2:00

and the dinosaurs. It

2:07

was the start of winter. The

2:09

weather was frosty, and evenings

2:11

were growing dull, and

2:13

Mum was in the kitchen cooking up cosy

2:15

dishes for supper. She

2:17

was chopping up garlic, its sharp

2:19

scent mingling with the savoury aroma

2:21

of sausage stew. When

2:24

Jake's little sister, Elle, burst into

2:26

the kitchen, her face bunched

2:28

up in annoyance. Nimmie,

2:31

Jake's watching a scary

2:33

dinosaur movie again! She

2:36

complained, tugging at Mum's apron.

2:39

Mum, her hands busy with the

2:41

garlic, replied without turning around. Yes,

2:44

and? You know

2:46

he gets nightmares from dinosaur movies,

2:50

but I want to watch my manga series.

2:53

Mum let out a sigh, a small

2:55

smile playing on her lips. She

2:58

secretly enjoyed a good dinosaur movie

3:00

herself. Oh,

3:03

all right. Tell him to turn

3:05

it off. She

3:07

said, her voice carrying a hint of reluctance.

3:09

Elle dashed off to the living room, and

3:11

soon enough, Jake's

3:14

protest echoed through the house. Oh, come on!

3:17

It's about dinosaurs, it's

3:20

not even scary. And Dad says they

3:22

use tomato ketchup for the blood. The

3:26

squabble escalated, and Mum had to

3:29

step in. Jake, grumbling under his breath,

3:31

retreated to his room to

3:33

read about dinosaurs. Though annoyed, a

3:37

part of him was excited. It was

3:39

around this time that his best

3:41

friend Birdie usually came by for

3:43

a chat, and today was no different. A

3:47

familiar tap, tap, tap sounded at the

3:49

window, and Jake's face

3:51

lit up. Birdie! A

3:55

very good evening to you. you?"

4:00

Birdie replied, his voice

4:03

smooth and wise. "'I've

4:05

got a question,' Jake said.

4:09

"'Are you old enough to remember the

4:11

dinosaurs?' Birdie flapped

4:14

his wings. "'Goodness gracious! You

4:16

mean giants like T-Rex

4:18

and Brontosaurus. I'm not

4:21

that ancient.' "'Oh,

4:23

sorry. No offence. I

4:25

just never knew how old you really are,'

4:28

Birdie called. "'Neither

4:31

do I exactly, but I do

4:35

remember chatting with

4:37

Julia Caesar when he

4:39

visited Britain.' "'Which was

4:42

in 55 BC, which

4:44

means I'm at least 2078 years old.'

4:50

"'And when could the dinosaurs become

4:52

extinct?' "'Extinct?

4:55

What makes you think they're

4:58

extinct?' "'Because

5:01

they're not around anymore.' Birdie

5:06

gave a knowing look. "'And

5:08

are you sure about

5:10

that? Look

5:13

very closely. You

5:16

might be seeing one

5:19

right now.' "'Where?

5:22

In this book?' "'Nah,

5:25

right here, talking

5:28

to you.' "'Wait!

5:31

You mean you're a dinosaur?'

5:35

"'But you're a mad!' Birdie

5:38

began to strut along the windowsill, his

5:41

head bobbing in his peculiar

5:43

way. "'Just

5:45

look at me. Notice

5:47

anything dinosaur-like?' Jake,

5:50

recalling scenes from his movie,

5:52

gasped. "'You walk like

5:54

a T-Rex.' "'Exactly!

5:56

We birds are

5:59

the dinosaurs!' that

6:01

survived a great extinction.

6:04

We walk on two legs, have

6:07

feathers and are born

6:09

from eggs just

6:11

like dinosaurs because

6:14

we are

6:16

dinosaurs. So what

6:19

happened to the others? They

6:22

weren't so lucky. About

6:24

66 million

6:27

years ago a giant

6:29

asteroid hit the earth.

6:32

It created a huge crater and

6:34

all the dust blocked out the

6:36

Sun. The longest

6:39

and darkest winter descended

6:41

upon the earth. Only

6:44

the smartest and fittest

6:46

survived like us birds.

6:50

Jake's eyes widened. Could

6:53

that happen again? It's possible

6:57

but rare. There

7:00

might be another asteroid or

7:02

humans could do something reckless

7:05

but don't worry too much about that sort

7:07

of thing. It's not all

7:10

that likely. I hope

7:12

not. Jake said. His

7:14

voice a mix of wonder and concern.

7:18

That's scarier than any movie.

7:21

But look on the bright side. Birdie

7:24

said fluffing his feathers. Some

7:26

small dinosaurs survived and became

7:28

birds. That's why I'm here

7:30

telling you this story. Yes

7:33

that's a good thing. Jake

7:36

agreed. But dinosaurs

7:38

are supposed to be scary. I

7:41

don't mean to be rude but

7:44

you're not at all scary. Scary

7:46

depends on your point of view. If

7:48

you were a

7:51

worm you'd be plenty scared

7:53

of me. Well

7:56

I'm glad I'm not a worm. I don't

7:58

suppose I'll ever meet a proper dinosaur

8:01

in real life? Have

8:03

you been listening? I am

8:06

a proper dinosaur. But

8:09

if you mean a

8:11

scary dinosaur, then

8:14

that could be arranged.

8:17

Would you like to meet a scary

8:19

dinosaur? Oh

8:22

yes! So long as you can

8:24

arrange for my sister to meet him too. Alright

8:27

then, you're on. But

8:30

don't blame me if you

8:32

or your sister get scared

8:34

good and proper. And

8:37

if you have nightmares, don't

8:39

go crying to your mummy telling

8:41

tales that Birdie the Crow gave

8:44

them to you. I

8:47

won't, I promise. But

8:50

make sure the dinosaur doesn't eat me

8:52

please. He

8:54

probably won't. I don't mind

8:56

if he eats my sister though. Just

8:59

kidding. Alright

9:01

then, well it's time for

9:04

me to retire to my nest.

9:07

Sleep tight and

9:09

mind the Velosauraptors and

9:11

bite. Bye bye

9:13

Birdie. Next

9:16

time I see you, I'll tell you

9:18

all about the dinosaurs. The

9:23

next day was Saturday. The

9:26

next day was Saturday. Jake

9:28

and his sister wreck it warm for their

9:30

weekend walk in the woods with their dad

9:32

and their dog Sabre. On

9:35

the way there in the car Jake sent, I

9:38

can make a prediction. Today

9:40

we will find a dinosaur in the woods. And

9:43

it will be a scary one.

9:46

Not just a bird, because

9:48

they are living dinosaurs. But

9:51

I mean a prehistoric

9:53

one. Like a

9:55

T-Rex. Or a

9:57

Velociraptor. A one like that. That's

10:01

quite a prediction, said

10:04

Dad as they waited in a long

10:06

jam at Temporary Light, at some long

10:08

abandoned roadworks. But

10:10

it's not impossible you might find a

10:13

fossil if you keep your

10:15

eyes peeled. No! I

10:18

mean a real live scary

10:20

dinosaur, said Jake. What

10:24

makes you say that? But after

10:26

that he inched the car forward. Oh,

10:29

I've forgotten a dream, said

10:31

Jake Casley. His

10:34

sister piped up. Jake's

10:36

having nightmares because he's been

10:38

watching scary dinosaur movies again.

10:41

No I haven't, retorted

10:44

Jake. Because you've been

10:46

hogging the TV to watch your manga

10:49

princess movies. She's

10:51

not a princess. She's

10:53

a secret girl samurai and

10:56

she could slice you into

10:59

tiny sushi pieces,

11:01

said his sister. Yeah,

11:04

but T.U.X. could swallow your samurai

11:06

girl up in the endpipe. Retorted

11:09

Jake, making an eating noise. No

11:13

she couldn't. And

11:15

the bickering went on all the way to the woods

11:17

like this. The

11:20

woods when they arrived were more

11:22

peaceful, at least to begin with. A

11:26

short stroll beyond the car park

11:28

was a giant sandpit that Dad said

11:31

might have once been a stone

11:33

quarry, according to Jake. It

11:36

was the spot where a giant asteroid had

11:38

crash landed millions of years ago. Elle

11:41

with a roll of her eyes said

11:43

it was just a sandpit for little

11:45

kids to make sand castles in. They

11:48

all ran down into the sandy crater and

11:51

scrambled up the other side. Now

11:53

they were in the woods. Sabre,

11:56

their wire-haired carrier liked to run off

11:58

the path and explore the... rotten

12:00

in the endegrow, on the scent

12:02

of rabbits, squirrels and the occasional

12:05

deer. Remember, keep

12:07

your eyes open for a

12:09

dinosaur, Jake reminded Elle,

12:11

who warned him a girl samurai would come

12:13

riding through the woods to teach him a

12:15

lesson. They walked

12:18

on until they heard a

12:20

loud squealing noise somewhere in the

12:22

thicket. It

12:27

was accompanied by some rust and hissing. That

12:31

sabre crying, said

12:33

Jake, and he ran off through the trees,

12:36

his feet swishing through the fallen leaves.

12:40

He headed in the direction of the noise and

12:42

a holly bush with red bellies. Saber

12:45

came running towards him, pursued by

12:47

a pair of birds, about the

12:49

size of Christmas and a turkey,

12:51

but only they weren't birds. Because

12:55

although they were fed and ran on two

12:58

legs, they had arms

13:00

instead of wings and

13:02

clawed hands. One of them

13:04

was holding a stick and shaking it. Another

13:08

picked up a stone and chucked

13:10

it at poor Saber. Jake

13:12

picked up the stone and held it

13:14

back at the two little dinosaurs who

13:17

stopped in their tracks and

13:19

both fixed him in their gaze. Jake

13:23

stared back and the dinosaurs

13:25

lost their nerves first and hurried back to

13:27

their nests in the bush. Jake

13:31

and Saber went running back to the path. Did

13:34

you see that? asked Jake

13:36

breathlessly. Two little T-Rexes

13:39

gave poor Saber the fright of

13:41

his life. No

13:43

way, said Elle. You've

13:46

been dreaming again. Okay,

13:49

well I dare you to go and take

13:51

a look. And if you don't, you're a

13:53

scaredy cat forever more. And

13:55

will never be a samurai princess however

13:57

many letters you write to Center. begging

14:00

him to become one. Elle

14:03

was too sensible to answer this load of

14:05

nonsense, but she was

14:07

not going to let her brother think that

14:09

she was too scared. So

14:12

she went off to investigate what was really

14:14

round the back of the holly bush. It's

14:17

probably just a couple of funny rabbits. Actually,

14:22

running away from funny rabbits. She declared

14:24

scornfully as she set on her way.

14:27

But a minute or two later, Dad

14:29

and Jake heard a loud scream.

14:33

Aaaaaah! See,

14:37

I told you, said

14:39

Jake to Dad. There's

14:41

a couple of miniature T-Rexes round

14:44

there. Elle came

14:46

tearing back to the path. It's

14:49

true, it's true, she

14:51

gasped. There's a couple

14:53

of dinosaurs sitting on a nest of eggs.

14:56

They've got creepy little hands

14:59

and oh! Now

15:01

it was Dad's turn to go and see... Kids!

15:06

He said to himself, what

15:08

imaginations they've got. He

15:11

walked around the holly bush. He

15:13

didn't find any dinosaurs. But

15:16

there was a sort of nest on the ground. And

15:20

inside the nest were

15:22

three smooth stones, just

15:24

like eggs. Dinosaur

15:26

eggs, perhaps? He

15:29

carefully knelt down and checked that

15:31

they were actually stones, not

15:33

real eggs. He

15:36

didn't want to steal some poor birds'

15:38

babies. Yes! They

15:40

were too heavy to be eggs. Maybe,

15:44

just maybe, they were

15:47

fossils. He picked them

15:49

up and brought them back to the kids.

15:52

Well, I didn't find any T-Rexes,

15:54

but I did find these, said

15:57

Dad. Dinosaur eggs!

16:00

declared Jake. The

16:03

dinosaurs will be real gross with you

16:05

for stealing their eggs. Dad

16:08

laughed and said they were just stones. But

16:11

just in case, they hurried back to

16:13

the car, each carrying an

16:15

egg, or a stone, or

16:17

a fossil, or whatever they were.

16:21

That evening, Jake showed his

16:23

dinosaur to his regular visitor, Birdie.

16:27

If I keep it warm, will

16:29

a T-Rex hatch out of it? Well,

16:31

maybe, if you sit on it for

16:33

a million years. But

16:36

actually, nah, those weren't

16:38

T-Rexes you saw. T-Rexes

16:41

are the size of double-decker

16:43

buses. Those were

16:45

oviraptoridae, who were much

16:47

smaller. But did you

16:50

notice how they look like birds? Yes,

16:52

I did, said Jake. They

16:55

were like turkeys. Only, they

16:58

had arms instead of wings. That's

17:01

right, said Birdie. Dinosaurs

17:03

that walk like birds

17:05

are called theropods. Tyrannosaurus

17:08

Rex is a theropod, for

17:11

example. And we

17:13

birds are descended from theropods.

17:16

So, T-Rex is kind of

17:18

like your cousin? Yes,

17:21

said Birdie. And those

17:23

small dinosaurs you saw

17:26

are also my relatives. Only,

17:28

they went extinct after the asteroid

17:30

landed. It was us

17:32

winged at dinosaurs that survived.

17:36

But how come there were a couple of extinct

17:38

dinosaurs in our woods, then? Ask

17:41

Jake. Well, you

17:43

know, a touch of

17:45

science, and maybe a touch

17:48

of magic. There isn't

17:50

much difference between the two when it comes down

17:52

to it. But I'll bet

17:54

you were scared. No,

17:56

I wasn't. Insisticeat.

18:00

sister got the surprise of her life

18:02

and they both laughed and cawed.

18:08

And that was Bertie and the

18:10

Dinosaurs read by me,

18:12

Joanna for storynorway.com. And

18:15

just before I go, here's Bertie with

18:17

a message from Alina in

18:19

Canada. Yes, Alina from

18:21

Canada sent me some things in the post and she

18:23

wrote, I made a booklet and

18:25

a bookmark for you. I hope you like it and

18:28

wish you good luck. From Alina,

18:30

I am six. Well

18:32

Alina, thank you and I wish you good luck. Thank

18:34

you for writing to me. And to everyone,

18:36

when you write to me in the post, I'm

18:38

not always very good at writing back, so can you

18:41

include an email please, so I

18:43

can quickly acknowledge to your parents that

18:45

I got your message and they can pass on

18:48

my wishes to you. And thank you to all

18:50

our listeners for sticking with StoryNorway

18:52

throughout all the years.