixed feelings of
amazement and horror. He’d never seen
anything like this. Then he remembered
where he had seen this creature before... in his Dinosaur Encyclopedia! Was this thing a real live dinosaur? Impossible!
But there it was right in front of him!
Tommy was having trouble remembering its name. As he racked his brain, the dinosaur finished its meal and
scurried off into the surrounding bush.
Tommy slowly stood up.
Excitement raced through his body making his knees wobble. If that really was a dinosaur then there
might be other dinosaurs! This could be
the find of the century! Tommy jumped
over the log, ran back through the plants, and into his room, slamming the
closet door behind him. Screeching to a
halt, Tommy turned around and opened the door again. The plants were still there but he would have to hurry. He had no idea how long this fantastic world
would remain in his closet!
Tommy went straight for his book
shelf and rummaged through until he found his Dinosaur Encyclopedia. He eagerly scanned each page for a picture
of the dinosaur he had just seen and there it was! Its name was Compsognathus.
Tommy sat on the edge of his bed completely stunned. Was this really what he saw? How could it be? The book said this dinosaur died out almost 200 million years
ago. Then Tommy remembered the leaf in
his pocket. He reached in. When he opened his hand there in his palm
was a slightly rumpled leaf.
“Yes!” Tommy exclaimed, punching the
air in triumph. It was real!
Retrieving the backpack from behind
his bedroom door, Tommy shoved his encyclopedia and his camera into it. After all, there was no point going on such
an adventure if he wasn’t going to come back with pictures. Then in went his flashlight, his sunglasses,
and all his left over Easter candy.
Tommy stood in the middle of his room trying to think of anything else
he would need when in walked Jason.
“So do you still have carnivorous
plants in your closet or is it tigers now?” Jason snickered.
“Neither,” said Tommy. “It’s dinosaurs.”
Jason shook his head in bewilderment
at how strange his brother was, then walked over to the closet. He opened the door and several large green
leaves hit him in the face.
“Hey you weren’t kidding!” he said
pushing the leaves aside. “What are you
doing?”
Tommy was zipping up his pack. “I’m going to explore my closet,” he said,
slipping it on his back.
“Oh really,” said Jason. Exploring a closet didn’t sound like much
fun to him.
“You can come if you want too,” said
Tommy as he walked to the closet.
Jason shook his head. “No thanks Squirt.”
“Okay,” said Tommy. “But you don’t know what you’re
missing.” Tommy stepped into his closet
and disappeared.
A minute went by. Jason went over and stood in the closet
doorway. That’s strange, he
thought. He was sure Tommy would be
standing right in front of him.
“Tommy,” he called out. No response. “Hey, Tommy. Where are
you?” Still no response. After a minute or two Jason saw a light
coming towards him. It was Tommy.
“Where were you?” asked Jason
puzzled.
Tommy shone the flashlight around
and explained about the plants. Jason
didn’t believe what he was hearing but agreed to tag along anyway. This he had to see for himself. After closing the door behind them, the two
boys disappeared into the darkness.