Dinner
China, 124 million years ago.
Spring has finally arrived. The snow is melting away. The temperatures are rising and its inhabitants are returning home after a long journey from far away and warmer lands. The pterosaurs have returned from the seas and the dinosaurs march through their homeland for the first time since winter began a few months ago. Among these dinosaurs were a group of Beipiaosaurus, an odd dinosaur species with a long neck, short tail, and prominantly the elongated foreclaws of a carnivore but had the diet of a herbivore. Then came a herd of the last stegosaurid dinosaurs, the Wuerhosaurus. And not far behind was a flock of eight-foot long, gazelle-sized, bipedal dinosaurs called Psittacosaurus, who are distant precusors to the famous North American Triceratops. Mothers, fathers, offspring, and grandparents are all travelling together as one large herd. The journey was long and difficult. Some of the members of the herd either died from sickness or from predators.
One of the Psittacosaurs spots a fresh new flowing plant sprouting from the melting snow. The colors of the flowing plant capture his eyes. He hasn’t eaten since his journey. He does not want to wander off from the herd, but the growls in his stomach urge him to feed. Giving in to his urges, he walks toward the small plant and away from the herd. What harm could this do? After all it is dinner time. He approaches the little plant and sniffs it. The microscopic pollen spores flutter into the Psittacosaurus’ small nostrils, causing him to sneeze. The plant smells good enough to eat. He observes the green leaves and the colorful flowers. It looks good enough to eat. The Psittacosaurus reaches forward and grabs a flower with his large parrot-like beak. The luscious taste of the flower leaves a great sensation in his mouth. He starts to consume more and more of the plant, forgetting about his herd.
KRAK!
A noise! Psittacosaurus flinches. He scans his surroundings. Whatever made that noise isn’t far away. Is it a friend or a foe? Feeling uncomfortable, the lone Psittacosaurus takes a couple small steps back and turns himself around, cautiously making his way back to the herd.
Suddenly, Psittacosaurus feels something sharp piercing into its small body. He lets out a pain curdling screech. He tries to run but it does him no good. His feet gravitate away from the ground. His attacker, Yutyrannus, the predatory king of prehistoric China and close cousin of the almighty Tyrannosaurus Rex, grasps the small herbivore within her sharp, knife-like teeth. She hoists her prey into the air as the blood of the animal seeps down from her jaws. The Psittacosaurus helplessly kicks his arms and legs in the air, wanting to escape from this torment yet unable to free himself from Yutyrannus’ grasp. He calls out for help but his herd has already moved on, not that any of them could to any good against this alpha predator. The large carnivore violently shakes the Psittacosaurus like a rag doll, rupturing the organs and breaking the bones. Once her prey finally stops kicking and screeching, Yutyrannus drops the lifeless Psittacosaurus onto the ground. The killer queen of China then roars victoriously over her fresh kill.
Out of the forest pops an infant Yutyrannus, screeching and calling for his mother. The mother bellows back to her offspring, letting him know that supper is ready. The infant uses his clawed toes to scratch off some fluff of his feathers and runs towards his mother. The infant grabs ahold of the Psittacosaur’s stomach and pulls apart the flesh with is small jaws. The mother happily watches as her infant feeding. While the Psittacosaurus met an unfortunate end, his death helped provide this hungry infant a chance to eat and give it strength to continue roaming the earth. Soon, the infant will grow to an adult length of thirty-feet and become as large as a school bus, becoming the apex predator in prehistoric China. In a world full of dinosaurs, one rule of survival seems to stand out: one dinosaur’s downfall is another dinosaur’s dinner.