Chapter
1 ‘Yum Yum’ Page 4
They’d only gone a few feet when the
water beside them began to churn and surge up into the air. A huge dinosaur heaved itself out of the
water and onto the muddy shore. Tommy
and Jason stumbled backwards. The
dinosaur let out a tremendous bellow then stretched it massive body out to bask
in the sun. This incredible creature
was about fifteen feet long with a fat, black body and four stubby legs. Two large eyes sat on top of a wide flat
head with a wide toothy mouth. Its tail
was long and fat. Tommy and Jason were
heaped on the muddy ground frozen with fear.
The dinosaur was blocking their passage along the riverbank! The dinosaur turned its large head towards
them.
“What is that?” whispered Jason.
“I don’t know,” whispered Tommy.
“Well,” hissed Jason. “It’s blocking our way!” Jason had long since decided that this was
not shaping up to be a good day for him.
“I can see that!” Tommy hissed
back. He just loved when Jason pointed
out the obvious.
The dinosaur shifted its huge
hulking body closer to the boys and stretched out its fat stubby neck. It took in a deep breath then exhaled
through its large nostrils. Hot, wet
dinosaur breath shot out of its nose.
The boys coughed and choked as the foul dinosaur snort flowed over them.
Jason waved his hand in front of his
face. “Oh gross!” he exclaimed. “I think it needs a breath mint!”
Jason’s last comment had just given
Tommy an idea.
“Jason,” he said quietly. “Open my backpack and hand me the candy.”
“What?” said Jason, totally amazed
at his brothers obvious lack of concern for his well being. “Tommy this is hardly the time for a snack!”
Tommy rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to eat it!” he hissed.
The boys carefully untangled
themselves and slowly stood up. The
strange amphibious dinosaur regarded them as if they were nothing more than a
boring TV show. Jason slowly unzipped
the pack, reached in, and grabbed the candy.
He placed it in Tommy’s waiting hands.
“Wait!’ whispered Jason excitedly.
“What?” whispered Tommy
Jason took back the bag of
jellybeans. “Not these,” he said. “They’re my favorite.” He stuffed the bag into his pocket.
Tommy sighed, making a mental note
to punch his brother later. Tommy
opened a bag of chocolate covered marshmallow eggs. The dinosaur was starting to take a little more interest in
them. It let out another bellowing
cry. Tommy threw a chocolate egg at
it. The dinosaur stopped bellowing and
sniffed the egg, pushing it around with its snout. A fat pink tongue darted out of the dinosaur's mouth and lapped up
the treat along with a great deal of mud.
Saliva mixed with mud ran down its neck.
“Mmm,” said Jason with disgust. “Yum, yum.”
Realizing that food was near, the
dinosaur turned its full attention on the boys and their bag of goodies. It took a few steps towards them.
“Tommy!’ groaned Jason. “Do something! Give it the rest before it decides it wants us instead!”
Tommy swallowed hard. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I have a plan.” His voice was shaky and unsure.
He threw the dinosaur another
egg. It gobbled up the delightful
treat. Tommy waved the bag in front of
the huge reptile.
“You like these, do ya boy?” The dinosaur snapped at the bag with its
drooling jaws.
“Agggggh!” screamed Jason. “Give it to him!”
Tommy shook with fear all the way
down to his sneakers. “Jason,” he
said. “When I say run... run. Okay?”
Jason nodded.
The dinosaur was becoming
increasingly agitated and was making its’ move towards them when Tommy tossed the chocolate eggs into the
air. The dinosaur whipped its large
head to the side and followed the eggs through the air as they landed with
little splashes in the river. The
dinosaur swung its body around and dove into the water.
“Run!” shouted Tommy.
The boys scrambled up the muddy bank
and raced through the trees lining it.
They could still hear the dinosaur thrashing in the water, and bellowing
with anger as it tried to find it's lost meal.
Tommy and Jason broke through the trees and were quite surprised when
they came out onto a path... a well-used path.
Without giving it a moments thought, they ran up the trail and out of
sight.