The Courtship

The Purgatorius clan had become accustomed to sharing their island home with the Triceratops that arrived on their island as a baby. He had not only ballooned in size, but his horns had grown from tiny nubs pointing backward, to deadly weapons curving forward. Despite the considerable size difference, they adored him, especially his adoptive mother, Plio, who affectionately named him Aladar.

One day, Aladar was playing with his adoptive sister, Suri and her two friends. The tiny mammals scurried through the forest with Aladar in hot pursuit, trying to catch them. Before long, Suri started to lag behind, allowing Aladar to snatch her in his mouth and suck her tail in like a strand of spaghetti. The Triceratops then turned her attention to her friends who looked up at them with pretend fear.

"Let me out! Let me out!" Cried Suri. Aladar immediately spat her out.

"Hairball!" He coughed.

"That was great!" Suri yelled. "Get him!" she and her friends jumped onto Aladar's back.

"Oh, no! Attacking Purgies!" yelled Aladar. "Suri, please! There's too many of you! Come on! Pick on someone your own size!" he rolled onto his back, allowing the youngsters to jump on his belly.

Plio, peeked through some ferns and watched them play. She began to chuckle as Aladar played dead.

"Aladar?" Said Suri. "You're not dead."

"No!" Aladar awoke.

Plio then approached them with a bunch of flowers in her hands. "Alright, you guys, break it up," she told them. "Remember the courtship? You're gonna miss seeing all the smooching," she said in a joking tone.

"Oh, Mom," groaned Suri.

"That's okay, Plio," said Aladar. "We can smooch right here!" he began making kissing noises, sending the youngsters packing.

"It's a shame you don't like kids," said Plio.

"Oh, nasty little vermin," Aladar joked.

"Go find Zini. He's rehearsing pick-up lines. Let's hope he's found some new material."

As Plio told Aladar, Zini was on the beach, practicing his pickup lines.

"Hey, Sweetie, if you'll be my bride, I'l groom ya, that's good," the yellow Purgatorius said to himself.

Aladar, shook his head.

"Girls, I'm known as the professor of love," Zini continued. "And in schools in session. Yeah, I still got it."

"I hope it's not contagious," Aladar laughed.

"I'm a raging epidemic of romance," replied Zini as he spiked up his hair.

"Come on, hot stuff," Aladar said as Zini leaped onto his horns. "We'd better get going. We don't want to miss Yar's annual pep talk."

"Oh, goodie," Zini said sarcastically. "I can't wait to hear the mating advice of an old squirrel."

"Hey, hey. I heard that in his day, that "old squirrel" was quite the swinger."

"You're talking about Yar?"

"Why else would the clan choose him as leader?"

"Beats me."

That evening, everyone got ready for the courtship. Yar was giving a pep talk to the males, while Plio did the same for the females.

"Okay, boys, gather around," said Yar. "Listen and learn from the master."

"Now, girls," Plio handed the females a flower each. "Don't jump into the trees after the first boy with a cute backflip. It's more fun if you keep 'em guessing."

"And if the cute backflip doesn't work, guess,"

"You're never going to forget this day, so make it one to remember."

"What if you mess up?" Don't worry; they'll never remember."

"Come on, guys!" Aladar called out to the males. "We don't want to let them down."

"Go on now!" Yar ordered. "Chest up! Chin up!"

While some of them jumped onto Aladar's back, the rest landed on his horns.

"Make them look good, son" Yar told them.

"Come on, Yar," Aladar chuckled. "Our charm and your brains, no problem."

Yar laughed as he sat on his tree branch.

Aladar galloped to the courtship tree, where the females were waiting for him. He announced his presence with a bellow as he did so.

"Hey, girls, look who just pulled into town. Your buffet table of love." Aladar said humorously as he strutted past them, much to their amusement, as they saw the males riding on him.

"Hey, ladies! Free samples!" yelled Zini. "Get me while I'm hot!" he jumped off Aladar's back and grabbed the end of his tail.

"Zini," Suri giggled.

The lemurs then took their positions and chittered to each other.

Aladar leaned against the roots of an old tree and bellowed for the fun of it.

Zini lost his balance and fell into a bush, much to Suri's amusement.

As the other males jumped from the trees to the vines, Aladar pulled Zini out of the bush. "You're missing all the action; come on."

"Hey, have you heard?" replied Zini as Aladar threw him to one of the vines. "I am the action!"

Aladar watched as the lemurs paired up and climbed to the top of the tree. All except Zini; he accidentally got his ankle caught in a vine, and in the time it took him to get it loose, all the girls were taken, so he clung to the vine all by himself.

"Don't worry, Zini," Aladar reassured him. "There's always next year."

"Hey, I'm glad to be rid of them," Zini replied as he climbed onto Aladar's nose horn. "You know the ladies; before you know it, they all want to move to a bigger tree."

"Poor Zini," sighed Yar. "The clan still has one bachelor."

"No," replied Plio. "We have two."

As Aladar set Zini down, Plio approached him. "You know, it's never really been his best event."

"He's got a tougher hide than mine," Aladar chuckled.

"Oh, Aladar. If only there was someone on the island for you. Well, someone who looked like you but prettier."

"Come on, Plio, what more could I want?"