First Days

Yellow beams of light seeped through his partially opened blinds onto his bedspread. It wasn't the new dawn though that woke him up but rather the loud knock coming from his front door. Where am I? He then realised that he was in his new bungalow on Isla Pena; in his new job. Groggily he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Blue spots still wavered in his eyes as he checked the time on his phone. 07:30. Whoever was knocking must have been important at this time in the morning. It would be understandable if he had slept in on his first day but he had a week to settle in but he had literally arrived at Prehistoric Park the night before. He hadn't even finished unpacking!

"Sorry I won't be a sec!" he shouted hoping they would hear. Judging by how his voice cracked it was doubtful that they heard. Another knock confirmed this.

He pulled his blue dressing gown from the back of his bedroom door. It probably wouldn't be good to address someone of importance in just his white shirt and black shorts. He had just finished struggling to tie his robe when he got to the door and spent another minute or so trying to put the key into his door. The brightness of the Pacific sun blinded him and he had to quickly shield his eyes with his arm.

"Sorry did we wake you Jordan?" a familiar voice asked.

Eventually his eyes adjusted to see Nigel Marven standing at his door with his characteristic smile on his face. Standing behind him was a slightly shorter man who was slightly pudgy. He was balding and had a large bushy walrus moustache. The second man was wearing a blue, red and yellow Hawaiian shirt with grey shorts.

"No I was never one for a lie-in," he lied "Do you want to come in?"

He stood back to allow Nigel and the man to come inside. He offered out his hand to which the man took it heartily. The man though had to juggle shaking Jordan's hand with trying to carry a very large package wrapped in brown paper.

"I'm Bob Arthur," he introduced "So you must be Jordan Matthews? I'm the Head Keeper so we'll be seeing a lot of each other with you being one of the Deputy Keepers."

Due to his experience when he had been hired he was made the more higher ranking Deputy Keeper over the normal Keeper.

"Pleased to meet you. Please take a seat; sorry I haven't managed to finish unpacking yet. Does anyone want a tea or coffee?"

"Hammond was to come but well, the doctor gave a resounding no to that," Nigel interjected.

Nigel and Bob gave a polite response to their preferred drinks. Luckily the first thing he had done after he had started to unpack was go to the shop on Isla Pena to buy in some necessities including milk, tea and coffee. Hot steam poured from the kettle like an endless torrent and he immediately poured the boiling water into three mugs. It turned out that Amy was right about him taking multiple mugs! Nigel got up from the sofa and helped him carry the ceramic mugs filled to the brim with scolding tea and coffee into the adjoining living room. The TV in his living room was still stood on an unpacked box along with other miscellaneous filled boxes scattered sporadically around. As Nigel sipped some of his mug's contents he noticed Jordan's small fossil collection.

"Quite an impressive collection," Nigel commented full of interest "Oh that's quite a complete Dimetrodon skull. That must be the centrepiece of your collection."

"Oh it is. My sister got it for me a few years ago."

"Wait until you see the ones we have in the park," Bob laughed "They get up quite close to the jeep when we feed them."

Bob laughed when he saw Jordan smile. It was amazing that the owner of the fossilised skull sitting on his window sill would be one of the animals that he would be looking after in a week. Thinking in a week he would be looking after a whole range of creatures that he thought were extinct, in some cases for millions of years, until a month ago. Until he actually moved out Dani had been jumping up and down on him asking when she could come live with her uncle and get a woolly mammoth as a pet. Bob reached into his shorts pocket and pulled out his mobile. Holding it at arm's length he started swiping the screen with the accompanying clicks that came with pressing the links to the phone's wide array of different functions.

"I'm getting like me dad holding this at arm's length," Bob chuckled "My kids take the mess all the time about it. Here take a look at this."

He passed Jordan his mobile which showed a big grey play triangle. He tapped it and for a few seconds it was an incoherent blur of colour. Eventually the recorder, (most likely Bob himself), settled the camera so a large reptile could be seen. It was the size of a komodo dragon but with a circular skull and a giant burning red sail. The creature was covered in diamond shaped green scales and black stripes. It was a Dimetrodon! Whoever was recording was sitting in a jeep with the back open with chunks of meat lying in a red pool. The Dimetrodon managed to rear up by resting its front legs on the jeep's side for support. Opening its jaws it grasped a chunk of bloodied meat and pulled it off the back of the jeep.

"Does that happen?" he asked curiously passing Bob back his phone.

"With the Dimetrodon no. With them we normally feed them in the morning so they're a bit sluggish. Other species though are a bit crafty."

Nigel and Bob started talking to Jordan about his plans over the next week before he officially started. It turns out there were multiple cafes, bars and other establishments exclusively for staff on Isla Pena if he wanted to go. Although Nigel quickly warned him to avoid Ammonite Bar; a Tikki themed bar which was notorious for watering down its beer. He was curious though to meet Nigel's deputy Chiyo though.

"Normally if she's free she will be reading in Triassic Shack," Nigel choked. It turned out his tea was still a bit too hot. "You will like her although I worry."

"Chiyo's a sweet person. She's shy and doesn't talk much," Bob explained "We all love her but she's quite retiring so we worry. Wait I need to give you this!"

Bob handed him the package that he had brought. It weighed the same as the collective works of Tolstoy and almost dropped it. When he rested it on his sofa's arm the air rushed from the fabric with an audible whoosh. Only a Concorde went faster than the air that fled the compressed arm. Nigel and Bob eagerly sat on the edge of their seats like an expectant parents watching their child open a present on Christmas. He pealed back the paper to see a large booklet with the Prehistoric Park logo of the skeletal Tyrannosaurus over the park's name on the cover. In big white letters was the sentence: Prehistoric Park Keeper Animal Guide.

"That booklet will be your life working here!" Nigel said "Contains information about the behaviour and life of each of the park's residents, what they eat, when breeding time is and quite importantly how dangerous each animal is."

"I will definitely have to memorise this." It was quite a tome.

"Well we best be getting off," Bob said looking at his watch "Thanks for the coffee Jordan and I can't wait for you to start full time!"

He watched Nigel and Bob walk down the path into the new day. They had been talking for so long that the sun was now very high in the sky. Although before he made a start on the rest of the day he best be memorising the solid mass that was now putting considerable strain upon his chair's arm.

A week later

There was a loud metallic screech. Jumping with a wind of excitement and energy he jumped from his bed so he could turn off his alarm. It was time! It was the day that he officially became a Prehistoric Park keeper! He rushed around quickly getting dressed in the dark, only pausing to swear loudly as he stubbed his toe on the tome that was the Keeper's Guide. After shovelling down a quick breakfast and brushing his teeth he admired himself in the mirror. He had never done this before, (he was never one for posing), but today was no ordinary day. He curly brown hair had been cut short, his slight beard shaved so he only had some brown stubble, (for the first time in months he could see the mole on his top lip), and he stood as proud as a patriotic soldier in his uniform. A green collared shirt with the Prehistoric Park logo on the left breast, black combat trousers and black hiking boots. He contemplated taking the black jacket that came with it but decided not to. He had been waiting for this ever since he had first opened the Keeper's Guide.

Due to the heaviness of the guide he had studied it in his bungalow instead of trying to drag it to the Triassic Shack. Although he was disappointed that he hadn't managed to meet Chiyo yet although he heard that she was quite reclusive. Regardless he decided to spend his time reading up on the animals in the park instead of looking for a shy person because his boss had heavily hinted that he wanted to be her friend. The booklet gave more information on the park as well as the inhabitants even though he had to read the index to understand it. He was reading up on the entry for a species of oviraptor called Anzu Wyliei to see underneath it said Location: Hell's Creek S. It turns out the park was organised into different areas depending where each animal came from, (for example from Late Cretaceous North America), but because of the park being scattered over separate islands to keep it together they created the system. Hell's Creek S meant the Anzu lived in the Hell's Creek area on Isla Sorna. He was surprised as well how high danger rating some animals got. The giant sauropod Paralititan got a 5/10 but he chuckled when the reason for this rating was 'possibility of being stepped on'.

He stepped outside and locked his door. A silver moon was still high in the sky when he left the house. To look after any park you have to get up before the sun does. The monorail to Isla Nublar where the keeper meeting area was luckily was only a short walk away. A pure white bullet shaped monorail was already at the station; standing out against the dark background of the early morning. Few people were on the monorail; a few people who he knew to work in the hotel as well as one or two Neanderthals. Whether they were some of the ones employed by the park or were ones that just wanted a trip out he couldn't tell. Both preferred wearing their traditional tribal clothing to 21st century clothing. With a quiet hiss the door to the monorail closed the monorail set off. Compared to other monorails the ride had no bumps and was virtually quiet; if he hadn't been standing he could have easily lay down and slept. The monorail silently darted across the track elevated above the water separating the volcanic islands. Faintly he could see the tail fluke of a cetacean gently rise from the water's surface before descending back into the depths. Judging by where they were it would be a Brygmophyster that lived at the park. He could be feeding one today…

Isla Nublar definitely earned its name. In the early morning Jordan could hardly look through the thick fog that kissed the ground. Never mind a knife he would need a chainsaw to cut through the fog it was that thick. It was so thick that he almost missed where he was meant to be going! There was a black chain-linked fence with a door requiring a keycard to open it nestled in some ferns. Even the staff headquarters looked like it was a primeval time. He scanned the keycard and soon found the door to where the Deputy Keepers met. It was rather plain inside with a few tables, a battered television set and radio, some lockers nestled in a corner and a map of each island on one wall. At the back there was a door which quickly opened revealing Bob carrying a steaming cup of coffee.

"Ah Jordan!" he groggily waved "Just put your stuff in your locker. Everything you need is inside. Also if you want a cuppa the kitchen's through there."

Jordan thanked him and walked up to his locker. He quickly located the locker which said and unlocked it with his new key. Inside was a walkie-talkie, a headset, tranquiliser gun, a belt and some binoculars. He took out the items so he could put in his phone and wallet. A cup of coffee seemed nice at the moment. The tiredness had hit him like a rampaging rhino as soon as he stepped onto Isla Nublar. The kitchen was small with a sink, microwave and a battered kettle. After boiling the kettle it turned out the coffee in the staff quarters was not a patch on the coffee in the Triassic Shack.

"Sorry about the coffee," Bob chuckled "We ran out last week so had to resort to the coffee we grow on Isla Muerta. No one's a fan."

It did not take long for the other Deputy Keeper's to arrive. There were five other Deputy Keepers. One was an African-American woman with a broad southern accent called Mary Paulson. She had a kindly wrinkled face with thick, long hair tied in a bun. It turned out she was the woman saved by Nigel and Chiyo from slavery.

"Ready to see a dino or two?" she asked to which he nodded rapidly.

Another keeper was a Kenyan man around Jordan's age called Winston Knuamba. He had slight stubble and shaved head with a set of rectangular glasses. He had come from a well off family in Kisumu which allowed him to get a degree in Animal Behaviour at Kenyatta University in the capital. After graduating he had worked with game keepers in the Mount Kenya National Park where he had been spotted by Prehistoric Park's Game Warden Robert Muldoon. He had started to work at the park just before the park acquired the Deinosuchus. The first thing he did was apologise for drinking the last of the good coffee.

"Morning everyone!" the next person yelled as she entered.

She was a middle aged Chinese woman called Xiang Zhun, (it took him a few minutes to realise the Xiang was her surname and not her forename). She had pure black hair which swept against her pale face. Eagerly Zhun told him about herself, how she had just left university during the Tiananmen protests and had arrived at the park a month before it opened to the public. She eagerly listened to his story when the third staff member arrived. He was a Lakota Sioux with a long grey beard tied in a knot with his grey hair tied in a ponytail. He was quite secretive with him not wanting to tell Jordan about his past although he was willing to say that he worked for years at Yellowstone where Hammond had hired him; the first person after Bob. Conor Oakes was his name. Jordan could clearly she that he was also the oldest Deputy Keeper; his eyes seemed to be filled with years of experience.

"Pleased to meet you," he solemnly said "Hopefully we can work together soon."

The final Deputy Keeper then arrived. His name was Saeed Hosny and was a Kurdish Iranian. Saeed was in his mid-forties with a bald shiny head that resembled an egg. Jordan couldn't help but notice how bright his eyes were; like glistening fresh pennies. He also had a short beard although he imagined it was that short to stop a stray claw from being caught in it.

"You must be Jordan?" he asked tiredly "Sorry I need a coffee that is not the swill we grow."

When everyone was present and accounted for Bob drained his mug with a grimace and pulled out an electronic tablet. He put on some wire rimmed reading glasses and started swiping the tablet's screen.

"Okay everyone here's today rotas: Me and Winston are on feeding duty for some exhibits and because it's your first day Jordan you're with us, sorry Zhun and Conor you're on clean up…"

"It's literally a shit job," Winston whispered to him. Jordan smiled; cleaning up dinosaur faeces could literally be the shittiest part of the job.

"Mary you're on feeding duty for some other animals, (I'll give you which ones), and finally Saeed. Oh the easy job of transporting some of the animals from the vet."

Judging by Saeed's smile he was happy with this job. Raring to get going they set off for their respective jobs. The thick fog had started to thin by now so he no longer needed a chainsaw or machete to cut through it. They got on board the monorail which shot off to the larger Isla Sorna.

"So am I replacing anyone or just short staffed?" he asked. Normally people were more reserved with a staff member replacing an old one but he hadn't noticed that here.

"Nah with the park open it was better to have some more Deputy Keepers," Bob explained shaking his moustached head "We are supposed to be getting a new Deputy Keeper though. One of the Keepers but they haven't passed the tranquiliser test yet."

In a minute they stepped off the monorail and headed off to the first exhibit. Instead of going to a viewing area they went on a way saying Staff Only. Jordan wobbled though when he stepped on the path; it wasn't a path but part of a barge! He hadn't noticed the clear blue water lapping at the side thanks to the blue-green plants which were growing by the bank. The barge extended around the back of the exhibit which adjoined to the cool sea. The barge eventually took them to some water where the skeletal roots of giant mangrove trees stretched their bony appendages blocking the view of the exhibit. A small boat was already there where suppliers were throwing dead fish onto the barge.

"Alright Masopha?" Bob yelled at one of the suppliers who turned and gave a thumbs up. Masopha replied in a language that he hadn't yet learned before placing a bucket on the barge. When he climbed onto the boat it sailed off across the bright blue water.

"So what lives in here?" Jordan asked curiously. He had failed to notice which area they had entered so couldn't guess what was in the enclosure. Even the fish didn't give him any clue.

"Spinosaurus," Bob replied coolly. He couldn't believe it! Spinosaurus Aegypticus was one of the largest if not the largest carnivorous dinosaur to ever walk the earth. Well swim would be a better description with them living like a giant crocodile. It was a scary thought that the only thing separating him from the giant dinosaurs were a few mangroves.

"Don't worry," Winston laughed seeing Jordan's worried face "There is a fence between the mangroves and the spino, as well as another row of mangroves. You're safe."

Feeding the Spinosaurus wasn't a complex ordeal. There was a small hole at the bottom of the fence allowing fish to enter the exhibit although it was clever how they made the fish wriggle as if it was real. The bucket was filled with small chips which they put on the bottom of the fish which would release electrical waves when it hit the water. The waves would stimulate the remaining nerves in the fish making it move; incidentally the dead fish had to be a few days old and Bob explained that quite often the fish stopped moving before the spinos got them. Whoever designed it the pulse had a second inventive idea where the chip falls off as soon as it leaves the water. A slight current would then take the chips to another end of the exhibit where the suppliers would collect them. The dead fish hardly wriggled as virulently as he had expected but he expected that the spino wouldn't mind.

"Some will be forced left into Ramses and Cleopatra's enclosure and the rest will go into Ptolemy's enclosure," Bob explained "Disappointed you didn't see them?"

"Yeah. Well no at the same time. I expect that we would be sitting ducks if we could see them from here."

Both Winston and Bob nodded in agreement. The pictures in the handbook had shown a unique and interesting creature but for now he was satisfied with the static images. They left the barge in order to feed the next set of animals. They lived at the other end of Isla Sorna so it ensured another trip on the monorail was in order. Jordan was thankful that there was a monorail; he was physically fit but would have struggled to go around just one island never mind the rest! A blue light on the white roof above the door saying Leaving Bahariya Formation in god knows how many languages.

"Are we feeding all the animals?" he asked hesitantly. He dared to think of the day ahead of him if the answer was yes. Winston laughed and Bob shook his head.

"Goodness no!" he cried wiping his sweating brow "Deputy Keepers feed some of the animals when the keepers who normally look after them have the day off. Even then we don't have to feed all of them at once. Compared to a zoo Prehistoric Park has a more natural feel so some species don't need to be toped up with food every day."

There was a ping and the doors slid open. Above the blue light now read Yixian Formation. A young woman in khaki shorts and a tied shirt revealing her midriff stepped on. She swept her short, dyed white hair out of her eyes as she took a drink from the cool water bottle before returning it to her bag. She smiled at Bob and Winston.

"Been visiting Michael Quint?" Winston asked.

"Yeah," she said lazily. The morning heat seemed to have sprung up on her. "He's doing exactly what I should be doing now: sleeping! I thought I might go look at the velociraptors a bit earlier than normal. Oh sorry you must be the new guy. I'm Ashley Quintain but every calls me Quint. I'm one of the park's palaeontologists."

They shook hands but greetings had to stop there. A blue light beeped saying Flaming Hills came on the monorail's roof which indicated that Quint had to get off. Their stop was next in an area named Holocene Heights. Bob and Winston escorted Jordan to a small wooden hut nestled among a rocky outcrop and some conifer trees. Bob opened the door and ushered them in. There was a control panel overlooking a glass screen looking into a rocky forest. A waterfall trickled down in the middle of one white outcrop. It seemed to be made entirely of limestone. It looked strangely like a Mediterranean forest. Then he noticed that an assortment of food had been left behind a metal door. The animal must have been an omnivore with carrots, berries, a white tub of honey, lettuces and a huge chunk of meat occupying what seemed to be a cooler.

"We best be quick. Jordan if you could take the honey. There should be an empty tree trunk by the lake for you to put it in. I'll take the meat and Winston take some of the berries and stuff," Bob muttered half to himself.

He picked up the bucket and recoiled slightly when it turned out that the handle was sticky. Willing to take the dent in his pride he struggled with both hands to carry the bucket. Twice he had to put it down and rub the red lines which had crept along his hands. He shuffled to the edge of the lake where he saw a tree trunk which had been opened. Puffing he managed to lift the bucket but he had to rest it on the trunk. With another heave he managed to pour the sickly golden viscous honey into the trunk which filled up rapidly. Immediately the bucket weighed nothing. There was a growl behind him. Surely the animal couldn't still be in the exhibit? He slowly turned around to see the fence with a small door built in. Most of the fence extended over the water's edge except where the door was and a small patch of soil. A giant male brown bear was standing and leaning his dish sized paws against the fence. The bear growled again looking eagerly at the honey trunk. This must be the Atlas Bear exhibit then. He didn't know much about them except that they had gone extinct in the last two hundred years thanks to hunting.

"I see you've met Hannibal then," Winston said clapping him on the shoulder "He's got a bit of a sweet tooth. Man after my heart. Come on we need to let him and the rest out."

They returned to the little hut where Bob was waiting. Bob closed the door and locked it before pressing a big red button. Just as they were about to leave the hut he saw a bear run up to a tree and pull some berries some it, almost taking the entire branch with it. They proceeded to the area which consisted of a small hut with two aviaries attached to it. Both aviaries were full of conifers and willows with birds resting on them. He instantly recognised one of them as being the once common Passenger Pigeon.

"Welcome to Pigeon and Parakeet Forest," Bob said "We're just going to refill their seeds and some fruit."

Jordan got to feed the parakeets which required less skill. He had a bag full of apples, oranges, figs and grapes ready to feed the brightly coloured birds. It was a simple job which just ensured putting the fruit on the wooden stands periodically placed among the trees. When he was working in London Zoo he found that psittaciformes like parakeets and parrots reacted one or two ways when someone new enters their exhibit. They would either stay away from the keeper as if they were a hungry bloodthirsty jaguar or they would stay close to them like a chick would next to their parent. It seems that the Carolina Parakeets were somewhere in between; wary because he was new but he had food. When he was placing the last apple on a stand one fluttered down and cocked its head quizzically at him.

"Hello there. Do you want something to eat?" he asked the green little bird offering the apple. It seemed that he hadn't earned the parakeet's trust with it immediately flying off.

Shrugging he left to join Bob and Winston. Checking his watch he was surprised to see that it was now noon.

"Caw I'm starving," Bob grumbled patting his stomach "There's a nice little café next to Santa Cruz Plains on Isla Nublar that sells loads of different foods from South America. All that's left on the list is the Didelphodon and they're asleep now so there's no rush."

Agreeing to this proposition they quickly grabbed the nearest monorail. A day on his feet made Jordan eager for a sit down which Bob and Winston eagerly join him. Winston took a cloth out of his pocket and started wiping his glasses.

"I should really get contacts," he muttered "When we first got the Sinorthinosaurus one almost stole them never mind the cleaning."

"It must have been amazing when the park was getting its first animals," Jordan asked.

"Oh my goodness it was!" Bob cried "It was the greatest sight ever to see the time portal open for the first time and see a blurred shape amble through. Andy the Ankylosaurus. Not only Prehistoric Park's first dinosaur but the world's in 65 million years. We didn't even wait for our second! Cronus the Tyrannosaurus soon chased Nigel through about two minutes after."

"Too bad we weren't allowed to tell anyone," Winston sighed.

"We had to sign waivers, contracts etc. saying we wouldn't sort of announce it to the press about what was on the park. Only because if the press knew that Hammond guessed that they would try and constantly get in and hound the animals. Safer to keep it secret."

One Hour Later

He leant back in his chair letting the sun beat down on his face. His chimichurri perfectly filled him up and in the nice warm day he could have easily slept. El Sabor de la Santa Cruz was perfectly situated capturing the warmth of the sun next to one of the exhibits. Slightly elevated above the exhibit the small café they looked over a large savannah plain where orange llama like mammals with short trunks stood grazing. The strange Macrauchenia paid no attention to the people who looked at them or even the great rhino sized Toxodon which were wallowing in the lake. Suddenly the tranquillity was broken by a tiny voice on the headset:

"Any free keepers please go to the Pterosaur Aviary"

Bob placed his hand to his headset: "Bob Arthur, Winston Knuamba and Jordan Matthews attending"

"Come on lads we best be going!"

The edge of the Pterosaur Aviary was nearby and it blew Jordan away. A giant Plexiglas dome that stretched so high into the sky that the sun blinded him when he tried to look to the top. They pushed the double doors to the aviary and he was hit by a wave of warm air that made him briefly light headed. He had read that some of the larger pterosaurs could only fly in the Mesozoic era because of the increased amounts warm air currents which had vanished as Earth's climate changed. The aviary managed to replicate these air waves perfectly so the giant flying monsters could conquer the skies again. A tour guide immediately walked up to Bob and started to tell him what happened.

"A little boy has thrown his mama's wallet into the Pteranodon and one of them is deciding whether to eat it," the tour guide said this in a very broad Swedish accent.

Bob sighed and climbed up a metallic flight of stairs to what Jordan assumed would be the staff entrance to the Pteranodon exhibit. No matter how much you had planned a wildlife park somehow a member of the public would cause a commotion and most of those commotions would be from a kid. They descended another flight of stairs allowing them to go to a metal door which Bob unlocked with his keys. Inside there was a small set of metal maintenance stairs next to a lift. Grunting Bob climbed down the stairs with Winston following duly behind. When Jordan got down he was amazed at the Pteranodon exhibit. A chunk of it was perfectly flat land intersected with ferns and a few rocks. The rest however he couldn't see because of a sharp decline to the roaring sea below. The Plexiglas extended a fair distance into the background but most of the view was censored by a thick blanket of fog. Above sat the metal balcony that comprised the viewing area. Although he couldn't see it he knew that there was a Plexiglas screen which was erected to stop a Pteranodon from possibly pecking out a guests eyes.

"Okay lads be careful," Bob whispered "They may not have teeth but they can do some damage just with their beak never mind their wings."

Judging by this statement he assumed that Pteranodon often used their wings. What he had read in his booklet the Pteranodon's wing had enough force to break someone's arm. Then he saw the guilty pterosaur. It was giant, at least the size of the current largest flying bird the wandering albatross, with a metre long crest which was a deep blue. The pterosaur was covered in some thick downy fluff which was pitch black and covered the body and the tops of the wings. Whatever wasn't covered in the fluff was crimson in colour. An orange toothless beak was toying with a shiny brown leather wallet. He had studied with birds and found that birds were only attracted to shiny objects because they were new to their habitat and not actually shiny; often stealing non-shiny objects. Most likely the Pteranodon was toying with it because he hadn't seen it before.

"If he swallows that it's gonna wreak havoc for his digestion," Bob sighed "I just don't know how we can get that wallet off him."

The answer literally brushed against Jordan's fingers. His fingers had brushed against the torch… He doubted that the pterosaur would be used to the beam of a torch. Despite the pleas from Winston and Bob he crept close to the Pteranodon. He could smell the fish and salt that lingered in the fluff of the bird/reptile hybrid. A tiny amber eye suddenly noticed him and he cawed angrily at the intruder who wanted to steal his new possession. The wallet fell out of the toothless beak. The Pteranodon gave an even louder caw which went right through Jordan.

"Ah ya bugger!" he cried putting his hands over his ears.

The Pteranodon clicked its beak at the intruder who still refused to leave him with his toy. Jordan slowly grabbed his torch, making slow movements to avoid scaring the pterosaur. With a click he turned on the torch making the Pteranodon shriek. He couldn't tell whether it feared the bright light or the loud click more. He continuously clicked the torch on and off frustrating the Pteranodon. With a cloud of dust which stung Jordan's eyes like someone had poked him in them the pterosaur flew away. When he managed to get the dust from his eyes he grabbed the wallet.

"Well done!" Bob yelled clapping him on the shoulder when they ascended the stairwell "That would have made Nigel proud."

"The bugger swept dust into my eyes!" he replied with his eyes slightly red.

They arrived on the balcony that overlooked the Pteranodon. One giant pterosaur was soaring gracefully among literally feet from where they stood. He had to give it to the kid; the gap between the Plexiglas and the balcony railing was hardly an inch high. The mother ran up and started thanking him in French.

"Well let's go feed the Didelphodon and we can call it a day," Bob laughed at Jordan's embarrassment after the woman had kissed him on the cheek making her husband stare at him angrily.