Dippy and the Crocuses

DIPPY and the CROCUSES
(or why there weren't any)

Dippy was a young diplodocus who lived absolutely ages ago before there
were any people around. He had a long slender neck, a heavy body, four
legs, and a long whippy tail. Dippy also had a very small head, and an
even smaller brain. This meant he was not very clever; but sometimes he
discovered things...
Dippy was not yet as heavy as his Mum, who was enormous, he was
therefore allowed to play outside of the big lake in which they lived.
But she always kept a very watchful eye on him, as she was able to
stretch her long neck, and see for quite a distance around the
lake.
One day, Dippy found some small flowers growing close to the lake. He
had never seen anything like them before, and thought they were very
pretty. Some were blue, some white, and some yellow. Dippy did not know
many colours. Everything in his world seemed to be some kind of boring
green or brown, so these little flowers looked really tempting to him.
He tasted one which was yellow like the sun. It was delicious - sweet
and crunchy. Then he tried one which was blue like the sky. This tasted
just the same as the first one, but Dippy didn't mind. "Yum.." he
said.
Then Mum called out. "What are you doing Dippy - eating all those sweet
things? You'll spoil your dinner!"
"I've only eaten a few," Dippy answered grumpily. "What's for dinner
anyway?"
"Algae soup and fern salad," said Mum.
Yuck, thought Dippy.
"Come home now and get washed," She insisted.
Dippy stuffed a few more flowers into his mouth just before he turned
and lumbered back into the lake.
His Mum started laughing as soon as she saw him closely. "Your face and
front legs are all bright yellow," she told him. "They must have been
crocuses that you were eating."
Dippy looked at his reflection in the water, and saw that it was true.
He did look funny - like a diplodocus clown. "So crocuses taste nice,"
he said, "but they make you turn yellow?"
"Yes," said Mum. "Crocuses contain a bright yellow dye called saffron,
but it's not a bit useful for anything."
"That's a shame," said Dippy. "I feel sure that everything ought to be
useful for something."

Just then, the water in the lake began to tremble, and they heard the
sound of huge heavy footsteps coming through the forest.
"Quick!" said Mum. "It's Tyrannosaurus Rex! Dive!"
They both dived to the bottom of the cool blue lake, so that nothing
showed except the top of Mum's humpy back. This looked just like a
greenish rock in the middle of the water. They both kept perfectly
still, holding their breath...
Tyrannosaurus Rex was in a rotten mood. He couldn't find any nice
animals for his dinner. He stomped right up to the edge of the lake,
causing the ground to shudder, and all the trees to shake. Even the
pteranodons stopped screeching for once, and the insects stopped
buzzing. Tyrannosaurus was almost as tall as a house, and stood upright
on his huge hind legs. His head was BIG, and his mouth was full of long
sharp teeth. Tyrannosaurus was King of all the dinosaurs, and he was
MEAN. He sniffed at the calm lake; but all he could smell was crocuses.
After a few moments, Tyrannosaurus Rex pounded off again. He stamped
right through the patch of sweet flowers, crushing them into the
ground. His heavy footsteps became more and more distant. The
pteranodons began to screech again, a bit nervously at first, and the
insects started to buzz.
Mum Diplodocus and Dippy both popped their heads out of the
water.
"He's gone," said Mum. "Thank goodness!"
"But he's squashed all my crocuses," wailed Dippy.
"Never mind, they'll grow again sometime," Mum said, wisely.
But Dippy had noticed something else. "Look Mum - the
footprints!"
Mum Diplodocus looked; and there, leading off into the forest, was a
trail of enormous yellow Tyrannosaurean footprints.
"I just knew those crocuses would be useful for something," said Dippy.
"Now we'll always know where Tyrannosaurus Rex is going."
"Yes," agreed Mum, "unless it rains..."
"I just love crocuses," said Dippy.

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