Jurassic Attraction (DNF)

Chapter 17: Fields

How is everyone?
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Dream POV.

My gaze was focused out of the Gyrosphere at the plants. They were a mixture of real, average, everyday plants such as palm trees and passion flowers, against extinct plants such as sophora toromiro. At the moment George was instead looking inside the Gyrosphere, as an informational video played.

“These Gyrospheres were designed by members of our own Park.” The man explained, he was a scientist from the mainland, perhaps a celebrity who I hadn’t kept up to date with. “These are made completely of a type of glass which is strong enough to stop bullets. It allows anyone to see a full 360 degrees around them.”

George nodded slowly, as though he was being directly spoken to and this wasn’t a pre recorded conversation which had been played many times in the past. “As you can see, the Gyrosphere is currently on a preprogrammed path, requiring you to just sit back and relax while you get a trip through peaceful prehistoric fields.”

The Gyrosphere rounded a corner and the video continued to play. “Your Gyrosphere is not going to be on track mode in the meadow, and you can see how long you have before the sphere returns to the station by the clock that is between your seats.”

As he continued to speak I looked over at George. “If you want, I know how to skip the video.” I told him. “It goes for another five or six minutes.”
“You don’t have to.” He muttered, not taking his eyes off of the video.
“Honestly I can summarise it in about four sentences.”

He let out an ‘uh-huh’ sound, while continuing to look at the screen. With an eye roll I leaned back in the seat, tilting my head once again towards the plant life. It was boring, completely and utterly boring, however it might just be because I had been on this ride a dozen times before.

The track led towards a gate, something which opened automatically after making sure that there were no dinosaurs on the other side which could escape or immediately get hurt by the close proximity to the Gyrospheres. After a moment where the video told us not to leave the vehicle unless there was an emergency, the gate opened.

“Welcome to the Jurassic fields.” The voice spoke in a tone which didn’t have the dramatic, awe-inspiring feel as a real person would. The Gyrosphere moved into the field, and George finally looked away from the TV as he glanced around eagerly in an attempt to spot one of the dozen or so dinosaur species which lived in the field.

“The Jurassic fields are home to fourteen dinosaur species, all herbivores who you would actually find living alongside each other in the prehistoric world.”
“That’s not true.” I muttered. “It’s just to make people think this field is a completely natural, occurring phenomenon.”

My eyes widened and I glanced over at him. “That’s off the record though.” To which George nodded without saying anything.
“Why not have a look out of the sphere now? You might see some of our species enjoying the delicious grass and clear water.”

George looked out to the side of the vehicle, the smile on his face disappeared when there was a series of bushes blocking the view of the field. When he went to look back at the screen I took the chance to turn off the video. “Hey… what was that for?” He asked, glaring at me when I pulled my hand back.

“Sorry, but that voice is annoying. I’ve heard it a dozen times before.” Then a smile grew on my face. “The only voice I want to hear right now is yours.”
He rolled his eyes before looking back out of the Gyrosphere. “You can’t see any of the stuff he was talking about. No clear water, no grass, no dinosaurs.”

I nodded. “This is a little outdated.” I explained. “The track weaves around the tree and that’s when you can see all the dinosaurs.” I looked down at the control which was between the seats, settled directly behind the screen which was mentioned earlier and looked like it belonged on an arcade game from the 80s.

Because it had been set that we would not be on track mode, all that we had to do was hold down a button on the top of the controller and we could steer it when and where we wanted. George sat back, allowing me to direct the Gyrosphere through a shortcut that got me into the meadow sooner.

When we broke through the treeline we were almost immediately confronted by a stunned Iguanodon which let out a bellowing cry. It was part of a group of almost thirty dinosaurs, all of which echoed its cry. Their tails thrashed back and forth anxiously, thankfully due to the motion sensor at the front of the sphere we managed to break without hitting one.

The Iguanodon did cause us to jolt forward, with the pretty brunette beside me gasping in shock. “Isn’t this supposed to be advanced technology?” He asked. “Why is it so jumpy?”
“It’s meant to stop so it doesn’t hit the dinosaurs.” I explained. “When they are gone we can control it again.”

However the small herd of dinosaurs didn’t seem to be in any rush to move, instead they were quite content with attempting to eat the leaves of the low hanging branches. George seemed content with just snapping photos but that felt boring.

I opened a panel between us and manually opened the door, catching George’s attention (along with the attention of a few of the dinos). “Where are you going?” He asked, watching me sceptically. “Shouldn’t we stay in the ride?”
“Well it will be boring. These guys don’t seem to be in any hurry.” I responded.

After a moment the brunette climbed out of the Gyrosphere, taking my hand to balance himself during the climb, and I walked him through the remainder of the patch of trees and into the meadow, which is the first area of the fields that we would be going through.

The meadow was relatively flat with grass which grew up to our waists in some areas. The grass continued until it met the treeline and headed into a wooded valley where the Gyrosphere tour eventually led us. The clear blue lake and winding river were the only things contrasting against the vibrant greens.

Lots of animals, both prehistoric dinosaurs and modern birds and lizards were around the lake, drinking the fresh water or relaxing in the early morning sun. My hand was entwined with George’s. “Want to go and pat one of them?” I asked him.
“We’re allowed to do that?” George questioned with a curious smile.

“Yeah, they are all trained to…” I was cut off by someone calling my name followed by the bellowing of more dinosaurs. We both looked over with wide eyes as a staff golf cart appeared in the distance, with a figure I recognised in the front seat.
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