Going home
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Gus could not believe it. They had won. He, and his friends had won. They had beaten Sharptooth!
They all began to cheer in triumph, whooping and hollering and jumping for joy.
Littlefoot's mother had been avenged, the Great Valley dinosaurs were safe, and the path to the said Valley was clear.
It was time to head home.
"Come on!" yelled Littlefoot. "We've waited long enough. Let's go to the Great Valley!"
The final leg of the journey for the six children was nearly over. Littlefoot and Gus led the way to the entrance to the Valley. Though they were still tired, the children felt light on their feet.
They soon reached the entrance, passed through the tunnel, and arrived on the hill that overlooked the Great Valley, and joy filled their hearts. They had reached the edge of the hill and stopped. Gazing down, they stood side by side as their mouths dropped open in awe.
The Great Valley was nothing short of breathtaking. After so many years of bleakness and suffering, the land looked like Eden.
For a brief moment, Gus thought that the valley sort of looked like Central Park. Of course, that was not possible. Was it?
Not wanting to waste another second, the children rushed down the hill and ran across the emerald fields of grass to the middle of the valley.
They passed by fresh pools of diamond-clear water that was everywhere. And all of the herds were there, peacefully coexisting.
While Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike looked for their families, Gus stayed with Littlefoot, while keeping his eyes open for any sign of a tree-star. Even though he was eager to go home and see his family again, he felt like this would probably be the last time he would ever see Littlefoot or the others again.
Gus stopped, letting Littlefoot walk ahead of him. He had thought about it before, but why did it have to come now? Maybe he could use the tree-star again or take an extra tree-star with him so that he could come back some day.
But he knew that he couldn't.
Yes, he was tempted to do just that. But he could not do it.
The dinosaur's world back in this time period was a dangerous place, to say the least. He had almost gotten eaten on more than one occasion and that was partly do to the Tyrannosaur and starving to death. This prehistoric world was amazing and wondrous, but it was also too big and scary. Not to mention he had been tossed, squashed, and scared practically to death! Plus, he'd lost his wagon and backpack. How was he going to explain that to his mom and dad?
It didn't take long for Cera and the others to find their families. Ducky's parents were more then happy to adopt Spike, and Ducky and her sisters were glad to have a new little brother.
Petrie found his mother and siblings with no problem, now that he could fly. The young flier was met with joy from his mother, who was so happy that her son had found his wings.
Cera, after searching around a field of flowers, had found her father. They both nuzzled each other lovingly.
But, not known to Cera at the time, was no sign of her sisters or mother.
Daddy Topps, knowing sooner or later, would have to tell his daughter the sad news. But not today. It was a day of joy, for all the dinosaurs of the Great Valley.
Gus was standing to one side as he watched Littlefoot's reunion with his grandparents. Tears ran down their wrinkled faces. They embraced their grandson, entwining their necks, nuzzling one another.
Gus was happy for his friend. It was a tender moment that he, too, would soon experience with his own family. But first he had to find a tree-star.
A minute later, Littlefoot and the others had gathered on a grassy hilltop.
Gus had asked the young dinosaurs to gather there, so that he could give them a proper goodbye. He had found a tree-star during the short amount of time he had been searching in the nearby forest. His green thumb had glowed brilliantly and that was sure indication that he had been right. He had picked a leaf, gone back to Littlefoot, and had asked him to get the others.
Five minutes later, as the sun began to set behind the mountains, they were gathered on the hill.
"So, why we here?" Petrie asked. He was perched on Littlefoot's head, along with Ducky.
Gus let out a sad sigh and told him, "I have to leave, Petrie."
Cera, Ducky, and Spike all turned to look at him. The looks on their faces were confused, as well as concerned.
"You're leaving?" Littlefoot said. "You're going back to your own world in your time, Gus?"
"That's right," said Gus. "I can make my green thumb work now."
To demonstrate, Gus snapped his fingers, closing his eyes and opening his heart. His thumb sparkled and glowed brightly.
The five young dinosaurs stared in awe at the spectacle, their eyes wide and mouths open.
Gus then placed the tree-star he had found on the ground and pressed his thumb in the middle of it's center. The leaf shuddered and began to float in the air.
Littlefoot and the others stood back apprehensively while watching the sparkling leaf.
Water droplets began to form into a swirling circle from thin air. It then transformed into a funnel, the sparkling water twinkling.
Gus felt the familiar pull again, but he stood back just enough so that he couldn't feel it. He had say goodbye to his friends first. And he did not want to leave just like that.
He turned to face Littlefoot. A chill swept through him as he walked up to the young Apatosaur. "You know that once I get home," he said quietly, sniffling a little. "I... I probably won't come back."
Littlefoot nodded slowly as he exchanged a sad glance with the boy, and Gus didn't get to say a word before the young Apatosaur answered. "I understand, Gus. You live in a whole other world and time. And you miss it. But we'll always be friends, the six of us. No matter what."
Gus felt his chest and throat tighten. "You mean that?"
Cera nodded. "Yeah. Of course we do."
The boy swallowed hard. Tears threatened to flow. He took a long, slow breath and dropped his gaze, his head lowering. But then he felt Littlefoot nudge his cheek with his nose, and from his touch he found the strength he needed.
Even so, his eyes were brimming as he lifted his gaze to each of his friends once more. "I'm gonna' miss you guys so much," he whispered.
Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike moved in and embraced the young boy in a dinosaur's version of a group hug.
"We'll miss you too. Yep, yep, yep." said Ducky as tears began to well in her eyes. She hopped up onto Gus's shoulder and hugged him around his neck, nuzzling her cheek against his own.
Spike gave Gus a gentle lick on the face and let out a sad moan.
Littlefoot leaned in and Gus gave him a hug around his neck, sniffling.
After a moment, the boy pulled back from his prehistoric friends and looked them in the eyes.
Cera wiped away a tear, smiled and said, "Hey, don't forget about us."
"I won't," said Gus, keeping his voice from cracking. He turned and walked toward the portal-funnel, which was still pulsating with magic. He wiped the tears from his eyes, fighting back new ones. He gave his friends one last wave goodbye, turned, and jumped into the portal.
Littlefoot and his friends watched as the human boy floated into air and, with a whoosh of wind, disappeared within the watery funnel. It closed with a flash of green sparkles that fell upon the grass. On the ground, in its place, was a shriveled up tree-star.
Gus did not close his eyes this time as he flew through the twinkling tunnel of water. Like before, there were sounds on ether side of him. Only this time there were multicolored wisps of clouds as well.
The trip back was rather short this time. Gus felt himself slowing down as he approached the end of the funnel. So he did the one and only thing he could think of to prepare himself for a landing. He closed his eyes and braced himself.
The next thing Gus knew, he was standing up on solid ground.
But he was not back in the museum. He was in a dark forest, the area covered with thick trees. But then he looked closer at the leaves. They didn't look like real leaves on a trees at all. They weren't swaying in the wind or anything. In fact, they looked fake. Where was he?
"Yo!" a voice suddenly rang out, startling Gus so much that he almost tripped backward. "Hey, kid, you can't be in that exhibit. Get out of there!"
Gus turned and saw a tall man wearing a blue museum security uniform approaching him, flashlight in hand and keys jingling on his belt.
"Where have you been, young man?" Hilary was pointing a gloved finger at her son, scolding him.
Gus was sitting on a bench in the dinosaur exhibit, away from the alcove where he had left Rosie. He didn't expect that he was going to be scolded right after hugging both his parents when he had come back.
But he did.
"Just look at your clothes," Hilary said, shaking her head. "and what on earth happened to your wagon? And your backpack?"
Gus didn't know what to tell her, smart enough by now to realize that telling her the truth would be a big mistake. He sat quietly, eating a granola bar with his head down. He couldn't tell his parents about Stanley, his green thumb, or his trip through time to the age of the dinosaurs. He had the proof, of course, but that would mean he would have to tell his mom and dad about his encounter with an evil troll queen, almost drowning along with his little sister, and being turned into a troll. And all that had happened just because he sneaked out and had gone to Central Park to float his boat.
No. It was best just to keep it simple and made-up as possible.
He told her about wondering away into one of the alcoves, losing Rosie after going through a door at the end of the hall, about going down a flight of stairs that led to another door that went outside the museum. But when he had tried to get back in the door wouldn't open so he had to go around.
When he was done, Hilary shook her head. "If you had to get back into the museum, Gus, you should had come in through the front doors, not the back entrance. You were gone for nearly an hour. You had us both worried." she said sternly.
Afterward, Gus had gone to the washroom to clean himself up a little. He washed his face in the basin, dried himself, and when he was done he looked at himself in the wall-mirror. His mom was right. He was a mess. But he looked and felt a little tired as well, like he had gone through an ordeal that took a lot out of him. His clothes were dirty and worn. And his hair was a mess. An hour? No. It felt like a week of traversing through a prehistoric world to him. What he wanted to do most of all was go home, climb into his red race car bed, and sleep.
Gus left the washroom and went back to the dinosaur exhibit. For some odd reason, there was a large crowd of guests that were pointing and talking all at once at an exhibit. It was odd because Gus had not even noticed any new display in the hall except for the Tyrannosaur skeleton the last time he checked. Curious, he went over to see what everyone was chatting about.
The crowed parted a little just enough so that he could see the display. It was a fossilized cast of a large footprint. Gus recognized it instantly. It was one of Sharptooth's footprints. But that wasn't all. Within the middle of the print was, and if Gus had to guess, the flattened remains of...
"No way," whispered Gus.
It was the remains of his flattened wagon. Fossilized and preserved in rock, for millions of years.
Gus couldn't help but smile.
Eugene sat beside Gus on a bench in the schoolyard the next day, listening to everything his friend was telling him about his adventure with the dinosaurs.
The children had eaten their lunch already, but Eugene was too enraptured to even eat most of his food because his eyes were wide and his mouth was open in amazement.
When Gus had gotten to the part about him and his dinosaur friends beating Sharptooth the Tyrannosaur, Eugene exhaled sharply. The outtake almost made him cough, so he reached in his pocket for his inhaler.
"You guys actually beat a Tyrannosaurus Rex? Wow!"
Gus nodded and smiled. "That's right. We pushed that big rock right on top of him and he drowned in that pool with a big splash!"
"Oh man," Eugene breathed longingly, putting his inhaler away. "I wish I had been there. It would have been so cool to see a dinosaur up close."
"You wouldn't say that if you had been close to a T-rex's mouth full of teeth, Eugene," Gus chuckled. "I almost got eaten. And walking all that way to the Great Valley. Oh boy, I never want to go through something like that again."
They sat in silence for a while, watching the other kids play or eating the rest of their lunches.
"So," Eugene spoke up. "do you think you'll ever be able to go back?"
Gus thought for a moment and then shook his had. "No, I don't think I can." he said.
Eugene shrugged. "I guess it was a one-way trip, huh?"
"I already talked to Stanley," Gus sighed. "and he told me that there was no chance of me going back. Even if I could master my green thumb, it just wouldn't work. I'm sure gonna' to miss Littlefoot and the others."
He looked up at the sky and noticed, just for a moment, the wispy clouds forming a familiar shape.
Peering closer, Gus saw that it took the shape of a dinosaur. A dinosaur that looked like Littlefoot's mother.
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THE END
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At long last, I have finished the retold/bluth crossover story of Land before time/troll in central park story.
Hope you guys on DA have enjoyed reading this.
Littlefoot and Gus © to their rightful owners.
A Troll In Central Park/LBT (c) Don Bluth
