Messummer

Vintage Messummer (The First Draft)

        Following is the original story of Messummer, that I wrote in 8th grade, when I was still learning about geologic time. At this point, I was still trying to figure out how to write a dinosaur story. This was what I got... A piece of crap, but the birthplace of one of my most favorite stories.

Prologue

I was born into the world as a reptile but not exactly a dinosaur. My name is Messummer, and my brothers and sisters died before they could hatch. Therefore, I am an only child. I live in the Valley of Green with my mother, and I am two years old. I am a Pteranodon, and I live in the Cretaceous Period. Pteranodons are actually a pretty wicked species! We grow to be about six feet tall at the hips with a wingspan ranging from twenty-five to thirty- three long, and the adult Pteranodon weighs about fifty-five pounds. All Pteranodons also have a crest on the tops of their heads, a short tail, and no teeth. We are carnivores, and we eat mostly fish. Since I'm only two, I am still growing, so I haven't reached my adult height yet. My wingspan is sixteen feet, so it's still growing along with me. Although, I have to admit, I am one of the best flyers in the Valley of Green! I learned when I was very young, and I've practiced every single day. I'm even more skilled than my mother, Laurasia. Well, Mum doesn't really fly that much anymore since the death of my father who died when I was six weeks old. No one knows the cause of his death; we just know that he flew to the outskirts of the valley and never returned. Some dinosaurs claim that a Tyrannosaurs Rex ate him. Others say that either the Earth swallowed him during an earthquake or a volcanic eruption incinerated him. The mystery remains. I'll admit though that I sometimes wish I did know my father, but I doubt I ever will, even when I die.

***

Dinosaurs in the Valley of Green live in peace. We are safe from, brace yourself: continental drift, Tyrannosaurus Rex, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Our Earth is actually a very fragile place, and it's nothing like the Earth that the trilobites and tetrapods lived in during the Cambrian and Devonian Periods. It's safer, yes, but it's still quite dangerous. All dinosaurs here in the valley feel that our world is perfect and that nothing will go wrong; although, we spoke too soon. What the Valley of Green didn't know, was that the reign of the dinosaurs was nearing an end, and only the luckiest organisms, would survive the coming mass extinction.

Mom and I live at the top of the tallest, oldest rock tower in the entire valley. Mum told me that the rocks we live on date back to the Ordovician Period, so they are very old. I personally really like the tower we live on only because from way up here, we can see the entire valley. The view is absolutely gorgeous! There are many other rock towers that surround ours, but they're not as big. All towers in this valley surround a river with rushing water and arches. The river flows down a long way until it finally empties out into the watering hole where most dinosaurs, birds, mammals, and reptiles come to drink. Usually, I am the first one to wake up in the nest, but today, I overslept. When I finally woke up, the sun had already drifted halfway across the sky. Our nest is located inside the tower in a large, cool cave. Most Pteranodons sleep and hatch their young in caves like this. Up here, we don't have to worry about Gallimimus robbing our eggs, so it's one of the safest place to hatch young'uns. It took a while for sleep to leave me, but when it did I stared out the mouth of the cave to the beautiful day. The sky was blue, and other Pteranodons were out on their midday flight.

I twisted my neck to find Mum grooming her wings, and I cleared my throat saying, "Ahem, hello, Mom." Standing, I brought my wings in front of my breast, and my claws gripped the rocky surface of the cave. I hobbled over to Mother, and she looked up from grooming herself.

She said, "Oh, Messummer, you're finally up. That's the latest you've ever slept."

I stopped in front of her and chuckled, lowering my head. "Well, Mum, Nutmeg and I had a series of intense races yesterday that took us to the watering hole and beyond, so I was pretty wiped out last night."