[Trade] A Little (and not at all staged) Race

Seri lazily opened his eyes and blinked several times, trying to get rid of the slight blurriness. Even though the sun was already high in the sky, the male was still a little sleepy. He had gotten up early in the morning to stretch his ageing bones, but his companions quickly convinced him to return to their lair. He took a short nap.

Next to him, carefully nestling against his side (the spikes that grew from the male's shoulders and hips were not a very comfortable pillow), lay Rei. When she felt her partner wake up, she turned her head towards him and gave him a tender look.

Rosethorn had gotten up some time ago - she liked frequent, short naps, but found it difficult to sit still for too long. Energy and curiosity about the world constantly buzzed in her small, young body, causing her adoptive parents quite a bit of trouble. Rei usually supported her ambitions and ideas, while Seri was a bit more reserved – he had a tendency to see accidents, injuries and all kinds of worst-case scenarios wherever there was fun to be had. Together, they formed a well-balanced duo with whom Rosethorn felt completely safe.

For several days, the two adult parasaurolophus had sensed that the young female would soon spice up their lives with her ideas again. Recently, the entire archipelago had been buzzing with excitement about the upcoming carnival – an event that was supposed to leave everyone speechless. It was already known that the event was to take place in a large, abandoned museum. The spacious building, consisting of several wings, was probably the whim of someone from the Morpheus board, as it was difficult to find any logical justification for its existence. Rumour had it that the carnival was to take place mainly in the natural history wing and the aerospace section of the museum. Probably because these were the best-preserved parts of the building. It was obvious that Rosethorn would not resist such an opportunity and would force her adoptive parents to take advantage of all the attractions the carnival had to offer. Seri was somewhat opposed to this (after all, large gatherings are the perfect opportunity to accidentally hurt someone or yourself!), so he convinced Rei not to tell their young about the carnival, at least for now. This should postpone what awaited them, at least for a while.

Well, that was his hope. A hope that Rosethorn quickly buried.

‘Can we go to the carnival? Pleaseee!’ These words, spoken in a pleading, excited tone, struck him like a thunderbolt.

Seri jumped up from the ground and was about to start his moralising lecture, but Rei stopped him with a firm but gentle kick. They had already discussed this - their final decision was that they would not tell Rose about the carnival, but if by some chance she found out about it herself, they would not forbid her from going. Seri sighed heavily — well, it looked like they were in for a trip.

~*~

Already on the way, another topic came up in their conversation, namely a discussion about where exactly they should go. The two older parasaurolophus had already heard a thing or two about how the carnival was organised, and according to their information, they had a choice of two completely different types of entertainment. In the natural history museum wing, there was reportedly a talent contest hosted by an oviraptor with a particularly intriguing appearance. When Rosethorn heard about it, she jumped in joy, excitedly listing all the talents she could showcase. Of course, each of these shows would have included her adoptive parents, and that was the deciding factor in their decision not to visit the natural history museum today - neither Seri nor Rei were particularly keen on the idea of having to perform spontaneously in front of an audience, especially today, when they were both rather sleepy. Rose initially accepted this decision with considerable disappointment and sadness, but she forgot about these negative emotions as soon as she heard about what was currently happening at the aerospace museum - the prospect of various games and activities, some of them with additional prizes, seemed very tempting to her.

The journey to the carnival headquarters did not take long (mainly because excited Rosethorn insisted on a very fast pace). They never doubted for a moment that they were heading in the right direction – the road to the museum was teeming with dinosaurs, both herbivores and carnivores, who were enjoying the carnival together. It was clear that any aggression would not be tolerated here, so the place had become a temporary oasis. However, the three parasaurolophus quickly passed the crowd gathering in front of the building, heading for the entrance of the massive edifice — a huge gap in the brick wall that had been created under unexplained circumstances. In any case, judging by the ivy that had grown over the exposed bricks, it had happened quite a long time ago. The main ‘human’ entrance had been locked for years.

From what they had heard, there were practically always some games going on in the museum building, and Rose would have loved to take part in all of them, so Rei and Seri had to make the decision for her. After a brief discussion (and Seri's careful consideration of all the dangers that awaited the young female), they chose the race. Admittedly, it wasn't the most complicated or exciting game they could have chosen, but her foster parents hoped that a bit of wild running around would tire Rosethorn out quite a bit, so that the three of them could return home before nightfall.

Rei, bravely pushing her way through the constantly moving crowd, turned right, heading towards the countless colourful banners and flags decorating the walls. Above the entrance to the wide corridor was a metal sign, which unfortunately none of them could read, and right next to it was the silhouette of an aeroplane - they were heading in the right direction. The corridor was the entrance to the wing housing the aviation museum, so the walls were covered with themed posters, and the display cases on both sides were filled with various models, figurines, mock-ups and other exhibits. Rosethorn ran from one side of the corridor to the other, intrigued by all the curiosities she could find here.

When they finally made it through the long, eventful corridor, they found themselves in a large hall, whose decor did not match the building in which it was located. The ceiling was incredibly high, supported by bright metal beams, and the walls were lined with something that resembled corrugated sheet metal. The darkest part of the room was the floor, covered with greyish, worn-out rubber flooring. The floor was covered with arrows and signs indicating the route and direction of the tour, but no one present bothered to pay attention to them – the lines scratched into the floor, marking the race route, were much more important at the moment. There were also a dozen or so small aeroplanes in the hall, some of them even suspended from thick steel cables under the ceiling. It was difficult to tell whether they were real machines or just models created for the museum. This unusual place also intrigued the two adult parasaurolophus (Rosethorn, of course, was still excited about absolutely everything that was going on around her), but before any of them had a chance to take a closer look at their surroundings, the iguanodon, who apparently served as the judge, invited them to the starting line.

The three competitors obediently moved to their designated spot – a small corner of the hall, separated from the rest of the room by an old, yellow-orange glider. At their feet lay a colourful sash with various, somewhat clumsily made pictures promoting the carnival. Iguanodon hastily began to explain the rules of the game to them, speeding up even more each time he noticed Rosethorn's growing impatience. Rei and Seri looked at each other with a gentle smile, seeing how determined their adopted daughter was - it was clear that they would let her win.

When the agreed signal for the start of the race sounded, the three parasaurolophus rushed forward in a frantic run. Rosethorn immediately dropped to all fours, hoping that the quadrupedal gait would increase her speed a little. Despite his young age, the chick was surprisingly fast.

Rei ran right behind her, covering the distance at a leisurely trot, motivating Rose to run faster with her presence. Seri had a different idea - after the first dozen or so metres of the supposed sprint, he pretended to slip, then hit one of the planes with his shoulder and fell theatrically to the ground. The force of the collision was slightly greater than he had planned - several dents from the dinosaur's spikes were visible on the wing of the white aeroplane. The male remained on the floor, seemingly completely defeated by the fall. He hoped that no one would notice the damage he had caused.

Rei, despite the plan that had been agreed upon, had no intention of letting Rose win so easily. When the females ran through the sharpest bend on the track and the home stretch finally appeared before them, the white and brown female took up the same position as her hatchling, accelerating slightly. Seeing this, Rose squeaked in panic and broke into a full gallop. The hall resounded with the loud clatter of the herbivores' hooves.

There were only a few metres left to the finish line, and the females were running neck and neck. Rei glanced briefly at Rosethorn - the hatchling had closed her eyes, too excited to watch what was happening, and was running forward with her last ounce of strength. Rei, just as she was about to touch the tape marking the end of the course, suddenly slowed down, allowing the younger female to take the lead. The advantage was slight, but sufficient. Rosethorn, still with her eyes closed, felt her whole body crash into the tape stretched between two posts and break it - she had won! The young parasaurolophus neighed joyfully in her high, squeaky voice, then puffed out her chest, proud of her victory.

Rei and Seri exchanged satisfied glances, and the iguanodon, who had been supervising the race, approached the young winner, holding a small head of red cabbage in his mouth - a modest prize for winning the competition.