The Project

By the way, I don't own Jurassic Park

Idaho looked out through the window while the teacher spoke about the new school project they would write. They could write about what they wanted.

That was good.

But at the same time, she knew that she had to come up with something really special. Idaho knew very well that her teacher didn't liked coloured people. The black and Hispanic kids in her class were given a hard time too, but still, they had each other. Idaho was the only Native American in the entire school, if you don't count her two brothers.

What annoyed Idaho the most was that only one of the white kids had seen what was going on, Idaho's neighbour and one of her best friends, Lynn. And sometimes Idaho got a feeling that one of Lynn's triplet Mary knew something too, but Mary was a dreamer and seldom really present.

"Becky, now it's the fifth time you are speaking. It should be silence when one is studying!" The teacher interrupted and then she continued to speak about their school project.

Idaho was looking out through the window again. She saw Lynn's eyes turn dark in the glass, and she heard Mary sigh, but she wasn't sure if it was just coincidence.

But Idaho was certain about one thing. Becky was Black and had been talking to two white girls, Stacie and Callie, and that wasn't fair.

After what felt like 100 years, the school day was over. Idaho followed Becky, Stacie, Callie and the triplets to the ice cream bar to do… nothing… and to forget that their teacher wasn't fair. But with Lynn in the same room it wasn't that easy.

"That bitch should…" she began to say, but she was interrupted by Becky.

"It's not worth trying Lynn!"

"I don't care! After all this is the 21st century!" Her voice turned higher.

If there was something Idaho was completely sure about, it would be that Lynn would be America's first female president. She had been a natural and undoubted chairwoman of the students council since their first day at school and refused to accept anything else than the full justice. Compromising about justice wasn't even thinkable.

"What are you talking about?" Callie asked.

"They're talking about why Becky got told of by Miss Watson and Stacie and you were not" Mary explained.

So Mary did see it, Idaho thought happily.

Mary, Lynn and Marilyn had been her neighbours and best friends since they could walk. Mary and Lynn were identical twins with long blond hair. Marilyn was the third triplet and had browner and longer hair and then she was thinner than the other two. Even if Mary and Lynn didn't have to be on a diet either.

"Have anyone began to think about the project?" Idaho asked to change subject. "I mean, except for that Lynn are going to start Operation get Miss Watson fired"

----

Later that evening Idaho still hadn't found anything to write about. She sat in front of the TV with her older brothers Hinto and Jackopa, but she didn't watching. Finally she gave up and took her bike out for a ride. It had to be something interesting to write about somewhere.

Suddenly she fell, and when she tried so stand up she noticed that she had grazed her knee which was bleeding.

She began to cry and slowly got up on her legs again and started to lead the bike home.

Then an old lady came up to her.

"Are you Alright little one, I saw you fell!"

"I'm fine" Idaho said and then she looked up in the woman's face. She knew her. "Wait, aren't you Callie's grandmother?"

"Yes I am, come here so I can examine your wound"

Idaho followed the woman to her home and then she got a bandage for her leg and a glass of juice.

"I have something to show you if you want!" the woman suddenly said. Idaho got curious and followed her to a chest of drawers and she picked up something.

"I found it in the park and thought it would be a nice project for Callie, but she had already found something to write about."

And that's how Idaho ended up sitting in her room with an egg shaped stone trying to find something interesting to write about it.

Finally she got tired and placed the stone in her bed and laid herself down beside it. She placed her ear against the stone…

Suddenly she sat up. And she wasn't tired anymore. She was sure that she had heard something inside the stone.

She lighted up her room. The stone started to crack, Idaho ran out to get her youngest big brother Jackopa. And then both of them watched the egg when it got open and a baby velociraptor crawled out.

----

Next morning Idaho run over to the triplets' house and told them about her new pet. Lynn's project didn't seem so great anymore. When school was over that they, everyone in Idaho's class wanted to follow her home, for some reason.

As no one, not even Billy, the biggest dinosaur fan in the class, knew what sex the velociraptor had, the kids decided to give it a name that would suit it whatever it was. Charlie.

----

Next day was the day they would present their projects. Idaho had Charlie in her backpack. She was given number 5. Billy, Vince, Mary and Pete would present their project before her. But Mary and Pete never got time to start their presentation.

Idaho didn't notice when Charlie succeeded to open the backpack and escape in the middle of Vince's presentation.

Miss Watson suddenly caught sight of it, she screamed and then she fainted.

Callie and Cassie ran out to the toilets to get some water to wake her up with. The rest of the class ran over to her. When the both girls were back they throw the water on their teacher who woke up, rose and pointed at the dinosaur.

"What is that!" Idaho decided to answer right then.

"Its… it's my project … I… got a dinosaur egg and it cracked. The teacher fainted again and as the water didn't work this time Vince, Rob and Lynn ran up to the principal who called the ambulance, and then, this class got a day off.

----

The day after that, Idaho and Billy visited Miss Watson in the hospital. She had waked up and got time to think about Idaho's project. And she was really impressed, at least over some parts of it.

"Have you decided what to do with it now?"

"With Charlie? Well I'm planning to keep it of course!"

"Have you really thought about that, do you know anything about it, how big will it be, what does he eat." Idaho saw Billy's face was turning pale, and she knew what that meant.

"Charlie is a carnivore, right?"

"And it will at least be bigger than you will be able to handle" Billy continued. Idaho turned to her teacher.

"So what am I going to do?"

----

Next week they made a trip to the researching zoo. After some phone calls Miss Watson made, they had agreed to take care of the dinosaur. And the researchers' really had made a nice habitat for her. Charlie was a girl.

Idaho sat there watching out in the enormous enclosure. Her dinosaur seemed to like the place. Then she heard Marilyn's voice behind.

"I think she will have a better life here anyway."

"Yes, I could never have done anything like this anyway. And, if it's true, what the researchers told us about her… I don't think it would be a good idea to have her at home anyway" Idaho smiled. "Besides, I can come here to see her when I want." Then she watched Charlie again. She really seemed to enjoy herself.

----

Idaho did her presentation next day. She got the highest possible marks.

And some years later she became one of the world's most famous palaeontologists and started to work at the researching zoo, even after Charlie had died.

Actually almost everyone in her class became palaeontologists. Billy of course, and Vince, Mary, Marilyn, Cassie, Stacie, Rob and Becky… almost everyone as I said. Idaho's older brother Jackopa became one too.

Idaho also wrote several books about the dinosaur, which was very popular.