Jurassic World: The Gift

Part 1: Astrid and The Raptors

   Astrid Young had a gift. She knew it, and her family knew. Reptiles would always act strange around her. She went to the zoo once. The python just sat there and stared at her, the crocodiles would sit near the glass and stare at her, they would all just stare at her. That one fateful day a snake got in the house, she was able to pick it up and put it back outside without it even attacking her. Astrid went to a sleepover at her friend's house, and her friend's turtles sat perfectly in her lap and fall asleep. She just had a way with reptiles and amphibians.

   Now, Astrid's cousin worked at an amusement park. Not just any old amusement park, but one with actual, living, breathing, walking dinosaurs. Her cousin decided that with Astrid's talent with reptiles, she should come and help with training the dinosaurs. After Astrid's cousin talked with the manager of the park, Astrid was flown out to Isla Nublar.

   The staff began to notice that there was something strange about Astrid. At first, she started off feeding the Triceratops. The many workers would watch in awe as Astrid could hand feed the animals and pet them, things the Triceratops would not normally let the regular staff do. Then again, anyone who was calm and gentle around them could do as she could. But after the other herbivores began to exhibit the same behavior around Astrid, people really began noticing that Astrid had an amazing gift. Then, one day, she was assigned to the raptor paddock.

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   Astrid was definately afraid. An encounter with extremely deadly carnivorous creatures that had to be bigger than her was an intimidating thought. As she neared the raptor's containment paddock, her nerves continued to rise higher and higher. Astrid's breathing quickened while a staff member drove her down the dirt path. The woman tried to start a conversation with Astrid. "You're pretty lucky, kid. Gettin' to work with them raptors, everybody wants t' do that." The woman said. Astrid, however, wasn't listening. She was too nervous. When the vehicle stopped, Astrid heaved a nervous, shaking sigh as she exited and headed towards the paddock.

   As Astrid began to get closer to the concrete containment unit, that feeling of dread and terror she had been feeling on the way there had risen to an incredible height beyond her level of comprehension. Men were chatting and drinking water on the outside, where it was safe. Astrid took slow steps towards the paddock until-

   SCREECH! Astrid jumped at the sudden noises of the raptors within the unit. A million thoughts whirred through her head, and she began to exaggerate her fear in her mind. As anxiety began to kick in, she had terrifying images flashing through her mind like some kind of psychological flip-book.

   Five foot raptors with glowing yellow eyes and claws as big as her own fingers. Their mouths filled with many sharp and jagged teeth, coated in a dark crimson substance she could only assume was blood. They open their mouths, and she can smell it; the scent of rotten flesh and death. It smelt awful, and it made her want to purge her stomach of whatever she had recently consumed. They close in on her, their glowing eyes showing malicious intent, she looks like a nice snack. They hiss, they snarl, like a scaly pack of hungry dire wolves. Yes, they are hungry. Starving, in fact.

   Astrid inhaled deeply and slowly unfroze her fear-stricken body to finally walk around the paddock and reach the stairs of the paddock. There was a man waiting for her there. He was a black man, wearing some sort of pinkish shirt and a tank top. Someone had told her to look for a "Barry", and he fit the description perfectly. The man saw her, and greeted her. "You must be the new trainer." Barry said, walking her up the stairs to the catwalk that stood above the paddock. The raptors ran under the catwalk and screeched again, scaring Astrid once more. She tightened her grip on the catwalk's railing and froze again. She didn't get a good look at them, but she saw them run under her. "Do not worry, they cannot get you up here." Barry spoke, reassuring the young Astrid. "Owen!" Barry called.

   A man with brownish hair and blue eyes looked up at them. He had some facial hair, and he wore a brown vest over a blue shirt. He began making his way toward them, and once he reached them, he sighed heavily. "This is the new trainer." Barry introduced. Owen held out his hand. "Owen Grady." He spoke, shaking Astrid's hand. "Astrid Young." Astrid's voice shook a bit. Owen had to at least be five foot eleven, or maybe even six foot. She looked down at his shoes and-

   Astrid froze. There were the raptors. Staring right at her. She stared back as she finally got a look at the beasts to her right and left.

   The first raptor she laid eyes on was a pale brownish yellow, and its eyes were yellow like she'd imagined. The one beside it was a dark green, with the same brownish yellow eyes as the other raptors. The one to her right was a lighter green than the one she'd just seen. The last raptor was grey, with two blue stripes running from its eyes, down its back, and to the tip of its tail.

   Barry had left, leaving Astrid alone with Owen. Owen began introuducing the raptors to Astrid one by one. There was the youngest, Charlie, she was the light green raptor. There was the second youngest, Echo, the brownish yellow raptor. There was the dark green raptor, who went by Delta. The one with the blue stripes was suitingly named Blue, and she was the "beta" of the pack. "Which one is the alpha?" Astrid asked, her voice still shaking a little. "He's right in front of you." Owen said proudly. Astrid gasped. "You have the reptile gift, too?" She questioned, whispering. "No, I don't even know what that is." Owen motioned for her to follow him, and Astrid did. "I imprinted on them when they were juvenilles." He added. The raptors followed Owen and Astrid until they reached a bucket full of dead mice and rats. The raptors' attention was still on Astrid, which puzzled Owen.

   The raptors didn't show any sign of aggression towards her. In fact, they looked at her like they would look at Owen, like they respected her. It was strange. They all sat there, staring right at her, like they were waiting for her to do something.

   "I...have a thing. It makes reptiles calm around me for some reason." Astrid explained. "I've been able to pet the herbivores and feed them by hand, but then, anyone can really do that if they're calm and gentle." She stopped. "But there was this one time a Pachyasaur charged at a staff member, and I was able to calm it down long enough for the staff to get out. They thought that my thing with reptiles could help with recovering dinosaurs that got out of containment." She added. "But they assigned me to the raptors because they thought I would be able to calm the raptors while you trained them. But to be honest..." Astrid looked at the pack of raptors that were in front of her. "These things really scare me." She mumbled.

   "You'll get used to them, kid. Soon enough, they won't scare you unless you get in there with them." Owen reassurred Astrid as he began to teach her the protocols of being around raptors