Dinosaur Trouble Read Free Page A

us!”
    â€œSecond-class creatures, the lot of them,” said his mother scornfully.

    â€œNot a patch on us,” said his father proudly.
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œBecause,” said his parents with one voice, “they can’t fly!”
    At that moment something came out from beneath the giant dinosaur. Something which had been sheltering there and had been alarmed by the flying creatures overhead.
    It was a baby apatosaurus.

5

    â€œMa,” said the baby apatosaurus, “what were those funny things in the sky?”
    â€œPterodactyls,” replied her mother, whose name was Gargantua.
    â€œI was frightened,” said the baby.
    â€œNo need,” said Gargantua. “Pterodactyls are fourth-rate creatures, much inferior to us.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œThey’ve only got two legs. They can’t walk
about like we dinosaurs can. Just remember that of all creatures, dinosaurs are the best, and that of all dinosaurs, apatosauruses are the greatest.”
    â€œYes, Ma,” said the baby.
    â€œOne day,” said Gargantua, “you’ll grow up to be a big girl, a very big girl, as big as me.”
    â€œAnd then I won’t be frightened of anything, Ma?”
    Gargantua looked down at her small daughter.

    â€œCertainly not,” she said. No point in worrying her, she thought . With a bit of luck she may never meet a T. rex.
    Just then another apatosaurus, even bigger than Gargantua, plodded heavily toward them.

    â€œOh, look!” said Gargantua. “Here comes your father.” And she called, “Titanic!”
    â€œWhat does that mean, Ma?” asked the baby.
    â€œIt’s his name, dear,” replied Gargantua.
    â€œWhich reminds me, you haven’t got a name yet. I can’t go on calling you ‘Baby.’”
    She waited until her huge husband reached them and then asked, “What shall we call her?”
    â€œCall who?” asked Titanic.
    â€œThis baby of ours. Your daughter.”
    â€œDidn’t know I had one,” said Titanic.
    â€œWell, now you do. Say hello to your father, baby.”
    â€œHello, Pa,” said the little apatosaurus.
    â€œHello, Wotsyername,” said Titanic. “What’s she called, Gargy?”
    â€œShe hasn’t got a name yet. Can you think of one?”
    â€œShe’s very small,” said Titanic.

    â€œShe’s very young,” said Gargantua. “She’ll be big one day.”
    â€œSuppose so,” said Titanic. “But just now she looks like a bantamweight. Tell you what Gargy, let’s call her Banty.”
    Gargantua turned to her daughter.
    â€œHow about that, baby?” she said. “Shall we call you Banty? How would you like that?”

    â€œI don’t mind,” said the little apatosaurus.
    She looked up at her enormous parents. Shall I really be as big as them one day? she thought . Shall I have four great legs like pillars and a very long tail and a very very long neck?
    She looked carefully at their heads.
    â€œWhy are your nostrils so high up?” she asked.
    â€œSo that we can stand in very deep water, almost completely submerged, and yet still be able to breathe,” said her mother.
    â€œBut why would you want to stand in very deep water?”
    â€œTo get cool,” replied her father.
    And to escape from a T. rex, he thought , but no point in worrying the child with that. With a bit of luck she may never meet one.
    â€œTalking of which,” he went on, “I could do with a dip. I’m hot and I’m hungry. I could murder a good meal of waterweed.”

    So they plodded off toward the lake, where Banty stood in the shallows, watching as Titanic and Gargantua plunged their long necks deep under the water to pull up great mouthfuls of weed.
    She looked up into the sky, remembering the flying creatures she had seen. I wonder why Ma was so nasty about pterodactyls, she said to herself . I thought