Thorn's Life: 65 Million Years Later Chapter 7

Turned Loose and New Food

When Thorn was too big to be kept in her holding pen, she was put in her official paddock for the grand opening. She enjoyed the paddock, there was plenty of space for her to walk around and explore. The only thing she didn't like was that it didn't have any food.

"John, you're sure that these fences will hold her once she hits full size?" "Of course Robert, don't worry, 5 000 volts should be plenty to keep her in." "I'm not too sure about that, she is big now, how old is she again?" "Around fourteen, why?" "Around fourteen? She's thirty feet long and she's barely half way through her growth spurt!? She'll be forty five feet long by the time she's thirty!" "That'll be great, the bigger the better." "Yeah, everything but their appetites." "Don't worry, we've got it covered." "I hope so. I will say, park's looking great so far, let's take a look at the Baryonyx paddock." "Sounds good, we've got six paddocks to look at before lunch, and the rest afterwards."

Thorn had heard the conversation, but didn't understand it. She looked to where she heard the voices and walked to the edge of her paddock. When she got there, she saw Hammond and Muldoon were sitting at a picnic table eating pizza. She smelled the pizza and wanted some. She tried to walk through the fence, and got a shock from the 5 000 volts of electricity that was surging through the metal wires. She jumped back, more surprised than anything, and growled. Hammond and Muldoon heard the crackling of the electricity coming in contact with Thorn, and then walked to the paddock.

Hammond laughed when he saw Thorn was ok, and Muldoon said, "What do you think that was about?" "I don't know Robert, but that was the most entertaining part of the day so far." "Is she ok? 5 000 volts is quite a bit of electricity, even for an adult Rex, let alone a fourteen year old one." "She's fine, she's not even scared, look." "Why do you think she walked into the fence anyway?" "Not sure Robert, maybe she didn't see it, maybe she was curious," Hammond chuckles, "maybe she wants a slice of pizza." "Maybe she did want pizza though. I can smell it from here." "She probably wants the meat. I wonder what would happen if we brought a slice." "Not sure, it could be entertaining, and she probably did want pizza." "What makes you say that?" "It's got three different kinds of meat, and she's a T-Rex. I can smell it from here, so imagine how good she can smell it, having the second strongest sense of smell of all time." "True, let's give it a try."

Thorn watched as they walked back to the table and grabbed a slice of pizza. "You sure this is a good idea John?" "It'll be fine Robert, don't worry." "I'm just wondering if it's a good idea to be giving her human food, she could develop a taste for it." "Come on, it's just one slice." "I guess. Don't you wish the Velociraptors were this friendly?" "If they were, we wouldn't have to feed them by lowering cattle into the paddock." "I know I hate feeding them that way. What's the point of having them if we can't even see them from the walkway?" "That enclosure isn't complete yet, I'm planning on having an underground viewing area with twelve inch thick plexiglass." "Good idea."

Hammond stopped about ten feet from the paddock and held the slice of pizza up. Thorn looked at it and started drooling. "What do you know Robert, you were right." "Give me that, I want to try something." "Alright, here." Thorn didn't lose sight of the pizza when Hammond passed it to Muldoon, and he started to move it side to side, Thorn still watching it. Hammond looked at her and said, "Alright Robert, give it to her." Muldoon threw the slice to Thorn, and she caught it in her mouth, swallowing it whole and burning her mouth at the same time. She shook her head to try and stop the burning sensation, and Hammond said, "Maybe we should have let it cool down first." "Why? I don't think she'll want human food anymore, and apparently hot pizza affects her more than 5 000 volts does." "Haha, that's true, if only we had a video camera for that. When the park becomes famous, we could make a movie and call it The Making of Jurassic Park." "That would be cool, how much would actually be the cloning and building, and how much would be of Rexy's adventures around the lab?" "You have a point there. Let's eat, we need to get back on track."