Star Crossed In Time

Bai Lei sits beside me and looks around with wide eyes as the children aboard laugh and giggle in excitement. Parents pull out their cameras to take pictures and videos as the boat continues to drift down the river at a lazy pace.

Animatronic Dinosaurs with long necks slowly lift their heads with fake grass hanging out of their mouths. They peacefully chew on the grass as the children all jump up in excitement. "Look, Mommy!! It's a brachiosaurus!!" The little boy upfront says with joy. 

All the other children scream out with excitement as the parents and grandparents quickly take pictures. I smile at the children and turn to see Bai Lei watching everything with just as much excitement and wonder. 

Much better than the roller coaster... The boat continues to drift further and further as we start to see more and more dinos. Suddenly, the music changes into something a little suspenseful as the voice comes back over the speakers. 

"Uh oh... it looks like some of the most dangerous dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus, and Velociraptors, have somehow escaped their enclosers! Everyone hold on tight! We're gonna get out of here before they catch up to us!" The voice quickly fades as the suspenseful music comes back on.

I frown a bit and look over to Bai Lei. The kids are all squealing in excitement as they say "Oh nooo! We gotta get out of here!" But they're still laughing and cutting up so I try to remain calm as I quickly tell Bai Lei "It's just a ride, none of this is real so don't get scared." 

He looks over and nods but he still scans the area around the boat with sharp eyes. I bite my lip and pray to the theme park gods that nothing bad happens. The boat begins to speed up as the jungle around us starts showing signs of destruction.

Large "fake" trees are knocked over into the water and as the boat draws closer, it jerks and sways like we've hit the fallen tree. The kids and parents all scream out and giggle, knowing it's all part of the ride. To my surprise, the ride continues to speed up as the "river" begins to dip in certain areas.

The boat sways and rocks back and forth causing everyone to squeal and laugh with delight as the hidden speakers play loud dinosaur roars! All the kids scream as the boat jerks again causing the water to splash us a bit. I giggle at the sight and look around as the guy comes back on the speakers.

"Looks like we're in trouble! The dinosaurs are just too fast! We have to hurry or they'll get us! Hold on everyone!" The music kicks up another notch as the boat speeds up yet again. The water was now flowing faster as the boat jerks and bobs back and forth. 

The everyone on the ride screams and giggles as the surrounding "trees" show huge claw marks. The boat drops a bit, causing the water to splash up as a huge T-Rex lifts his head and roars! All the kids scream out loud as the music kicks up again!

"Hold on tight! We have to make it before the gate closes!" The man's voice says over the music. Up ahead is a large gate that has huge claw marks all over it. As we approach, the gate slowly starts to close as the dinosaur roars get louder and louder. The boat jerks and sways back and forth as all the children scream "Hurry hurry!!" 

The boat rushes towards the gates and makes it through at the last moment, causing everyone to cheer in excitement. I look over to Bai Lei to see him smiling as well so I can't help but giggle. The music dies down as the man comes back on the speaker "Well done crew, we made it! Hopefully, the gate closed in time and none of the dinosaurs escaped. Please remain seated and have a great day!"  

Everyone smiles and laughs as they discuss the little adventure but out of nowhere, an animatronic dinosaur with large sharp teeth, shoots out of the water right next to me! The thing makes a high pitched screeching noise as an umbrella looking flap, flares out around its neck! 

I jump back and scream at the top of my lungs as Bai Lei grabs me and quickly pulls me back. All the kids and parents are screaming as well since everyone thought it was over! Everything else seemed to slow down as Bai Lei's sword suddenly appears! He attacks the dinosaur as I scream out "Noooo!!!" 

The sword cuts through the Dinosaur's neck like butter, causing the head to fly off and drop into the water. The kids were now screaming in terror for a whole new reason as the animatronic sparks and twitches as the head slowly starts sinking in the water.   

Parents quickly cover their kid's eyes as they too look on in horror. The boat pulls up to the dock so I quickly grab a confused Bai Lei and drag him out while covering my face. I quickly hightail it out of the park and run down the street like a criminal.

I don't stop until we're three blocks away. I turn around and yell "What is wrong with you!? I told you it was just a ride! Nothing could hurt us!!" Bai Lei rubs his chin and says "I thought it had escaped... I... what was that?" 

I stare at him for several moments before sighing. He doesn't understand... "Forget it... I'm sorry I yelled at you. It's my fault... Let's go home. I'm tired." I say in defeat. Bai Lei looks at me with a conflicted look but he just silently follows me.