Cameron and the Dinosaur Heroes

By Donna Phelps

Cameron and the Dinosaur Heroes is the story of a little boy and his dog. One boring day, Cameron’s cocker spaniel puppy brought a large box to Cameron. It was a magical box. And Cameron and Kitt set off in their time machine box with a pillow, a steering wheel, and a dream to see dinosaurs.

Cameron always knew his special dinosaur friend would be a red tyrannosaurus rex. He would be bigger than normal. He would be smarter the normal. And together, they would have all kinds of adventures. Maybe they could even help other dinosaurs that were in trouble.

Cameron’s dream adventure took him back in time. He got to meet several dinosaurs, and they hunted, played, and ate together. But the biggest surprise of all came from his magical box that turned to a time machine.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 7, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973640783

Donna Phelps

Donna Phelps grew up as the daughter of a minister/carpenter and musician/account manager. Her family moved throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Colorado and South Dakota. She received her Associates Degree in Business Administration and worked as an administrative assistant until leaving to become a full time mother. She has two boys, the youngest of which is low-functioning autistic. When Cameron was about ten years old, he began commenting about different activities he would like to do with dinosaurs. After talking about what he was imagining, Donna and Cameron worked out characters and a plot. It has been a pleasure for Donna to put on paper some of her son’s dreams and ideas.

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Copyright © 2018 Donna Phelps.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4077-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4076-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4078-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018911392

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/31/2018

Cameron,

without your wonderful imagination and great sense of humor, this book would have never been written. You are my sunshine.

CONTENTS

A Box, a Pillow, and a Yellow Steering Wheel

The Not so Tiny Surprise

Dinosaur Tag

Fish for the Fire

Visiting Smoky

Freddy and the Sharks

A Call for Help

Pokey Pete

Freddy Plans a Joke

The Four Protectors

In No Time

Dinosaur Glossary

A BOX, A PILLOW, AND A YELLOW STEERING WHEEL

Cameron was bored. He was tired of TV. He didn’t want to play outside. He was mad at his brother. So the ten-year-old boy lay on his tummy on his bed and kicked the wall. His brown eyes were closed as he listened to the sounds he made with his feet. Swish went his leg. Thunk went his bare foot against the wall. Impatiently, he pushed his soft brown hair out of his brown eyes and wiped away the sweat that trickled down his round, usually happy face. It covered the spray of freckles that ran across his nose, making them sparkle like flecks of gold in the sunlight. He stared up at the open window, squinting at the brightness. Swish. Thunk. Swish. Thunk.

Cameron stared at the wall. He stared at the floor. He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He rattled the small box in his pocket. He pulled it out and opened it, smiling at the small metal rod and stone inside. His dad had given these to him when he learned how to start his own fire. He remembered the fun they had fishing and hunting together. His dad looked so proud when Cameron got his fire going! They’d used it to cook their dinner that night.

Cameron’s happy smile faded as his eyes refocused on the ceiling. He put the box back into his pocket. I wish I could play somewhere else, he thought. I wish I could play with dinosaurs. Now that would be fun.

His favorite book of dinosaurs lay beside him on the bed. His eyes grew dreamy as he once again imagined what it would be like to have a T-rex for a best friend. He knew his T-rex would be red, his favorite color. And he would grow bigger and faster than any other dinosaur ever had. He would know things no other dinosaur did, and he and Cameron would work together to protect and care for other dinosaurs that needed help.

Cameron grinned. Somehow, it didn’t matter that no real dinosaur would be that big or that smart. His friend would be. He just knew it. And what fun they would have!

Suddenly, his little black, white, and brown cocker spaniel puppy, Kitt, ran into the room. He ran over to the bed and stretched up on his back legs until he could see Cameron looking at him. His head tipped to one side.

Go away, Cameron growled. I don’t want to play.

Kitt’s head tipped the other way, and his bright eyes seemed to twinkle. He barked. I said, go away! Cameron yelled. Kitt padded quietly out of the room. Swish. Thunk. Swish. Thunk.

Kitt returned, dragging something heavy. It made a funny sound, so Cameron looked over the side of the bed. Kitt stood beside a huge box. It lay on its side and the flap was open.

Did I see something? Cameron wondered as he stared into the box. Of course not! Nothing’s in there. Kitt barked. Cameron waved him away, saying impatiently, It’s just a box, Kitt.

Again Kitt left, his paws thumping loudly on the bare floor as he ran. Cameron heard him skid to a stop, than head back to his room at a trot. He was surprised when he came through the door dragging Cameron’s favorite pillow. He watched him tug it to the box. Kitt dropped the pillow and nipped at it playfully; then he gave it a final tug.

Cameron laughed as it tumbled back onto the floor. Kitt’s sad howl begged for help. So he reached down and placed the pillow in the box, smoothing out all the bumps and creases. When it was inside, Kitt happily wagged his tail and thundered out the door again. What on earth is he after now? He wondered.

Cameron heard funny bumps and bonks as Kitt ran back toward his room again. He turned on his side and curiously stared at the door. This time, the dog brought in a small yellow steering wheel. It had a key on a cord that was dragging behind the puppy. Kitt put that into the box. He also found Cameron’s shoes and added them to the pile. Then he sat down on the pillow. He pointed his nose at the top of the box and howled.

Cameron laughed and got off the bed. Okay, okay, I’ll sit with you, he said. He picked up his dinosaur book and pushed the puppy over to make room on the pillow. How cool this box would be if it were a time machine, he thought.

He imagined all the places he could go to. But most of all, he imagined taking it back in time to see dinosaurs. He picked up the steering wheel. He put the key into the slot and turned it to on. A sudden loud roar, like an engine, filled the room. Cameron looked out of the box in surprise. He could still see his bed, but he couldn’t touch it.

He looked at the front of the box. It had changed shape and now looked like a long red cone. It had an antenna sticking out of the front. The antenna had a light that blinked—first red, then yellow, then green.

Cameron looked at the steering wheel. It had a big panel, like a computer screen. On the screen, a question glowed back at him. It said, Do you want to see a dinosaur? Two words in boxes shaped like ice-cream cones blinked below the question. The green one said yes, and the red one said no.

Cameron stared at Kitt. How did you do that? Kitt opened his mouth in a wide doggy grin. Then he pushed his nose at the screen and barked. So you want to go too? Cameron smiled.

Kitt seemed to nod. Cameron drew a deep breath and then pressed down on the word yes. The question disappeared, and the word dinosaurs blinked a bright green as the engine started