Chapter Four
The moon/seasons passed as swiftly as they came. Migrating herds came to visit the Great Valley and leave with the seasons. Different seasons came to the Great Valley. Time went and some things stay the same. Some dinosaurs didn't stay the same like Grandpa Longneck. He grew older, weaker, and sicker. Grandma Longneck got so old that she couldn't move as much as she used to. Old ones would start to laid down and never get up again. Little foot was afraid that would happened to Grandma Longneck. He still couldn't believe death happened in the Great Valley, but it would, eventually. They would die where they laid the same way, Little foot's mother had die lying on the open ground after she was killed. The sky water and wind hit the old ones' bodies and they would just lie there before they started to smell. Little biters would sometimes eat them until there were only white bleached bones. The large sharp teeth in the Mysterious Beyond would catch and kill older ones if they could. There were not any large sharp teeth in the Great Valley.
The Bright Circle came and went. The Bright Circle celebrations were held and the Great Valley residents enjoyed themselves. The night circles would come with sky stars shining brightly, then it would pass into days. The days of Rising Waters came with rivers, lakes, and ponds filling to the top overflowing to beyond their banks. Sky waters would pour out of sky puffs. Sometimes, sky fire would flash in the sky after sky roars were heard. Little foot and his gang had to be careful not to play too near the rising waters. The waters could carry them away downstream. Young ones could drown in high waters. It was always safer to swim in shadow clear water near waterfalls where you see the bottom. In darker, muddy dirt waters, there was always a chance of meeting a belly crawler pretending to be a hidden log.
Soon, the Season of New Growth arrived with plants starting to grow flower blooms, and new young ones coming out of their eggs. Tree sweets appear along with tree stars. Life returned to the Great Valley. Yes, it was Time of New Growth. Tree stars were starting to return on the trees, first a little and then in bunches. Flowers and Tree sweets were growing on the trees, smelling tasty. The residents of the Great Valley loved this time. It was a time for celebrating and feasting in the Great Valley. Flowers grew everywhere. Grass returned to grow on the ground like water from the mountains covering every part of the Great Valley. Little foot couldn't help looking at all this new growth and not smile. His friends were all enjoying themselves as well. Cera was romping around the flowers. She was bumping flower petals with her head. Ruby, Chomper, and Duckie were throwing flowers over their heads. Petrie was gathering flowers while Spike was eating them.
Little foot remember the first time he met Cera and his other friends. He and Cera were charging head on at each other full speed. Her father, Papa Three horn stopped them from playing with each other because Three horns didn't play with Longnecks. Little foot starting thinking about those furries again especially after he saw them before his eyes. It was the young flat teeth one with a fuzzy little tail and white spots on his back. Bambi was his name. Little foot saw Bambi with his mother still among the trees, walking along. Some tree furries saw them and one of the tree furries said, "Walking already, well I'll be."
Bambi moved proudly fast that he stumbled a bit with his hind legs. He smiled as he straightened them out. A strange whistling is coming from the trees. Bambi hurried off to catch his mother. The whistles continued and a group of feathery creatures walked up to Bambi's mother who was greeted by them.
"Good morning," said the whistling creature.
"Good morning, Mrs Quail," Bambi's mother replied.
"Where is the young prince this morning?" She saw him coming from behind his mother and said Good morning, Bambi. The hatchlings greeted him by saying Good morning, young prince. They hurried off to follow their mother on the way. One returned to say Goodbye. Bambi continued following his mother.
"Good morning, young prince," said a voice out of nowhere. It surprised Bambi and he turned around to see who was talking to him. It was some strange fuzzies hanging on tree branches upside down. It was a gray fuzzy with her younglings. Bambi came up to them and turned his head to look at them. The young ones with their mother's prompting finally said Good morning, young prince. Bambi continued walking as the mushrooms ( Dome plants) pushed up from the earth. Something was digging under the dirt leaving a trail. It went up to Bambi who waited for it to appear. Another gray fat fuzzy popped out the ground to say Good Morning.
"Hmm," It said covering its eyes with its hand. "Nice sunny day," It quickly popped back into the ground. Bambi looked at it to see where it went. He went happily back to following his mother rapidly, but stumbled on some small tall green ferns that hit him from behind. He felled down on the ground beside his mother. A large group of different kinds of tickle furries were there with their light brown furry mother.
"What's a matter?" said one and all of the rest of light, brown, long eared furries said, "What happened?"
The gray long-eared boy furry asked, "Did the young prince fall down?"
Another one asked Bambi's mother, "Is he hurt?"
"He is all right." Bambi's mother assured them.
Little gray long-eared furry boy moved away to talk to Bambi's mother to tell her something. He looked at her wriggling his little pink nose. "He doesn't walk very good, does he?"
His mother angrily interrupted him "Thumper!"
He turned to her ashamed. "What did your father tell you this morning?" She asked crossing with her hands across her chest.
Thumper rolled his little head and large foot around while he replied,"If you can't say something nice," He paused to remember, "Don't say nothing at all." He put his paws behind his back.
Little foot laughed out loud thinking how Cera could use that advice.
Little foot remembered his first meeting of Duckie. She was swimming in a pond nearby him. She just swam up and introduce herself. "Hello, I said, Hello."
He just shredded a tear into the water.
Duckie asked, "What is your name?" She exclaimed, "Ah, maybe you can't talk yet, huh?"
That Duckie, it wasn't like he was Bambi learning how to say bird.
There were eight yellow belly flyers singing and eating purple sweet bubbles on a tree. Bambi and his friends went to watch them. As they were watching them, flittering around in the trees, Bambi looked at Thumper questionably.
Those are birds." Thumper answered.
"Bur," Bambi said back to Thumper, "Bur."
"Look he is trying to talk." Thumper told his sister.
"Bur."
"He is trying to say bird," One of little girl furry said.
Thumper jumped up to a rock in front of Bambi and told him to say bird. Bambi tried hard to say it by frowning head with his eyes closed while wriggling his nose like Thumper. "Bur," Bambi said.
"Bird," Thumper repeated .
"Bur."
Thumper shook his head and said, "UH, UH. Bir -duh," stressing the letter d.
The little girl furries all said together . "Come on, say bird, say bird." As they hopped around him with the little birds tweeting all around him as well. They kept saying it while the little birds flew around chirping. Bambi took in a deep breathe. He closed his eyes and shouted "Bird!"
The furries laughed as they scattered from Bambi who just smiled at them. They ran back to their mother yelling."He talked! He talked! He talked! Mama, the young prince talked."
All of the furries except Thumper and Bambi ran back to their mother. Bambi kept looking at them . He kept saying bird as he shook his head walking.
"Bird,Bird,Bird, Bird!" He stopped when he saw a flying yellow flower (Butterfly). He turned his head as it flew off. He chased it around. It moved back, which made Bambi do a quick u-turn to face the flying flower. Bambi chased it around and around in circles like he was chasing his tail. Bambi soon lost sight of it. He tried to look for it when it was back on him. It landed on Bambi's tail. Bambi quickly turned his head and saw it. He shouted at it. "Bird!"
Thumper answered, "That's not a bird. That's a butterfly," As Bambi looked at him and the butterfly flew off.
"Butterfly." Thumper shook his head to suggest yes. Bambi turned his head to his tail to called the butterfly, butterfly. "Butter…?" He noticed it had gone.
Little foot remembered how Duckie's comment about him not knowing how to talk yet, annoyed him so that he told her bluntly,"Don't you know anything? Long neck don't talk to, ah, whatever you are."
"Me, I am a long neck too, see." She said showing her long neck. "And I have long tail like you." She stretched his tail out for Little foot to see. This annoyed him further. "All right, I am not a long neck. I am a Big mouth, but I am alone, I am," She sniffed. "I lost my family in the big earth shake. Sniff."
"Hmm, Do you want to go with me" Little foot invited her.
"Yes," She jumped for joy, "Oh, yes. Oh yes, yes I do."
"All right, but you have to keep up." Little foot told her.
"Oh I will keep up, I will." Duckie said and then started to hum a silly little tune. "Where are we going?"
"We are going to the Great Valley. I am not going to stop till I find my grandparents." Little foot told her.
"Maybe my family is in the Great Valley, too?"
"Maybe?" Little foot replied. "My mother said that is where all the herds will be gathering."
Little foot remember his first encounter with Petrie. He had grabbed a fern branch from tree and Duckie was saying it was talking. As Little foot tried to eat the leaves, Petrie slipped down the branches screeched almost in Little foot's mouth.
"Aargh!" Petrie screamed slipping down. Little foot saw him rushed down on him and let go of the fern branch screaming as well.
It was Duckie who first met Spike still in his egg behind some tall grasses. "Hello." She said to the egg as she touched it. "Hello ." She kept asking it as the egg cracked and made noises from the inside. Spike looked out of the top of the egg.
"You should come out, you should, now. You are late. Yes, you are, Yup, Yup."
Spike grumbled a bit and Duckie had to open the egg for him. She put her head inside and said, "You are alone. Are you not scared? Huh?"
Spike just yawned his indifference.
"We are going to the Great Valley. You can come along." Duckie invited him.
Then, there was when Little foot met Chomper. Little foot and his friends had all rescued an egg from two egg stealers. They had brought back to the Great Valley thinking it was, at first Duckie's sibling. They had put under a tree in its own little nest they had built for it upon a tree stump. They all decided to raise it themselves after much talking among themselves. While they waiting for it to hatch, it started to move as Petrie was sitting on it.
"Look." Duckie said as Petrie flew off the egg. Duckie put her head on the egg to hear it and held it in her hands. It was hatching. First, a leg came out.
"It hatching." Petrie remarked.
Then a tail, finally the whole body with only a shell on its head. It flipped the shell off its head.
The only Little foot could do was stuttered when he first saw what had come out of the egg. "It's, It's a Sharp tooth!"
Chomper made a squeaking sound when it saw the other dinosaurs.
They all screamed and ran. "Sharp tooth!" Chomper just looked at them strange. Little foot tried to run away like the others, but his long neck got stuck inside a hanging tree vine. "Sharp tooth, Huh," He groaned as he struggled to free himself and flee from the sharp tooth. He fell backwards right next to the Chomper who just smiled at him. Little foot looked at him. Chomper cooed at him sharp tooth-like. This freaked Little foot out because he screamed as he said sharp tooth, much to Chomper's confusion. He ran off leaving Chomper behind who cooed sadly at being abandoned again.
Little foot came back and said to Chomper.
"You don't look so dangerous. It is okay. I won't hurt you."
Chomper, then, licked Little foot's face.
"Friendly, aren't you? Little foot laughed while Chomper made sharp tooth baby yawning sounds. Hey, I bet you think I am your mama, Papa. Well, I am not really, but don't worry, I'll will take good care of you. My friends will, too, once they see how nice you are. Let me show you around the place."
It was like the way Bambi met his Forest friends, Thumper and Flower. Little foot remember seeing Thumper, the little long eared gray furry charged ahead from his sisters and Bambi to a log. He started hitting the log with his foot rapidly.
He told Bambi, "I'm thumping. That's why they call me Thumper."
Inside the log, call back responded to Thumper. "That's why they call me Thumper." Thumper answered back as he, Bambi and others look inside the log. He shouted back inside the log. "Thumper!" The callback answered Thumper! He got all excited and he rushed inside the hollow log shrieking,"Wheee!" The little girl furries jumped along giggling as they and Bambi went into the log to the meadow.
Or, when Bambi met Flower. Bambi ran up to a huge yellow flower bed and called it, butterfly.
Thumper went up and told him, "No, that's a flower."
"Flower?" Bambi looked at him confused.
"Uh-huh, it's pretty. Thumper said starting to put his head into the flowers to sniff the flowers.
"Purity," Bambi said as he started to sniff the flowers by putting his head in them like Thumper did. As he sniffed the flowers, he suddenly stopped. He lifted his head up only to see another black nose with his black nose and another furry attached to it. A strange looking furry that was black, and white striped with a black and white striped tail. It had blue eyes. They stared at each other for a moment.
Bambi, then smiled at the strange new creature and said to it. "Flower!"
"Me?" Said the little creature pointing to itself.
Thumper laughed in the distance. They turned to him. He laughed so hard he fell on his back on top of a tree stump and then on his stomach. Thumper hit the stump laughing so hard by saying, "NO, NO, No!" He got up and told Bambi. "That's not a flower, He's a little …"
"Oh, that's all right ." The creature said. "He can call me a flower if he want to." It said as it holds his hands together. He looked up blinking his eyes. He giggled a little and said,"I don't mind."
Bambi and Flower looked at each other. Bambi started to yell at Flower. "Purity, Purity, Flower!"
Flower fell on its back from the yelling. He gets up giggling as he held his feet.
"Oh gosh," Flower reacted shyly.
Little foot laughed. What if his friends right now who are playing with the flowers had encounter with that strange striped furry like Bambi. Wouldn't that have been a surprise? Only thing they probably would find in the flowers was a buzzing stinger who might sting them. Little foot thought as he went to play with his friends in the flower meadows. Just then, a buzzing stinger passed over Little foot's head angrily.
"Ow!" Chomper groaned, "I should have chomp on it before it stung me."
"Next time, be more careful," Ruby cautioned sternly like a disappointed mother.
"Could have been worse, Petrie was once attacked by a dozen of them when he crashed into their home. Luckily, he flew fast into the water with Duckie." Petrie told.
"Uh huh?" Spike shook his head to agreed with Petrie.
"Yup, yup, always run into water, water is always run into when escaping stingers." Duckie frowned.
"Or, if they sting your tail. Cera replied, "Go to the water and drink some hopefully that you help with the pain."
"Once you feel better, we can play tag," Little foot said as he ran towards them, "The Time of New Growth is all about seeing new growth, and enjoying it. Soon, all the young ones were chasing each other in a game of tag.
End of Chapter Four