The tour of the park had been boring so far. They hadn't seen a single dinosaur since they left the visitor center, 30 minutes ago. Their car glided along it's trail smoothly, jerking from the occasional bump. Leaves brushed along the sides, making a soft whooshing sound. Right now, all they could see was leaves on the outside of their car. It was strangely quiet, especially for an island full of dinosaurs. Jessica wasn't paying any attention to the tour. She was thinking about Asteria.

"Are we going to go see Asteria when we get off the tour, Dad?" She asked her father.

He shrugged, glancing towards her. "Doesn't matter to me. Seeing these dinosaurs is pretty interesting though."

"What dinosaurs? We haven't seen any dinosaurs!" Jessica growled.

Her father raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?" He pointed out the window.

Jessica clambered over the seat and came to a stop next to her father. The tunnel had disappeared around their car and now Jessica could see a wide open field. There was no electric fence in view. The wide pasture seemed to stretch for miles, it's short blonde grass about knee high. The entire field was surrounded by tropical trees. Every side except where their car rumbled along.

Jessica turned her head the opposite direction. She was confronted by a small forest. The same tropical trees that lined the field were here too. She glanced down to see a sudden drop. The ground was about 30 feet below them. The trees just stretched up abnormally high. The ground was almost pure mud and small pools and streams seemed to cover most of it. It was hard to tell from their car, but Jessica could have sworn she saw a small chicken sized creature move through the mud.

The car came to a slower pace until it altogether stopped. They hadn't gone far from the tunnel from where they had just emerged. Just enough to see both sides clearly.

The monitor's voice clicked on. "If you look to your right, you will see our triceratops enclosure. Triceratops is a gentle herbivore form the late Cretaceous. These herbivores can weigh 6-12 tons. We currently have 11 of these animals in our park. They often tend to stand on the right side of the enclosure. If you look closely, you may be able to see them."

Jessica scanned the tree line for the dinosaurs. Then she saw them. They stood in a small cluster, right at the edge of the shade. They were a grey-tan color, a few with orange stripes. Their 3 huge horns probably stretched to at least 5 or 6 feet, if not more. The largest that she could see bobbed its head up and down briefly.

"Roll down the window!" Jessica shouted, pressing the small button. The window slid down and she felt a gust of warm air.

The triceratops opened its beak-like mouth and let out a bellowing sound. It almost sounded like a fog horn, except higher. The other triceratops raised their heads from their meal and most of them called back. The largest began to lumber forward, snorting and brushing his mouth against the grass. The animals emerged from the shade, revealing their bodies fully. They moved slowly, their heads swinging back and forth.

"I think they're coming over here," her mother said, fear and concern tinting her voice.

"They're gentle, Mom. It's fine. It would be really cool if they came over here."

The triceratops all lumbered forward. They were definitely coming to the car. As they moved closer, Jessica could hear squeaks. Where were those coming from?

Suddenly the car lurched forward. It slowed back down again, moving at a steady pace.

"No! Hang on! Stop the car!" She shouted, trying to open the door. It wouldn't budge.

The she noticed the window.

"Honey, it's a ride now sit down in your seat...now," her mother said.

"No way! I'm going to see those dinosaurs!" Jessica clambered out the window as fast as she could. Just as she was about the fall though, her father grabbed her.

He must have lost his grip, because next thing Jessica knew, she was on the grassy ground. It was odd blinking her eyes open to the sight of a huge triceratops standing over her. She gasped and scrambled onto her knees. The triceratops moved forward, snorting.

"Easy. It's ok. I won't hurt you, " Jessica said, her voice shaking.

The triceratop's eyes widened at her voice. Jessica glanced around it's huge form to see the entire herd standing there, waiting. She heard the squeaking again.

"It's ok. Shhh," she said again, holding her hand out slightly.

The triceratops took a step back, snorted. It shook its head a bit, then moved forward again. It seemed to be getting over its fear of her.

"Good girl. It's alright," Jessica kept her hand up, hoping the triceratops would sniff it.

It did. It bent its huge head down and Jessica could feel its breath. The beak-shaped mouth ghosted against her hand. Its eyes seemed to focus in on her, like the triceratops was looking inside her very soul to see if she was a friend.

"Hi. Do you trust me now?" She asked, slowly rising to her feet.

The triceratops snorted, then took a step back. The herd seemed nervous, almost scared. They were waiting for the leader of the herd though.

"Easy. It's alright," she reached out and her hand met the triceratop's nose.

It relaxed under her touch and let out a deep sigh. The rest of the herd lost their tenseness. Jessica rubbed her hand over the horn on the nose of the triceratops. Its tongue snaked out of it's mouth and wrapped around Jessica's hand. She giggled.

"What are you doing, you silly thing?" She asked affectionately.

The triceratops stepped forward, so it's huge head was pressed against Jessica's chest.

The entire herd moved forward then, circling around her. Some of them pressed up against her back, carefully and gently. She turned around carefully, not wanting to hurt any of the triceratops or herself. She gave each of the 3 triceratops that were circled around her back a gentle pat. Then she heard the squeaking again. The 3 triceratops parted, letting through a surprisingly small creature. Its head barely reached to her waist. It had the same coloring as the mature animals, with a grey-tan tint and small orange stripes.

"Hello there," Jessica said, crouching down.

The adults snorted around her, making her look up. They seemed a bit nervous, some of them pawing the ground.

"It's ok," she said, reaching up to pat one of the mature animals face. It sighed.

She reached out and rubbed the juvenile's small head. It snorted once and then rubbed its head against Jessica's face. She giggled. It's small tongue forked out of its mouth, curling up to Jessica's face and leaving a wet slobbery kiss.

"Ick," she laughed, scratching under the juvenile's chin.

"Step back!" A voice suddenly shouted.

The juvenile scampered back and disappeared in the maze of adult feet. The animals stampeded around her, dust flying up. Jessica couldn't see anything. She coughed and prayed she wouldn't be trampled. She could her the sound of the animal's bellows and suddenly a bang. And then another. She covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. Another bang. She heard the same bellows of the animals. She could feel the dust pelt against her skin.

"Get that one!" Jessica heard a voice shout from somewhere among the chaos.

Her fear got the best of her and she turned and dived, not even opening her eyes. She fell onto the ground with a thud and opened her eyes. She was laying on her back, staring up at...was that a belly?

Dust swarmed around her again and she squeezed her eyes shut again.

"Get the big one!" The voice was just barely a whisper.

Then she opened her eyes again, and the grey-tan body was barely 2 feet above her face. The dust had stopped where she was now, but she could still hear the sounds of chaos outside. After another 3 or 4 minutes, the sound started to die away, until it was completely silent. She heard a grunt and the grey-tan body moved away.

"Get her!" The voice said, clearer this time.

Jessica heard a bellow and she jumped to her feet, turning around in time to see the triceratops fall to the ground. She gasped. She began to run towards the animal, but a voice stopped her.

"Stop! Do not go near that animal!" The same voice from earlier shouted.

Jessica turned around slowly. Muldoon stood in the grass, a gun in his hand. Her eyes widened.

"Don't go near that animal, you hear me?" He said.

"Yes...but...she's hurt!" Jessica protested.

Then she saw her parents. She turned and ran to the animal, ignoring the cries of protest from Muldoon and her parents. She reached the animal and knelt near it's head, rubbing it's cheek. It's eyes were glazed, it's breathing labored. It grunted.

"Shhh. It's ok. You're gonna be ok. Alright?" Jessica asked.

The animal let out a deep sigh, it's breath ghosting over Jessica's hands. She watched as it's side heaved up and down.

"It's ok," she said, moving her hands under the triceratop's chin and rubbing it lightly.

Suddenly, she felt something prodding at her back. She twisted her head to see the juvenile triceratops. It snorted.

"Come here little guy," Jessica said, grabbing it's horn and pulling it lightly.

It followed with no argument. Jessica let it in front of her to get to the adult. The adult snorted lightly and the juvenile trotted up to it. The adult's long tongue reached out and licked the juvenile's face. Then its tongue moved up to Jessica's face and it gave her another wet kiss.

"Would you look at that?" Muldoon said in disbelief. "Incredible!"

Why is Jessica such a young thug tho?