Shyler's Birthday

by Martial Arts Master

Dink the Little Dinosaur and all related characters that appear in this fic copyrighted by Ruby-Spears Productions. To my knowledge, this is the first Dink the little Dinosaur fanfic on fanfiction.net. Now, on with the story!

***

Dink, the young brontosaurus who lived in Dinosaur Valley, got up bright and early.

He needed to get a birthday gift.

For whom, you might ask?

Well, you see, today was the birthday of one of Dink's friends, namely Shyler, the young dimetrodon (in laymen's terms, a dimetrodon is a kind of dinosaur best known for the small "fan"-like sail on its back).

Dink wanted to surprise Shyler, so Dink didn't go to wake up Shyler yet.

Instead, he wanted to go to his friends, one by one, in order to get advice for what birthday gift he should get Shyler.

***

Now, before I go any further, my friends, I should tell you more about Dink and his friends, in case you have never heard of them before.

Dink is a young brontosaurus, as I've already mentioned. He is headstrong, and a born leader. He sometimes lets his temper get the better of him, though.

Amber, a young yellow dinosaur whose type an ordinary laymen like myself is hard-pressed to identify, is one of Dink's friends. She is as headstrong as Dink himself is, but she's a little more gentle.

Flapper, another of Dink's friends, is a young pterodactyl. He is a prankster, and loves to play tricks. He's nice otherwise, but he tends to tease people sometimes.

Scat, yet another of Dink's friends, is a young crocodile or alligator (I don't know for sure which one, because I don't have a tape right now for reference). He tends to think more with his stomach rather than his brain.

Crusty, the mentor of Dink and his friends, is a very old and very wise turtle. You see, the parents of Dink and his friends aren't around for some reason. They may very well be dead. Hence, Crusty became the mentor.

And lastly, we come to Shyler, a young dimetrodon. He is very, very shy, hence the name, but very, very sweet. He almost never is malicious to anyone, and always has a kind word...when he has any word at all. He tends to not speak up often enough, though, and he's rather naive.

***

Dink decided first to visit Amber at her home.

"Hey Amber!" Dink called. "It's Shyler's birthday today! Any idea what to get him?"

Amber woke up, rather sleepy.

"Just get him some flowers..." she replied, yawning, and then went back to sleep.

Dink grumbled to himself. Shyler wasn't the girly-girly type that would appreciate flowers...at least, that's what Dink thought. Hey, these are his thoughts, not mine. I'm not that sexist.

He decided to ask someone else.

***

Dink next visited Flapper's tree.

"Yo Flapper!" Dink called. "It's Shyler's birthday! I need an idea for a present to give him!"

Flapper wasn't asleep, fortunately, and he thought to himself for a minute.

"I've got it!" Flapper said at last. "Tell him jokes! Make him laugh!"

Dink was disappointed.

"But isn't that what you told me you were going to give him?" Dink asked Flapper in dismay.

"Oh yeah, good point, don't want to repeat a present," Flapper said, more to himself than to Dink.

"Forget it," Dink huffed, walking away.

***

Then, he visited the home of Scat, but he didn't think this visit would help, since Scat tended to be hungry a lot.

"Scat, do you have any idea what I should get Shyler for his birthday?" Dink asked.

"Food!" Scat answered immediately, rubbing his belly. "Come to think of it, I want some too! Can I have some of your birthday present!"

"Shyler can get food on his own!" Dink replied. "I want my present to be special. But thanks anyway."

Dink walked away. He still had one last creature to talk to.

***

Dink visited Crusty, the mentor of the young dinosaurs, in his cave.

"Crusty, I need your help!" Dink shouted.

He didn't realize, however, that the old turtle was asleep...and Dink had just woken him up.

Crusty yawned, mumbling grumpily, "You could've waited a little longer..."

He didn't mean it, however, and he got up.

"So what can I do for you?" Crusty asked conversationally.

"I need something special to get Shyler for his birthday," Dink explained.

Crusty thought carefully, drawing upon his years of wisdom.

"What about that young lady friend of his?" Crusty asked rhetorically. "Pearl, as I recall. Ask her to visit him. He might find that special."

Pearl, you see, was a female young dimetrodon that Shyler met once, and became friends with after a rocky start thanks to mishaps.

Pearl has parents, unlike most of the main characters, and once, they entrusted Shyler with the care of her after Shyler made a rash choice for once in his life and bragged about his being a hero (which wasn't true).

Dink thought Crusty was a genius. Shyler and Pearl, you see, sometimes acted like they were a little more than friends. Pearl even kissed Shyler on the cheek once. That was probably a testament to how much they liked each other.

Of course, Dink would have to convince Pearl's parents to let Pearl go visit Shyler. But that wouldn't be a problem.

***

"You want me to visit Shyler for his birthday?" Pearl asked, surprised.

"I do," Dink answered. "He'll love seeing you again. He likes you a lot."

At this, Pearl blushed. That's when her parents noticed Dink's arrival.

"Oh hello, Dink, how nice to see you!" Dink's father commented jovially.

"What brings you here?" Dink's mother asked.

"I was hoping Pearl could come over to Shyler's cave," Dink responded. "It's his birthday today."

Pearl's parents smiled. Obviously that was a yes...

***

And what was our friend Shyler up to, you might ask?

He was sleeping.

Actually, he was also dreaming. It was a rather strange dream, involving Tyrannor, the tyrannosaurus who sometimes terrorized him and his friends, dressed in leaves and doing a weird dance.

Before the dream could get even stranger, Shyler woke up.

He yawned, realizing it was only a dream.

That's when he noticed all his friends surrounding his bed.

"Happy birthday, Shyler!" they all chorused.

Shyler blushed shyly. He was very pleased that they had remembered his birthday.

His friends gave him their gifts: Amber handed him a bouquet, Flapper told him jokes, Scat gave him a heaping mound of food...what Scat hadn't decided to eat himself, and Crusty gave him a shiny red stone he had found outside his cave.

Dink's gift would prove to be the best of all, however, as Pearl stepped out from behind Dink.

"Happy birthday, Shyler," Pearl chorused as she hugged Shyler, kissing his cheek.

Shyler grinned. This was his best birthday ever.

***

The End

***

I apologize if that was short, but I couldn't think of many ideas for a Dink the Little Dinosaur fanfiction. I just wanted there to be at least one on Fanfiction.net. E-mail all other questions and comments to bleifer@comcast.net