In search of food

For much of the afternoon across the cedar swamp, Chris, Kate, and Emily have been searching around for items they could use to help get their boat back in the water. However, their search so far has proven fruitless as they have not found any kind of wood or rock large and strong enough to aid in their current situation…not to mention that they are starting to get a little hungry and thirsty after trekking for 5 hours across the swamp.

"Oh…I could go for a blimey limey smoothie right now," Emily Evermore stated as her stomach began to rumble a little bit."

"We're all a little hungry and thirsty Emily," Chris stated to the bubbly young lady. "So, we can easily relate to your situation."

"There's got to be something we can safely eat and drink," said Kate Keystar. "I mean an ecosystem such as this has to have something for us to eat."

Before they could continue on their trek, the three friends suddenly heard what sounded like the trees swaying with loud creaking and cracking sounds.

"Uh, girls…?" Chris gulped as they heard the creaking and cracking sounds continue. "I think something big is coming in our direction."

"Like what?" Emily wondered curiously.

It did not take long for the three hapless young humans to get their answer. For up ahead, a small herd of three-horned Triceratops starts pushing through the brush, crossing a nearby brook. Upon seeing the giant herbivores, Chris and Kate's jaws drop while Emily stares in awe.

"Kate…are those…?" Chris proceeded to ask his studious girlfriend.

"Yup, those are certainly Triceratops," Kate responded as she kept her eyes on the frilled dinosaurs. "Perhaps Triceratops prorsus, judging by the formation of the horns and frills they have."

"This, Is so…amazing!" Emily declared cheerfully.

As the trio continued to watch the Triceratops herd, they saw the horned dinosaurs trotting up to a dry creek bed filled with a grove of berry bushes. As they looked closely, they saw the herbivores began feeding on the berries along with the bushes.

"Well, if those guys are enjoying the berries," Chris suggested. "Then there's a chance that the berries could be edible."

"Only one way to find out," Kate replied as she proceeded to quietly sneak up on the Triceratops with both Chris and Emily joining along. 

Once they found a safe spot, the three friends each took a bite of a single berry and sure enough…they found themselves starting to gorge on the berries. However, as they fed on the berries, the three humans failed to notice as something started to sneak up on them. Without warning, the hidden creature bumped its head on Emily's backside which spooked the young lady a little bit. As she turned her head to see the creature responsible, Emily gasped in awe as she saw that the mysterious creature was simply a baby Triceratops…curious about the new visitors to the island.

"Awe…," Emily said to the young dinosaur. "How adorable."

With its shortened face, upward curbing horns- vertical orientation, and large cute-looking eyes, the pale brown colored Dino-chick truly is quite adorable in appearance. By impulse, Emily crouched down and proceeded to gently pat the little horned dinosaur. When Chris and Kate finished eating their berries, the couple quickly noticed that Emily was interacting with a baby dinosaur.

"Emily, I'm pretty sure that's not a good idea," Kate said worriedly.

"Oh, come on," Emily insisted. "This little one appears friendly enough, so I don't think he's something we should worry about."

"It's not the baby we're worried about," Chris replied when he heard the bellowing calls of the adult Triceratops. "It's the adults!"

Sure enough, the large dominant male Triceratops noticed the three strange creatures interacting with his child. With his metallic blue color dulled with age and a broken left brow horn, this seasoned frilled dinosaur has seen and won battles and he intends to do whatever it takes to defend the youngest member of his herd. With his horns at the ready, the dominant male raced toward the humans with the intent of driving them away. Seeing this, the trio ran away as fast as they could while the baby Triceratops raced back to the safety of the herd. As they tried to escape the angry Triceratops, Chris, Kate, and Emily quickly noticed a fallen tree and decided to hide there. Just as the three friends entered the log, the seasoned male dinosaur drove his horns under the log and proceeded to toss the intruders as far away from his herd as possible. Once he tossed the fallen tree away, the Triceratops was content with his show of force and proceeded to rejoin his herd. 

"Hopefully now, we can once again feed in peace," The seasoned Triceratops said to himself while heading back to his herd.

For several miles, the log with its reluctant passengers kept on rolling until finally the log was stopped by a nearby tree. A little dizzy and even nauseous from their ordeal, the three friends crawled out of the log and saw that they were safe for now.

"Looks… like the coast is clear," Kate said as she tried to keep herself from hurling her recent snack.

"Are we on the coast?" Emily asked as she felt a little dizzy. "I can't tell with everything so wobbly."

"It's just a figure of speech," Chris shook his head. "Though hopefully now, you know better than trying to get too close to a baby wild animal…especially a baby dinosaur." 

"Sorry guys," Emily looked down solemnly. "It's just that the little dinosaur was so cute, it was hard for me to not just cuddle it."

"At least the berries seem to be keeping us satiated at the moment," Kate sighed. "Though we still need to make sure we have a food supply to keep us going until we can find a way off this island."

Chris and Emily nodded in agreement, as they continued their journey. After a while, the trio found a quiet spot to relax a bit by a lush conifer forest outside of the swamp. There, they proceeded to rest from their trek and hopefully figure out a way to get their boat back in the water and leave this primordial isle behind. However, Chris's thought was on something else as he once again started to think about his younger sister Amanda.

"Oh, Amanda," Chris said to himself quietly. "Where in the world are you?"

"Thinking about Amanda again?" Kate asked while Chris nodded.

"The main reason we left Maple Hill for the summer was to search for her," Chris stated to his beloved girlfriend. "But now that we're stuck here, I'm not sure we'll be able to find signs of her."

"It's alright Chris," Kate said as she proceeded to cuddle her boyfriend. "I know Amanda would never give up on us, so there's no way we're giving up on her no matter what."

"I agree," Chris Anderson nodded. "Though I just hope we'll be able to find her after we find a way out of here."

"Hey, you two," Emily called out. "I think I found something."

Curious about what their friend had discovered, Chris and Kate walked toward Emily as they saw that their bubbly friend seemed to have discovered a mound-shaped nest. It looked a little like the nests made by alligators but was much larger than anything made by an alligator or a crocodile. As the trio gazed upon the nest in surprise, they saw that there appeared to be a lone egg that rolled out of the nest mound. The egg itself has a dark green color, much like an emu's egg…though this egg is a little larger and has a more elongated shape to it.

"Wow, I wonder what chicken this egg came out of?" Emily wondered curiously. 

"Emily, I'm pretty sure this is a dinosaur's egg," Kate shook her head. "Though I can understand the confusion since birds did evolve from the theropod line of dinosaurs."

"Well, either way," Chris said as he proceeded to pick up the egg. "We should probably take it with us as a source of protein while we're here."

"Good idea Chris," Emily smiled with realization. "We can make some pretty big omelets with that egg."

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Chris," Kate said nervously to her boyfriend. "Especially after the last time we got between a dinosaur and its baby."

"Come on Kate," Chris insisted. "There have to be a lot more eggs left in the nest, so there's no possible way that the owner of this nest is going to miss just one."

"He has a point, Kate," Emily agreed with the young man.

"Huh, very well," Kate finally replied. "Though maybe just this once though."

"Fair enough for me," Chris nodded as he proceeded to place the egg in a backpack, he brought with him. "Let's get going girls, because the sooner can get off this island…the sooner we can find and hopefully rescue Amanda."

So, the three friends departed from the nest mound, unaware that the owner of the nest had been sleeping peacefully until it suddenly sniffed that something was off. As it stood up, a hidden parent dinosaur sniffed around the nest and suddenly saw that an egg was missing. With this realization, the shocked parent became enraged as it let out a fearsome and haunting bellow across the area as it prepares to search for and rescue its missing egg.