Jurassic World, left behind

The hunt for mangoes

When James woke, it was with a sense of contentment. He had gone to bed with a full stomach, fully hydrated, after a full day of walking around one of the top resorts in the world with his family. A snort from the corner brought him back to reality and he realized it had been a dream. Snickers was still asleep in the corner, and there was another hammock to his right in which an elderly woman lay still sleeping. The contentment was replaced with sadness, and maybe a little bit of homesickness. No, not homesickness, James decided. He was having an adventure, but it was an adventure he would rather share with his family. He was at a top resort in the world, but it was the people not there that he wished to share the experience with.

James shook his head to clear it. Time to focus on the moment, he decided, After all, if I don't I might get eaten. He had to find food before he could eat this morning, and he had another person to feed. Rolling out of the hammock and onto his feet, a cheerful voice piped up next to him

"Good morning dear." A cheerful voice to his left caused him to look over to see the smiling face of the woman he had met last night.

"Good morning" He responded "What would you like to eat this morning? I have one sandwich left, and a bunch of candy bars. If you want more than just sugar I have to go out to get if from one of the vendor carts." The woman smiled

"That is very nice of you dear, but I have my own food that I have gathered." As she said this she pointed to a spot on the floor. There was a rather large duffle bag laying haphasardly on the floor, absolutely stuffed with mangoes.

"Where in the world did you get those?" James asked, astonished at the size of the fruit.

"From around here. I didn't have to go far into the forest to get them. Just climbed a tree and shook a branch and down they fell."

James lifted an eye brow at that, the idea of this woman climbing a tree was slightly ludicrous to him at the moment. Seeing his expression, the woman just chuckled and lifted out a mango the size of a coconut. She then pulled out a machete from the depths of her bag and began to peel the mango.

"Where did you get the machete?" James asked as he watched the knife rise and fall in expert little circles as the woman deftly carved the skin away from the fruit and liberate it of its pit.

"Found it." She said simply as she popped a slice of mango into her mouth. "Want some deary?" James accepted the offered fruit.

He looked at the small woman sitting across from him thoughtfully. She wasn't much to look at. Small, white haired, wrinkled, wearing Grannie clothes, one would almost expect her to have died because of a heart attack at the first sight of a tarantula, let alone a dinosaur.

"I don't believe I ever asked your name. Mine is James." James held out his right hand, and the woman held out her own.

"Amelia White. Now that I have achieved a certain age most people call me Mrs. White. Or you could just call me Grannie." James smiled and Mrs. White smiled back as James stuck the rest of the mango slice into his mouth.

"It's stringy!" He said in surprise. "Almost like celery string." James continued to chew the sweet but stringy treat.

"Most native mangoes are stringy." Mrs. White said as she began to deftly peal another mango. James watched in fascination as the peelings fell around her feet in neat little spirals.

"How are you doing that?" He asked, his eyes never leaving the blade as it danced around the fruit.

"Practice!" Mrs. White smiled as she handed James another slice.

A whuffle-grunt brought the two humans attention to the other occupant in the room. Snickers, having woken to the smell of mangoes, wanted said mangoes. He rolled to his feet and shuffled over to the young man and old woman, demanding mangoes with every step he took.