Jeremy hadn't really wanted to go to the Halloween Carnival. Even if he hadn't been too old for such childish things, Jeremy didn't enjoy social activities. He was much more comfortable in working in his laboratory. But he had promised to take his sister Polly and Dr. Jones had encouraged him to 'get out and mingle'.
It helped to have Heather along. True, after her shocking revelation in group therapy he was a little uncomfortable around her. He had no idea that Heather felt that way about him. Then again, he never expected her to boldly declare her love for him in front of a bunch of strangers. Now that it was out in the open, he wasn't sure how he felt about her, much less how to act around her. Sure, he liked Heather. But did he love her? Jeremy just wasn't sure.
A small part of Jeremy was a little relieved. As part of the Mesozoic project, he helped to screen the applicants for conversion. Although they had received a large number of applications, few people wanted to be uplifted to a Syntixisaurus rex, essentially a mongrel dinosaur. Most wanted to be converted to a 'real' dinosaur, a purebred dinosaur with an unaltered genome, even though it might take a bit longer to collect enough DNA samples from fossils.
Of course, Heather's reputation didn't help much. No one wanted to be part of a species known for attacking innocent people, much less mated to one. Well, a few people did. Jeremy had snuck a peak at some of Heather's fan mail. It really gave him the creeps - the things some people think, much less are willing to commit to paper. But it didn't seem to bother Heather. She turned over some of the more disturbing ones to the police. He supposed a large mutant dinosaur really didn't have to worry too much about stalkers.
Jeremy looked up at Heather as she scanned the fairgrounds, nervously looking over the crowd. She seemed just as uncomfortable as he was. At least they could commiserate together.
Polly either didn't notice the unhappy looks on their faces or chose to ignore it. She was having a ball, running around the carnival grounds sampling the food and games. Polly had lived a somewhat sheltered life. Jeremy had mostly kept her at home, even going so far as to home-school her, to protect her from other people as much to protect other people from her. But in the throng of Animalians attending the fair, she was no longer an outsider. Here Polly was free to be herself, without being judged or ridiculed, and the oversized displays designed for larger Animalians didn't make her feel out of place.
As they walked through the fairgrounds, Polly happily introduced her brother to any of her friends that she happened to find. A few gave him queer looks - some knew about his efforts to cure his sister and did not look favorably on it. But most were more concerned with her other traveling companion - Heather, the large outlaw dinosaur.
"Is she going to try to eat us?" asked one of her friends who looked like a White Tail deer.
"No, don't be silly," said Polly. "She only eats people."
Heather wanted to scream, but wisely kept her emotions in check. Why did people keep repeating that silly myth? She had never wanted to eat Sophie or anybody else for that matter. Sure, she had wanted to hurt Sophie, even kill her. Tear her limb from limb, rip her apart, watch her slowly bleed out .... but eat her? No way! People had a way of exaggerating to make things more interesting and they seemed to like turning her into some kind of boogeyman. She had long since given up on correcting every person who made that false assumption. But it still hurt, especially when Polly believed it.
"Actually, she is a carnivore. So she can eat all kinds of animals, including humans. But she did have to give up eating people. They were bad for her figure," said Jeremy, shaking Heather's pudgy little belly.
Polly's young friends laughed at the comical sight of the monster's jiggling belly. Somehow, she just did not seem as frightening when they saw she was just like everyone else.
"I might make an exception if somebody doesn't stop rubbing my belly," said Heather playfully.
"Oh no, someone help me," said Jeremy, as he ran and hid behind Polly's friends.
Heather growled and lurched forward. Polly's friends scattered, laughing and screaming at the same time. Heather made a game of chasing them until Polly grew bored and wanted to move on.
Polly for her part had quickly grown indifferent to Heather's presence. She was shy at first, even a bit standoffish. But when Jeremy insisted that he would not go to the fair without Heather, Polly relented and stopped her childish protests. Heather did her best to bond with Polly. It was difficult - she had been an only child and had not been around children for a long time. It wasn't that she didn't like children - she hoped to have some children of her own someday, if the crazy Animalian virus cocktail she had used hadn't rendered her infertile - Heather just wasn't exactly sure how to act around them.
Heather did her best to win Polly over. She brought some seal meat as Jeremy had suggested. It had taken a significant chunk out of the meager compensation she was given for her work at Horizon Labs, but she thought it was worth it if it earned her a few brownie points with Polly. Polly thanked her profusely for the gift, but they had no time to eat it. Polly insisted they leave for the carnival as soon as possible.
Polly had chosen to dress up as Elsa, a princess from the 'Frozen' movie . The iconic frilly blue and white gown of the character looked ridiculous on the large polar bear. But Heather wisely kept her opinion to herself, instead choosing to compliment her costume. Heather and Jeremy wore no costumes, just street clothes. But Heather had taken great care in choosing what she thought was her best set of clothes.
The Halloween Exposition itself was very impressive. The citizens of Lyre had really gone all out, taking great care with the decorations. Some of the effects would have made amusement park engineers jealous. Jeremy particularly enjoyed the Voodoo Hoodoo, a Jazz band made entirely of skeletons. He could have spent all night lounging around the Mamba Wamba voodoo swamp just listening to the music and enjoying the scenery. But a child like Polly couldn't sit still for long and wanted to move on to other things.
Much to Heather's relief Jeremy decided to forgo the Meat Market. Heather knew she would have to introduce Jeremy to Effie some time, but she did not want their first meeting to be at a burlesque show. She had no idea what her grandmother had chosen to wear, but she was sure it had to be embarrassing.
One of Polly's favorite things at the Carnival was the special glow-in-the-dark Phosphorous body paint. She insisted on stopping at a stand to add it to her costume. Heather even let Polly add some paint to her body. Polly put a lot of thought into choosing just the right paint. She carefully and delicately applied the paint across Heather's scales and down her tail.
Although the Halloween Exposition was intended for both humans and Animalians, most of the booths and exhibits were designed to accommodate the larger Animalians. Everything seemed really big to Jeremy and it made him feel short, almost like a child. He wondered if this was how Heather felt in the real world, out of place because everything was too small.
"Jeremy, Jeremy! There's Marcy and Chilly! Let's go say hi!" said Polly with excitement.
Even before he could answer Polly was gone, barreling through the crowd and almost knocking down a few of the smaller Animalians. She was still a child at heart and sometimes forgot her own size and strength.
Heather reluctantly followed Jeremy over to greet Polly's foster family. She had hoped to avoid them today, but she knew she couldn't avoid them forever. Although Marcy seemed to accept her apology, her reception had still been chilly at best.
Polly was already babbling to Marcy, tugging on her fur and excitedly telling her all about her adventures at the carnival with her brother.
"Hello, Dr. Green. Miss Rex, " said Marcy, a little brusquely.
"You can call me Jeremy," said Jeremy, holding out his hand to shake.
"Nice to meet you, Jeremy," said Chilly, shaking his hand warmly.
"And you can just call me Heather," mumbled Heather. She did not offer her hand to shake. Instead she held them across her waist.
"Heather it is," said Chilly, a little cooler. He was no doubt still not too keen on Heather. She had threatened his girlfriend Marcy, after all.
They stood in a circle for a while, awkwardly silent, the sounds of the fair surrounding them the only noise.
"I, uh, like your paint," said Marcy, tilting her head towards the marks on Heather's scales.
"Oh, thanks, " said Heather numbly. She wasn't sure if the girl was making fun of her or not. But she thought it would be prudent to be polite in any case.
"I did it myself," said Polly proudly. "Do you want me to paint you, too?"
"Um, no thanks, Polly. Chilly and I were just about to go walk through the Alien Encounter. Maybe some other time," said Marcy.
"Oh, can I go with you? It looks like a lot of fun. Please," begged Polly.
"I don't know, " said Jeremy. He remembered his own youthful days. A haunted house was a good excuse for a young man to get some nice cuddles from his girlfriend. He doubted they wanted his little sister tagging alone. "I think they would prefer to do that on their own."
"Oh, I don't mind, Doctor... I mean, Jeremy. I would be happy to watch over her for a while if you like, " said Marcy.
Please let her go, please let her go, thought Heather desperately. She liked Polly, but she didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to spend time alone with Jeremy in a social situation. Maybe she could finally get her date.
"I don't know," said Jeremy. "She is a little young and it is pretty scary, from what I hear."
"Oh, I went to haunted houses when I was younger than her. And she will have her big brother and sister around to protect her. I think between the three of us we can handle any scary monsters or ghosts," said Marcy, pulling Polly and Chilly close to her.
"Yeah!" said Polly enthusiastically.
"Actually, I think it is supposed to be aliens," said Chilly. He didn't seem quite as excited about the proposed adventure.
"Whatever. He gets the idea, " said Marcy, giving Chilly a stern look. "So, what do you say, Jeremy?"
"Please, " begged Polly, giving him her best puppy dog eyes.
"Well, okay. If Marcy and Chilly don't mind. But no more sweets. I think you have had enough for today. And I don't want you to complain to me later about nightmares...."
"Yeah! Let's go!" said Polly, ignoring him.
Polly and Marcy laughed and giggled merrily as they headed off the Alien Encounter. Chilly gave him a somewhat helpless look as he trudged after them. He pitied the poor boy. But Jeremy supposed that was part of being in a family - sometimes you had to make sacrifices and do things you don't like.
"So, what do you want to do now?" asked Heather nervously.
"I don't know. Maybe head to the midway for some more games. Or we could get something to eat?" asked Jeremy.
"Let's play some games, " said Heather nervously. Her eating habits left a lot to be desired. She did her best to eat in a dignified manner, but sometimes her instincts got the better of her. She wanted to leave Jeremy with a good impression of her.
Jeremy did not have much luck at the midway. He may have been smart, but he had not been gifted with athletic prowess or sharp reflexes. Heather did not fare much better. Dinosaurs had apparently been designed more for strength rather than coordination. Finally they spotted a game they thought even they could win - an apple bobbing contest. It was a childish game, but they were feeling childish tonight.
After dunking their heads in the large bowl, by some strange coincidence their lips both ended up on the same apple, perilously close to kissing. Jeremy yielded the apple to Heather, who quickly flipped the apple into her large snout and swallowed it whole.
"You don't have to worry. I am not contagious, you know," said Heather a little defensively.
"Yeah, I know, " said Jeremy nervously, blushing a little.
"We could kiss and it wouldn't be a problem," said Heather, equally nervous.
"Yeah, I know, " said Jeremy, looking away as he rubbed the back of his head.
They stood in awkward silence for a while.
"So, do you want to try again?" asked Heather.
"You mean... kiss?" asked Jeremy.
"No, bob for another apple, silly, " said Heather.
"Sure, " said Jeremy, dipping his head eagerly into the water.
Heather was about to follow when she felt an odd rumbling in her stomach. She suddenly realized she had not eaten much fruit after her conversion. It was entirely possible that an apple was not good for her digestion. She gently patted Jeremy on the back.
He rose up out of the water, his face soaking wet.
"Don't want to try again?" said Jeremy with a little disappointment.
"No, I do. It's just that...." Heather's intestines grumbled loudly and more urgently. "I think I need to go to the bathroom first."
"Okay, I will go with you," said Jeremy.
"No, that's okay!" said Heather quickly. She had learned that a dinosaur's waste was not only large and messy, but pretty malodorous. And if the grumbling in her stomach was any indication, this pit stop might be worse than usual. She didn't want Jeremy to see that side of her, not yet at least. "I'd rather just go by myself. I have to do ... girl stuff and I wouldn't want you to have to wait for me. Just hang around the midway and I will find you."
"Are you sure? I don't mind," said Jeremy.
"No, I'll be fine. You just enjoy yourself here," said Heather, trying to hold back the gas rapidly building up in her colon.
Jeremy shrugged his shoulders. "Suit yourself."
As soon as his back was turned, Heather took off, desperately hoping that a bathroom large enough to accommodate her was not too far away.