Reply To: The Land Before Time XVI: The Lonely Longneck
CHAPTER SEVEN: FERNWOOD FOREST
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“Where were you?” Bron asked.
“Got lost when all of that Sky Water was coming down.” said Shorty.
“And we ran into Sharpteeth.” said Dayo.
“Sharpteeth?!” said Bron in shock.
“Yes, hungry pests.” replied Shorty.
“He saved me Bron. Shorty saved me. They would have killed me otherwise.” said Dayo.
“I went back for her. It was the right thing to do.” said Shorty.
The next day, they were with Littlefoot and his friends. They were glad that Shorty was nicer than usual.
“I wish Dayo would stay with Shorty more often. He’s a lot nicer.”remarked Cera.
“He isn’t always nice?” asked Dayo in shock.
Shorty shook his head. “No, for a long while, I’ve been a real creep.” Shorty confessed.
“Points for self-awar-” said Cera. Littlefoot glared angrily at her and she stopped talking.
“I’d like to explore the Great Valley.” said Dayo. The others were pleased that she seemed to be in a good mood.
“How about Fernwood Forest?” suggested Littlefoot.
They headed out toward a forest of trees with ferns. The leaves were falling off as it was the Time of Changing Leaves. Leaves fell and hit them in the head. The wind picked up and blew some in their faces as well. Spike ate a few of them.
“He eats those?” asked Dayo in surprise, who didn’t think ferns tasted that great.
“Spike will eat almost any kind of plant. It’s just good that he’s not a Sharptooth.” said Shorty absent-mindedly, forgetting that Dayo didn’t like the word. The others laughed, but they all stopped when they saw Dayo flinch at the mention of the word “Sharptooth”.
“You seem unusually afraid of Sharpteeth Dayo. You do. You do.” remarked Ducky.
“If you were chased by them for over a day, wondering if they were going to get you, then you would be very afraid of them too.” snapped Dayo.
“We have been. This maniac chased us for over a week.” replied Cera.
“It happened to me recently and I literally mean all day!” snapped Dayo.
“Oh.” said Cera.
The wind picked up again. Dust blew, obscuring the air. Ducky, Shorty, Littlefoot, and Petrie went one way in the path. Dayo and Spike went another. Eventually, the dust cleared.
“Where did the others go?” Dayo asked Spike. Spike shrugged. “You don’t have a lot to say, do you?” Dayo remarked. Spike again said nothing. They came across a huge river, with a waterfall nearby going down into a gorge. “How are we going to get across?” Dayo asked Spike. Spike moved toward a log that went over the river. “Good thinking!” said Dayo. They went onto the log. When they were in the middle, it broke, for the log had been rotten, though they didn’t know this when they went on it, and it broke under their weight. They fell into the water and went over the waterfall. Luckily, there were no rocks at the bottom. They go out of the water, sore but alive.
“Are you all right Spike?” Dayo asked him. Spike nodded. “I’m very sore. That was quite a fall.” she said. They found rock steps leading back up. They went up some distance. Much to their annoyance, they found that the rock path stopped up here. “Just great!” moaned Dayo. They found a cave. They headed into it. Dayo kept looking around, as though expecting a Sharptooth to jump out at any moment.
Meanwhile, Shorty was frantically looking for Dayo. “Did any of you see her?” Shorty asked, his voice panicky.
“We haven’t seen your girlfriend.” Cera stated.
“Spike is missing too. He is. He is.” Ducky informed them. They eventually came to the broken log. They could see muddy footprints coming out of the water and up the path to the cave where Dayo and Spike had gone.
“We need to get to them!” said Petrie.
Dayo and Spike found an underground river in the back of the cave. Water was trickling through a hole. Light was coming through it. The two started to push at the opening. They broke through the opening slowly, but water started to pour in. The room started to flood.
“Ut oh!” said Dayo and Spike together in fright. They tried to wiggle through, hoping to not drown.
Shorty was in a stream. He could hear Dayo yelling below him. He also saw water draining down into the ground. He took a closer look and saw the crack in the ground. “Come on!” he said. He led the others to the spot. They were able to break through in time and get Dayo and Spike out by pulling them up. The room flooded and the chamber in there collapsed, sealing the cave room shut.
“Whew, that was close!” said Dayo. She saw Shorty. “Ahh, my hero again!” she said, kissing him. He turned bright red.
“I think we’ve had enough adventures for one day.” said Shorty. The others agreed. They left Fernwood Forest and, sometime later, went to bed.
