Chapter 25
Croco went on about the day as he usually did, doing his tasks and swimming in the lake when he completed them. But he felt rather uneasy through the day knowing he had to sleep in the dinosaur barns for the next week. Fortunately Melanie knew this and had made up her mind to send Cassie with him, although she wasn't sure if it was a good idea. She also banished Nalina to the barns and paired her with Bix, who agreed to stay for at least the next week.
When the curfew bell rang, Croco was at his basket gathering up the things he needed to go to sleep with. One of the senior supervisors came up and reminded him that Cassie was waiting for him and offered to take some of the possessions that he had with him down to the barn he was assigned to. They made their way to the barn and the supervisor opened the doors where a group of brachiosaurs were waiting.
"This is where you two will be sleeping," he told them, "I'll knock on the door when it is time for breakfast...that is if the dinosaurs don't wake you guys first. Good night!" Cassie led Croco to a nest-bed very similar to the one in the guest room of Brock and Mira's house and he plopped into it. He was surprised at how comfortable it was as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. But Croco wasn't able to sleep much between the shuffling of feet, the whistling the saurs made while they slept and a muffled crunching sound he wasn't familiar with. He got down and gently pulled Cassie's tail.
"Cassie," he whispered, "what is that crunching sound I keep hearing? Sounds like a bunch of rocks or something." She turned to face Croco, still half asleep.
"The rocks are used by them to help grind their food," she told him, "kind of like how a bird has small pebbles in its gizzard. Now can you at least try to get some sleep? I know it hard but at least try." Croco closed his eyes and rolled over, but no sooner did he close them they reopened to see a giant head about a foot over his bed. He yelped at the sight of it and the brachiosaur quickly rasied up to the rafters. Cassie heard that and jumped into the bed to comfort him.
"It's OK Croco!" she said, "Lyian won't hurt you...she's just a little curious and wanted to see you." Cassie wrapped her tail around him and called Lyian back down to their level. She lowered her head to right about where she had it and looked the young man over. At Cassie's suggestion, she had Croco touch her face and he was surprised by how smooth her scaly skin was. Never in his wildest imagination did Croco think that a creature so large could be that gentle and reassured by this discovery, he drifted off to sleep and didn't awake until the morning.
Still, Croco only got a little more than five hours of sleep that night and was still a little groggy as he made his way to the breakfast tree. When he got there, Darren was waiting for him.
"So how was it in the barn?" Darren asked. Croco put his head on the table and his arms over it.
"It was a nightmare," he said, "It was noisy, it was cramped.....it smelled real bad. If Cassie wasn't there, I would've gotten no sleep at all." He paused to take a bite out of the piece of bread in front of him. "I wonder how Nalina spent the night." Darren perked up when he said that.
"From what I hear, she didn't take it too well," he told him, "Even though she had the other protoceratops with her, she didn't get much sleep." Croco was surprised by this and went over to where he thought he saw Nalina, but it turned out to be one of the other girls. Still, he managed to ask her about Nalina, but she hadn't seen her yet. So he waited patiently while he finished his breakfast hoping Nalina would come. When she didn't show, Croco rushed down to ground level to begin a search for her. He looked everywhere until he came to the very spot where they had made love two nights earlier. There he saw Nalina sitting on a large rock, but when she spotted him, she rushed from the area.
"Nalina, wait!" he shouted while giving chase. Nalina turned around with a fiery look in her eyes as if Croco had done something wrong.
"Well," she said simply, "I hope it was worth it. I hope it was worth getting us in trouble." Croco stood in disbelief.
"Worth it?!? You know it was your idea...I tried to pull away but you wouldn't let me. Besides, sleeping in the dinosaur barns isn't that bad once you get used to it." That didn't reassure Nalina one bit.
"Of course not for you!" she screamed, "I heard about you sleeping in the barn with that triceratops when you first came here! You...you're perfectly used to it, but that was the first time ever for me. Not even Bix could help me get to sleep...I hope it was worth it!" She stormed off back to the trees much to the dismay of Croco, and she ignored every bit of reasoning he tried to give her.
"Damn it!!!" he blurted instinctively, his outside world anger getting the best of him. Croco sat down and buried his head in his hands and started to cry. Never in his life had he ever experienced the kind of feelings he had for Nalina with another girl, even the last girl he loved in the outside world named Samantha. Croco thought it was over and when he went back to the trees, he refused all consolation brought upon him, even from Bix. So he went to the top of the tallest tree and looked straight down.
"I hope this'll make this dream go away," he said, "I hope I wake up back in my bed back in New York, ready to start a new day...ready to see Samantha, the one true love of my life." Just as he was about to jump, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was the hand of Melanie he felt, which snapped him back to reality.
"What's bothering you, young man?" she asked. A tear came down Croco's face as Melanie led him down from the ledge and back to her quarters. He told her about the episode with Nalina and how it really messed him up earlier, and Melanie listened intentively with an arm around his shoulder.
"It's okay Croco," she said, "I know all about being in love and I was in a position like this. I had snuck away from my basket once to mate with this boy I really liked. Well, my Grandma Norah found out and sent me back to my parents in Waterfall City. I love this place still today, which is why she made me the matriarch before she died some twenty-five years ago." A pause. "But I've been in love with this man for well over a hundred years and I still have regrets about that night." Melanie pulled him in closer.
"Do you know what cumspiritik is Croco?" He shook his head. "Well...the word itself means 'breathing together.' You and Nalina are always together..."
"So what you're trying to say is that we should get married?" Croco asked. This left Melanie at a loss of words.
"If you think that you two will be together for the rest of your day, yes." Croco sadly told her that it would never work out because of his ambitions of becoming a Skybax rider. They looked out and saw that it was getting darker, so he made his way down to ground level.
"You still got six more nights with the dinosaurs, including tonight," Melanie reminded him. Croco went over to his barn to find Cassie engaged in a conversation with a Ceratosaurus, a predatory species related to the tyrannosaurus but not as big.
"Ready for bed?" Cassie asked.
"I sure am," was the reply she got from Croco and she wished her friend well as they parted ways. He fell asleep rather easily, but when he awoke the sun was starting to peek through the treetops. Croco had come full circle and the remaining nights he spent in the barn weren't so bad. But the time came where he had to return to his basket high in the leafy canopy of the great oak forest. The first night back in the basket, Croco swore he could still hear the shuffling of feet, the wheezing and whistling of the dinosaurs, and the soft crunching of the rocks in their bellies. It proved to be a great reality check for him and he had a renewed sense of being from it as he continued to make friends, both human and reptilian.
Croco went on about the day as he usually did, doing his tasks and swimming in the lake when he completed them. But he felt rather uneasy through the day knowing he had to sleep in the dinosaur barns for the next week. Fortunately Melanie knew this and had made up her mind to send Cassie with him, although she wasn't sure if it was a good idea. She also banished Nalina to the barns and paired her with Bix, who agreed to stay for at least the next week.
When the curfew bell rang, Croco was at his basket gathering up the things he needed to go to sleep with. One of the senior supervisors came up and reminded him that Cassie was waiting for him and offered to take some of the possessions that he had with him down to the barn he was assigned to. They made their way to the barn and the supervisor opened the doors where a group of brachiosaurs were waiting.
"This is where you two will be sleeping," he told them, "I'll knock on the door when it is time for breakfast...that is if the dinosaurs don't wake you guys first. Good night!" Cassie led Croco to a nest-bed very similar to the one in the guest room of Brock and Mira's house and he plopped into it. He was surprised at how comfortable it was as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. But Croco wasn't able to sleep much between the shuffling of feet, the whistling the saurs made while they slept and a muffled crunching sound he wasn't familiar with. He got down and gently pulled Cassie's tail.
"Cassie," he whispered, "what is that crunching sound I keep hearing? Sounds like a bunch of rocks or something." She turned to face Croco, still half asleep.
"The rocks are used by them to help grind their food," she told him, "kind of like how a bird has small pebbles in its gizzard. Now can you at least try to get some sleep? I know it hard but at least try." Croco closed his eyes and rolled over, but no sooner did he close them they reopened to see a giant head about a foot over his bed. He yelped at the sight of it and the brachiosaur quickly rasied up to the rafters. Cassie heard that and jumped into the bed to comfort him.
"It's OK Croco!" she said, "Lyian won't hurt you...she's just a little curious and wanted to see you." Cassie wrapped her tail around him and called Lyian back down to their level. She lowered her head to right about where she had it and looked the young man over. At Cassie's suggestion, she had Croco touch her face and he was surprised by how smooth her scaly skin was. Never in his wildest imagination did Croco think that a creature so large could be that gentle and reassured by this discovery, he drifted off to sleep and didn't awake until the morning.
Still, Croco only got a little more than five hours of sleep that night and was still a little groggy as he made his way to the breakfast tree. When he got there, Darren was waiting for him.
"So how was it in the barn?" Darren asked. Croco put his head on the table and his arms over it.
"It was a nightmare," he said, "It was noisy, it was cramped.....it smelled real bad. If Cassie wasn't there, I would've gotten no sleep at all." He paused to take a bite out of the piece of bread in front of him. "I wonder how Nalina spent the night." Darren perked up when he said that.
"From what I hear, she didn't take it too well," he told him, "Even though she had the other protoceratops with her, she didn't get much sleep." Croco was surprised by this and went over to where he thought he saw Nalina, but it turned out to be one of the other girls. Still, he managed to ask her about Nalina, but she hadn't seen her yet. So he waited patiently while he finished his breakfast hoping Nalina would come. When she didn't show, Croco rushed down to ground level to begin a search for her. He looked everywhere until he came to the very spot where they had made love two nights earlier. There he saw Nalina sitting on a large rock, but when she spotted him, she rushed from the area.
"Nalina, wait!" he shouted while giving chase. Nalina turned around with a fiery look in her eyes as if Croco had done something wrong.
"Well," she said simply, "I hope it was worth it. I hope it was worth getting us in trouble." Croco stood in disbelief.
"Worth it?!? You know it was your idea...I tried to pull away but you wouldn't let me. Besides, sleeping in the dinosaur barns isn't that bad once you get used to it." That didn't reassure Nalina one bit.
"Of course not for you!" she screamed, "I heard about you sleeping in the barn with that triceratops when you first came here! You...you're perfectly used to it, but that was the first time ever for me. Not even Bix could help me get to sleep...I hope it was worth it!" She stormed off back to the trees much to the dismay of Croco, and she ignored every bit of reasoning he tried to give her.
"Damn it!!!" he blurted instinctively, his outside world anger getting the best of him. Croco sat down and buried his head in his hands and started to cry. Never in his life had he ever experienced the kind of feelings he had for Nalina with another girl, even the last girl he loved in the outside world named Samantha. Croco thought it was over and when he went back to the trees, he refused all consolation brought upon him, even from Bix. So he went to the top of the tallest tree and looked straight down.
"I hope this'll make this dream go away," he said, "I hope I wake up back in my bed back in New York, ready to start a new day...ready to see Samantha, the one true love of my life." Just as he was about to jump, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was the hand of Melanie he felt, which snapped him back to reality.
"What's bothering you, young man?" she asked. A tear came down Croco's face as Melanie led him down from the ledge and back to her quarters. He told her about the episode with Nalina and how it really messed him up earlier, and Melanie listened intentively with an arm around his shoulder.
"It's okay Croco," she said, "I know all about being in love and I was in a position like this. I had snuck away from my basket once to mate with this boy I really liked. Well, my Grandma Norah found out and sent me back to my parents in Waterfall City. I love this place still today, which is why she made me the matriarch before she died some twenty-five years ago." A pause. "But I've been in love with this man for well over a hundred years and I still have regrets about that night." Melanie pulled him in closer.
"Do you know what cumspiritik is Croco?" He shook his head. "Well...the word itself means 'breathing together.' You and Nalina are always together..."
"So what you're trying to say is that we should get married?" Croco asked. This left Melanie at a loss of words.
"If you think that you two will be together for the rest of your day, yes." Croco sadly told her that it would never work out because of his ambitions of becoming a Skybax rider. They looked out and saw that it was getting darker, so he made his way down to ground level.
"You still got six more nights with the dinosaurs, including tonight," Melanie reminded him. Croco went over to his barn to find Cassie engaged in a conversation with a Ceratosaurus, a predatory species related to the tyrannosaurus but not as big.
"Ready for bed?" Cassie asked.
"I sure am," was the reply she got from Croco and she wished her friend well as they parted ways. He fell asleep rather easily, but when he awoke the sun was starting to peek through the treetops. Croco had come full circle and the remaining nights he spent in the barn weren't so bad. But the time came where he had to return to his basket high in the leafy canopy of the great oak forest. The first night back in the basket, Croco swore he could still hear the shuffling of feet, the wheezing and whistling of the dinosaurs, and the soft crunching of the rocks in their bellies. It proved to be a great reality check for him and he had a renewed sense of being from it as he continued to make friends, both human and reptilian.