A Christmas Surprise

Christmas Presents

With a roar to the Dimetrodon, known as Donnie, trampled over the vegetation inside his arena. He was chasing the bouncing ball of pent-up energy that was his trainer. The trainer ran, as fast as she could, jumping over lagoons and sliding under tree branches and loose logs, as she headed back towards the door of the enclosure.

The door was only a few feet away, all she needed to do was hit the console on the outside and it would open.

Come on, run!

Slamming her palm against the console, the trainer glanced over her shoulder, her eyes widening as she saw the lumping mass of scales smash into a tree, knocking it to the ground.

"Come on, come on!" she murmured, trying to encourage the door to open.

"System accessed. Door Opening."

"Yes!"

The door slid open and a cool jet of air hit the trainer in the face. She gasped and fell forward, punching the red 'emergency' button on the inside wall. The door slid shut behind her, just as Donnie reached it.

Donnie roared again.

The trainer lay back on the floor, staring at the ceiling.

"You okay?" Sasha McMillian asked, stepping into her vision.

"That...was...AWESOME!" Adelaide grinned. "Can I go again?"

~X~

Sasha shook her head as she followed Adelaide into the Dino Bite Cafe. It was Christmas Eve, and the Zoo had been closed early to the public so that the team could prepare the dinosaurs, feed them, and set everything up for Christmas Morning the next day. They were having a little ranger get-together in order to reconnect with the Rangers that had gone back home or travelled since the end of their ranger career.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Ade?" Sasha asked, setting a box of Christmas ornaments on a table. "Donnie is not a domestic creature. You can't keep high-tailing it through his enclosure, and playing with him. He's a wild animal."

Adelaide dug through the box, pulling out a strand of tinsel and wrapping it around her shoulders. "But he likes it," she said. "It's interaction for him. He's all alone, otherwise."

"What do you want me to do, schedule a playdate?" Sasha asked.

"Ooh! Yeah," Ade said, bouncing excitedly. "Make it with Para, though, they got along famously when Chase and I were Rangers."

"Only because Donnie and Para were mechanical back then," Sasha said. "Now, I'm pretty sure Donnie would try to eat Para."

Adelaide made a face.

Taking a string of bells from the box, Sasha hung them around Adelaide's neck and smiled as she started to bounce around the room, jingling loudly with each step.

"Hey, guys," Shelby greeted, as she entered the room wearing a long-robed white jacket, and carrying a clipboard. "Cera and Rexy have both been fed," she added to Sasha. "I saw the crate labelled Donnie was empty, so I'm assuming...?"

Sasha nodded and continued to rifle through the box. "Ade got trapped in the enclosure again," she said, lifting her gaze to meet Shelby's.

"Again?" Shelby stressed. "That's the fourth time this week."

"I think she's intentionally doing it, to be honest," Sasha said. "It sounds like an Adelaide thing to do. I've tried to tell her." She shook her head and pulled a large yarn of silver tinsel from the box. "Could you hold this for me, please?" she passed one end to Shelby and started to twirl the other around the tree.

Shelby watched as Sasha hung the silver strands along individual branches. It had been almost six months since they'd completed their RAnger quest, and things were slowly starting to become normal again.

Tyler had left with his father on an expedition to the Alps, Chase and Riley had gone home to their families, Kendall had remained at the base, Jessie had returned to his post in the Navy, Sasha and Shelby had gone home for a little while and then come back.

Philip had taken Adelaide to Zandar for a few months, but after a while, Adelaide had come back to Amber Beach. She had loved Zandar, but running a country had not been her forte. She'd found it boring when Philip was in his council meetings, and she missed tearing up the Zoo and interacting with Donnie on a daily basis.

"Hey, what are these?" Adelaide asked, bouncing over. She held three small square parcels in her arms.

"I'm guessing their presents for tomorrow," said Sasha. "Are they tagged?"

Adelaide nodded. "There's one for each of us," she said, handing over Shelby's and Sasha's, and then grabbing her own. She held it up to her ear and shook it, trying to guess what lay inside.

"Hey, stop it," Sasha warned. "It could breakable."

"Who would buy me something breakable?" Adelaide asked.

"She raises a good point," Shelby agreed.

Sasha rolled her eyes and inspected the scrawl of her name. She didn't recognise it.

"Christmas isn't until tomorrow," said Shelby. "Should we-?"

"No!" said Adelaide, ripping into the wrapping paper. She tore open the lid of the box and frowned. "That's not cool!" she said, grabbing the contents and dropping the box onto the floor.

Shelby held up her own gift. "Lumps of coal?" she asked.

Sasha frowned as she looked at the two. "Wait, Santa only gives coal to naughty boys and girls'," she said.

"Do we look like naughty girls'?" Adelaide asked. "We saved the world! That counts as good, right?"

"It should for Santa," said Shelby.

Sasha looked back at her own box. It was identical to Shelby and Ade's, did that mean she had coal too? "Were there any more boxes, Ade?" she asked. When Adelaide didn't answer, Sasha looked up, pausing and frowning as she found both her sister and Shelby missing.

Suddenly, a strand of tinsel was thrown over Sasha's head, wrapped around her waist and hauled her back. She hit the ground with a thud, knocking over a box of Christmas Tree ornaments and scattering them across the floor.

"Adelaide, this is not funny!" Sasha shrieked as her sister bounced around, tugging the tinsel tighter and tighter. Sasha struggled, but as much as she fought, the tinsel wouldn't budge.

Adelaide stopped and handed off the strand of tinsel to Shelby, who tied it with her own and then knotted it.

"Shelby, stop this!" Sasha scolded. "I thought you were more mature than this!"

Shelby giggled. It sounded strange coming from her.

"Who's Shelby?" Adelaide asked.

"Beats me," Shelby shrugged.

Adelaide giggled again and looked down at Sasha. "You should've opened your present, you naughty girl," she said. "I can see why Krampus gave you coal. Good girls' do as they're supposed to."

"Krampus?" Sasha repeated. "Oh, Adelaide, it's one thing to believe in Santa, but his evil twin?" she shook her head.

Adelaide and Shelby sniggered.

Sasha scowled at the pair. "Alright, enough fun and games!" she snapped. "Untie me. We have a lot of work to do before the others arrive."

"Sorry, but we have other plans," said Shelby. "We have to go make sure all of Krampus' coal is delivered in time for Christmas morning. Come along, Jingle!" She turned to leave.

Adelaide giggled and leaned over Sasha. "Don't worry, we'll come back!" she said, before running after her friend.

Sasha struggled against the tinsel that held her. "Adelaide!" she yelled, but her sister either didn't hear or chose to ignore, and given Shelby had just referred to her as 'Jingle', Sasha guessed it was the second option.