Dino-Girl

The Phone Call That Changed Everything

 My father had dropped me at the edge of the park, letting me walk through to the petting zoo in the scorching heat. By the time I arrived, I was basically drowning in my own sweat. I pulled off the jacket I was wearing, revealing the black crop top I had underneath. I pulled my light brown hair into a ponytail, my forehead bangs unable to be touched. That was something that matched my dad – the brown hair and the green eyes. I got the same nose, ears, and mouth from my mom though.

I approached the petting zoo, sighing with content as I watched children squeal when the dinosaurs approached to eat food out of their hands and when the triceratops made noises as they were ridden. I looked to the side, watching the line slowly moving. That's when I saw two people arguing, and it caught my attention. They were two boys, one older and one younger, and the older one seemed to be pissing on the younger one's dreams. I approached the two, eyes narrowed.

"Everything okay here?" I asked. "Everything's fine, who are you?" the older one with darker hair snapped. I raised my hands up in denial. "Sorry, sorry, I saw you were fighting and wanted to make sure everything was alright." I held out my hand to the older one. "My name's Casey, it's nice to meet you." The boy simply looked down at my hand, then back up at me. I dropped my hand to my side, suddenly feeling ashamed. The younger one snapped me out of it, smiling widely up at me. "My name's Gray, and the sour patch is my brother Zach."

I smiled at him, biting my lower lip. "It's nice to meet you Gray. Do you wanna ride the triceratops?" I flicked my chin towards the pen. "I can get you on one of our nicest girls." "Can you do that?" Zach interrupted, and my head snapped towards him. "I work here, crabby pants." "Whoa, for real?" Gray was suddenly bouncing on his feet, making me chuckle. "Yeah. My dad is Owen Grady, he's in charge of the velociraptors, while I'm in charge of the petting zoo. We work on opposite ends of the spectrum," I said. "Now do you want to ride or not?"

Gray looked up expectantly at Zach. "Please?" he pleaded, and for a moment I thought he was going to drop to his knees. "Yeah Zach, please?" I mock-begged, sticking out my lower lip in a pout. The taller male rolled his eyes at me. "Do whatever you want," he grumbled, waving his hand dismissively. "I'm waiting over here." As he walked away, Gray looked up at me with eyes so wide I thought they would pop out of his head. Then he bounded off to the gates of the petting zoo with me in tow.

After I got Gray set up on my favorite baby triceratops – her name was Tally – I leaned against the fence, watching everybody. A smile began to make its way to my face as I watched both the children and the dinosaurs enjoy themselves. Damn, I was lucky.

A vibration from the back pocket of my shorts pulled me out of my thoughts and I pulled my phone out, glancing at the caller ID before hitting the green button. "Hey dad," I spoke into the phone with a grin, but frowned when I heard him panting. "Baby, where are you?" he heaved between breaths. I leaned off the fence, my full attention on the phone call. "Working at the petting zoo. Why, dad what's wrong?" "Get somewhere safe, please," Owen said, and I heard an engine revving in the background. "Dad," my voice was deeper, in a warning tone. I heard him stop running, and he exhaled slowly.

"There's been a containment breach, Case," my dad whispered, and I slapped my hand over my mouth. "The indominus rex is loose. It's big and it's bad. Casey, get somewhere safe, please." "Dad," I started, but he cut me off. "Casey," he growled, and I swallowed, nodding. "Okay dad, okay. I love you." "I love you too." Then the line went dead. I stood there, staring straight ahead, feeling my heart and head pound as I tried to take in what just happened. A sudden tug on my arm made me jump and squeak out in fright, but it was only Gray.

"That. Was. Awesome!" he laughed. I nodded. "Yeah?" I asked quietly, not trusting my own voice. "Yeah, thank you so much Casey." Gray skipped off out of the petting zoo and I followed, making sure he got back to Zach. As we made it into the clearing of the crowd, Zach stood from his place on a bench and approached us. "You all done with your baby activity?" he grumbled. "You missed it Zach!" Wow this kid was enthusiastic. "It was so cool! The dinosaur, Tally right?" he looked up at me for reassurance, and I gave him a close-mouthed smile and a nod. "Tally was so cool!"

Zach looked over at me, brown eyes watching me intently. "You okay?" he asked, and I was slightly surprised by his attitude. "I'm fine," I breathed, refusing to meet his gaze, knowing I would tear up if I did. Zach looked suspicious, but I tried to ignore it. "Can we go do something else?" he asked, grinning. "Casey, can you get us into any other cool exhibits?"

It was in that moment that I realized I couldn't walk away from these two. I would never forgive myself if something happened. I needed to get somewhere safe, I knew that. But I couldn't get these two to safety, if I told them it would terrify them. So instead I nodded, trying to calm my nerves and tuck my shaking hands into my pockets. "Yeah, I think I got an idea. Ever seen a mosasaurus?" "Zach," Gray's eyes were marbles again, and his older brother rolled his eyes, but couldn't hide the smirk on his face. "Fine." I glanced over my shoulder at the mountains, wondering what Owen was up to. I silently prayed to whatever was out there that he would be safe.

Finally, I turned back to the two boys. "Follow me!"