Chapter Five

As they walked, they talked about the dinosaurs and their adventure so far. This was so much better than a rainy day! Mid-sentence, Pawson interrupted her.

"Be quiet, Aimes." Her eyes went wide and the teddy shook his head, cupping one paw over one ear. "I think I hear water."

Aimes heard it too. They both hurried toward the sound and, before long, Aimes and Pawson found themselves looking at the crystal clear river. A ways downstream, there were dinosaurs drinking from the water, and high in the sky where they hadn't even looked before, there were silhouettes of massive flying creatures against the evening sun. They both stared in awe for a moment, taking in a sight that no human - or teddy bear - had ever seen before.

Then Aimes remembered why they had come to the river in the first place. She approached the shore and knelt down next to the water.

"It's so clean and clear, Pawson, look!"

"Probably because the dinosaurs didn’t put a bunch of junk in it like people do," Pawson said, but Aimes was already pulling off her backpack. She took her baby bottle out of the side pocket, unscrewed the cap, and held it in the stream to fill it up. Once it was full, Aimes twisted the teat back into place, sat down on the grass by the riverbank, and suckled on the bottle with a happy smile. After a long minute, Pawson finally asked:

"What about the time machine?"

Aimes popped the nipple out of her mouth. "What about it?"

"Don't you need to refill the time machine bubble blower?" he asked.

"No, we still have a ton of water in there."

"But... but then... why did we need to get water?" Pawson asked.

"I can't drink the water in the bubble machine, Pawson," Aimes said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "There's soap in there. I would get sick."

Aimes put her bottle back between her lips and sucked down more of the clean river water. Pawson stood there for a long while, thinking about the day they had, about the time machine that could have been used at any time, and finally took a seat beside his best friend in the grass. After Aimes had finally quenched her thirst, she refilled the bottle in the river just to be safe. Then she wrapped her arm around Pawson and looked up at the dozens of different dinosaurs peppering the landscape.

"What a fun day," Aimes said cheerfully. "Don't you think?"

Pawson sighed and leaned into Aimes. The sun was setting on the horizon, and so too was their adventure through time.

"Better than a rainy one," Pawson admitted.

Aimes and Pawson had to look for a new spot to use the time machine bubble blower, because the cave was much too far away. Eventually, they found a cluster of trees that were close enough together. The large bubble clung to branches and tree trunks and dirt on the ground, making a transparent wall filled with soapy swirls. On the other side, it was pouring rain. Aimes pouted.

"It will stop eventually," Pawson reminded her.

"I know," Aimes sighed.

Aimes and Pawson put their backs to the bubble and walked through it in reverse. Once they were on the other side, the time bubble popped and rain splashed off the rims of their hats.

"I suppose we should find a cave," Aimes suggested. The rain was already soaking through her shirt.

"Or we could keep exploring," Pawson shrugged. "For just a little bit."

"Yeah?" Aimes smiled brightly. "Thanks Pawson!"

It wasn't long before exhaustion caught up with Aimes, and waddling around in a rain-soaked diaper certainly didn't help. Within the hour, Aimes and Pawson found a canopy to hide under, and Aimes finally got the change she had wanted for a hundred million years.

As she curled up in her spare shirt and a fresh diaper, the rain became a drizzle and the sun shined through the canopy.

"Look at that," Pawson said, nodding toward the sky. "It just took a little bit of time."

But Aimes was already fast asleep.

Sometime Later

Aimes and Pawson were browsing around a local bookstore when Aimes came up to her best friend with a book of dinosaurs in her hands. It wasn’t small, and the papers were thick and glossy as most picture books were. Pawson knew what she was going to say before she could even say the words.

"What are the chances we're going to run into dinosaurs again," Pawson asked, crossing his arms.

"Come on," Aimes whined. "It's just one more book, and who knows when we’ll come across another bookstore. We’re setting out tomorrow morning on another adventure."

"And you have to travel light," Pawson reminded her. "No more books."

With a sigh, Aimes stepped away and flipped through the pages of the book she wouldn’t get to keep. It had realistic depictions of a lot of dinosaurs, with their names and a few traits about each one. But one page was more interesting than the rest. She turned back to her teddy bear.

"Hey, Pawson. Look at this." Aimes turned the book around so Pawson could see the rendering of a young T-rex chewing on a rather familiar teething ring.

"It's a shame we didn't have this book," Aimes said wistfully. "It would have saved us a lot of trouble."

After a long pause, after a lot of thought, Pawson nodded his head. "One more book couldn’t hurt," he conceded.

What were the chances they were going to run into dinosaurs again? Higher than one might expect.

[End.]