The first problem of the day arose when Barry accidentally knocked over Lily's board game. Owen and Claire had moved the table to the middle of the room in order to set up the hide-a-bed, but Lily was hoping to keep the game going, as it had been interrupted by the arrival of the raptors. Her parents hadn't had the time to play, and she waited patiently, but when the tokens got knocked out of place, she somehow knew that the game had to be let go. She was disappointed at first, but Charlie offered to play a new game with her, and Claire allowed them to do so in order to keep them busy while the rest of the gang worked on the fence, which still needed repairing. This led to the second mishap, because Foxtrot decided it would be a wonderful idea to uproot Claire's scratching post for extra lumber. She dragged the hunk of wood and rope over to her new Alpha with pride, and couldn't understand why she wasn't happy with her actions. Claire took a deep breath and decided to let the incident slide, as she never had the chance to explain what the post was used for. Blue asked if Claire also owned a salt lick, and when she admitted that she did, the raptors couldn't stop laughing. Claire tried her best not to be offended by their ridicule, but she couldn't stop herself from letting out a quiet moo. Owen intervened, assigning each of the raptors a new job. Blue saw her opportunity and took it. She volunteered to carry wood for Claire, and they broke away from the others to take a walk in the woods.

"The trick is to cut into the trunk just enough so that it doesn't fall on you," Claire lectured as she hacked into the bark with her tail, "I've come close to being crushed a couple of times, but nothing too serious."

"Unfortunately," Blue muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. I just said that it would be a tragedy if you were smashed by a falling log."

Claire frowned.

"It didn't sound like that."

She finished whacking the tree and moved to the other side, pushing on the trunk with her front feet.

"Do you wanna help me?" she grunted.

"No, I think your weight is enough to topple it over."

Claire gave her a displeased look, then pushed the tree to the ground. When the dust cleared, she lifted the trunk with her horns and began to carry it out into the field. Blue followed, attempting to conceal her hatred as she stared at the repulsive stegoceratops.

"Do you often chop down trees?" she asked with poorly-masked hatred.

"Only when I need to. Owen does it, sometimes, but he always needs me to carry them."

"Because you're big?"

"Because I'm strong."

Claire stopped walking and dropped the trunk as a fly started buzzing around her head. She snorted, then pawed at the ground. When the fly landed on her side, she slapped it with the tip of her tail, and it fell to the ground.

"I hate those things. Anyway, what's going on with you?"

Blue watched her pick up the trunk with narrow eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Claire shrugged.

"Just wondering how you're doing, that's all."

"Fine. But it's hard being a human. They're the second worst animal I can think of."

Claire laughed.

"I'm sure you don't feel that way about Owen."

"No, I don't. We're really close."

"Hm."

"He used to spend all of his time with me."

"Mhm."

"He talked about you, sometimes."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"All good things, I hope."

"No, he said you were cruel and frigid."

Claire chuckled.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Things have changed since then."

"I can see that."

Blue turned so that their path was changed by a few degrees. Claire seemed a little confused by her implicit action, but did not comment on it.

"You know, when Owen left, I thought for sure that he'd come back for me," Blue stated.

Claire hummed.

"We got busy after the incident on Isla Nublar."

"And that's how you ended up with a kid?"

"That happened later. I'm sure Owen would have come back for you if he'd had the chance."

"Or if he'd been allowed to."

Claire slowed down.

"Blue . . . What's going on?"

"I don't know what you mean."

Claire frowned suspiciously.

"I'm starting to get negative vibes from you."

"You're imagining things."

"No, I don't think I am. You-"

Suddenly, there was a sharp hiss, and a snake emerged from a hole that looked like it had been dug quite recently. Claire reared up on her hind legs, dropped the log (on the snake, unfortunately), and bolted across the meadow. She bucked her hind legs in panic, eyes wide with fear. Hearing the commotion, Owen ran over from where he had been working and tried to calm her down, restraining her by grabbing her horns.

"Claire! Claire!"

She tossed her head and snorted, stomping the earth hard enough to make little puffs of dust. Owen yanked her forward and put his hand on her snout, stroking her face while still holding her head in place with his other arm. She stared forward with an unfocused gaze, breathing in loud puffs. After a few seconds, she calmed down and looked up to meet Owen's eyes.

"I . . . I got spooked . . . There was a snake . . ."

Owen nodded and continued to rub her snout.

"I know, I know. It's okay. The snake is gone now."

Claire took a few shaky breaths, knees knocking. She scanned the grass for any sign of the serpent, then sat down and hunched her shoulders in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. That was a stupid thing to do."

As Owen shook his head, Blue strutted forward cockily.

"Who's afraid of a little snake? It wasn't even poisonous!"

Claire gulped.

"I'm not afraid of snakes. They just- Whenever I see one- Look, I can't control it, okay?"

Owen held her back as she snorted defensively.

"Claire, Claire, it's okay. It's over. Just take deep breaths. It's okay . . ."

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, then let out her air with a sharp flitter of her plates.

"I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm fine. I'm going back to the house. I have to . . . I have to go."

She stumbled away, still a little distraught. Owen caught Blue smirking, and gave her a stern look.

"Blue, I don't know what happened, but this isn't making you look good. If it was an accident, fine, but I'm telling you that if it happens again, you're out of here."

It took her a while to realize that he was dead serious.

***TSJWFEW***

Barry jumped as Owen entered the house, slamming the door behind him. The impact made his orange juice ripple on the kitchen table. Owen looked around rapidly, fidgeting in agitation.

"Which way did Claire go?"

"Upstairs."

Owen nodded and jogged up to his room. He found Claire sitting on the bed, reading her old diary. He inched forward, wondering whether or not it was okay to interrupt her. Although she had not acknowledged his presence, there was no doubt that she knew he was there. She began to read aloud without looking up at him.

"I like your scales. They're radiant and shiny. I like your beak. It's good for kissing, and when you moo, it means you're enjoying yourself, which makes me even happier."

She met his gaze.

"Do you remember writing this, Owen?"

He nodded.

"I like your feet. I can tell where you are by your footsteps, and I take comfort in knowing that you'll always be near. I love your belly. It's warm and cuddly and good for hugs. I like your plates. When you have enough courage, they help you fly. I like your tail. Whenever it swings back and forth, I know you're happy. The best part about it is that it's covered in spikes, and one of those spikes carries a ring. That one is my favorite. I know you think no one likes you because you're a dinosaur, but that's not true. You're one of a kind. There is only one Stegoclaireatops, and I'm lucky enough to be her husband. All of your friends are proud to know you. You are beautiful. The world is a better place, because you are in it."

Claire smiled.

"You have the whole thing memorized."

He put his arms around her neck.

"It would be hard to forget the things I like about you."

They shared a kiss. Claire gave Owen a little squeeze before letting him go.

"I'm sorry I let the snake incident upset me."

"That's okay," Owen mumbled as he nuzzled her chest, "No matter how bad you feel, you'll always have those words to come back to."

"Badly," Claire corrected.

He shoved her playfully, and she bumped him with her front horn. They chased each other through the hall and down the staircase. Barry looked up from the newspaper he had been reading and smiled.

"You two are in a good mood."

Claire laughed and nudged Owen with her tail.

"We won't stay that way if you keep shirking fence duty."

"Yeah, shouldn't you be with the others?" Owen asked as he poured himself a drink.

"I was actually going to talk to you about that," Barry said, "I was thinking that Delta could come back to Isla Nublar with me after Lily's birthday."

Owen snorted.

"Good luck with that. She won't leave the squad."

"She might."

"What makes you say that?"

"We slept together."

Owen had made the unfortunate decision to sip his drink at that exact moment. He spat out a cloud of mist, then coughed noisily.

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

"I slept with Delta. It's no big deal."

"THAT'S DISGUSTING, BARRY! SHE'S A DINOSAUR!"

Barry crossed his arms.

"And what is Claire?" he retorted.

Taking this as a cue to leave, Claire frowned and marched out the back door. Owen stared at Barry with disbelief.

"Oh my god . . . Oh my god . . . Why did you DO this? It's so messed up . . ."

"Not really," Barry said with a shrug, "She's a human now, and a very attractive one, at that."

Owen ran his fingers through his hair.

"Christ . . . Look, maybe we can fix this. I mean, if it was a one time thing-"

"Actually, it was more like fifteen . . . and a half."

Owen's jaw dropped.

"FIFTEEN?! Barry, you haven't even been here for three days!"

"I know. But we found the time. Anyway, I don't think you should be upset about this."

"Why not?"

"It's about time I settled down, and at least it's with someone you know, so we won't have to worry about growing apart."

Owen moaned.

"Oh my god . . . And what makes you think this is going to last that long?"

"I asked her to marry me."

Owen banged his head against the wall repeatedly.

"Barry . . . Oh my god . . . Barry . . ."

He shrugged.

"What can I say? We were meant to be together. You know how it is."

"I don't."

"Do you love Claire?"

Owen nodded.

"Of course I do. Forever. But this is different. It's so sudden-"

"I've known her for years."

"But you've only been an item for . . . well, less than a week."

Barry put his elbows on the table and leaned forward.

"Owen, if you were sure that she'd say yes, would you have married Claire when you first realized that you were in love?"

Owen stared at him for a long time. Finally, he let out a sigh of defeat and sat down at the other end of the table.

"Congratulations, I guess."

"You'll be at the wedding, right?"

Owen put his head on the table and let out an exasperated groan.

***TSJWFEW***

"TRAITOR!"

Delta stumbled backwards as Blue swiped at her face.

"I'm not a traitor! I fell in love!"

"You were going to abandon us!" Blue snarled.

Delta dodged another attack, nearly falling over.

"So what? You don't care about me!"

"I need you for the plan!"

Delta hissed and raised her head in defiance.

"What plan? You've failed, Blue. Owen is in love with Claire, and you'll never tear them apart. No matter how many snakes you throw at them, there's no way you can cause enough trouble to make them split. Owen loves his wife, and he's going to find out what you're up to sooner or later. You can't do this."

"I have to!" she snapped.

"Why?"

"BECAUSE HE WAS MEANT TO BE WITH ME!"

Delta stared at Blue as though she was seeing her for the first time. She shook her head in disbelief, stunned and a little bit frightened.

"You . . . You lied. You're not trying to show Owen the way. You're trying to get him to love you."

Blue grabbed her by the front of her shirt.

"I changed for him! Do you know how much I sacrificed?"

Delta pushed her away.

"Stop it!"

Blue made a lunge for her, but Delta scratched her cheek. They fell away from each other, both shocked that this had happened. After catching her breath, Delta glowered at the person whom she had once called her sister.

"Give it up, Blue. It's over."

With a furious roar, Blue charged into the cabin. She had no doubt that Delta would try to find Barry, so the best she could do was locate Owen and try to spin this whole mess in her favor. When she didn't see him in the living room, she went upstairs. He wasn't there either, but she did see a book lying on his bed. She picked it up for no real reason and began to read.

I like your horns . . .

I like your frill . . .

I like your scales . . .

Trembling with anger, she tore the page from the diary and crumpled it up in her fist. She tossed the ball of paper out the window, then threw the vandalized book to the ground. Barely suppressing her tears of rage, she stormed down the hall to gather what was left of the squad. With any luck, they'd still be on her side.

***TSJWFEW***

"I heard stomping. Do you think everything is okay?" Charlie asked.

Lily looked up at the basement ceiling.

"Yeah, it wasn't loud enough to be my mom. I'm not really worried about anyone else. Your move, by the way."

Charlie rolled the dice. One of the cubes slipped off of the board and fell under an old cabinet. Lily bent down to retrieve it, but found that it was too far for her to reach.

"Shoot. We lost it."

Charlie whimpered.

"I'm sorry."

"It's no big deal," Lily mumbled, "We just need to find a ruler. I'll ask my mom if she has one. Wait here."

She pattered up the stairs to see if her mother was in the kitchen.

"Mom?"

Receiving no reply, she entered the living room.

"Mo-om!"

Still nothing. She climbed to the top floor, her tail swishing impatiently.

"Mom? Mom? Mom?"

She poked her head into her parents' room.

"Mom, are you-"

She noticed a book lying on the ground. With a puzzled frown, she picked it up in order to place it back where it belonged. When she saw that the content was written by hand, she wondered if it had been inscribed by one of her parents. She started to read it out of curiosity.

I hate my horns. They get in the way whenever I try to turn my head.

Lily gave a puzzled frown and touched her own horns before continuing.

I hate my frill. It's heavy and it makes it hard for me to walk through small doors.

Lily's hand made its way to her frill. The words were starting to trouble her. Was this written by her mother?

I hate my scales. They're green and ugly.

Lily had scales. They weren't green, but . . .

I hate my beak. It clicks when I eat, and whatever's inside of it causes me to moo.

Lily thought hard. Did her own beak click when she ate? She wasn't sure, but she was positive that she had mooed more than once in the past week.

I hate my feet. They aren't useful in the slightest, and I have to ask the dragons to make me special tools so that I can accomplish the most menial of tasks.

Lily's feet were a cross between her mother's stumpish legs and her father's hands. They were kind of clumsy . . .

I hate my belly. It's massive and wobbly and it makes me hungry all the time.

Lily certainly wasn't skinny, she remarked with regret.

I hate my plates. They clatter around and weigh me down.

Lily looked over her shoulder at her not-quite-plates. They were different from the normal kind, but they were rather heavy . . .

When she read the next paragraph, Lily felt her heart skipping beats. She started breathing faster and faster, panicked by what her mother had written.

I hate my tail. It's gross enough having an extra appendage, but it's covered in spikes, which means I'm a danger to everyone around me. Everything about being a dinosaur is terrible. Of all the animals I could have ended up being, a stegoceratops is the worst possible one. I am repulsive. The world would be better off without me.

Lily stared at the page with wide eyes, then flipped it over. The rest of the book was filled with diary entries, and most of them were dated before her birth year. She couldn't stop herself from glossing over them.

March 31st

Just had an argument with Owen. He's been trying to coax me into doing chores by rewarding me with carrots. Sometimes, I think he's completely dense. How did he even expect me to react when I found out? Whether he means to or not, he treats me like a big, dumb animal. I guess I am. Owen's still trying to pretend that I'm something else, though. I wish I could believe him.

Lily frowned in confusion and turned to another random page.

June 2nd

Cried for two hours because I couldn't pick up a pencil with my foot. I feel pathetic.

What did she mean by that? As far as Lily knew, her mother wrote with her mouth. She flipped the page to learn more.

June 3rd

Started simultaneously laughing and crying last night. Owen and I had to stop what we were doing. I can tell that he's mad at me, but what did he expect? We shouldn't be doing this in the first place.

Lily gulped. She didn't want to continue, but . . .

September 19th

Just got word that June died. I guess my charity was all for nothing. I keep telling myself that I wouldn't want to change the way things turned out, but I have to wonder . . .

Lily turned back a few pages. She immediately wished she hadn't.

July 3rd

It's getting worse. I'm trying to stay positive, but I can't forget the fact that I'm a stupid, ugly dinosaur. I hate this. I hate this so much. I want to go back in time and erase everything that happened. I want to be myself again. I want to be

Lily's eyes went wide.

human.

She stared at the word for what felt like an eternity, then flipped back to the very first page. All of a sudden, things were starting to fall into place. It made perfect sense. Her mother used to be a human, just like her father. Her self-loathing comments stemmed from the fact that she was not what she was supposed to be. That's why she hated being a stegoceratops. That's why she hated the idea of hybrids in general. She was repulsed by the very existence of her species, which meant . . .

Lily dropped the book and backed away from it in horror. Tears brimming at her eyes, she ran into her room and fell on the bed, sobbing heavily. She looked up and saw the button eyes of her stuffed cow staring down at her. With a feeble whimper, she gave the toy a doleful hug.

"I can't stay here anymore, Clarence. My own mother doesn't want me. She hates being a stegoceratops. She hates . . . me."

She sniffled and slipped down from the bed.

"She hates me."

Lily limped over to her desk and turned on her reading lamp. She began to write a note, which became smudged in places because of the tears that hit the page. When she was done, she placed the letter by her stuffed animal and gave him a goodbye kiss. Once she had taken one last look at her room, she snuck down to the main floor and opened the front closet. She grabbed an old backpack and filled it with food from the fridge, then walked out the door forever. She did turn back once to look at her home, but she could hardly see it through her tears.

***TSJWFEW***

"Have you seen Lily?"

Claire turned to look at Charlie as she trotted up the stairs.

"I thought she was with you."

"No, she went looking for you so we could get something out from underneath the cabinet. Didn't you see her?"

Claire shook her head.

"No. She's probably in her room napping. She tends to get distracted. I'll bring her down."

Claire made her way upstairs.

"Lily? You there? Charlie is waiting for you."

She opened the door to Lily's room.

"Lily?"

She wasn't there. Claire was about to search the rest of the house, but she noticed a note lying on her daughter's bed. She frowned in confusion and picked it up. As her eyes scanned the page, they grew wide with terror. Front feet trembling, Claire dropped the note and dashed into her own room. She noticed her diary sitting on the ground and tossed her head in distress.

"No, no, no, no, no!"

She whipped around and charged down the stairs.

"LILY! LILY!"

Charlie ran up to her.

"What's wrong? Where's-"

"She ran away! Quick, find Owen!"

Claire sprinted out of the house and thundered across the field. Owen and Charlie caught up, approaching her from the side.

"Claire!" Owen shouted, "What's going on?"

"Lily knows! She knows! She's trying to leave! Owen, we have to stop her!"

His eyes went wide.

"Oh my god. Charlie, gather the others. We need to stop Lily before she reaches the border."

"Why?"

"If she wanders too far, she'll break the spell! Hurry!"

Charlie dashed away. Owen hopped on Claire's back, and they charged towards the forest.

"Do you think she went this way?" he shouted.

"I don't know!" Claire gasped, "We have to keep going. We can't let her reach the perimeter."

"How long has she been gone?"

"I don't know!" Claire cried, "I just found the note!"

Owen nodded rapidly.

"Okay. Okay. We still have time. We can reach her. We can make it."

As he spoke, the sky began to crack. Gold fissures appeared far above their heads, crossing the stars in jagged veins. Claire watched it happen with wide eyes. All of a sudden, the magical shield shattered into a million pieces. Glowing fragments fell to the ground, dissolving along the way. Claire felt as though she was bolted in place. Slowly, she lifted her front foot and caught a string of sparkling dust. It slipped from her hand and disappeared with the rest of the dome.

"Oh my god . . ." Owen whispered.

With shaky knees, Claire looked out at the land that lay beyond their borders.

"We're too late. She's gone."