CHAPTER 5:
A HOOTING & HUNGRY HADROSAUR (with The Lambeosaurus Family as well)
Next morning, Theo woke up very early, and while his father was sleeping, he went for a walk through one of Mr. Pteranodon's favorite oak trees.
"Wow!" he said quietly. "What a nice day to take a walk. Walking may be a good thing to do in the morning. And I like how the oak trees are."
As Theo went through the oak trees, he noticed that some of the leaves were gone.
"Hmm, that's strange," he pondered. "There were leaves from the trees, and there's currently none at all."
Just then, he heard a munching noise. The sound was coming from behind the trees. So, very quietly, Theo tip-toed along the trail, so that he could see who's munching about.
"Whoever's there must be very hungry," said Theo to himself. "So, I must see who's this creature eating about."
He hid behind a bush, and what he saw… was amazing.
A Hadrosaur! Thought Theo. A plant-eating Hadrosaur!
And it was. A Lambeosaurus was the dinosaur that was munching. It had a crest and different stripes.
"Wow! I've never seen a Hadrosaur like that before," Theo whispered to himself. "Besides, the only Hadrosaur I know is a Parasaurolophus. Maybe I should tell the kids when they're awake."
Meanwhile, the Lambeosaurus was continually eating the leaves from the oak trees, when he spotted something moving from the bushes.
"Huh? Who's there?"
Theo didn't have time to react, as the bushes flew open by two hands.
"Ah!" said the Lambeosaurus. "Hello there! Nice to meet you! Name's Larry Lambeosaurus!"
"Pleasure to meet you, Larry," said Theo. "I'm Theo. May I ask you a question?"
"Of course," responded Larry.
"Why were you eating the leaves off of the trees?" Theo asked
"Well, we're herbivores, we eat leaves," replied Larry.
"Yeah, I know," continued Theo. "But why on the oak trees?"
"Well, when we first met, Mr. Pteranodon got mad at me for my hooting and eating his favorite oak trees. And I also got mad when Mr. Pteranodon said that my hooting is ridiculous. But after a rocky start, I've decided to eat on my own side."
"Does that have to do with the oak trees?" asked Theo.
"Well, I don't know, but I eat leaves, okay?" said Larry.
"Hmm, that doesn't make sense," went on Theo, "but I kinda like your opinion, though. Besides, can't you eat on your side instead of Mr. Pteranodon's side?"
Before Larry could say any further, Mr. Pteranodon flew by, and just when he saw Larry beside the oak trees, he flew to both him & Theo.
"Don't even think about, Larry," he said, almost furiously. "Can't you eat on your side?"
"But I wasn't," Larry said falsely.
"Of course he was," said Theo genuinely. "When I first saw him, he was eating one of the oak trees."
"He did?!" shouted Mr. Pteranodon.
"Yeah, of course," said Theo. "He should've faced the consequences of his actions, and tell the truth."
Mr. Pteranodon glared at Larry, & Larry sighed.
"He's right," he said. "I apologized, Mr. Pteranodon."
Larry began to cry a little. Theo could tell because of a small tear from Larry's eye.
"Even though I'm a plant-eater, I should've eaten on my own side of our home."
And he hugged Mr. Pteranodon, and cried.
"That's fine, Larry," he said, as he hugged his hands onto Larry.
"Don't feel sad, Larry," said Theo.
Then, he realized something.
"Talking about leaves," he said, "leaves are your favorite things to eat, right?"
Larry quickly stopped crying, and turned to Theo.
"Yes, it is," he said, and smiled. Then he hooted so loudly, that a flock of Enantiornithines flew out from one of the trees.
"That Hadrosaur needs to calm down," one of them squawked.
"Wow!" said Theo. "That's loud."
"Too loud!" squawked Mr. Pteranodon.
Then, the Pteranodons came to see what the commotion was about.
"Hon, are you alright?" asked Mrs. Pteranodon.
"I'm not," groaned Mr. Pteranodon. "It's just that Larry ate my oak leaves again, and hooted!"
Theo sees that Mr. Pteranodon is upset, so he tries to cheer him up.
"Mr. Pteranodon," Theo explained. "Just because you don't like this neighbor, it doesn't mean you should be disrespectful. No matter how you get mad, and the more you're like that, the worse it'll get."
"Theo's right, dad," said Tiny. "You won't be the same if you're angry like that."
"I guess you're right," said Mr. Pteranodon.
He turned to Larry and said, "You can eat some of my leaves, but not that much, okay?"
Larry agreed, and just as he did, Theo heard a voice behind him.
"Dad!" called a male voice. "Are you arguing with Mr. Pteranodon again?"
"Yes, he's here, alright," called Theo, and there was another family of Lambeosaurus. The tall one was a female. And her two kids are: a teenager, and a young child.
"Hey, dad," said the young female Hadrosaur. "Where were you?"
"Well… I… uh…" murmured Larry, trying to find some words to say.
Before he can say, Theo interrupted.
"Excuse me, sir," said Theo, then turned to the other kids.
"Hello," he introduced. "My name is Theodore Troodon, or 'Theo' for short."
"I'm Leroy," said the teenage Lambeosaurus, "and this is my sister, Lily."
"Hi," said Lily. "Nice for you to visit us."
"I'm sorry," said Theo. "I wasn't visiting. On the contrary: I'm staying with the Pteranodons."
"Oh, that's alright," understood Leroy. "If you want, you could visit us sometime."
"I guess so," replied Theo.
Then, an adult female Lambeosaurus named Lorraine walked up.
"Oh dear, is there a problem, honey?" she asked her husband.
"Oh, Lorraine, I've been eating some of Mr. Pteranodon's leaves from his oak trees," Larry explained.
"But he's now relaxed," added Theo, "and said that he can eat a little of Mr. Pteranodon's leaves, but not that much."
"Well," said Lorraine, Larry's wife, "You must be very hungry."
"Yeah," agreed Theo. "I can tell because he has a hungry appetite."
"Yep, and besides that," added Shiny, "a habit of eating leaves from Mr. Pteranodon's trees."
Lorraine hooted.
"Ooh," groaned Theo. "Not again!"
"Sorry… Umm… I'm sorry, what was your name?" asked Lorraine.
"My name is Theodore Troodon, or 'Theo' for shirt," introduced Theo to Lorraine.
"Right, Theo," said Lorraine. "I didn't mean to hoot beside you."
"That's fine," said Theo. "I'm not used to quiet places, but hooting at me - I mean, hooting beside me… Oh, forget it."
"I understand," responded Lorraine. "But anyways, about Larry…"
"Oh wait, I forgot something," interrupted Mrs. Pteranodon, "Later we're planning our picnic here. I'll go and fish for some fish, while my husband collects some leaves for you."
"Leaves?" said Theo. "That's so nice of you, Mrs. Lambeosaurus."
"Thanks, Theo," said Lorraine.
"Well," said Mrs. Pteranodon, "why don't we meet back at our nest for this feast?"
"Could we, mom?" said Lily. "Please?"
"Of course," agreed Lorraine.
The kids cheered, and Mr. Pteranodon and Larry smiled and hugged each other.
That night, the feast was a nice success. Theo had some leaves and fish (because he's an omnivore), with the Pteranodons eating fish, and the Lambeosaurures eating their leaves. After the feast, Lorraine had to carry Lily because she was too stuffed to move. Leroy and his dad became a little bit stuffed too, but they didn't have trouble walking.
"That was a good feast," said Theo.
Bones of the fish were beside the Pteranodons, to which they had eaten.
"Ooh," said Tiny delightfully. "I didn't know how much I had eaten, but it was delicious!"
"I agree, Tiny," said Lily. "Leaves' our favorite things to eat."
"Yeah," said Mr. Pteranodon, "if that Larry hadn't eaten all the leaves off my oak trees!"
"Please, sir," said Theo. "No need to get angry."
"Theo's right, dear," agreed Mrs. Pteranodon. "You don't need to be angry about".
"I guess so," sighed Mr. Pteranodon. "And Larry, I apologized for what happened today."
"Ah, don't feel apologetic, Mr. P. Afterall, those leaves were so delicious and terrific! *uuurp!* Excuse me."
Everyone had a good laugh, as well as Theo, who smiled, as the sunset rose.
