Timeless || All Stories

18 || Jurassic

Inspired by dprandall21 and I watching Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

****

Jonah stands at the doors of a particularly large cage, watching in amusement as two of his raptors continue to nip at each other. A few feet away, a third raptor shrieks loudly, attempting to diffuse the situation.

A crowd of tourists slowly gathers around the cage as well, cheering the dinosaurs on as one lunges at the other's neck.

"Alright, that's enough!" Jonah shouts, slipping in through a side door.

The raptors ignore him, instead continuing the fight as the smallest one backs away.

"Hey! Aurora, get off of Jack," He raises his voice, causing their heads to snap in his direction. "I brought a snack! Come on, Carmen, I've got food for you too."

Aurora snorts, slowly removing her foot from where she had Jack pinned to the ground. Jack snaps his jaw in annoyance, quickly scampering behind Jonah as Aurora growls at him.

The trainer turns to the crowd with a prowd grin as the three settle down. Throwing samples of meat to the animals, he introduces each of them individually.

"This one is Jack, and he's the only male in the pack." Jack rears his head back, letting out what sounds like a war cry. "As you can see, he likes to show off."

"Up next is Carmen." The raptor, considerably smaller than the other two, steps forward hesitantly at the sound of her name. "She's a little shy."

The crowd coos at the sight of her, which Aurora misinterpretes as a threat. She charges forward, snapping at everyone while hiding Carmen behind her body.

A little boy's eyes widen and he drops his ice cream in shock, tears welling in his eyes.

"That's enough, Aurora!" Jonah states, trying to hide his chuckle as she whines in protest. "They aren't going to hurt Carmen."

Aurora huffs, snarling at the crowd one last time before walking over to Jonah.

"This- OW!" The restless animal headbutts Jonah's side, trying to gain his attention. "We'll play later, let me do my job!"

She growls before stomping to the other side of the cage, burrowing her head into Carmen's side and pouting.

"That's Aurora," he explains, pausing as if expecting her to charge at the sound of her name. "She's the feisty one here and very protective."

****

Later that evening, after all the tourists had left and most dinosaurs were laying down for the night, Jonah returns to the raptor section with an intern, Zach, at his side.

"Are you sure you don't want to go in with me?" Jonah jokes, knowing good and well the boy was terrified of the raptors.

"I'm okay," Zach says, his eyes widening. "I'd rather watch from the safety of being on the other side of the cage. Besides, Aurora will kill me if I go in there again."

"Only if you get close to Carmen," the trainer shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly as they reach the side door. "She doesn't really care what happens to Jack."