DINNER!

A tasty unguarded one at that!

It patiently waited in the long brush until Mom went away…

A whole nest full of delicious succulent eggs...

The long-legged, hunched, big-faced sneak comes out from hiding. It needs to hold its tongue and appetite…

Unfortunately…despite its hunger, it has a duty to, ‘Bring. Back. EVERY. Egg!’

Well…

It scoops up an egg with its long fingers and starts smacking its beak. What’s wrong with having a quick snack while on the job? Can’t expect one to work on an empty stomach!

Yes…have something to eat FIRST…count the eggs AFTER!

The creature opens its mouth……ready to chow down…

“Gotcha~!” ♥

*WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAM*

UP it goes!

A would-be egg-thieving oviraptor is launched high into the air! It was delivered a neck-twisting uppercut swing from the wooden club of a peppy cave girl! Apparently, this oviraptor wasn’t the only one spying from the brush. Its body pounds back down to the earth, causing a dirt cloud to rise. The prideful cave girl raises her left arm and snaps her fingers with a smug grin.

“ONID! COME HERE, BABY!” she whistles, and an excitable dinosaur rolls into view. The runt shakes off long leaves and twigs.

*ARF*

*ARF*

It’s not a dog, but it certainly behaves like one. It circles the oviraptor before plopping its butt back down. After its delayed descent, the cave girl raises her right hand to catch the almost stolen egg.

“YOU TOO, STICK!” she says while chucking the egg behind her.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”

A much smaller yet triply excitable (even more than the “dog” dinosaur) cave girl leaps from her hiding place to catch the egg with her tiny arms.

*CLAMP*

She’s a tad boastful and says, “I coulda wrangled ’em myself, Club!” and spins the egg on her fingertip. The taller cave girl, Club, is petting and cuddling the eager to give and receive affectionate “dog”.

“Hmm, maybe, but it travels with a pack!” she replies as their dog, Onid, gives her a huge lick on the cheek.

“Oh~ Onid~ Stop~!” ♥

“A pack of string beans!” insists Stick.

Club chimes in, “Yeah…a can of string beans with rougher and even more lowlife creeps in tow! You’ve seen ’em, wherever these guys go…”

“Fangs, claws, and giants follow…”

“Anyway, we better be off!”

Club allows Onid to indulge himself with a few more licks. Then, he frantically sniffs and circles the still immobile oviraptor a second time. After one last sniff, Onid gently chomps the oviraptor’s tail and begins dragging it off across the dirt. Leaving behind a long and wide trail.

“Eggs for breakfast tomorrow?” asks Stick while balancing the egg on her head.

“NOPE! We don’t know when its mama will be back, and our Mama is waiting. Let’s go~!” Club answers.

Stick grunts and bounces the egg off her forehead like a soccer ball back into the nest. Club, her sister Stick, and their trusty pet Onid exit into the seemingly endless brush…

…

…

Nearby a dead mama Iguanodon that would never make it back home lays on the ground…her eyes gouged out…throat wrested open. A diligent vulture makes precise and deep pecks into the wound, plucking out bloody sinews like violin strings. It has a thick and spiked lizard’s tail. A strange feature for a bird, but not strange for a hunter of its caliber.

*THWAP*

*THWAP*

It swings the tail left to right while indulging in its easy kill…

…

*RUSTLE*

It stops on a dime when it hears the shifting leaves of the surrounding fauna. The vulture zips off and sets up perch on a tree branch that is safely out of view. Then, it sharpens its gaze to determine the cause…

Club, Stick, and Onid trot along a pebbled trail with their prize. Blissfully unaware of the scavenger that watches over them…

‘Two humans, a “dog”, and…’

*SNORT*

‘…an oviraptor…’

The vulture’s gaze turns to a scowl of annoyance as it peeks back at the Iguanodon nest that still has all three of its eggs…

‘…three eggs too many…’

It spreads its wings and surmises that it can kill the three of them in no time flat. The buzzard squeezes the branch tightly with its talons that the wood slowly cracks and snaps…

“Tired, baby?” ♥ asks a concerned Club as a winded Onid can’t tug the oviraptor anymore.

“I got this!” Stick volunteers, raises her arms up, says, “Lay it on me!” and claps.

“Hehehe~ If you say so~” Club pats Onid on the head, and he releases his hold on the oviraptor’s tail. Taking over, she then lifts it effortlessly with one hand.

The vulture pauses…

“Don’t drop it~” as Club places it on top of Stick’s palms.

*THUD*

Stick nearly collapses, but…

“HA!” she raises herself back up with a tiny hop. Holding the oviraptor as high as her little arms go!

The vulture reconsiders its approach…

‘They carry it like it's nothing…that Egg Snatcher weighs nearly 80 pounds…’

It decides to take flight once more but away from the trio. It’s not worth the risk. At least for now, because she can always come back later…

The bright sun shines against the vulture’s back along the journey, creating a shadow that glides across the lands below. Hovering over tar pits…rivers…volcanic hills. Paying no heed to the sounds of clamorous pterodactyls that are greedy and don’t wish to share the skies, but rather than pick a fight, their attention is drawn elsewhere. A herd of stegosauruses leave deep sopping footprints as they cross the marsh. Smilodons feast on the remains of their prey after a brutal contest of survival. The irritated vulture ignores it all. For it, this is just another day with disappointing results…

…

..another average day in the only world it has ever known…

…

..this is no new world, time has no home here, it never has…

…

…the old world, neigh, the true Earth, returned with a proud roar across the ages…

-CHAPTER END-

-SET IN STONE-