My Dinosaur Akída

Chapter 6

After 8 blissful years, surrounded by Annie's love and affection, Akida grew and grew. She grew so big that she outgrew her nursery in Annie's room and couldn't sit on Annie's lap anymore.

Akida, now an adolescent, was snoozing on the floor. Her horns are now over a meter long, she was now 5 meters long, 1 meter tall and weighing 3 tons.

Annie, now a pretty, young 17-year old, looked her worriedly. Mark, now 18 and in collage, too was worried. "Oh, man. Look at her; she's growing so big now. She won't be able to fit in the house anymore." Mark said. "I know, but I still am going to show her to Jessica." Annie said, patting Akida's big body.

"Now what can we do? Where would we hide her?" Mark asked. "Well, I was thinking...Carburn Park, maybe?" Annie said. "What? Carburn Park?" Mark asked. "Oh, no! No, no, no, no! Not there! What if somebody saw her?" he asked. "She'll hide, don't worry. No one will find her as long as she hides." Annie said. "Besides, there's plenty of vegetation for her to hide in and dine on."

"I'm worried about it, all right." Mark said. "Mark, just trust me on this." Annie said. Mark rolled his eyes. "Fine." he said. "Come on, Akida. Wake up." Annie said. Akida yawned.

Mark casually walked out Annie's room. He walked over to Diane, who was washing the dishes. "Oh, Mom." Mark said. "Yes, sweetheart?" Diane asked. "Mom, I have something to tell you." he said. "Yes?" Diane asked.

"I was wondering if...." Mark's voice trailed off when he saw Akida stuck in the doorway. Annie was trying to push her out. "Akida, suck in your gut!" Annie grunted. "Yeah?" Diane asked. "If you would come see...." Mark's voice trailed off again as he saw Annie and Akida, who finally managed to squeeze out the door, creeping down the stairs.

Akida was trying her best to tread quietly down the stairs. But the wood underneath her heavy weight creaked.

"What's that sound?" Diane asked, turning her head. But Mark quickly said "Ouch!", quickly catching Diane's attention. "Mark, what is it?" she asked worriedly. "Ah, it's nothing. I stubbed my toe." Mark said.

"Does it still hurt?" Diane asked worriedly. "No. I'm fine. It doesn't hurt anymore." Mark said. "Oh, good." Diane said. "Mom, I was wondering if you would come see me practice for the school concert."

Mark looked at Annie and Akida as they crept to the door. "Oh, I would. When's the concert?" Diane asked. "Today, at Carburn Park, 3:00pm." Mark said.

He looked at his watch, pretending to look at the time. "Oh, look at that! I'd better head to school to practice!" he said, grabbing his electric guitar rushing to the door.

Once Akida was outside, Annie and Mark carefully sneaked her to a nearby alley, looking left and right for any people passing by.

"How are we gonna sneak her to the park without people seeing her?" Mark asked. Annie looked around.

"Look, over there!" she said, pointing to a large piece of canvas by two garbage cans. Annie and Mark pulled the canvas over Akida, completely covering her. "It's perfect! Nobody will notice her now." Annie said.

They moved out of the alley and carefully moved her to Carburn Park. "Luckily, there's a dinosaur festival happening now in Carburn Park, so we could sneak Akida in there easily." Annie said, looking at an ad in her hand.

They walked casually to the park. Once they reached the entrance, the park official looked at the tattered old canvas with a raised eyebrow. "Hey!" he shouted. Annie and Mark turned around. "What are you kids doing there?" the park official asked. "We're with the festival." Annie explained.

"Oh, really? Well, show me you're with them. Show me your card." he said. Annie and Mark looked nervously at each other. How can they convince him? "We, uh.... We don't have a card, but we have a dinosaur!" Annie said. "Oh, really?" the park official asked.

"Yeah! Wanna see?" Annie said. "If it's made out of cardboard, tin cans, or whatnot, you're not entering." the park official said, walking towards the canvas. When he looked up at Akida, his eyes widened.

"Wow, looks realistic." he said. "Yeah. Dad made it." Annie said. "Wow. He did a pretty good job." the park official said.

He turned to Annie and Mark. "Okay. You can enter." he said. As Annie and Mark walked through the entrance, the park official sighed. "Is it just me, or is that really..." he thought. Then he shook his head. "Nah. Must be my imagination." he muttered.

As Annie and Mark approached an hidden empty spot, they placed Akida on it. "That was a close one. We could have been caught." Mark said. "Mark, relax. Things are gonna go very smoothly." Annie said. Mark rolled his eyes. "Oh, by the way, you have a concert to do, right?" Annie asked.

"No, that was just so you could sneak Akida out." Mark said. "Oh, thanks." Annie said. Mark wiped his forehead. "Whew! It's so hot!" he said. Annie looked around.

Then, she saw a snow cone stand. She patted Akida on the nose. "You be a good girl, okay?" Annie asked Akida. "We'll be right back. Don't go anywhere." Akida nodded her head.

Annie got up and went to the snow-cone stand. "Two snow-cones, please. One blue raspberry-flavored and one cherry-flavored." she said. As Annie and Mark sat in the shade and ate their snow cones, Akida started to wander away. "You doing good, Akida?" Annie said.

When she didn't hear a reply, she turned around to see Akida gone. "Akida?" Annie asked, getting worried. Akida walked through the shadowy forest. As she passed by a family picnic, she saw a little dog sniffing by the forest.

Suddenly, the dog sniffed the air. He sniffed a strange scent. A scent he never smelt before. Seeing Akida in the bushes, he growled and snarled. Meanwhile, Annie and Mark were frantically searching for Akida. "Akida! Akida, where are you?" Annie yelled. "Akida!" Mark yelled.

"Where could she be? I really should keep an eye on her." Annie said. "Well, she is your responsibility." Mark said. "I know that! Let's just find her." Annie said, getting annoyed. "Akida, where are you?!"

Akida came closer toward the dog. But then the dog suddenly barked loudly. "Buster! Stop!" a little 2-year old girl said. She toddled toward her dog. Buster kept growling at the bushes, not moving.

The little girl looked up and saw Akida hiding behind the trees. She giggled happily when she saw Akida and walked towards her. Akida looked at the small human in front of her.