Far from Maple Hill

On a quiet afternoon over the waters of the Pacific Northwest, a purple and green colored charter boat sails across its tranquil waves. Onboard are a young man and two young ladies, who have just finished their final year in high school and are on their summer break before college. The young gentleman staffing the ship has slightly long yet meticulously kept light brown hair, fair skin, and blue eyes. His attire seems to consist of a light blue shirt, with a dark blue outline and a teal-colored hoodie jacket. As well as a pair of dark blue pants, brown belt, and camo green and white sneakers. He goes by the name of Christopher Anderson, or simply Chris for short. The young lady looking through the boat's GPS so the trio would not get lost at sea has waist-long light brown hair with straight bangs, dark skin, red lips, and vibrant, green-colored eyes. She is currently wearing a teal and purple sleeveless button-up dress, and a pair of navy-blue knee-high boots. She goes by the name Kate Keystar, and she is often the most studious member of the three as well as the voice of reason. The final person on board is a young lady with ginger-red hair, fair skin, light blue eyes, pink lips, and freckles. Her attire consists of a pink necklace halter top with red stripes along the hemline, denim shorts, and a pair of pink fringe boots. Her name is Emily Evermore, and she is often the most cheerful if not the bubbliest member of the little group. While this little boat ride seems like some summertime fun, the three are out here for something serious. Chris, Kate, and Emily are on a missing person hunt, for someone they genuinely care about.

"AMANDA!" Emily called out, "ARE YOU AROUND HERE?!"

"Anything yet Emily?" Chris asked the bubbly girl.

"Nothing yet," Emily solemnly admitted. "But I'll keep calling out for her."

"Thanks for the heads up," Kate replied as she looked closely at the GPS. "According to our destination, this is the last area we saw Amanda before she disappeared."

"I know," Chris sighed. "It has been three weeks since Memorial Day weekend when we last sailed these waters. I just wish we had seen that storm coming out way before it happened.

"Don't worry Chris," Kate assured the young gentleman as she gently placed her hand on his shoulders. "I know you'll never give up on your sister, so we'll not give up on her either."

"Thank you two" Chris smiled feeling reassured. "For coming to help me search for her."

'What else are friends of your sister for," Kate giggled before placing a kiss on Chris's cheek causing the young man to blush. "As well as being your girlfriend."

The pair had a light chuckle while their friend Emily continued to call out for Amanda. On the Memorial Day incident, Chris wanted to take his younger sister on a boat trip on that day to help her cope with their parents' disappearance a year ago. They intended to pay a visit to their favorite reef near their humble seaside town of Maple Hill, which lies around Northern California. However, their intended getaway time turned into a disaster when a powerful storm came out of nowhere and Amanda was flung overboard before her brother could do anything to help her. But now that the sea has calmed in the past three weeks, Chris, Kate, and Emily are out at sea searching for their long-lost friend.

"AMANDA!" Emily continued to call. "IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, PLEASE GIVE US A SHOUT!!!"

Just as Emily said it, some shrills, and beak-clapping sounds could be heard close by.

"Huh, interesting shout," Emily said until she realized something was off. 'Wait a moment, which doesn't sound like Amanda."

Once she turned around, the bubbly young lady gasped in surprise at what she saw on top of the charter boat. It was a winged creature that the girl had never seen before, with the wingspan being close to nineteen feet when unfolded. Yet the most distinguishing feature of the animal is its vertical yellow crest, that adorned the top of the flying creature's head. Normally most people would freak out at the sight of this mysterious animal, but most folks are not like Emily Evermore.

"Well, hello there," Emily greeted. "Are you out here looking for someone too?"

The creature simply looked at Emily curiously, before proceeding to rest on top of the boat. This of course did not go unnoticed as both Chris and Kate walked out and came upon the creature in total surprise.

'What in the world?!" Christ gasped in surprise. "Where did that thing come from?"

"I don't know," Emily shrugged. "I guess he just came onboard while I was calling out for our dear friend and sister Amanda."

As the flying creature observed the three young humans closely, it clapped its beak a few times as a way of saying hello. As Kate looked closely at the brand-new animal, she got a good look at the crest and came to a sudden realization.

"My word," Kate gasped. "I think that creature might be a Pteranodon, a Pteranodon sternbergi to be precise."

"What?!" Chris asked his girlfriend in confusion. "Aren't those a kind of extinct flying reptiles from the age of dinosaurs or something?!"

"Normally yes," Kate admitted. "Though it doesn't explain how these species have survived over 80 million years to the present."

The three friends continue to watch the Pteranodon resting on top of their boat, until suddenly…the flying reptile noticed something in the water and flew off the charter boat as fast as it could fly. Sure enough, the Pteranodon flew out of sight as Chris, Kate, and Emily wondered why it suddenly decided to fly away.

"I wonder what got into him?' Emily asked her friends.

Just before either Chris or Kate could reply, something rammed into the boat and caused it to shake. The trio gasped in shock as they hurried to the side of the boat to see what could have rammed into it.

"Do you think we hit a reef?" Kate asked Chris with concern.

"I don't think so," Chris solemnly replied. "But whatever hit us, I have a feeling that it isn't good."

In an instant, a tremendous creature breached the surface of the water. As the three looked closely, they saw that the beast was a gigantic swimming reptile with a shade of blue coloration, black stripes, and a silver underbelly on its scales. Another distinguishing feature was the tail fluke that looked a little like an upside-down tail fin of a shark. While they may not know it, the three have come upon a Tylosaurus (Tie-lo-sore-us), one of the deadliest marine predators of all time and it is hunting their boat.

"Yep, definitively not!" Chris shouted before racing for the boat's wheels and controls.

With haste, the charter boat raced away as fast as it could from the ravenous sea lizard. However, the cretaceous predator had another trick up its sleeve as it proceeded to use a C-start technique that will allow it to accelerate straight at the boat. With rapid speed, the Tylosaurus quickly charged toward the boat and rammed it straight out of the water with Chris, Kate, and Emily being flung out in the process. As luck would have it though, the three manage to survive as they lay unconscious on the soft sand of a nearby cove. After being out for an hour, the three friends suddenly had an unexpected wake-up call when something began licking Chris's hair.

'What the heck?!" Chris said as he opened his eyes.

As the young man looked up, he saw that an incredibly young dinosaur was licking him…clearly after the sea spray for a much-needed supplement of salt. The young dinosaur is, in fact, a juvenile Kritosaurus, that still displays the dull colors of browns and greys of childhood. After getting its fill of sea spray, the young duck-billed dinosaur raced back to its family while Chris and the girls tried to shake off the dizziness from their ordeal.

"Are you two, okay?" Chris asked Kate and Emily.

"I…believe so," Kate assured the young man.

"Though that is one ride I probably don't want to be on again," Emily added.

"That we can agree on," Chris sighed before helping the girls to their feet. "Now I just hope the boat's okay as well."

As the three looked around for their charter boat, the young humans looked on in disappointment to see that their vessel had run aground on the sandy beach but otherwise no worse for wear. Getting on board, the trio walked into the control deck to see if their radio was still working.

"Hello, is this the coast guard?! Kate called through the radio, only to hear static on the other side. "HELLO?!?!"

Unfortunately, the radio is completely gone as Kate solemnly dropped the speaker.

"We're on our own," Kate sadly told her friends.

"You mean…," Emily tries to say without tearing up. "We're lost just like Amanda?!"

Sure enough, Emily Evermore went down to the ground crying. Seeing how distraught their friend is, Chris and Kate go to give their normally cheerful friend a much-needed group hug.

"Don't worry Emily," Kate assured her best friend. "We'll figure out something to get out of here."

"She's right," Chris nodded in agreement. "Just because we do not know where we are, does not mean we will not find a way back home to Maple Hill. So, try not to worry too much, okay?"

"Okay," Emily replied as she wiped away her tears and returned to her normally lighthearted self. "So…how do we get the boat back in the water?"

"Good question,' Chris admitted. "But…maybe if we explore this place, we're on, we might find something we can use to get the Charter Boat back into the sea."

"Then what are we waiting for,' Emily cheered. "Let's head out and find a lift thingy."

Just before they departed, Chris, Kate, and Emily saw that beyond the cove, there stood a vast cedar swamp that stretched for a few miles.

"I hope we can get out of here in one piece," Kate whispered to her boyfriend.

"So do I," Chris quietly nodded in agreement. "So do I."

With few other options, the three proceeded into the swamp with hopes of figuring out where they were at and hopefully finding a way to get their search for Amanda Anderson back on track.