This short story was written for the Hong Kong Young Writer’s Awards Competition. This year’s theme is about the Sinosauropteryx, a Chinese dinosaur from the Cretaceous period..

During the Cretaceous Period, dinosaurs ruled the world. They were not only the King of the forest, but also the sky and the ocean. Other animal species had to bow and kneel to them.

When the deathly, roaring and echoing voice came out from a tranquil valley, a flock of insects dashed and scampered through the woods and streams for life.

The kingdom was led by the most ferocious and ruthless dinosaurs, the Tyrannosaurus Rexes, one of the largest carnivores of all time.

Out of this spine-chilling kingdom, there were another species of meek dinosaurs.

Sinosauropteryx, also known as “the China Dragon Bird”, was one of a kind. It was a small and fluffy carnivore with an exceptionally long tail and short arms. Since they looked small and weak, their food, meat and small birds were always taken by other kinds of dinosaurs forcibly, especially T-Rexes. The Sinosauropteryx suffered from starvation and their numbers diminished sharply. The situation alarmed the family.

Their leader Drake said, “From now on, we will train 3 hours in a row and you can just have a 5 minute break. If you are lethargic, you have to run 100 circles in 30 minutes!”

Then, the crowd yelled and grumbled. “Aw man!”

“Why?”

Drake’s tribe, The Fast Dinosaurs, trained day and night for three months, fighting exhaustion in hope of becoming stronger and fighting for their survival.

Through the intensive training, The Fast dinosaurs became powerful enough to hunt food and for their revenge. They hunted lots of prey all over the world and shared the food among their family. The Sinosauropteryx population rebounded and the family developed into a dwarf empire .

Yet, power and authority twisted their minds. They occupied and took over countless lands and homes that belonged to the dinosaurs. When the T-Rex leader, Marl, heard the news, his head exploded. He sent a challenge battle letter to Drake to prove that he is the strongest among all dinosaurs. When the Sinosauropteryx group read the letter, they were frightened.

But Drake said, “Don't be scared. I will accept the challenge. We are unbeatable and the mightiest species in the world." 　 The epic battle started on a grassland in the USA. There were the tremendous triceratops charged with their mighty horns, and the velociraptors sped attacking in packs. They roared.

“Marl! Defeat that pathetic and tiny dinosaur!”

“Marl! Get them!” “Marl! Do not lose!” The triceratops and the velociraptors are on Marl’s side.

With a deafening voice, Marl spoke to Drake, “Hey you! You took everything and you are using your power to invade our lands?”

Drake hissed, “Oh, I’m not bullying other dinosaurs. I’m just helping them for my own good.”

The T-rex crowd said. “Boo!”

Then Marl roared a battle cry.

“Roar!”

After that, he charged at Drake fast like a meteor.

Drake dodged and climbed onto Marl's body and crunched its fat muscle painfully.

Drake swiped its little claws multiple times at Marl's body.

Marl tried to shake off Drake, but it didn’t work because Drake claws are so strong so he held on.

Marl was in such pain that he let out a booming scream.

Then, Marl swiped its tail and knocked Drake to the ground.

After that, Marl stomped on Drake's skinny neck and squashed it hard like a squishy jelly.

Drake couldn’t breathe.

Drake’s Sinosauropteryx group said, “We’ve got to help him!”

The gang rushed into the grassland and swifty jumped onto Marl’s body, crunching and munching his body.

Unfortunately, Marl’s body was critically damaged, he lay on the ground, blood losing.Then, he died.

The T-Rex group shouted, “No!”
“Marl, get up! You can still fight!”
But Marl couldn’t stand up. Drake won the match. Drake was exhausted but overjoyed. But then, the triceratops and the velociraptors shouted,“Attack the Sinosauropteryx group! Don’t let them get away! They deserve to die!”

The crowd swiftly charged to Drake and the Sinosauropteryx, biting them, slashing them, and beating them.

The Fast Dinosaurs were worn out after fighting Marl, and they couldn’t fight anymore. So, Drake and his team were killed.

The crowd said, “ Yay! Drake died!”

So, The Fast Dinosaurs were very miserable after their leader died. Because of that, they haven’t got any strength to hunt food and fight dinosaurs so they are very weak. The velociraptors’ leader, Rick, saw that, then he went to the tribe’s caveland and supplied them with meat, in exchange for a part of their land.

The Fast Dinosaurs were so touched that they cried. “Sorry, we’ve done a lot of bad stuff! We promise we won’t harm so many dinosaurs again.”

So, from now on, the dinosaurs lived in peace and shared their food together, and never fought ever again.

From Weak to Mighty: The Era of Sinosauropteryx