Kitten Among Dinos

Chapter one: The boat

I clutched my duffle bag with my left hand and nervously fidgeted with my necklace with my right.  The ferry ahead seemed daunting, especially with the ocean sloshing at the sides as the waves came and went.  I gulped nervously looking back towards the one who came to drop me off.  He let out a small laugh as he walked the short distance between us.  His short, dark brown hair was combed across the side of his face covering one of his hazel eyes.  “I know water makes you nervous but it's the only way for you to get to the island” he expressed in a sympathetic tone as he placed a hand on my shoulder.  Of course he was sympathetic; he was one of the few who knew why water, especially constantly moving, deep water freaked me out.

“I know” I groaned with a defeated sigh looking back at the boat.  There were a few small groups saying their goodbyes for the time being.  Some people were already on the boat, most of them being the crew.  Two of them were kids that looked around my age or a bit older.  I couldn't tell what they looked like from here.  “You know how it is for me Cooper” I said turning back to the older boy, his hand still on my shoulder.

“Yeah I know… how about this when you get on the boat you sit down and go through your things and make sure you have everything.  I'm certain you do but it should distract you until you get off the boat and on solid ground again.  Or maybe try to make small talk."  Cooper was trying to comfort me and I appreciated it.  “And don't forget to keep the beanie on and keep your tail hidden.  The head counselor knows about your… situation and what you can do but no one else does so try to keep it under wraps for as long as possible.”  He had lowered his voice now as if people were listening in on us.

“You don't need to worry, I'll be careful.”  I snickered a bit at his worry, adjusting my beanie so that my ears were a bit more comfortable.  “I guess I should go,” I said, turning around and seeing more people getting on the boat.  I waved goodbye and approached the dock leading up to the boat.  Taking in a shaky breath I slung my bag around my shoulder and quickly walked across the dock and onto the ferry.  Once on board I felt my tail bristle in fear and attempt to tuck between my legs.  This didn't work as it was secured to my left leg. 

On board the boat was bigger than it first seemed from a distance.  But it didn't matter. I briskly walked towards the front where I assumed there would be seating.  In my attempt to avoid people I failed to see one walking towards me with almost the same urgency.  All I saw was a flash of bright pink before impact.

“Gah,” the voice ahead of me went as I fell to the ground opposite of the other person. 

“I'm so sorry I wasn't looking where I was going.”  I immediately started apologizing for the incident getting up quickly and offering a hand.

“You're good, I wasn't looking either.”the other person said, offering the same apology, taking my extended hand.  Now that I had a good look, the flash of bright pink that I had seen was most likely this person's clothes or hair.  Once she was on her feet again and had dusted herself off she extended her hand in greeting, “My name's Brooklynn, what's yours?”

Brooklynn had her hair pulled up in a bun with two strands left out to frame her face.  She was wearing a pink hoodie with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and a white collar.  From what I could tell her top was an orange-ish color.  She had on a pair of dark jeans or were they leggings?  Either way they had some small rips in them that seemed to be for style.  They went up past her ankles with some white tennis shoes to finish off the look.  In the opposite hand that she had extended she held a phone with a pink phone case.  I guess pink is just her thing.  Taking her hand and shaking it, I responded to her question, “I'm Katelyn, I'm going to assume you're one of the campers?”  I nodded towards her toppled suitcase.

“Yeah, and I'm guessing you are too,” she surmised, glancing towards my duffle bag.  Letting out a small nervous laugh I simply nodded yes to her observation.  “Well it's nice to know one of my fellow campers' names.  The others are just avoiding me, scratch that, each other for now.  Nice beanie by the way.”  By now the boat had begun moving causing both of us to wobble a bit with the sudden change.

“Umm… thanks, sorry again for bumping into you.”  There was a nervous energy in my voice now, although I tried to disguise it.  I could tell Brooklynn noticed this change in tone by the curious look in her green eyes as I continued towards the front of the boat.  When I got there I was glad to find some seats that weren't taken by luggage.  I sat down carefully to avoid sitting on my tail that was sore from me falling on it.  Taking my bag I placed it across my lap and observed who else I was going to spend two weeks with.

One of them seemed to be making attempts to talk to the other campers.  I could hear her country accent slightly from my position although she didn't seem to be having much luck.  Another was positioned over the railing in a way that made me think he was seasick although he wasn't hurling yet, which was a good thing.  Another seemed to be playing lone wolf and stood by herself simply avoiding everyone.  The last one that I observed was leaning on the railing excitedly seeming to fidget with something with one of his hands.  Hm… me, Brooklynn, and those two make four girls, plus those two guys make six in total.  But I thought that there were supposed to be seven… Maybe they’ll meet us there.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of  someone sitting in the open seat next to me.  I glanced to my left to see what it was just to see Brooklyn had joined the group again.  “Hello again,” she said in a neutral tone, distracted by something on her phone.

“Hey,” I responded out of politeness, turning to my bag and opening it so I could do what Cooper suggested.  This seemed to bring Brooklynn back to reality as she turned to observe what I was doing.

“Why are you going through your bag?”  I could tell she was asking with genuine curiosity so I thought about telling her of my fear.

Finally deciding I faced her so I could give my reply, “it's more of a thing to distract myself while we're on the water.”  I explained.  “It's something a friend suggested since I have a fear of deep water like the ocean, or fast moving water like waterfalls or rivers.”  I continued my explanation tensing up when the boat rocked due to a wave.  Brooklynn seemed to accept this explanation nodding in understanding, sympathy in her gaze.

“That makes sense and explains why your voice got nervous when the boat started to move.”  with a small laugh she turned back to her phone switching to what seemed to be the camera app and headed towards the railing leaving me to continue to look through my bag.  Which I appreciated although something nagged at me in the back of my mind.  For most of the ride I thought about it while checking over my things when it hit me.  Aren't we supposed to not have our phones with us?  I shrugged it off assuming that there was an explanation as I closed my bag.  Looking up, the outline of Isla Nublar rose on the horizon, steadily growing closer

Authors note:  I guess this is a bit like a prolugue but I got this idea and thought it would be a good way for me to lead into where the series starts.  Hope you enjoyed.