Seriama spent the majority of the next few days getting ready for the big encounter. She swam in the ocean to clean herself off, let birds pick the meat out of her teeth, and even snuck back into her old field to roll around in the sweetgrass. When she was sure that she looked and smelled better than ever before, she found the strange dinosaur and pursued him for a while. He was pacing back and forth in a field, muttering to himself quietly. Seriama wasn't quite sure what to say, so she blurted out the first thing that popped into her head.
'Hello.'
The dinosaur jumped.
'Where are you? Show yourself!'
Seriama felt very stupid. She had spent so much time planning for this day, and now, she had forgotten to make herself visible like a complete idiot. Oh, well. There was no turning back now . . .
'I'm here.'
Seriama removed her camouflage. She tried to analyze the dinosaur's expression, but he wasn't reacting the way she thought he would. Whatever he was thinking about her, it probably wasn't positive.
'I've been watching you . . .' Seriama said quietly.
The dinosaur gulped.
'What do you want?' he asked.
Seriama's nose twitched.
'I just wanted to talk to you, that's all . . .'
'Okay . . .'
Seriama tried to bat her eyelashes. The dinosaur didn't respond, so she decided to give him a compliment.
'I like your sail.'
'Thanks.'
Seriama inched forward.
'I've never seen anyone like YOU before.'
'I'm a spinosaurus.'
'I'm a barymimus.'
The spinosaurus laughed. Seriama frowned.
'Oh. You're serious,' he muttered. Seriama took a deep breath.
'They couldn't find enough DNA to make a suchomimus, so they used a baryonyx template.'
The spinosaurus was looking calmer now. Whatever she had said to please him, it was working. Now, she would have to ask the big question. She was ready. She was SO ready.
'So . . . are you alone?'
'Um . . . At the moment, yes . . .'
Seriama felt her heart flutter.
'What's your name?'
'Henry.'
Henry. What a beautiful name. Seriama decided that she liked it. She smiled and stepped forward.
'I'm Seriama.'
The spinosaurus smiled uneasily.
'That's nice. I'd better go now. I have a . . . thing . . . to do.'
Seriama blinked. She was surprised that he was leaving so soon, especially when she had gone to all of this effort to make their first encounter perfect. She didn't want to press him, however, so she stepped back and let him leave.
'Okay. See you.'
Seriama watched him leave, her heart aflutter. More than anything, she hoped that she would see him again.

The next time Seriama bumped into the spinosaurus, she was carrying a hypsilopterix in her mouth. Caught off guard, she greeted him without dropping her food.
'Hewow.'
'Hi . . .'
She noticed that he seemed to be very hungry, so she held out her kill.
'Do you want it?'
He narrowed his eyes.
'Sure.'
Seriama watched him eat. He was very awkward, but maybe he was just shy. In any case, she would have to explain her intent, lest he not clue in.
'We look like each other.'
'Um . . . Not really. You don't have a sail.'
Seriama felt her heart sink. Of course. A sail. That must be why he didn't feel comfortable around her. They were so different. And yet . . .
'We have the same hands . . .'
'Paws. I think they're called paws.'
'We both have long snouts . . .'
'Mhm.'
'We're both tall . . .'
'Are you just gonna list off our similarities all day?'
Seriama felt her confidence fizzle out. She looked away and tried to think of a way to minimize the damage.
'I . . . I don't know.'
An awkward silence followed. Seriama could see that Henry's attention was waning. She would have to find a way to reignite his interest.
'Well, I'd better get going-'
'I like you.'
'What? . . .'
Seriama hadn't meant to blurt it out like that, but now that she had, she was ready to commit herself to the remark.
'I like you. I think you're handsome.'
'I . . . You . . . What?'
Seriama rubbed up against his side. Her heart was warm with affection.
'Uh, look. I'm not really into that kind of thing . . . I'm flattered, really, but I just don't think we should . . . uh . . .'
Seriama frowned. Her stomach was starting to knot.
'Why not? Don't you like me?'
'Well, it's not that I don't LIKE you, but we've only just met, and-'
'What if we got to know each other?'
Henry was stepping backwards.
'I don't think that's a good idea.'
She was losing him.
'Why not?'
'Well, I mean, we're not the same species. It's kind of- um- weird.'
Desperate, Seriama changed her color. She became like Henry, hoping that it was enough to push past his reluctance.
'I know I don't have a sail or anything, but we're basically the same. I can be anything you want me to be, if you just give me a chance . . .'
'Sorry, no. I'm not interested.'
Seriama could feel her heart being torn out of her chest. Suddenly, she felt very foolish for ever thinking that she could end up with someone as wonderful as Henry. She wasn't a spinosaurus. She wasn't even purebred. No matter what, she would always be Seriama, the naïve barymimus who was wanted by no one.
'Look, you're a perfectly nice dinosaur. I'm sure there's someone out there for you. It's just not me.'
There wasn't anyone out there for her, though. She was all alone. But Henry was nice to say these things. Most dinosaurs would just tell her the truth: that she was ugly and stupid and pathetic, and she would never find someone who cared about her.
'Well, goodbye. And . . . good luck.'
Henry left. Seriama didn't move for a very long time. She didn't know what to do, now that he was gone. He was all she ever wanted, and now, she had nothing. She had no home, no lunch, no friends, and worst of all, she had no hope.
As she lumbered away, Seriama tried to tell herself that her mantra was still valid. There must be good people out there, and she would most certainly find them. It was then that she realized something truly terrible. She HAD found a good person, but no matter how nice he was, he still didn't want her. She had spent her whole life praying for someone to like her, but even the best people would turn her down, if she met them. It wasn't their fault: she was just so unlikeable that it would be impossible to win the affection of anyone, much less someone like Henry.
With this, Seriama made a promise that she would never burden anyone with her presence again. She'd keep to herself, and she would make sure that good people wouldn't have to be bothered by her silly dreams. She'd be doing something right, if she could make the world forget that she ever existed. It was better that way.
Seriama managed to make it all the way across the field before she broke down and started to cry.