– Joe Notari

The forest’s canopy was dense and thick, branches twisting and writhing around each other, to the point that hardly any sunlight pierced its great barrier. The leaves were moist and dripping from a recent rainstorm, and many of the forest’s smaller inhabitants rummaged around the forest’s floor. The creatures scrounged for any food they could find, oftentimes each other.

A velociraptor stalked among some nearby bushes. It crept closer and closer to a family of protoceratops, who was blissfully unaware of its imminent danger. Then, like a bolt of lightning, the raptor rushed out of the dark foliage. It sprinted toward the youngest of the frightened creatures and was upon it before it even had time to react. The others fled in fear as the raptor sank its razor-sharp teeth into the protoceratop’s neck, and with a flash, the pitiful thing was dead.

The raptor began ravenously feeding on its prize. But not halfway through its meal, something roused it from its bloody handiwork. A great thunder shook the forest, from the tops of its trees all the way to its roots. The raptor looked desperately at its meal, but dared not cross the path of what was approaching. It fled into the underbrush in shame, taking only one last hunk of meat.

The ground rumbled with each step, as if under the attack of an earthquake. A great form lurched through the forest. His legs were like tree trunks, his tail whipped behind him. His enormous jaw housed huge, razor-sharp teeth. He was a creature that was spoken of in a hushed, reverent tone. He was praised for his rippling muscles and powerful jaws that commanded respect. So much respect that no creature dared mention his goofy little arms.

He was…Mr. Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Mr. T-Rex stomped by the protoceratops corpse without even giving it a glance. It was a paltry amount, not fit for a creature of his magnificence and station. No, he was after larger and fiercer prey; prey that would be worthy of killing. Mr. T-Rex’s destination was a bright light shining in the distance. As he drew closer, the trees grew thinner, and blue sky began to appear overhead. Finally, he had made his way to the edge of the forest.

The tyrant king looked out at the sight before him. A glimmering blue lake stretched out in the land below him, beyond which were golden plains far as the eye could see. The shores of the lake were teaming with dinosaurs of every kind: triceratops, stegosaurus, sauropods; even great pterosaurs dotted the skies.

Mr. T-Rex had to choose his prey carefully. If the ensuing fight was too easy, his reputation would be irreparably damaged. Obviously, the pterosaurs were out of the question, as were the sauropods, the only dinosaurs mightier than he. Stegosaurs had the assets to put up an impressive fight, but, given their infamous stupidity, were more likely to spike themselves in the head than make for a compelling struggle.

No, it would have to be the triceratops. Great juggernauts, armed with long and powerful horns that could easily gut the mighty Mr. T-Rex. They were fiercely territorial creatures who commanded almost as much respect as the tyrannosaurs themselves. But which one would it be? Which one was neither too young nor too old, healthy and in his prime; which behemoth had the might to face him?

Mr. T-Rex eyed a particularly spirited triceratops bull leading its fellows to the water’s edge. He raised his enormous head in celebration and gave out a triumphant bellow that rang across the plains. The thrill of combat entered into Mr. T-Rex’s mind and he twiddled his fingers excitedly; at least he would have if his arms weren’t too stunted to reach each other, but the point comes across all the same.

Mr. T-Rex lumbered out of the forest, stopping briefly to let the sun’s warm rays bask down onto him, energizing him for the fight ahead. As he came closer to the lake, the other dinosaurs became aware of his approach and scattered, fearing for their lives. The triceratops, however, held their ground and formed a mighty phalanx between Mr. T-Rex and the fleeing dinosaurs. Mr. T-Rex had anticipated this and stopped a ways from the wall of spiky death. He had no chance against an entire herd of triceratops; his only chance was to goad the triceratops bull into one-on-one combat. Mr. T-Rex unleashed a savage roar, one that caused the line of triceratops to falter ever so slightly before regaining their composure. The bull recognized Mr. T-Rex’s power and refused to risk his followers’ safety any more. He slowly, but stoutly, broke away from the brigade and stood before Mr. T-Rex, alone.

The other triceratops moved to protest their leader’s decision, but the bull stamped his feet and let out a menacing growl. Nothing could change his mind. The others moved away and anxiously watched the battle that was about to unfold. With a gnashing of teeth, Mr. T-Rex charged the triceratops. The bull, in turn, moved his head upwards hoping that Mr. T-Rex’s momentum would cause him to fall upon his horns. Mr. T-Rex saw through this base ploy and deftly side-stepped the bull and circled around him, launching his jaws at the bull’s back legs. The brute whipped around, swifter than expected, and left a cut on Mr. T-Rex’s snout.

Mr. T-Rex backed away from the bull, impressed by his agility. He would have to plan his next move carefully. The two began circling each other, neither one breaking eye contact. Mr. T-Rex weighed his options. The bull was faster than any triceratops he had ever encountered before, thus negating the option of attacking from the back. An idea crept into Mr. T-Rex’s mind. His concentration returned to him, body trembling with anticipation, stubby arms waving excitedly in bloodlust. He only had one shot at this.

Mr. T-Rex once again charged forward towards the bull, who once again raised his head upwards. This time, however, Mr. T-Rex showed no signs of slowing down. Each footfall brought Mr. T-Rex closer to the bull’s razor-sharp horns. At the last second, Mr. T-Rex raised one of his mighty feet into the air and stomped down onto the end of the bull’s snout, his toes going between the horn at the edge of the bull’s nose. The bull’s head buckled forward and smashed into the ground hard; his two main horns speared into the earth, sending bits of dirt flying into the air. Mr. T-Rex closed his jaws onto the stunned creature’s frill and began wrestling with his head. With a powerful jerk, Mr. T-Rex tackled the bull onto the ground, flipping him over to reveal his vulnerable neck. Wasting no time, Mr.T-Rex tore into the helpless bull’s jugular. He yanked his mouth upwards and ripped out the triceratops’ throat! “Alex.” Blood and tissue were everywhere, flying through the air, splattering Mr. T-Rex’s face! “ALEX.” The looks of horror from the other triceratops at the morbid, gruesome, decimated remains of their former lea-

“ALEX!”

I found myself sitting on the hard, uncarpeted floor of my bedroom. The tyrannosaurus and triceratops figures were in my tightly-clenched hands. Other dinosaur figures were strewn on the floor around me: stegosaurus, pteranodons, apatosaurus; a velociraptor laid motionless on top of my bed. I looked up to see my mom standing in my bedroom’s doorway with an annoyed look on her face.

“Alex,” she said, “you told me you’d gather up all of your old toys a half an hour ago. Have you even started?”

I looked around at the toys scattered on my floor. “I may have gotten a little distracted.”

“You promised that you would take care of all of this before you went back to campus. Now just toss all those old dinosaur toys in the box so we can give them away.”

I looked down at my dinosaur figures and then at the box but made no move to place them in there.

“Actually, I was thinking about hanging on to them for a little while.”

My mom gave me an incredulous look. “You’re twenty. What does a twenty-year-old need with dinosaur toys?”

“Alright just… just give me a few minutes? Okay? Just a few minutes.”

My mom let out an exasperated sigh and left the room. I glanced into the hallway to make sure she went back downstairs. I took my textbooks out of my book bag and quickly stuffed a few handfuls of the dinosaur figures into it. I kept the tyrannosaurus and the triceratops out and continued in my head. The other triceratops looked in horror at the morbid, gruesome, decimated remains of their former leader…

Mr. T-Rex looked up from his kill to see the other triceratops,stricken with fright. He let out an earth-shaking roar, sending the triceratops fleeing away from the site of this great battle. Mr. T-Rex stood above his fallen foe, satisfied that this struggle would be remembered for years to come. He had his share of the bounty and left the rest for the scavengers. No one could say that he was not benevolent to the lesser predators.

Mr. T-Rex made his way back towards the forest, the sun setting across the grasslands. This day was coming to an end, but it was just one of many. There were still many adventures to come, many more challenges. There would always be new trials to face in the life of…Mr. Tyrannosaurus Rex.