Have a good week.
Grant sighed. Another one gone. They'd already lost 7 out of the 10 born. Velociraptors were impossible. Only 3 had a slim chance. Especially Asteria.
The raptor refused to eat or sleep and was dehydrated. She wasn't going to make it.
Wu came to stand beside Grant. "Another failed batch," he said.
"The other 2 are gone?" Grant asked.
Wu nodded solemnly. All except one raptor, Asteria, were dead.
Jessica's eyes fluttered open as light filtered into their hotel room. She sat up immediately, excitement bubbling inside her. Now they could visit Asteria!
She shook her mother's shoulders and then her father's. They both groaned.
"Wake up! Wake up!" Jessica shouted.
Her father sat up and yawned. "You're up too early," he said.
Jessica shook her head. "We have to visit Asteria!" She said.
Her mother sat up. "Ok. Get dressed then and we'll go in 1 hour."
Jessica groaned. "1 hour? That's forever."
"That or nothing," her mother commented.
"Ok," she sighed.
1 hour later, her mother did what she promised. Her parents got dressed, and they headed to see the raptor.
Wu watched as the door swung open to reveal Jessica and her parents. Jessica looked beyond excited, and Wu could feel his heart split in two. Jessica bounded up to Wu and smiled.
"Can I see Asteria?" She asked.
Wu pursed his lips and sighed. "I'm so sorry. I really am."
Jessica gave him a confused look.
"She's...dead. Or at least we think so," Wu sighed.
Jessica's shook her head. "No. She can't be!"
"I'm sorry," Wu replied.
Jessica rushed over to the incubator that held Asteria's still body. She pried the top off and scooped the animal up. Its head hung off her hands. Jessica bent down at placed her ear against the animal's small chest. She hesitated, then raised with a look of hope in her eyes.
"It's still beating," she said.
Wu's eyes widened, and he rushed over, taking the animal from the girl. He placed his ear against it's chest to hear a steady thump, thump, thump.
"Oh my God..." He whispered. "She's alive..."
Wu handed the animal back to Jessica and the chaos began. Scientists rushed around the lab, carrying syringes and Ivs. Bags of fluids hung everywhere, and most were connected the the animal. It didn't wake though. And that's when Jessica realized, as she stared down at it's still body, it's weak, thin side rising and falling slightly, that the raptor was in a coma.
The rest of the day passed quietly, and Jessica sat on a stool next to the animal's incubator most of it.
She watched her carefully, hoping, praying for the animal to wake. It didn't. It sat still, its small body barely moving. It had so many tubes connected to it, it looked fake. This was all it was though. Fake.
Jessica didn't know she fell asleep with her hand on the animal's head, and she didn't know her father carried her to the plane until she woke up, and she felt her heart split in two.
She blinked open her eyes and rubbed her head, which had been leaning against the window. Her father and mother discussed quietly next to her, so she pretended to be asleep. She listened.
"I almost feel bad," her mother was saying.
"We don't have a choice," her father replied.
"Do you think it's gonna make it?" She asked.
"Maybe," he sounded like he didn't care.
"I don't care either way. Those things are dangerous," she responded.
Jessica clenched her fists. Not all of them were dangerous! People just assumed dinosaurs were evil! And they were wrong! Asteria was gentle, and they didn't care about her. In a little while she would be thrown into an enclosure with a 1000 volt electric fence around it, and a few places where glass were so people could watch them and marvel. And yet these animals had feeling too. They were living things! Not just attractions!
And yet Jessica had the sinking feeling that people would never truly understand that. They were always going to do it for the money, never the well-being of anyone. This was the world. These were the only thoughts that flipped through Jessica's brain as they rode home, and sadness and anger were the only emotions she felt.
Haha, this one isn't very good.