Prehistoric Love

The humidity in this prehistoric jungle is worse than any desert I’ve ever dug in.

My sweaty shirt was sticking to not only my body, but to every plant and bug that crossed passed me.

“Nate,” I slap at another unusually large bug, “Don’t you think we’ve walked far enough? We’re going to get lost here.”

He looked back at me, a few feet in between us, “Would you quit worrying? There’s beauty all around you, open your eyes and relax.”

I take a deep breath. He’s right, it is beautiful. The colors of the plants and animals were so vibrant that artists could start a whole new color wheel.

But, God, there were real live dinosaurs here, and not all of them were friendly.

Sighing I followed behind him as he walked further into the exotic forest. It really was nice to the Nate I love, the one before our wedding day.

We walked for a few more hours, heading deeper into the jungle until we came upon a large clearing. Rolling hills of grass stretched on for miles with a clear blue sky and scrawny clouds passing lazily by.

But the most shocking part was the multitude of dinosaurs scattering the ground.

There were Triceratops, Brachiosaurus’, Stegosaurs’, Diplodocus’, and so many more.

“Cass, can you see this? This is incredible!” Nate gasped

I didn’t answer, the shock of actually seeing all these creatures alive and thriving was so…

God, I’m speechless.

We slowly moved forward, too mesmerized with the miracle of creation to notice the Parasaurolophus starring at us.

That is until the Parasaurolophs bleated a sound familiar to a goat.

Jumping at the sound I have to hold in a scream when the animal stretched out to sniff at me.

“Cass, don’t move.” Nate said slowly and calmly from behind me.

“Yeah, not going to be a problem,” I stuttered as the dinosaur moved closer.

After a while it seemed that the Parasaurolophs lost its curiosity when it backed away a little, but then all of a sudden it pushed its beaked nose into my stomach, effectively sending me crashing into Nate.

We both stayed sprawled in shock as the dinosaur let out another bleat and turned away to join its pod.

When the animal was far enough away Nate leaned over me with a worried look, “Cass! Are you okay? Did you get hurt or…”

He trailed off when he noticed my shoulders shaking as I tried to hold in my laughter, but it didn’t last long and soon I was rolling around in the grass, huge bursts of laughter exploding from my chest.

“Cass…?”

Holding my sides I look into his confused eyes, “That was awesome!”

He frowned as I tried to calm myself down, “Cass, I’m serious, are you okay? Cause I’m starting to think your head hit the ground a little too hard.”

Finally able to breathe right I smiled up at him, “I’m fine, really. That was just such an unbelievably cool experience. Did you see how close I was to that Parasaurolophs? I can’t believe it touched me!”

Nate glared at me then stood up, walking away from me, “I can’t believe you think this is a joke.”

Confused I stood up, “Are you kidding me? Didn’t you get intimate with a Microraptor earlier? At least the Parasaurolophs is an herbivore!”

He turned and marched up to me, “That Parasaurolophs is 30 feet long and larger then both of us! It could have crushed you!”

We were standing face to face now, “Oh, so now that I’m having a little fun you’re ready to call it quits, huh? Well guess what, you’re not the only one allowed to be excited about a new find!”

“I’m not saying you can’t be excited, I’m saying to be careful around creatures that are bigger then you!”

Just when I opened my mouth to respond the pods and groups of dinosaurs began to charge, running as loud grunts and roars fill the air. We looked out to see a large Tyrannosaurus Rex burst out of the tree line. The well known dinosaur gave chase to one of the older Triceratops, reaching down to bite a chuck from the horned creatures back.

“Nate, I’m ready to leave now.”

He nodded, “Yeah, me too.”

Walking slowly we head back into the forest, making sure not to grab the Rex’s attention.

Once we were hidden in the foliage we ran in a random direction.

As long as it was away from the T-Rex we were good with it.

After a while we slowed down, stopping to catch our breath.

“Okay, Nate,” I gasp, “You’ve had your fun, can we please leave now?”

He swallowed and looked around,”Sure, just as soon as we find that cave.”

I groan, “Didn’t I tell you we’d get lost?

He gave me a nasty look, “I don’t need you to use that tone with me, I’m not a child.”

“Huh, could have fooled me.”

He moved to respond when I noticed a frightening face hiding in the leaves behind him.

“Nate…” I said quietly, not moving.

“What?” He spat, but then he noticed that I wasn’t moving and that I was starring at something behind him.

I continued to keep eye contact with the creature in the shadows all the while knowing that more had surrounded us.

“There’s a Utahraptor behind you. God, Nate, can you see the others?” I whispered

He stiffened, dark eyes moving through the plants behind me, “No, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more.”

I swallowed, grabbing onto Nate’s arm when the Raptor slowly stepped from the shadows.

“Don’t move Nate. Oh God, oh God, oh God, please no.” I chanted when the Raptor tilted it’s head as it watched us.

Nate slowly brought our bodies closer, leaning down to whisper in my ear, “What’s happening?”

“It’s just watching us, probably planning its next move.” I whispered back.

But just as I finished speaking the Raptor raised its head back and let out loud hacking coughs into the air.

Almost immediately the forest began to rustle as more Utahraptors moved into view.