Zoë and Zion's Dino Adventure Part 1

In celebration of World Book Day, and the upcoming release of our new dino-themed box, please enjoy Part 1 of Zoë and Zion's Dino Adventure!

Zoë and Zion were playing in the garden of their new house. They’d just moved there and were still discovering all the new space had to offer. Zoë found a swing hanging from a big oak tree, and Zion was playing with his dinosaur toys in some mounds of sand, pretending it was the prehistoric era. 

Zoë heard Zion making grunts and growls as he moved his tiny dinosaurs around the sand. 

“What are you doing?” she asked. 

“The dinosaurs are talking to each other,” he replied. 

“No they’re not!” She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a baby, playing with baby toys!”

Zion felt offended. He was already 7 years old, not a baby anymore! Ever since Zoë had turned 12, she’d been acting as if she was a grown-up already. 

“I’m not a baby!” said Zion, squinting at Zoë through his annoyance. 

“Yes, you are!” she argued back. 

“No, he isn’t!”

The siblings looked at each other. Neither of them had spoken, and there was no one else in the garden. 

“Who…who was that?” whispered Zion, suddenly a bit afraid. “Are you…are you a ghost?”

“No, silly, it’s me!” 

Zion looked around to where he heard the voice. It seemed to be coming from one of the toy dinosaurs in the sand. Suddenly, he saw the tiny triceratops stomping his tiny foot in the sand, and shaking his three-horned head about. He couldn’t believe his eyes, and called for his sister to come look. 

“I’m glad I have your attention!” said the triceratops. “Pleased to meet you! I’m Kaimungulous the Triceratops. Kai the Tri, if you like!” He extended his tiny foot out, and Zion tentatively took it and moved it up and down between his thumb and forefinger, shaking the tiny dinosaur’s front paw. 

“You…you can talk!” said Zoë. Zion was still too shocked to say anything. 

“Of course I can talk, Zion! I’ve always been able to talk. You’ve just never been able to hear me before. There must be something special about this garden that allows you to hear me.” 

Zoë and Zion looked at each other, astounded. Were they dreaming? Was this a trick? Things like this didn’t just happen in real life. 

“Listen, I need your help. My friend is in danger, and I can’t save him alone! Will you come with me?”

Zoë and Zion looked at each other. They had always been told not to go with strangers, but surely that didn’t apply to tiny toys? 

“I want to go,” Zion said to Zoë. “Please?”

Zoë knew that Zion had always longed for adventure, although he’d always been too timid to take any risks. She knew that if she didn’t go along, Zion wouldn’t go either. As the older sibling, she also felt protective of her little brother, and would never let him go without her. 

“Ok. Where are we going? And will we be able to come back after?” she asked Kai the Tri, feeling a bit ridiculous kneeling in the sand and speaking with a tiny plastic figurine. 

“We’re going to my homeland. I’ll take you there. The portal only exists for an hour though.  After that, you’ll be returned to the garden.” Kai could see the children weren’t yet convinced. “All you have to do is stamp your foot three times like this. I promise to bring you back! Please, please, come help my friend! It’s a matter of life or death!”

“We’re supposed to go visit Aunty Mel in an hour…” said Zoë. “Mom and Dad will be mad at us if they call us and we don’t come. Do you promise we’ll be back in an hour?”

“Yes, yes, I promise!” pleaded Kai the Tri. 

Zoë looked at the excitement in Zion’s eyes. She took his hand, and nodded. 

“Let’s go!” she said. 

They held hands, and stamped their right feet three times.