Jessica sighed. They hadn't seen a single dinosaur and now they were locked in the tour car. Not very fun in her opinion. Then the intercom clicked on.
"We are nearing the velociraptor paddock. You will be able to get out of the tour car and view these animals through our safe viewing vents. We remind you that there will be no flash photography, for it displeases the animals. Thank you and enjoy," the intercom clicked off and excitement burned in Jessica's stomach.
Finally! They were going to see some dinosaurs!
The tour car screeched to a halt and the doors unlocked. Jessica clambered out and ran down the path. It was about 20 yards long and at the end a huge fence towered up. Definitely electric. It crackled slightly.
The viewing vent was built into the tall fence. As Jessica trotted up it, her feet made a clanging sound. She reached the top, glancing around hesitantly. At both ends there were binoculars. Grinning, she bounded over to one and pressed her eye against the circle.
At first, she saw only leaves and grass. She moved the binoculars back and forth slowly. Then she saw it, towering higher than she expected in the undergrowth and trees.
Its body was a brownish-green tint. It was about 7 feet tall and had a lithe body. Its head was an oval shape, its snout sticking out. Its yellow eyes seemed to be staring straight at Jessica. Small rows of teeth peeked out from underneath the upper lip of the animal and Jessica shivered. The teeth had a yellow color to them, and as Jessica looked closer, she could see specks of red. Blood. The animal's chest was slightly greener than the rest of the body, the surprisingly long arms snaking their way out from its sides. Its hands contained 3 razor sharp claws, glinting as the animal stood in the sun. Jessica could see the base of the animal's tail, almost invisible against its background. The thick tail was the same color as everywhere else, but with brown stripes. It was thicker than she could believe and it held completely still. She could only see the beginning of the legs, but could see they held numerous muscles in their bunched up state. She could just imagine the razor sharp 6 inch claw on the foot of the animal and she could imagine it slicing into another animal's stomach or neck. A sickening thought.
The animal blinked, its nostrils flaring. It cocked its head slightly, seeming to have noticed Jessica had spotted it. Jessica glanced back. Her parents were making their way up the stairs.
"Hurry up! I see one!" She called, pressing her eye against the glass again.
The animal was gone. Only the slight swishing of the plants indicated anything alive. Where had it gone? It had just been there a moment ago...
Before Jessica could think anymore on the subject, a screech made her pull her face away from the binoculars. She barely looked up before a brownish-green shape lunged towards her. There was an explosion of sparks, and she screamed. She heard a fierce growl from somewhere among the chaos and then a scream of pain. She only caught a brief glance of the figure's body lunging towards her, its legs outstretched towards them, its claws glimmering. Jessica closed her eyes, covered her face with her arm. Another explosion of sparks cascaded around her and she screamed again. There was another screech of pain and then a snort, then it went silent.
Jessica took her arm of her face, slowly opening her eyes. The fence was bent slightly, sparks still flying off of it. She gasped. The raptor had attacked the fence. The only sign it left that the animal did it was a splatter of blood on the fence and the platform, and a claw. Its claw had been ripped out during the attack.
Jessica moved forward and bent down over the claw. Blood dripped from the end. She picked it up slowly, observing it gingerly. She stared at it in awe, her mouth hanging open.
Her parents rushed forward, grabbing her shoulders, asking her if she was ok. The rest of their time passed in a blur. They met with a tour guide who brought them back to the hotel, and Jessica spent the rest of the day in her room, examining the claw. It was amazing. Her first few hours here and she almost got killed. What did that say about her luck?