Rethinking Life

A short story…about a T-Rex.

“Harold.”

“Yes?”

“Look out the window,” she said.

“What’s that noise?”

“Look out the window, Harold.”

“Oh my.  There’s a dinosaur out there,” he said,  putting his hands on his hips.

“It’s not just any dinosaur, it’s a T-Rex.  We told you that you weren’t allowed to make a T-Rex, Harold.   Making them was strictly forbidden.”

“Yes,” he said, softly.  “Yes, you did say that.”

“Then WHY IS THERE A T-REX WALKING AROUND IN THE STREET?”

“I guess no one listened,” he said.  “I mean, I can understand the desire to bring one back but I also agree that it might be dangerous.”

“MIGHT be dangerous.  He just ate two people, right in front of you.”

“There are always losses in science, Myrtle, you know that.”

“He’s crushing cars and busses, Harold.  There are people in those cars and busses.”

“I can see that.  What would you like me to do about that?”

“Shoot him with something that will knock him out and do it now.”

“If he falls, I’m not sure more people won’t be harmed.”

“Do it,  Harold. NOW.”

“Come on Myrtle, you have to admit, he’s beautiful.”

“He’s a killing machine out of time and he doesn’t belong here.”

“He does if we put him here.”

“Tranq him now Harold, or I’ll shoot you and lock you away for a very long time.”

“You used to be a lot more fun, you know that, don’t you?. What happened to you, Mert?”

“Don’t call me Mert and I grew up and took the lives of others into consideration, Harold.”

Harold made the call.  Unfortunately, the T-Rex didn’t go down.  Apparently, they miscalculated the dosage needed to knock out the massive T-Rex.  Instead of being falling, the dinosaur ate the three scientists who were just doing their job.

“This is like watching Godzilla destroy Tokyo,” said Harold, mesmerized by the scene in front of him.  “And those tiny front arms.  Amazing.”

Myrtle, took a Glock out of her desk and shot Harold in the left knee.  He went down, screaming.

“What did you do THAT for, you crazy woman?”

“Men always call women crazy when they actually do what has to be done.  People are dying out there and it’s your fault.  I know you made the T-Rex simply because you could.  How many did you make?”

Harold was trying to stop the bleeding, his voice was pinched.  “I don’t know, three or four, maybe.”

She shot him in the other knee.

“What was that for?” he cried, falling to his side.

“It was for fun,” said Myrtle, watching the T-Rex crush a car and knock the windows out of the first floor of a  building, with his tail.  “How do we stop it, Harold?”

He shrugged and moaned in pain.

Myrtle aimed again.

Harold held up his hand, motioning her to stop, then picked up his blood covered phone off the floor.  He spoke quickly, then hung up.

“Are there eggs, Harold?”

Harold was in no mood to answer any questions.  He tried dragging himself away but the pain was too great, so he just laid on his back and cried.

A few minutes later Myrtle heard two choppers overhead.  She looked out of the window and saw nets dropping over the T-Rex.  The T-Rex was very unhappy about that and killed, or broke, anything within it’s reach, but it did not fall. The choppers couldn’t control the dinosaur, in any way at all.  They shot at him a few times, then flew away.

“Did you actually think nets would work, Harold?”  asked Myrtle, softly.

Harold had stopped crying and just lay there bleeding.

Myrtle watched people pour out of the build across the street and run in every direction.  Then, suddenly, the dinosaur turned toward toward Myrtle and let our a roar.

“Looks like it’s time for me to go,” she said, staring at Harold.  “I’ll alert the medical team that you’ve been injured, and might possibly be a snack for the big lizard that is having a fit because someone dropped a net on him.  And, Harold, I’m still a lot of fun.  You’re the one who has changed.  Think about that and think about all those who just died because of your obsession with dinosaurs.  The T-Rex was banging agains the window, so Myrtle, said her good byes, and left.

Harold thought about the shatter proof glass in the windows.  He knew the windows were strong.  All the windows in big buildings were strong and never opened.  They never opened so people couldn’t kill themselves by jumping out of them, which had been a problem at one time.  That’s why Harold was rather surprised when the dinosaur’s head appeared over his prone body.  The roar that came out of the T-Rex made Harold temporarily deaf and even though he knew his life was coming to an abrupt end, he couldn’t help but admire his creation.

“Nice lizard,” he whispered.  “Pretty lizard.”

Those were the last words Harold ever spoke, since the dinosaur picked him up, pulled him through the window, tossed him into the air, and ate him when he fell.

The net was in tatters, the T-Rex stepped out of it, ate whatever and whoever he could then headed toward the suburbs, crushing expressways, and neighborhoods as he went.

Myrtle was made head of the department and had control over what the scientists would make in the future.  The dinosaur eggs, she found, were frozen and the remaining T-Rex’s were kept in stasis, until she decided what to do with them.

There have been T-Rex sightings throughout the United States, but Like Nessie, no one has ever gotten a clear photograph of him.  He’s probably living in some long lost forest, somewhere.  Admittedly, he’s rather large and hard to miss, but perhaps dinosaurs are good at hiding.

The scientists have been chastised and told that they can’t just make anything they want.  Myrtle knows they will make anything they want, no matter who tells them they can’t, so she’s keeping a close eye on them.

In the meantime, there’s talk about another movie, Jurassic Park in the City, but no one thinks it will go anywhere.  Who wants to watch a dinosaur terrorize a city, right?  Then someone suggested the city be Washington DC.  Suddenly, the film made perfect sense. But so far, it’s a ‘wait and see,’ thing.

Photo:  Mkara Visual
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