Josh stirred as the first rays of sunshine hit his eyes. He was a light-sensitive sleeper, so he always used the sun as a natural alarm clock. Whenever the sun rose above the horizon, he rose out of bed. In his orange and blue pajamas, the 13 year old turned off his bed to put his slippers on...just to find he already had socks and shoes on his feet. "Strange," he thought. "I never wear socks to sleep, let alone shoes."
He stood up and realized he wasn't even in his bed...or his room at all. He had been sleeping on a large flat rock the size of a couch and covered by a huge palm branch. He looked at his surroundings and his heart nearly stopped. All around him were tall trees and winding rivers. A mountain range in the distance enclosed them like a giant bowl.
"Where the heck am I?" Josh wondered. This didn't look like anywhere he'd ever been. There were no houses, streets, not even a single other person as far as the eye could see. Suddenly, a huge shadow passed over Josh. He looked up and his jaw dropped. He rubbed his eyes hard and looked again.
A giant creature was circling over him. It looked like a cross between a stork and a giant bat. Two huge wings carried it through the air, while it's small, beady eyes stared down at him above a large, spike-like beak. A curved crest sat on top of it's head like a second beak.
Josh recognized this creature. He had been studying them in his science class. "A pterodactyl," he murmured, gazing with awe. "But I thought they were extinct. What is one doing here?" He looked back to his surroundings and froze.
Giant beasts were roaming about all around him. As he gawked, a large, bipedal lizard lunged at a creature resembling a rhino, but with three horns. A group of animals resembling ostriches ran by as a pterodactyl chased after them. Josh couldn't believe it. He had somehow landed in the time of the dinosaurs.
Josh stepped back nervously. He had once asked in his teacher if humans could have lived with dinosaurs. Her reply was, "If the dinosaurs hadn't gone extinct, we never would've existed." Now, Josh could see what she meant. Looking at the bipedal carnivore, which he recognized to be a T-rex, he imagined how easy it would be for it to bite him in half.
If he was going to survive long enough to figure out what was going on, he had to hide. "But where?" he wondered. There weren't many places he could stay without being spotted by a predator. He decided to just walk around and hope nothing big noticed him.
Hours later, Josh was completely lost. He had no idea where he was going or where he started from. Exhausted, he spotted a thick palm tree and collapsed against it. As he sat there, drained of energy, he started thinking about his home, and his family. His mother, who gave him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek every day before school. His father, who took him on fishing trips every weekend. His brother and sister, who tackled him every time he stepped inside and played with him all day.
As he thought about them, knowing he may never see them again, the boy's eyes began
to well up with tears. He thought about his friends at school, and how much fun he had playing with them every day. He thought about his teacher, who helped him through even his hardest moments. Finally, he thought about his crush, Amy, and how he'll never be able to tell her how he felt about her. He started to cry uncontrollably. "WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE ME?!" he shouted through his sobs. "I JUST WANT TO GO HOME!" Breaking down entirely, he curled up against the tree and closed his eyes, tears still streaming down his cheeks.
As he lay there weeping, Josh felt a faint disturbance around him. Slowly, he opened his eyes and raised his head, his knees bent against his chest. As he looked around nervously, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Focusing his attention to it, he saw that it was nothing but a few pebbles. He started to relax until he noticed something strange about them: they were moving.
As he watched, the pebbles started bouncing around like they were on a beating drum. Pushing himself up, Josh placed his hand down next to him, only to quickly retract it in surprise. Looking down, he rested his hand down again. The ground beneath Josh was shaking.
At first he thought it was an earthquake, since his hometown of California had plenty of them. But he quickly came to realize that wasn't the case. The quaking had a rhythm to it, like he was on top of a giant bass stereo on full blast. The tremors started getting stronger, and the trees and bushes around Josh began to shudder. Suddenly, a large shadow covered him and the shaking stopped. He looked up and his eyes widened in terror.
A giant creature loomed above him, so large it completely blocked out the sun. It's head sat atop a huge neck like a giant snake, its 4 legs thicker than even the widest tree trunks. Its body alone was as big as his entire house. Josh cowered against the tree behind him as the beast's head lowered towards him. It was bigger than he was! "Please don't eat me!" he squealed, clenching his tear-filled eyes shut.
As he waited for his inevitable death, he felt a light touch against his head. He slowly opened his eyes to find the creature's head nuzzling him. As he stared in disbelief, the massive dino lifted up its head and gazed at him. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he found them being met with the dinosaur's large, black ones. It looked like it was concerned for him. As Josh looked up at it, still shaking, a friendly smile spread across its face.
"You're n-not gonna eat m-me?" the boy whimpered. To his surprise the dino shook its head. "Can you...can you understand me?" he asked. It nodded. "Wow..." Josh breathed. He stood up and slowly walked towards the giant creature. Sunlight peeked out from behind it, revealing light green skin and a tan, scaled underside. It's massive tail was even longer than it's neck. As the boy walked under the massive dinosaur, it's head curved down to look at him.
Smiling slightly, Josh slowly lifted his arm and lightly brushed the beast's belly. Suddenly, the dino started stomping its feet, making the ground beneath Josh shudder. Unbalanced, he stumbled back and sat down hard, jumping slightly as the earth trembled. He looked up to see the dino smiling gleefully as it continued stomping. "It looks like it's laughing," he thought.
The dino looked down at him as it stopped stomping, a long smile across it's face. "Are you ticklish?" Josh asked it. The dino nodded, still smiling. Grinning, Josh said, "Back home, I always had fun when there was an earthquake. I would just lay down and feel the floor shaking under me." He looked up at the dino. "That really reminded me of that, it was fun!"
The giant creature tilted it's head curiously. Then, to Josh's surprise, it raised it's tail high into the air, then slammed it the ground so hard it lauched Josh into the air. "WOAH!" he exclaimed. As he started to fall, the dino swiftly moved it's head under him and caught him. Josh stared for a second, then started laughing. "Wow, that was awesome!" he giggled. The dino looked up at him joyfully, then lifted it's head up to full hight. Josh slid down the dino's long neck like a slide to it's massive body. "Wheeeee!" he cheered.
As he settled at the creature's back, it turned it's neck to look at him. It smiled as he laughed with joy.
In time, they came across a massive cave, big enough for even the dino to walk around. Going inside, they quickly made themselves comfortable. Suddenly, Josh heard something. "Do you you hear that?" he asked the dino. It nodded, a nervous expression on it's face. They heard it again. It was a low rumbling sound, like a jet engine starting up. Startled, Josh looked around for the source of the noise. It came once more, louder than before. "Sounds like it's coming from below us," Josh said.
The giant dino came lowered it's body so he could get down. He slid down the dino's back and landed on the dry, cracked ground. He looked around. "I don't see anything," he said, confused. Then it came again, louder than ever, so loud the ground shook beneath them. It was coming from behind him...right where the dino was laying. Smirking, Josh looked at the dino's tan, plated belly. "Is that your tummy rumbling?" he asked. Grinning sheepishly, the dino nodded. Josh walked over to it and pressed his arms and face to it's tummy. It was surprisingly soft. As he listened, the dino's belly rumbled again, shaking his entire body. "You're hungry, aren't you?" The dino nodded, and Josh could have sworn it was blushing.
Then, Josh had an idea. "If it's okay with you..." he started. "May I...listen to your tummy for a while?" For a second, the dino looked surprised, even interested at this question, like it was something it had thought about before. Then, it nodded, smiling. "Really? Thank you!" Josh squealed in delight.
Gleefully, the dino lifted him up with it's head and carried him over to one of the walls. It set him down next to the wall, then leaned over and landed on it's back, shaking the
entire cave. Josh climbed up the dinosaur's tail and walked over to it's massive belly, his feet sinking a few inches into it's soft, bouncy skin.
No sooner had he reached the center did a booming grumble emit from the dino's stomach, so deep Josh could feel it in his chest. Losing balance, he steadied himself with his hands and came to rest on his own tummy. "Your stomach sure is loud!" he exclaimed. Not long after did the dino's belly let out another rumbling growl, even louder than before. "Whoa..." Josh breathed as the beast's tummy gurgled and boiled beneath him. "It's like an active volcano in there." The dinosaur nodded, turning it's head to look at him.
Josh stretched his hands out and rubbed the titan's angry belly, trying to sooth it. "Shhhh...it's ok," he whispered to his dino friend's stomach, which was now so loud and active it was creating a small earthquake of it's own. He kept comforting the giant's belly, and miraculously it seemed to quiet down a bit. The constant roaring and groaning died down to a low, drawn out rumble. This didn't last long, however, as soon it was back to ground shaking volume again. "You sure are persistent, I'll give you that," Josh laughed, patting the dino's tummy, and getting sharp, angry growls in response. This cycle repeated itself a few more times, Josh being able to temporarily tame the monster within the dino's stomach, only for it to come rumbling back even louder than before.
"Looks like we should get you some food, buddy," Josh finally said after hours of listening and near earthquake level shaking from the dino's belly, almost moving the cave itself. "Lets see here..." The two looked around the cave for a while, until Josh found a practical field of bushes in the back. The hungry dinosaur ate as many leaves as it could, while Josh feasted on some fresh berries.
They ate until they could eat no more, after which they went back to their spot, the dino laying contently against the wall, Josh laying on the dino's stuffed, gurgly belly. The sun sank lower and lower into the horizon, and as nightfall descended, the two settled in for the night. As Josh lay on the beast's massive tummy, letting the soft groans and gurgles lull him to sleep, he said one last thing to his new companion.
"Goodnight...Sam." The dino smiled at it's new name, as the two fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

The End




REDONE! I made some changes and hopefully I made it even better than before. Enjoy!