A MONSTER FROM A NIGHTMARE

::

Before Gus could grab Littlefoot by the tail and pull him back, a voice suddenly came from the dark off to their left. "You again? Go away!" Gus saw another dinosaur appear in front of Littlefoot, stopping him in his tracks and looking angry. Looking closer he saw that it looked like a Triceratops. It was young, not as big as Littlefoot, but probably the same age, and it sounded like a girl. She only had one horn on her nose but it looked like it could do some damage.

When she caught sight of Gus climbing up behind Littlefoot, she scowled and gave the human boy a once-over. "Hey, what kind of creature are you?" she ask in a impolite tone, and with a hint of suspicion. "some-kind of scaleless freak?" "Hey! I'm a human! And my name is Gus!" Gus snapped, putting his hands on his hips. "And who are you, little-miss so-and-so?" The Triceratops replied in a disdainful tone, "The name's Cera. Now, if you don't mind, that's my hopper!" she turned and marched off near the edge of a slope. Littlefoot shook his head, puffed his cheeks up, and replied, "Well, I saw him first."

Cera turned and lifted her horn in the air at him. "But he's in my pond!" she

reprimanded and slid down the muddy slope and splashed into a marsh.

Littlefoot and Gus followed after her, determined not to let her have her way.

But when they splashed into the pond they also bumped into Cera. The frog

she was after disappeared and that made the young Triceratops turn her head

and scowl at the pair of them.

A bunch of other frogs that occupied the marsh surfaced for a split second

before disappearing under the murky water. A bubble erupted near Cera with

a 'ribbet' and she attacked it. It burst but was soon joined by a multitude of

other bubbles, each one with a frog's face reflected on its surface. Gus and

Littlefoot decided to get in on the action too.

The three children leaped about in the mud, popping bubbles, and having a

great deal of fun. They soon chased the frogs right to the far side of the marsh

where they were hidden in the shade of a large tree.

Gus didn't seem to mind getting a little muddy. This was sort of fun. His

parents back home would never let him do this sort of thing.

But the fun was soon about to end. And in the worst way possible.

On the edge of the swamp, a dark shadow fell across the rocks. But the

oblivious youngsters continued to play, giggling and laughing. The shadow

grew bigger, more sinister. Suddenly, a terrifying roar filled the air, and the

ground shook under their feet.

The three of them stopped playing, looked up and saw an enormous figure

heading straight for them. Their hearts froze in terror.

"SHARPTOOTH!" Cera screamed.

Gus and Littlefoot both let out screams of their own.

But Gus's scream was loudest because he'd seen only pictures depicting what

a real Tyrannosaurus Rex would look like. But who needed pictures and

books for when this real monster was heading right for him!

Scrambling inside the hollow tree, and knowing that there was still a chance,

the three children tried to hide themselves. But it wasn't going to last long.

"What do we do?" screamed Gus.

"Into the tree!" Littlefoot yelled. "Quick!"

Gus, Littlefoot and Cera began to climb the branches. But they'd only gotten

a few feet when Cera let out another shrill scream. Looking up, Littlefoot and

Gus both gasped. Sharptooth's big, ugly red eye was looking down at them

through a hole at the top of the tree. With a growl and a roar, he crashed his

head down and snarled and snapped his jaws at them. Dead twigs and dried

branches rained down on Littlefoot, Gus and Cera as they all fell back into

the swamp's muddy water.

"What now?" cried Littlefoot.

"He's gonna' get us!" yelled Gus, wiping dirty water from his eyes.

Cera looked around in panic. But then she spotted an opening in a nearby

thicket. "In there!" she yelled.

The three children scrambled to their feet and made a run for the brambles.

But no sooner had they gotten inside, than the monster's head smashed

through the tangle of thorns, ripping, tearing, and spitting hot breath on

Littlefoot's back. Gus screamed and fell backward into Cera, who bolted

ahead screaming.

Gus got up and tried to follow but halted, and when he heard Littlefoot give

out a yell, he turned and saw that his friend was caught in the thorns, tugging

to free himself. Sharptooth was boring down on him with evil glee, his jaws

snapping.

Adrenalin pumping, and forgoing caution to his own safety, Gus rushed back

to Littlefoot, wrapped his arms round' his neck, and pulled.

Seeing this made Sharptooth roar in anger. He was not going to be denied his

prey!

Littlefoot gave a final, straining grunt before the vine around his body

snapped. He was free!

But the branch and entangled vine both unwittingly snapped backward right

into Sharptooth's left eye. The dark scaled monster let out a bellow of pain

and reeled back from the brambles. Then, with a terrible fury unlike any other

he plunged back into the brambles, searching for the little creatures that dared

to injure him.

Gus and Littlefoot rejoined Cera and the three of them watched the giant

creature suddenly stop and sniff the air. Then he stomped out of their view,

the ground shaking. They hid in the thicket for a minute or two. They were

under the densest part of the brush. It seemed safe enough.

"We got to get out of here," Gus whispered, his eyes wide with fear as he

tried to steady his breathing.

"Then lets move further back," said Cera.

"No, we have to go to the left," Littlefoot warned. "This way."

Gus looked over to where Littlefoot was nodding to. There was indeed a fork in the path.

But Cera, much to Gus's surprise, shook her head with a frown and took the

path to the right!

"Hey! Wait for us!" Gus yelled.

"No! You're going the wrong way!" cried Littlefoot as he and Gus ran after

her.

Both their yells had alerted Sharptooth to their position and, with an angry

roar, he attacked the bushes again. He ripped at the bramble anew, fully

enraged once more. They were trapped now. There was nowhere to hide.

Closer and closer he came, saliva dripping. Although one off his eyes was

swollen shut, he was growling softly. Then he opened his jaws and pounced,

going right for the kill!

Littlefoot, Gus and Cera screamed, when suddenly...

WHAP!

From out of nowhere, a huge tail slammed into the Tyrannosaur's head and

knocked him back and away from the children. Reeling off balance,

Sharptooth was sent flying right into a boulder.

Gus looked up and saw that it was Littlefoot's mother. The massive Apatosaur

glared at Sharptooth. He, Littlefoot and Cera ran to her and took shelter

underneath her, keeping clear of her legs.

Gus saw Sharptooth, now enraged and totally berserk, get up and back onto

to his feet.

"Mother!" Littlefoot cried.

"Run! All of you! Run!" Mama Apatosaur commanded and lowered her head to push them away.

"WACTH OUT!" Gus screamed, pointing a finger at the advancing

Tyrannosaur.

Mama looked up just in time to avoid the snapping jaws of the beast.

Sharptooth, now eager for a worthy opponent, and confident of a kill, began

to pace around her.

The fight was on.

Gus, Littlefoot and Cera tried to stay out of the fight but the two colossal

dinosaurs made that a little difficult. The Tyrannosaur lunged but Mama

dodged him by rearing up on her back legs. Littlefoot pushed Cera and Gus

out of the way of his mother's massive foot.

Sharptooth snapped his jaws, missed, and lunged again. He wanted a quick

kill and he was not going to be denied that. But Littlefoot's mother

sidestepped the attack, turned her massive form, and struck Sharptooth as

hard as she could with her tail. The blow sent him smashing right into

another cliff, rocks and dirt raining down upon him as he lay on the ground.

It was a brief moment of victory that didn't last long. And it would be the

worst thing Gus and Littlefoot would ever see.

Sharptooth, having enough, suddenly jumped into the air with a roar, landed

on Littlefoot's mother, and held on to her back with his sharp claws. He

brought his jaws down and bit into her back as hard as he could.

Gus gasped and looked away. He didn't want to see. But he did. The

silhouette of the attack was on the rock wall in front of him. He heard Cera

scream and he tried to block it out, holding both hands over his ears and

closing his eyes. But he was quickly pushed by Littlefoot to move. Looking

up he saw that Mama Apatosaur had twisted and fought back to dislodge the

monster from her. But he could also see that the damage to her back was

done. The children ran off as Mama followed after them, crashing through

several rock barriers.

But Sharptooth was in hot pursuit. He was going to finish her and finish off

the children once and for all. He snapped his jaws at Mama's leg, missed, and

roared. Littlefoot's mother in turn swung her tail again with all her might.

Sharptooth went down but Mama's tail had also slammed down, creating a

tidal wave of mud that went toward the children. It caught them up and

carried them right into the jaws of the Tyrannosaur! Realizing her mistake

and knowing she would have to act quickly to save the three children,

Littlefoot's mother leapt forward and tackled Sharptooth in the belly. The

blow sent the Tyrannosaur right over a hill and down into a rocky pile of

debris.

"Are you alright?" Gus cried out, glancing the wounds on Mama's back.

In response, Littlefoot's mother nudged the three of them again in the

direction of the canyon ahead. "Don't worry about me," she said, her concern

more on their safety. "Now, Littlefoot, the three of you run through that

canyon!"

The three did as they were told and began to run. Littlefoot scooped up Gus

onto his back and Cera ran ahead. They soon found a cluster of rocks and

took shelter there. But no sooner had they caught their breaths than the

ground beneath their feet began to shake.

The ground rumbled and shook and tilted sideways. Rocks, trees, and chunks of earth exploded into the air.

Littlefoot, Gus, and Cera clung to each other, trying to stay on their feet.

The human boy knew what this was. It was an Earthquake. And it was

happening right now.

:

Littlefoot and Gus © to their rightful owners.
A Troll In Central Park/LBT (c) Don Bluth