Dinosaur Land
Samuel Todd Emch, of Papillion,Nebraska loved to play with dinosaur toys. In his room there were many of them: big ones, little ones, tall ones, and short ones. Michael, Nicholas, Taylor, Leighton, Ansley, and Nanny knew how much he loved dinosaurs. One day, Samuel was looking at pictures in his favorite dinosaur book.
A fierce tyrannosaurus rex with big, sharp teeth was wrestling another meat-eating dinosaur, called an allosaurus. A pterodactyl, a huge lizard with wings, was flying in the air watching the battle. Samuel concentrated hard on the pictures.
The dinosaurs seemed to come alive. A lizard with a long neck, fat body, and huge tail stood beside a beautiful lagoon. A brightly colored spotted egg lay in a cozy nest near a friendly looking beast. In the distance, a duckbill dinosaur, called a trachodon, walked on two legs chewing giant ferns.
Suddenly Samuel was in the tropical rain forest with the dinosaurs. "Wow, the dinosaurs eat so much! I'm afraid they will eat me," Samuel said, trembling. "Are you as sweet as this palm tree?" someone asked in a friendly voice. "Who said that? Samuel wondered. "I am a brontosaurus called Thunderfoot, replied the long-necked lizard.
"Do you eat children?" Samuel asked. Thunderfoot lowered her long neck and examined Samuel carefully. "You don't look very tasty," Thunderfoot decided. "And I only eat plants. Anyway, it's time to go to sleep at the top of the mountain." The giant creature gently covered her egg and joined the other dinosaurs.
The dinosaurs snored very loudly as they slept. Suddenly Samuel heard a much louder noise. The mountain was exploding! Fire and melted rock poured out of the volcano. "Wake up, everyone! Wake up!" Samuel shouted. "Oh, please, we must hurry away from here and get to the water." The dinosaurs loudly lumbered to the safe lagoon.
"We are safe, thanks to Samuel," the dinosaurs chanted. The dinosaurs were so thankful they decided to have a party to honor Samuel. During the party, they danced and thumped their tails until the ground shook. "What a wonderful celebration!" Samuel said. "I wish Michael, Nicholas, Taylor, Leighton, Ansley, and Nanny could join the fun."
Just then, Samuel noticed a change in the brightly colored spotted egg in the next by the lagoon. "Look over there!" called Samuel. "Thunderfoot's egg is hatching!" Snap! A little head poked through the top of the shell. The sides broke away and out tumbled a baby dinosaur with a long neck, fat body, and big lizard tail.
A pterodactyl neighbor flew close to visit the baby dinosaur. Thunderfoot and her baby walked toward the beautiful lagoon. Other dinosaurs returned to the tropical rain forest. "Please stay with us forever," pleased the dinosaurs. Samuel answered, "I would love to stay with you, but I can't. I must return to my home in Papillion, Nebraska. Michael, Nicholas, Taylor, Leighton, Ansley, and Nanny will be worried.
Samuel closed his eyes and waved farewell to the dinosaurs. When he opened his eyes, the picture in his dinosaur book had changed. The brightly colored spotted egg was no longer in the cozy nest by the lagoon. Now, a brand-new baby dinosaur stood nose to nose with its proud mother, Thunderfoot.