T-Rex, the Story of a Tyrant
CHAPTER ONE
THE ENCOUNTER
This story was written by Christopher Malcolm. Christopher is 11 years of age and it appears to me at least that his writing abilities are well in advance of what can be reasonably expected of an 11 year old child. Nobody assisted him in the writing of this story in any way, shape or form. I am extremely proud of his accomplishment in writing T-Rex , the Story of a Tyrant and hope to see more stories from him in the future. October 2006.
It is 66 million years ago in North America. The air is hot and humid. Birds twitter and peep in the trees. In the pond, creatures like frogs and turtles squat calmly on the banks. A small Orodromeus crouches down for a drink. As he lowers his small, delicate head to drink, he emits a small cluck and swishes his tail. Orodromeus are rare in the valley, and this one is just visiting. Suddenly, he looks up and lets out a gasping noise. His eyesight and hearing are excellent, and his sense of smell is moderate. All these incredible senses make him the deer of the cretaceous period. A short, compact body on top of two long, muscular legs give him amazing speed. He can outrun just about every other dinosaur in the valley, except maybe an Ornithomimus if it gets lucky. He hurries away in panic. His long legs move swiftly through the horsetails and ferns as he flees.
Tyrannosaurus rex growls and lumbers toward him. Thirty-nine feet long, with jaws that hold ( 60?) bone-crushing teeth, the sight of this colossal monster strikes unstoppable fear into the hearts of almost every creature in the valley. Fortunately, he isn't after the miniscule Orodromeus. He is after his favorite prey of all. He is tracking a wounded duckbill dinosaur.
His huge feet sink into the mud and pond slime. He sniffs the air loudly. He picks up the smell of the duckbill. He can tell that it has an infection. This is because he has bitten the duckbill. Tyrannosaurus are primarily scavengers, and decomposing carcasses carry bacteria. When T-rex eats, he gets some of the bacteria and germs in the serrations on his teeth. There the bacteria multiply, and the tyrant goes hunting. When he bites into another dinosaur, several bacteria get into the wound, slowly causing infection and gradually the prey grows weaker and weaker. Then the prey becomes too weak to move on, and the tyrant gets his meal. Even if it is a long-distance traveler like a duckbill, the T-rex will follow it.
Tyrannosaurus's legs are built for traveling distance, not speed. He can go relatively fast for short distances, but then must slow down to rest, not unlike a cheetah. (A 6-ton cheetah with a head 5 feet long and bristling with teeth.)
Now in pursuit of the duckbill he moves a little bit faster. He stops to rest. He rubs himself on a tree to get rid of an itch. Flies dart here and there around his small eyes. T-Rex shakes his head and closes his eyes. He opens them and decides to move toward the duckbill again. A few minutes pass and he is able to see the duckbill for the first time. It is Anatotitan, the most common species in the area. The Tyrannosaur opens his huge mouth a little bit and lets some of his long, yellowish teeth show. He cannot see the duckbill very well, because he has very small eyes and poor eyesight. He sniffs to make sure the duckbill is hurt. He can smell the strong odor of a monstrous scar on the duckbill's leg.
He also picks up the scent of something he has seen only from a distance. Tyrannosaurs everywhere are petrified by its huge size and long horns. This creature can bite like no other dinosaur. It can stab with its horns. It has an 11-foot head with bony studs around the edges of a giant frill. T-rex crouches quickly behind some wide cypress trees and a magnolia plant. Instinct, the voice in his head yells "Get Out Of The Swamp Now". But the smell of the Triceratops Maximus grows stronger. The tyrant turns to go, but just as he places his huge, raptorial feet into the mud, the bushes start to move. The smell of the monster surrounds his nose. Then, the triceratops emerges. The tyrannosaurus lowers his head in anger. His eyes narrow. The monster he smelled was a tiny baby?! The tyrannosaur gives a bellow that sends the birds in the trees leaping up and flying off like the world has come to an end. A dromaeosaur, or Raptor who was taking a sip out of the pond screamed and hurled itself into the forest like a rocket.
The tyrant charges the baby. The baby's eyes open up in terror. She wails in fright as the tyrannosaurus prepares to close his jaws of doom on her head. Just as the tyrannosaur lunges, an awful hoot rings his ears. It sounds like a hundred tubas, but worse. A musky scent makes his olfactory chambers scream. The mother Triceratops charges out of the bushes towards the tyrant. The tyrannosaurus leaps into the air and tears away as fast as his legs can carry him. Just as he thinks he is safe, he steps on an algae-covered rock and falls down. Down, and with a monumental THUD!! he lands in the soft mud. He tries rolling over, and lifting himself with his arms, but nothing works. The Triceratops is still charging, so the tyrannosaur gives a heave with his tiny arms, and, wait, yes! The tyrant begins to run once more, but as he takes his first steps to safety, the triceratops swings his head and gores the tyrannosaurus right in the leg. The excruciating pain seems to spread to his entire body.
The tyrannosaur gives a howl of agony as the horn slides out of his thigh. The voice inside his head shrieks, "GET OUT! DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE PAIN! GO! NOW!" The tyrant pulls away, but the pain becomes too intense, and the tyrannosaurus is brought to his knees. The enraged triceratops lowers her horns to finish off the tyrant. Then, by some miracle, the tyrannosaurus gets up and limps hurredly into the trees. Today is the day the triceratops will remember as the day she almost killed the scourge of the valley.
CHAPTER TWO
THE TYRANT'S MEAL
The tyrannosaur limped back to his nesting area, where his mate and a nest waited. He lumbered into the middle of a pile of rotting leaves and collapsed onto the ground. His mate, sensing something wrong, moved slowly over to him and growled softly. Four small, feathery chicks with large, clear blue eyes trot around the nest squealing and chasing one another. They are odd-looking things, only 4 feet long and covered in a coat of white down, flecked with black. One chick has a long black stripe down her back. She is the oldest chick, her egg first laid, and the first to hatch, the largest of the chicks, and the most successful of them all. She hogged most of the food, along with her brother.
This behavior is not greed and selfishness, but helping the tyrannosaur species as a whole. Chicks that hog the most food are usually the strongest, fastest, and smartest of the group. The weak and less intelligent chicks almost always die or get the least food. The stronger chicks are the ones that live longest, hunt more succesfully, and have the most offspring, carrying their traits and discoveries to their children. Then the children will do the same, and that family will be successful and would evolve into stronger, smarter, bigger, and more advanced tyrannosaurs, if it wasn't for the massive extinction that lay one million years ahead, waiting to obliterate and demolish the magnificent dinosaurs.
The chicks have large heads and short snouts, and very long legs, too long for their bodies, and account for most of their height. The chicks were crowded around a smelly pile of flesh. A Didelphodon, a small, scavenging mammal, had been wandering about the nest site, searching for scraps of food. The little female had spotted him first and snorted to the others. They came bounding over gleefully, prancing through the ferns without a care in the world. The chick that saw the didelphodon first hissed at her siblings and crouched into the horsetails without a sound. The others did the same.
The didelphodon's keen sense of smell picked up the scent of the chicks. He screeched and leaped for cover. The chicks attacked instantly and simultaneously. The battle was swiftly over. The youngsters examined their prize and a new successful generation of tyrannosaur has begun.
THE ENCOUNTER
This story was written by Christopher Malcolm. Christopher is 11 years of age and it appears to me at least that his writing abilities are well in advance of what can be reasonably expected of an 11 year old child. Nobody assisted him in the writing of this story in any way, shape or form. I am extremely proud of his accomplishment in writing T-Rex , the Story of a Tyrant and hope to see more stories from him in the future. October 2006.
It is 66 million years ago in North America. The air is hot and humid. Birds twitter and peep in the trees. In the pond, creatures like frogs and turtles squat calmly on the banks. A small Orodromeus crouches down for a drink. As he lowers his small, delicate head to drink, he emits a small cluck and swishes his tail. Orodromeus are rare in the valley, and this one is just visiting. Suddenly, he looks up and lets out a gasping noise. His eyesight and hearing are excellent, and his sense of smell is moderate. All these incredible senses make him the deer of the cretaceous period. A short, compact body on top of two long, muscular legs give him amazing speed. He can outrun just about every other dinosaur in the valley, except maybe an Ornithomimus if it gets lucky. He hurries away in panic. His long legs move swiftly through the horsetails and ferns as he flees.
Tyrannosaurus rex growls and lumbers toward him. Thirty-nine feet long, with jaws that hold ( 60?) bone-crushing teeth, the sight of this colossal monster strikes unstoppable fear into the hearts of almost every creature in the valley. Fortunately, he isn't after the miniscule Orodromeus. He is after his favorite prey of all. He is tracking a wounded duckbill dinosaur.
His huge feet sink into the mud and pond slime. He sniffs the air loudly. He picks up the smell of the duckbill. He can tell that it has an infection. This is because he has bitten the duckbill. Tyrannosaurus are primarily scavengers, and decomposing carcasses carry bacteria. When T-rex eats, he gets some of the bacteria and germs in the serrations on his teeth. There the bacteria multiply, and the tyrant goes hunting. When he bites into another dinosaur, several bacteria get into the wound, slowly causing infection and gradually the prey grows weaker and weaker. Then the prey becomes too weak to move on, and the tyrant gets his meal. Even if it is a long-distance traveler like a duckbill, the T-rex will follow it.
Tyrannosaurus's legs are built for traveling distance, not speed. He can go relatively fast for short distances, but then must slow down to rest, not unlike a cheetah. (A 6-ton cheetah with a head 5 feet long and bristling with teeth.)
Now in pursuit of the duckbill he moves a little bit faster. He stops to rest. He rubs himself on a tree to get rid of an itch. Flies dart here and there around his small eyes. T-Rex shakes his head and closes his eyes. He opens them and decides to move toward the duckbill again. A few minutes pass and he is able to see the duckbill for the first time. It is Anatotitan, the most common species in the area. The Tyrannosaur opens his huge mouth a little bit and lets some of his long, yellowish teeth show. He cannot see the duckbill very well, because he has very small eyes and poor eyesight. He sniffs to make sure the duckbill is hurt. He can smell the strong odor of a monstrous scar on the duckbill's leg.
He also picks up the scent of something he has seen only from a distance. Tyrannosaurs everywhere are petrified by its huge size and long horns. This creature can bite like no other dinosaur. It can stab with its horns. It has an 11-foot head with bony studs around the edges of a giant frill. T-rex crouches quickly behind some wide cypress trees and a magnolia plant. Instinct, the voice in his head yells "Get Out Of The Swamp Now". But the smell of the Triceratops Maximus grows stronger. The tyrant turns to go, but just as he places his huge, raptorial feet into the mud, the bushes start to move. The smell of the monster surrounds his nose. Then, the triceratops emerges. The tyrannosaurus lowers his head in anger. His eyes narrow. The monster he smelled was a tiny baby?! The tyrannosaur gives a bellow that sends the birds in the trees leaping up and flying off like the world has come to an end. A dromaeosaur, or Raptor who was taking a sip out of the pond screamed and hurled itself into the forest like a rocket.
The tyrant charges the baby. The baby's eyes open up in terror. She wails in fright as the tyrannosaurus prepares to close his jaws of doom on her head. Just as the tyrannosaur lunges, an awful hoot rings his ears. It sounds like a hundred tubas, but worse. A musky scent makes his olfactory chambers scream. The mother Triceratops charges out of the bushes towards the tyrant. The tyrannosaurus leaps into the air and tears away as fast as his legs can carry him. Just as he thinks he is safe, he steps on an algae-covered rock and falls down. Down, and with a monumental THUD!! he lands in the soft mud. He tries rolling over, and lifting himself with his arms, but nothing works. The Triceratops is still charging, so the tyrannosaur gives a heave with his tiny arms, and, wait, yes! The tyrant begins to run once more, but as he takes his first steps to safety, the triceratops swings his head and gores the tyrannosaurus right in the leg. The excruciating pain seems to spread to his entire body.
The tyrannosaur gives a howl of agony as the horn slides out of his thigh. The voice inside his head shrieks, "GET OUT! DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE PAIN! GO! NOW!" The tyrant pulls away, but the pain becomes too intense, and the tyrannosaurus is brought to his knees. The enraged triceratops lowers her horns to finish off the tyrant. Then, by some miracle, the tyrannosaurus gets up and limps hurredly into the trees. Today is the day the triceratops will remember as the day she almost killed the scourge of the valley.
CHAPTER TWO
THE TYRANT'S MEAL
The tyrannosaur limped back to his nesting area, where his mate and a nest waited. He lumbered into the middle of a pile of rotting leaves and collapsed onto the ground. His mate, sensing something wrong, moved slowly over to him and growled softly. Four small, feathery chicks with large, clear blue eyes trot around the nest squealing and chasing one another. They are odd-looking things, only 4 feet long and covered in a coat of white down, flecked with black. One chick has a long black stripe down her back. She is the oldest chick, her egg first laid, and the first to hatch, the largest of the chicks, and the most successful of them all. She hogged most of the food, along with her brother.
This behavior is not greed and selfishness, but helping the tyrannosaur species as a whole. Chicks that hog the most food are usually the strongest, fastest, and smartest of the group. The weak and less intelligent chicks almost always die or get the least food. The stronger chicks are the ones that live longest, hunt more succesfully, and have the most offspring, carrying their traits and discoveries to their children. Then the children will do the same, and that family will be successful and would evolve into stronger, smarter, bigger, and more advanced tyrannosaurs, if it wasn't for the massive extinction that lay one million years ahead, waiting to obliterate and demolish the magnificent dinosaurs.
The chicks have large heads and short snouts, and very long legs, too long for their bodies, and account for most of their height. The chicks were crowded around a smelly pile of flesh. A Didelphodon, a small, scavenging mammal, had been wandering about the nest site, searching for scraps of food. The little female had spotted him first and snorted to the others. They came bounding over gleefully, prancing through the ferns without a care in the world. The chick that saw the didelphodon first hissed at her siblings and crouched into the horsetails without a sound. The others did the same.
The didelphodon's keen sense of smell picked up the scent of the chicks. He screeched and leaped for cover. The chicks attacked instantly and simultaneously. The battle was swiftly over. The youngsters examined their prize and a new successful generation of tyrannosaur has begun.
posted by alex malcolm at 9:05 pm
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