The Dinosaur Encounter: The Alberta Episode

By Lisa Tasca Oatway

After a freak accident which leaves Tori blind, she acquires a unique ability that allows her to sense the thoughts and feelings of inanimate objects, and enables her to travel to new and unexplored places. Join Tori as she and her siblings embark on the first journey in the Blue Crescent Moon series, and visit the fantastical past of dinosaurs in the beautiful province of Alberta. Together, they pool their knowledge and talents to devise a plan for a special rescue mission which will put them in danger and threaten their lives. Will they survive the experience?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Dec 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9780228864721

Lisa Tasca Oatway

LISA TASCA OATWAY was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. From a young age, she has loved to read for both entertainment and education. The idea to share her love of Canadian heritage with young audiences was first nurtured while raising her family, where she would encourage her children to make up stories on family trips travelling to beautiful destinations. Lisa would embellish the stories with her own details, and hence the idea of the Blue Crescent Moon series was hatched. She currently makes her home in Caledon, Ontario, with her husband, while her children, who are all young adults, are busy reading, travelling and living in the province of Ontario.

Book preview

The Dinosaur Encounter

The Alberta Episode

The Blue Crescent Moon Series

Lisa Tasca Oatway

The Dinosaur Encounter

Copyright © 2021 by Lisa Tasca Oatway

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-6471-4 (Hardcover)

978-0-2288-6470-7 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-6472-1 (eBook)

For Patrick, Christina, Michael and Catherine: my inspiration, my pride and my joy.

And for Pete, who made it all possible.

Contents

Chapter 1 - The Vacation

Chapter 2 - The Accident

Chapter 3 - The Doctor Visit

Chapter 4 - The Miracle

Chapter 5 - The Airport

Chapter 6 - The Landing

Chapter 7 - The Hotel

Chapter 8 - The Car Ride

Chapter 9 - The Museum

Chapter 10 - Black Beauty

Chapter 11 - The Canadian Herbivore

Chapter 12 - The Beautiful Place

Chapter 13 - The Canadian Carnivore

Chapter 14 - The Blue Crescent Moon

Chapter 15 - The Beautiful Place Again

Chapter 16 - The Shrub

Chapter 17 - The Flowering Hedge

Chapter 18 - The Schoolroom

Chapter 19 - The Earth Tremors

Chapter 20 - The Museum Again

Chapter 21 - The Return to the Beautiful Place

Chapter 22 - Hatching the Plan

Chapter 23 - Executing the Plan

Chapter 24 - The Encounter

Chapter 25 - The Build

Chapter 26 - The Descent

Chapter 27 - The Reveal

Chapter 28 - The Reunion

Chapter 29 - The Theories

Chapter 30 - The Unpleasant Encounter

Chapter 31 - The Surprise

Bibliography

1

The Vacation

The long-awaited day has finally arrived! The Stonehart family will be starting their vacation tomorrow, after the end of the school year. The destination this year is Alberta, a beautiful province in Western Canada. Alberta is known for the Calgary Stampede, a summer festival that celebrates cowboy heritage; the Rocky Mountains, which dominate the landscape; and dinosaurs, who roamed the Albertan terrain over 65 million years ago.

The family has been preparing for months for this trip by researching all the interesting places to visit. Each family member selected one fascinating spot to see while on vacation. The family busily planned a two-week stay around the different points of interest. The hotels are booked, and the tickets to the attractions are purchased. All that remains to be done is to pack.

The Stoneharts are a family of six: Stephanie, the mom; David, the dad, and the four children. Daniel (Danny) is the oldest at twelve years old; Veronica (Ronni) is next at ten, followed by James (Jamie) who is eight. The youngest, Victoria, better known as Tori, is six. The family has travelled on vacation quite a bit, but for the past several years this has mostly been on the road. During these road trips, they visited the many beautiful places that surround them in their province of Ontario and the neighbouring province of Québec. One year, they drove out to the Maritime provinces—Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island–for a long vacation, renting a cottage with their friends. Although the three older children have flown to vacation spots before, this will be Tori’s first airplane ride. Is she ever excited!

Being the youngest means Tori often has to prove herself to her siblings. One of the many things they tease her about is that she has never been on an airplane. Well, this trip will put a stop to that! But Tori is sure that her brothers and sister will find other reasons to make her feel like the most useless member of the family. Mom regularly comes to her defense, and repeatedly asks the others to treat Tori with love and respect. Then she gives Tori a wink as a reminder of a conversation they had one day when Tori was particularly upset at a cruel prank that Ronni and Jamie had played on her. Mom had comforted Tori and told her that she was an old soul—someone who has lots of wisdom and knowledge, even at a young age. Mom also suggested that the others teased her because they were a little jealous of Tori’s maturity and gift of a logical mind. But she made sure to tell here that this last thought should be their little secret.

Tori questions everything, which is how she learns, and this habit annoys Ronni and Jamie. They often lose patience with her and call her a pest, or a nuisance. But not Danny. He is very patient, and will answer Tori’s many questions. Danny’s answers bring on more questions from Tori, but Danny answers them all, and when he is tired or needs to focus on something else, he asks, Good for today? which is his nice way of ending the question period. Danny is Tori’s favourite.

Packing for a trip is always fun. Mom does laundry and lays out the clothes to be packed days before. Mom is a good packer. She arranges clothes for all types of weather: warm outfits for cool nights, splash wear for the rainy days, swimwear and summer choices for the daytime, and always a set of dress attire for the fancy times. Dad teases Mom by saying that she invents occasions so she has an excuse to bring more clothes than are needed.

Each member of the family has their own luggage, and Mom makes sure that each kid is in the room when she is packing for them. She lays out all the outfits for the trip on each child’s bed before she packs them, so when she says to wear a particular outfit, they know exactly which one she means. She has already laid out the items for this trip.

The most fun part of the experience is the backpack preparation. Each child is responsible for packing their own. But there are some rules. For one, each child needs to pack items that will keep them entertained during a plane or car ride, and any time the family isn’t actively doing something. Mom and Dad never want to hear, I am bored. I have nothing to do! from any of their kids. The other necessary items are snacks to nibble on, because as Mom reminds everyone, You never know where your next meal is coming from when travelling. And the final rule from Dad is that everyone is responsible for carrying their own backpack, always. This rule makes it tricky to pack, because a heavy backpack, full of all your favourite items, is not a fun thing to lug around.

So, the kids plan which items to put in their backpacks weeks ahead of a trip. They all bring their gaming devices with their favourite games downloaded and ready to play. The next common item is a series of books or magazines. All the Stonehart family members are avid readers, and it is difficult to pare down their choices so the books do not weigh down the backpack. Only Ronni enjoys using an e-reader for her favourite books. The other family members love the touch and feel of paper books over the digital versions. And so, for days the siblings will add or subtract items to be placed in their backpacks for the journey.

The luggage is kept in the garage. Dad has built a storage loft for luggage and seasonal sports equipment, like the baseball and skating gear that each of the kids owns. They have created a tradition where the family lines up at the large living room window above the garage while Dad backs the vehicle out to gain access to the stored luggage. Then he rolls out each piece, and the family members join him on the driveway to claim their own and take it to their bedrooms to prepare for packing. This event is called the Luggage Parade. It is always an exciting time, and everyone looks forward to it!

The weather today is unsettled, and the forecast calls for severe thunderstorms. Dark clouds have already formed, and even though it is midday, it is dark and gloomy outside. The wind has picked up and is blowing things around. Dad decides to get the luggage after lunch, before the storm reaches them. As the family is eating, lightning can be seen in the distance. After a long period, claps of thunder begin to be heard. They are so loud that the house shakes with each roll. Dad knows he should bring the luggage in soon, while the lightning is still in the distance and there is no rain.

The family finishes up lunch, leaving the dishes to be tended to later so they can assemble and get ready for the Luggage Parade. Mom and the kids line up at the large window, and can hear Dad starting up the car below them in the garage, getting ready to back it out onto the driveway. This is Jamie’s cue to make a drumroll sound, and Ronni announces, Ladies and gentlemen! May I direct your attention to the Parade of Luggage! At this point all send up whoops of joy. They applaud and cheer, making lots of noise.

A huge round of lightning lights up the sky in front of them. It is so bright and spectacular. It lasts for a long time. Never have they seen such intense light in the sky. Their eyes flood with brightness—it is an uncomfortable feeling. Mom, Danny, and Jamie look away in an instant. Ronni and Tori are attracted to the blazing light. The girls are mesmerized, and it makes them feel warm inside. Ronni eventually looks away, but Tori continues to take in the beautiful sight. The lightning bolts are doing a graceful dance, flowing like a waterfall. Tori begins to see many colours dancing in front of her eyes, taking on shapes. She sees blue and yellow bunnies hopping about and large, strong, white trees swaying in the breeze. She is starting to feel strange. Her tummy is making lurching motions. She thinks she might be sick. She begins to hear a high-pitched whining sound. Her little legs feel like jelly. She feels wobbly. She reaches out, clutching for Jamie’s sleeve. She misses. She blacks out, crumbling to the floor like a wet cardboard box.

2

The Accident

Jamie is the first