The Zil'Marou were gathered in a circle, all wearing their cak'pres- a piece of skin or fur draped over the shoulders under the hair, and then folded over the head. Imstron cleared his throat. "Hello. This losings ceremony is a sadder one because we lost a living creature: Shimioni ankylosaurus. Now her family will tell stories of her existence. Himoson?" Sheila's father began to tell a story he had told many times: how Shimioni had run as fast as any Kosmoceratops back to camp when a Tyrannosaurus Rex had spotted them a while off. Sheila's mother told of Shimioni helping to teach Shieila and Shimal to walk. Now it was Sheila's turn.
"A long time ago- I was about 5," Shieila wiped the tears from her face and continued,"I was afraid of Brachiosaurus. I was riding along on Shimioni for fun, when we came upon a herd if brachiosaurus. I dismounted, and hid under Shimioni." All the details fluttered back to Shieila. How the sun-baked grass smelled so good, and how the sun had been 3/4 of its daily journey. "Shimioni stepped away from me, and nudged me towards the brachiosaurus. I walked up to them, and they were kind. The kindest wild dinosaurs I have ever met," Shieila finished.
As Shimal finished a story of Shimioni learning a new trick, Imstron began talking again, but Shieila didn't listen. The pictures drew in the dirt told her all she needed to know. A ha'te with a single line under it- that had been destroyed. A crop of corn with a few lines under it- some corn had been destroyed. In the middle of them was an unmistakeable picture of an ankylosaurus. Shimioni. A
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Dinosaurs on Earth
Fantasy11-year-old Shieila is a member of the (fictional) tribe, the Zil'Marou. She owns two ankylosauruses called Sagemho and Shimioni. But will it all be too much for Shieila when she learns to save her tribe, she must protect Sagemho with her life- even...