Father, Daughter Time- A Dinosaur Train Fanfic
It was a bright and sunny day at Pteranodon Terrace. Tiny was sitting up inside her Tiny Place, playing with her two Tiny dolls. After a while, she started to get a little bored, so she flew out of her little hole and landed on the ground.
She began walking around the area searching for her brothers, sister, and mom, only to see that there was no sign of them anywhere. Tiny then remembered that her mom took Buddy, Shiny, and Don to the Big Pond for a playdate with Gilbert. She remembered how excited Shiny was to get there so she could find some new shiny seashells, and spend some time with Gilbert. Tiny believed that her sister was more excited about the latter. Don wanted to go so he could find some new things for his collection. Their mom even joked about how Don had enough things in his collection to open up his own museum.
When Buddy asked Tiny if she wanted to go with them, she politely refused, saying that she just felt like staying home that day. Which was partly true, she wanted to stay home so she could spend time with her dad. Tiny believed that she and her dad didn't spend enough together since she was always going on the Dinosaur Train with Buddy and their mom, and it made her feel bad, thinking that her dad felt left out.
Tiny began to wonder where her dad could be. She made her way to the nest and found him asleep inside it. This made Tiny feel a bit annoyed. Since her dad tended to nap a lot, she couldn't hang out with, chat with, or even play with him if he was asleep. Tiny then noticed that her dad's feet were sticking out of the nest, and it gave her a very funny idea on how to wake him up. She walked towards a huge rock and went behind it, where Don's collection was located. Tiny eyed all of the items: eggshells, multiple dinosaur teeth, the gourd shaped like the Dinosaur Train that her artist friend Derek made, until she found exactly what she was looking for; a large purple feather. Tiny let out a small giggle, but not too loud, as she picked up the feather and made her way back to the nest.
Tiny tiptoed her way towards the nest until she was right in front her dad's feet and used the feather to gently tickle them. Mr. Pteranodon soon felt the feather touching him and began to laugh. It started out as a small giggle, but as Tiny continued the tickling, it became a huge belly laugh. Tiny was so busy with her tickle assault that she didn't notice her dad's eyes opening. He saw his daughter tickling him and quickly moved his feet away, which startled Tiny, who then looked up to see her dad standing up and looking down on her.
"So, you're the mysterious tickler," Mr. Pteranodon asked, his hands on his hips.
Tiny quickly hid the feather behind her back and let out a nervous chuckle.
"You know what this means," Mr. Pteranodon said in a serious tone.
Tiny gulped. She was afraid that her dad was mad at her for waking him up. Was he going to punish her? And if so, how?
"What?" she said nervously.
Just then, Mr. Pteranodon's serious face turned into a goofy smile.
"It means I get to tickle you back," he said as he wiggled his fingers towards Tiny.
"Oh-no," Tiny said in a fake frightened voice.
She quickly ran off as her dad chased after her. Tiny ran past some trees, laughing all the while, as she could hear her dad calling out, "I'm gonna get you! A booga-booga-boo!"
Tiny ran towards the tree where her Tiny Place was located. Her dad couldn't get her in there; it was her only hope of safety from him.
"You'll never catch me," she said as she saw her dad coming towards her.
She spread her wings and flew up towards her Tiny Place. But she only made it to the middle of the tree as Mr. Pteranodon grabbed ahold of her ankle and pulled her down, wrapping his wings around her to prevent the little pteranodon from getting away. "Oh-no, please, someone help," Tiny said all while giggling. Her father smiled mischievously.
"Now, it's payback time!'" said Mr. Pteranodon. He loosened his winged grip around her by pulling one arm away while holding his daughter in the other. Then he used his free hand to tickle both Tiny's feet.
Tiny went into a huge laughing fit. She tried to break loose and fly away, but her dad had a good grip on her.
Mr. Pteranodon then stopped the tickling for a little bit and he cradled her in his arms. "You give up yet?" he asked. "Never," Tiny said as she tried to catch her breath.
"Well then," Mr. Pteranodon said as a mischievous smile appeared on his face again. "I guess I'll just give up to the tickling again."
Tiny began laughing all over again as her dad began to tickle her tummy. "D-d-dad, pl-please! N-No m-m-more," Tiny said between laughs.
"What's that? I can't hear you," Mr. Pteranodon said as his tickling assault went from Tiny's tummy to her feet again.
"I-I-I-give! I give," Tiny finally said.
"That's all I needed to hear," Mr. Pteranodon said as he stopped tickling his daughter and placed her on the ground.
Tiny sat on a nearby rock so she can catch her breath. She let out a few giggles before she was finally able to calm down. "That was fun," She said.
"It sure was," said Mr. Pteranodon as he looked at the sun's position in the clear blue sky. "Well, Mom and your brothers and sister won't be home for a while. What do you want to do now?"
Tiny thought about it for a bit and came up with an idea. "How about a game of hide and seek?" she asked. She was really happy that her father was playing with her instead of dozing off.
"Oh, I love that game," Mr. Pteranodon said. "Okay, you hide and I'll count."
Tiny quickly ran off while her dad covered his eyes and started counting. "1-2-3-4-5! Ready or not, here I come!"
He looked all over the area; behind trees, in the nest, by the beach, even in Tiny's Tiny Place, but could not find her anywhere. That is, until he heard giggling coming from behind a huge bush. Mr. Pteranodon tiptoed towards it and looked behind it and found Tiny, who let out a surprised squawk.
"Found you!" He cried.
"You have to catch me first," said Tiny as she ran off.
Mr. Pteranodon chased after Tiny all around the area. Tiny quickly turned her head back to see if her dad was getting any closer, only to trip on a root sticking out of the ground and falling on her front side.
Tiny quickly sat up and winced a little as she held onto her knee. "Ow!"
"Tiny, are you okay?" Mr. Pteranodon said as he bent down towards his daughter.
"I hurt my knee," said Tiny as a few tears formed in her eyes.
Mr. Pteranodon took a look at Tiny's knee, and saw a small scrape.
"Don't worry Tiny, I can fix that," he said as he pulled a leaf off of a nearby tree and wrapped it around Tiny's knee like a Band-Aid.
"Thanks, Dad," Tiny said with a small smile on her face.
"Anytime, sweetie," said Mr. Pteranodon as he wiped the tears from Tiny's eyes.
Mr. Pteranodon carried Tiny back to the area where their nest was. He looked at her fondly while she was watching the waves crash onto the beach. She looked at her father and saw the way he was looking at her. "What is it, Dad?"
Her father chuckled as he looked away. "Oh nothing, just thinking about how you used to be so much smaller. I remember holding you when you were still a baby and how sweet you looked in my arms. Melted my heart every time I looked at you." He sighed.
"What?"
"Someday you'll be too big for me to carry you in my arms. I'm really going to miss that."
Tiny stared at her father and smiled a little. "Don't worry, Dad. I'm still small enough for you to carry me now, so there's plenty of time for you to enjoy it."
Mr. Pteranodon smiled appreciatively. "Thanks, Tiny."
"And someday when I'm all grown up, married, and have kids, you can hold them in your arms and feel your heart melt looking at them like you did looking at me."
Her father laughed. "Hey, don't say such things now. You're still very young, Tiny."
They both laughed as they made it into their nesting area. Mr. Pteranodon came over to the base of the tree that had Tiny's Tiny Place in it. He set Tiny down on the ground and sat beside her. "How about we sit in the shade of this tree and relax for a bit?"
"That sounds like a good idea, Dad." And so they sat under the tree, listening to the sounds of the waves on the beach and the wind blowing through the air. It was all so soothing, so peaceful.
Tiny opened her eyes. "Wait a second!" She flew up into the tree.
"Where are you going?" Her father asked her.
"Just getting my Tiny dolls out of my Tiny Place." She answered him. "They should be enjoying the peace and quiet too."
"Oh, okay." Her father replied.
Tiny went into her Tiny Place, got both her dolls, and flew out and back down to rejoin her father. She set them down at the base of the tree before she was scooped up by her father. She laughed as he held her in his arms. "Oh, Dad!"
Mr. Pteranodon smiled as he looked over at the dolls and reached over for one of them. He brought it back towards him and moved it over and over in his hand. It was Tiny's first Tiny Doll, the one he had given her for her first birthday. "I remember how I came to making it. For weeks I had been laboring over the right gift to make for you. It was your first birthday and I wanted it to be special. I had made a small wooden train out of wood and a leaf necklace, but neither seemed like the perfect gift to give you. But then I stubbed my foot against a stick. I looked down, saw that it kind of looked like a pteranodon, and that was when it hit me. Finding a couple leafs and some vine, I was able to fashion a pteranodon doll for you. I gathered it up with the other presents for your brothers and sister and handed them out. And then I gave you your own Tiny doll…"
"What, what happened?" Tiny happily asked.
Mr. Pteranodon grinned. "Oh why you loved it, of course! From that day on, that doll became your favorite toy."
"I love that story." Tiny said looking up at him.
"I love it too." Her father replied softly before setting the doll back down. "Say, how's your knee feeling?"
Tiny lifted up her leg and looked at it. "It still hurts a little, but it feels much better now. Thanks, Dad."
"You're very welcome. Glad to hear that you're feeling better." Mr. Pteranodon said. He held Tiny in his arms for a bit before something came up in her mind. She looked up at her father and spoke up.
"Dad?"
"Yes Tiny, what is it?"
Tiny looked up at her father with a small, sad expression on her face. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry? For what?"
"For making you feel left out. I always go on the Dinosaur Train with Buddy and Mom, especially with Shiny and Don, instead of being with you. I feel so bad, thinking of how you're alone at the nest, with no one to talk to or play with."
Mr. Pteranodon stared at his daughter for a few seconds before a smile formed on his face. "Oh, sweetie, you don't have to feel bad about that one bit. I don't feel left out when you're away with your mom and brothers and sister. I don't mind it at all."
"You don't?"
"Of course. I know you love spending time with your mom and siblings, especially on the train."
"But I do love spending time with you too." Tiny spoke up.
"I know that you do, honey. What I'm also saying is that I don't mind being by myself at home. I can fish, nap, and sit in one of my oak trees and enjoy the peace and quiet. Any one of my trees is like your Tiny Place, I have a place to myself where I can be by myself and enjoy the quiet."
"When you say it like that, I think you're right. I'm glad you enjoy yourself when you're alone." Tiny said.
Mr. Pteranodon chuckled. "Hmm. You know, we've been doing our own things for a while now, and hanging out together today was really fun. Let's do it more often. In fact, how about we take the Dinosaur Train to the Bing Pond and play there tomorrow, just you and me? What do you say?"
"Going to the Big Pond on the Dinosaur Train with you? That sounds great!" Tiny squawked excitedly.
"Yeah, it sure does." Mr. Pteranodon said affectionately before he leaned his head forward, closed his eyes, and rubbed the tip of his beak from side to side over Tiny's cheek. She giggled as he did this. When he stopped she grabbed his beak tip and gently pinched it while doing a boop-boop noise, before giggling even more. Her father giggled a lot too. Then he yawned.
"Say, how about we both take a nap together. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling a little tired from today's activities. So what do you say?"
"I think a nap sounds perfect. Could we play some more afterwards?"
"Of course." Mr. Pteranodon said. He wrapped his wings around Tiny so that she felt like she was being covered by a warm and comfortable blanket. She rested her head against her father's chest and closed her eyes. Mr. Pteranodon closed his eyes too.
"Dad?"
"Yes, Tiny?"
Silence.
"I love you."
Mr. Pteranodon held Tiny a little tighter. "I love you too."
The wind blew gently through the air. The sounds of the waves crashing on the beach grew smaller. Near total silence had enveloped Pteranodon Terrace as father and daughter happily drifted off to sleep together.
THE END
A/N The writer panther23 wrote the first part of this story and I wrote the second part, starting after Mr. Pteranodon wiped tears from Tiny's eyes after tending to her scrape. I also edited it. Hope you enjoyed it.
~DTF