Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. Pretty please?

When the Pteranodon took off with Eric, I didn't stop to think, I just did what I had to do. In the short time we had been together, we had sort of connected. It might just have been that we were the two youngest members of the group, but we understood each other on an almost profound level. He reminded me of myself at that age, curious and independent, smart but not one to show it off. I had the parasail in my backpack, ready for use. Before anyone could figure out what I was about to do or try to stop me, I was gone, running up onto a balcony, ready to go. Alan guessed what I was up to and ran after me yelling, "Don't! Stop, Billy!" I turned and made eye contact with him one last time, buckling the safety belt of the parasail around my waist. "Don't, Billy!" he yelled just as I jumped, pulling the release cord, freeing the parasail from its pack. There was a fearful, gleeful sensation of falling, then flight, as the parasail captured the air and took me toward Eric, trapped on the rocky pinnacles with the baby Pteranodons.

I was at the mercy of the wind, but it seemed to be on my side today, pushing me swiftly toward the cliffs. The kid was doing an admirable job of trying to defend himself, throwing rocks, skulls, anything he could find at the ravenous Pteranodons. I could only pray that he understood my plan and was ready to do what was necessary to save his life. "Eric!" I shouted, trying to get his attention of a moment. "Eric!" He looked up and saw me and our eyes met, his scared brown eyes meeting my own determined hazel. "Jump!" I shouted. I sailed by, and he jumped, grabbing his arms tight around my waist, holding on for dear life. Literally. If he fell now, we were too far above the too shallow water for him to survive, at least not without some severe injuries. Eric held on tightly as we flew far above the river. He looked over my shoulder, keeping an eye out for any angry Pteranodon mothers, since all my energy was focused on simply keeping us in the air. The broad sail of the parasail was almost too broad for the narrow walls of the canyon. I knew that if we brushed up against one of those rocky walls too hard, puncturing the sail, we would almost certainly fall and probably die. "Billy!" Eric shouted, evidently seeing Pteronodons approaching from behind. The first flew by, pecking at my legs with its long beak. It hurt, but the cut was not fatal. The next was not so harmless. It flew over us, putting two neat holes about six inches apart in our parasail. Bad news for us. I knew that we were going to have to get away from the sail, before it crashed and took us down with it. Already it was much harder to control. I looked down and noticed that the river beneath us was much deeper than it had previously been. It was as safe as it could possibly be for Eric to let go. I had to get him to safety. "Let go!" I shouted to him. He looked up at me, scared probably of letting go, off falling. Sometimes, though, you have to let go. He hadn't learned that yet. "Now!" I shouted again and he let go, falling about twenty feet into the water.

I was immensely relieved to see his soaking wet head pop up from under the water again, spraying water from his wet hair, blinking it from his eyes. I hoped the pteranodons would follow me and leave Eric alone. Now I could focus my attention on getting myself out of here. I soared along a while further, the parasail getting harder and harder to control with its two puncture holes. Finally, as though giving up on me, it hooked itself over an outcropping and refused to let go. My momentum slammed me into the side of the cliff. I tried to jerk the sail free of the rocks, but to no avail. I was well and truly stuck there. I glanced down. The water here was much shallower than where I had dropped Eric, but I would have to take a chance before the flying dinosaurs got to me, hanging helplessly in the air. I unbuckled my harness as fast as my hands could go, and dropped into the river, narrowly missing a large rock. The river was icy cold and shallower even than I had previously thought. It was a miracle that I hadn't broken any bones, dropping from that height into a couple of feet of water. I got up and ran, trying to get out of the terribly exposed section of river. The Pteranodons seemed to know what I was headed for and headed me off, diving down at me, attacking again and again, their claws and beaks tearing bleeding holes in me. One grabbed me by the back of my shirt and lifted me, struggling fiercely all the while, into the air, where it promptly dropped me back into the shallow water. I landed with a splash, trying to ignore the pain of a possibly broken ankle and numerous scratches and cuts. I was distantly aware of Alan and Mr. Kirby running through the water towards me, presumably trying to save me. I stood up, flinging water out of my eyes, only to be driven underwater again by the ruthless Pteranodons. One hit me in the back and knocked me down again, leaving fresh claw-marks down my back. I struggled to regain my balance and saw Alan and Mr. Kirby. I couldn't let them sacrifice themselves for me. "Get away!" I shouted, trying to make them understand that if they helped me, they would die too. I couldn't let that happen. I continued to shout while the vicious dinosaurs attacked, shoving my head underwater. Even after I was underwater, the Pteranodons continued pecking at me, keeping me there. Soon, everything faded out. Faded out in a haze of red, which later, I realized was blood. My blood. I only hoped they all got out of there safely. Especially Alan and Eric. Maybe my sacrifice would make it up to him for my stupidity earlier. I hoped he heard my silent apology. Make it off this island, I mutely implored them, Go live your lives, for me. I'm sorry, Alan.