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
