Birdy and the Dinosaurs

Hello, this is Jana, and I’m here with a story about an old friend of ours. His name is Birdy. He’s a crow who has lived for hundreds of years and known all sorts of important people,
including kings and queens. Recently, he made friends with a little boy named Jake, and he tells Jake all sorts of interesting things, as you're about to hear.

***********
For as long as we can remember, we’ve carried a musical series called Rockford’s Rock Opera, or Lost on Infinity on our website, and it’s very popular with our listeners. Well the makers of Rockford now have a new podcast called Kids' Stories, Science and Secrets. It tells the story of Rockfords journey into a land of extinct creatures, and has a new factual dimension. The Podcast is packed with true science, history, inventions, animal wonders and great songs too.

So search ‘Kids' Stories, Science and Secrets’ now on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you love to listen!
****************

Birdy and the Dinosaurs

It was the start of winter. The weather was frosty, the evenings were growing dark, and Mum was in the The kitchen, cooking up cosy dishes for supper. She was chopping up garlic, its sharp scent mingling with the savory aroma of sausage stew, when Jake’s little sister, Elle, burst into the kitchen, her face scrunched up in annoyance.

“Mummy, Jake’s watching a scary dinosaur movie again,” she complained, tugging at Mum’s apron.

Mum, her hands busy with the garlic, replied without turning around, “Yes, and…?”

“You know he gets nightmares from dinosaur movies. Plus, I want to watch my manga series.”

Mum let out a sigh, a small smile playing on her lips – she secretly enjoyed a good dinosaur movie herself. “Alright, tell him to turn it off,” she said, her voice carrying a hint of reluctance.

Elle dashed off to the living room, and soon enough, Jake’s protests echoed through the house. “Oh come on,” Jake moaned, “It’s about dinosaurs, it’s not even scary! Dad says they use tomato ketchup for the blood in movies.”

The squabble escalated, and Mum had to step in. Jake, grumbling under his breath, retreated to his room to read about dinosaurs. Though annoyed, a part of him was excited. It was around this time that his best friend, Birdy, usually came by for a chat. And today was no different. A familiar tap-tap-tap sounded at the window, and Jake’s face lit up. “Birdy!”

“A very good evening to you,” Birdy replied, his voice smooth and wise.

“I’ve got a question,” Jake said, “Are you old enough to remember the dinosaurs?”

Birdy flapped his wings, “Goodness gracious! You mean giants like T-Rex and Brontosaurus? I’m not that ancient!”

“Oh, sorry. No offense. I just never knew how old you really are.”

Birdy cawed. “Neither do I, exactly. But I do remember chatting with Julius Caesar when he visited Britain. That was in 55 BC, which means I’m at least 2,078 years old!”

“And when did the dinosaurs become extinct?”

“Extinct? What makes you think they're extinct?”

“Because... they're not around anymore.”

Birdy gave a knowing look. “Are you sure about that? Look closely, you might be seeing one right now.”

“Where? In this book?”

“No, right here, talking to you!”

“Wait, you mean you’re a dinosaur? But you’re a bird!”

Birdy began to strut along the windowsill, his head bobbing in his peculiar way. “Just look at me. Notice anything dinosaur-like?”

Jake, recalling scenes from his movie, gasped. “You walk like a T-Rex!”

“Exactly! We birds are the dinosaurs that survived the great Extinction. We walk on two legs, have feathers, and are born from eggs – just like dinosaurs - because we ARE dinosaurs.”

“So what happened to the others?”

“They weren't as lucky. About 66 million years ago, a giant asteroid hit the Earth. It created a huge crater and all the dust blocked out the sun. A longest and darkest winter descended upon the Earth. Only the smartest and fittest survived – like us birds.”

Jake’s eyes widened. “Could that happen again?”

“It's possible, but rare. There might be another asteroid, or humans could do something reckless. But don’t worry too much. It’s not likely.”

“I hope not,” Jake said, his voice a mix of wonder and concern. “That’s scarier than any movie.”

“But look on the bright side,” Birdy said, fluffing his feathers. “Some small dinosaurs survived and became birds. That’s why I’m here, telling you this story.”

“Yes, that’s a good thing,” Jake agreed, “but dinosaurs are supposed to be scary. I don’t mean to be rude, but you’re not at all scary.”

“Scary depends on your point of view. If you were a worm, you’d be scared of me”

“Well I’m glad I’m not a worm. I don’t suppose I’ll ever meet a proper dinosaur in real life.”

“Have you been listening? I am a proper dinosaur. But if you mean a scary dinosaur, then that could be arranged…. Would you like to meet a scary dinosaur “

“Oh, yes, so long as you can arrange for my sister to meet him too!”

“All right then, you’re on! But don’t blame me if you or your sister get scared - good and proper! And if you have nightmares, don’t go crying to your mummy telling tales that birdy the crow gave them to you!”

“I won’t, I promise - but make sure the dinossaurt doesn’t eat me please.”

“He probably won’t.”

“I don’t mind if he eats my sister though - just kidding!”

“Alright well it’s time for me to retire to my nest. Sleep tight, and mind the Velociraptors don’t bite!”

“Bye Bye Birdy. Next time I see you, I’ll tell you all about the dinosaurs.”

The next day was Saturday. Jake and his sister wrapped up warm for their weekend walk in the woods with their dad and their dog, Saber. On the way there in the car, Jake said:

“I can make a prediction. Today we will find a dinosaur in the woods. And it will be a scary one. Not just a bird, because they are living dinosaurs, but I mean a prehistoric one, like a T Rex or a Velicoraptor or one like that.”

“That’s quite a prediction,” said Dad, as they waited in a long jam at temporary lights at some long abandoned road works. “But it’s not impossible you might find a fossil if you keep your eyes peeled.”

“No, I mean a real live scary dinosaur,” said Jake.

“What makes you say that?” asked dad as he inched the car forward.

“Oh, I saw it in a dream.” said Jake, casually.

His sister piped up, “Jake’s having nightmares because he’s been watching scary dinosaur movies again.”

“No I haven’t” retorted Jake, “because you’ve been hogging the TV to watch your Manga Princess movies.”

“She’s not a princess, she’s a secret Girl-Samurai and she could slice you into tiny sushi pieces,” said his sister.

“Yes, but T Rex could swallow your samurai girl up in one gulp” retorted Jake, making an eating noise.

“No, she couldn’t” - and the bickering went on all the way to the woods like this.

The woods, when they arrived, were more peaceful, at least to begin with. A short stroll, beyond the carpark, was a giant sandpit that Dad said might have once been a stone quarry. According to Jake, it was the spot where a giant asteroid had crash-landed millions of years ago. Elle, with a roll of her eyes, said it was just a sandpit for little kids to make sand castles in.

They all ran down into the sandy crater and scrambled up the other side. Now they were in the woods proper. Saber, their wire haired terrier, liked to run off the path and explore the bracken and the undergrowth, on the scent of rabbits, squirrels, and the occasional deer.

“Remember, keep your eyes open for a dinosaur,” Jake reminded Elle, who warned him a girl samurai would come riding through the woods to teach him a lesson.

They walked on, until they heard a loud squealing noise somewhere in the thicket - it was accompanied by some rasps and hisses.

“That’s Saber crying!” said Jake, and he ran off through trees, his feet swishing through the fallen leaves. He headed in the direction of the noise, and a holly bush with red berries. Saber came running towards him pursued by a pair of birds, about the size of Christmas Turkeys, but only they weren’t birds, because although they were feathered and ran on two legs, they had arms instead of wings, and clawed hands. One of them was holding a stick and shaking it. Another picked up a stone and chucked it at poor Saber. Jake picked up the stone and hurled it back at the two little dinosaurs - who stopped in their tracks, and both fixed him in their gaze. Jake stared back, and the dinosaurs lost their nerve first, and hurried back to their nest in the bush.

Jake and Saber went running back to the path, “Did, did you see that?” asked Jake breathlessly. “Two little T-Rexes gave poor Saber the fright of his life!”

“Naaaa!” said Elle. “You’ve been dreaming again!”

“Well I dare you to go and take a look, and if you don’t you’re a scaredy cat for ever more, and will never be a samurai princess however many letters you write to Santa begging to become one.”
Elle was too sensible to answer this load of nonsense, but she was not going to let her brother think that she was scared. So she went off to investigate what was really round the back of the holly bush.

“It’s probably just a couple of bunny rabbits. Jake was literally running away from bunny rabbits,” she declared scornfully as she set on her way. But a minute or two later, Dad and Jake heard a loud scream.

“AAAAAAAAH”

“See I told you,” said Jake to Dad. “There’s a couple of miniature T Rex’s round there.”

Elle came tearing back to the path. “It’s true, it’s true!” she gasped, “There’s a couple of dinosaurs sitting on a nest of eggs. They’ve got creepy little hands and UGGGG!”

Now it was Dad’s turn to go and see. “Kids,” he said to himself, “What imaginations they’ve got!”

He walked around the holly bush. He didn’t find any dinosaurs, but there was a sort of nest on the ground. And inside the nest were three smooth stones - just like eggs, Dinosaur eggs, perhaps. He carefully knelt down and checked that they were actually stones, not real eggs. He didn’t want to steal some poor bird’s babies! Yes, they were two heavy to be eggs. Maybe, just maybe, they were fossils. He picked them up and brought them back to the kids.

“Well I didn’t find any T-Rex’s , but I did find these!” said Dad.

“Dinosaur eggs!” declared Jake. “The dinosaurs will be real cross with you for stealing their eggs.”

Dad laughed and said they were just stones. But just in case, they hurried back to the car, each carrying an egg - or a stone - or a fossil - or whatever they were.

That evening, Jake showed his dinosaur egg to his regular visitor, Birdy.

“If I keep it warm, will a T Rex hatch out of it?”

“Well maybe, if you sit on it for a million years! But actually naaaa” squawked Birdy, “Because those weren’t T Rex’s you saw. T Rexes are the size of double decker Busses. Those were Oviraptoridae, who are much smaller. But did you notice how they looked like birds?”

“Yes,” said Jake, “They were like Turkeys, only they had arms instead of wings.”

“That’s right,” said Birdy. “Dinosaurs that walk like birds are called Theropods. Tyrannosaurus Rex is a Theropod, for example. We birds are descended from Theropods.”

“So T Rex is kind of like your cousin!”

“Exactly,” said Birdy, “And those small dinosaurs you saw are also my relatives, only they went extinct after the asteroid landed. It was us winged dinosaurs that survived.”

“And how come there were a couple of extinct dinosaurs in our woods?” asked Jake.

“Well you know, a touch of science, or maybe a touch of magic. There isn’t that much difference when it comes down to it! But I bet you were scared!”

“No I wasn’t!” insisted Jake. “But my sister got the surprise of her life!”

And they both laughed- and cawwwed.

And that was Birdy and the dinosaurs, read by me Jana for Storynory.com
Drop by soon for more exciting adventures from all over the world!
From me Jana at Storynory, bye for now!