Not For Kids

The other day at work, I was reading a book about dinosaurs to Nicky, who is five years old. Each chapter of the book focused on a different dinosaur and the specific trial that the dinosaur was facing and how they survived (or not) the ordeal.

Yesterday we were reading through chapter three. A severe drought had recently devastated the land where a herd of Brontosauruses had once enjoyed bountiful vegetation and the dinosaurs were now searching for a more fertile land. The story really began to pick up as the narrator described how an aging Brontosaurus, unable to keep up with the younger and more agile dinosaurs in the herd, had begun to lag behind.

This is the story and my thoughts as I read to Nick...

"Slowly the older animals in the heard began to lag behind. With so little food, they were too tired to walk."

This guy had better watch his back--in the last chapter when an aging Allosaurus began to lag behind, a younger Allosaurus ate the older one for dinner. Harsh.

"A young male Brontosaurus also lagged behind..."

Uh oh. Hm. I wonder...

"...but not because he was weak."

I'm sure it's just the child of the old Brontosaurus, going to spend a few last moments with mommy/daddy Brontosaurus. Wisdom will be shared, memories made, tears shed.

 "One of the females in the heard was ready to..."

Whoa whoa whoa. Wait, what is happening?! This is a children's book, sure they aren't going to...

"...mate."

What? What kind of dinosaurs are these?! How can they even think about mating at a time like this? Don't they know what just happened? Someones mother/father just died! Where is the grieving time?! You make me sick, Brontosaurus. Sick.

The book went on to describe how the young Brontosaurus couple spent the whole evening together in their little love bubble--including dinner later that night (I kid you not)-- then joined back up with the herd in the morning. Well, the herd minus the old Brontosaurus who died of starvation the night before while the thoughtless dinosaur couple was mating and eating the vegetation they had apparently been able to find (and kept to themselves.) I mean, couldn't they have at least offered a small tree branch to the dying Brontosaurus?

Seriously, not the most considerate dinosaurs on the planet. I felt no compassion for the young Brontosauruses later in the story as they faced a raging fire in the forest. I thought, "Yeah, remember that Brontosaurus you left to die alone? Well, he faced the hot flames of loneliness that burned at his soul. Not feeling so strong now, are you?" They deserved to die off. 

I actually really debated about the last sentence I wrote...because it's not actually how I felt. Damn it, I still felt bad for the dinosaurs. No dinosaur, not even a thoughtless, self-centered, careless Brontosaurus deserves to die in a fire.