When Sarah awoke again, she found herself on a soft, round bed that smelled of lavender. Her mind took a few moments to shift from the night before, to earlier, to right now. How long had she been out? Where was she? Why didn't her burns hurt her more than they should have.
The first question she could answer was her location. She was clearly in a bed, round in shape, and tilted slightly so that entry and exit were easy on the injured ankle. The mattress was soft, as if it were stuffed with goose down, and covered by a cloth of a blue hue she had only seen in the home goods section of the department stores. She was tucked under another soft comforter of the same hue, and a pillow under her head, and two under her ankle.
The room she was in was square, just big enough for the bed, a night stand, and a low chest of drawers. There was one window that allowed a view of a rather large fruit tree. The fruits looked like apples, but she wasn't sure. A door allowed entry and exit, and was currently closed. The night stand was uninteresting, a single drawer contained a book written in a strange alphabet. The chest of drawers was more interesting. On the chest of drawers was an orate inscense holder, a statue of a sitting Buddha, the hand resting in his lap holding a cone of burning incense, the source of the lavender smell. The statue rested on a bright cloth, and was surrounded by flower heads and petals, and even wore a garland of small forget-me-nots. Wall hangings covered the plain, white walls, and depicted various scenes with what looked to be dinosaurs. Sarah's brain registered the scenes as "impossible" and "fantasy." There was writing in three languages woven into the wall hangings. One looked to be Japanese, or Chinese, Sarah never could tell the difference, the second was some strange writing, a few symbols she recognized as being associated with Buddhism, and the third was the same strange alphabet the book in the night stand drawer was written in. This alphabet consisted of what looked like bird footprints that faced four directions, up, down, left, and right, in various patterns. Again, Sarah's brain registered this as "fantasy."
Sarah's brain screamed that she must be dreaming. After a quick knock, a small saurian pushed through the door, followed by a young boy.
"I came to tell you that my mother is bringing the mid-day meal up in a little while for you." He spoke slowly in English. "She also wants me to check on your ankle, if you let me see it, I will be quick."
Keeping her eyes fixed on the small Compsognathus, she pulled the comforter above her ankle enough for the boy to unwrap the new bandage and inspect the wound gently.
"I am going to put on a salve that helps in healing. I will not re-wrap your ankle because it needs to dry." He smiled, pulling out a tin.
Opening it, the faint smell of mint mixed with the lavender and made Sarah think of sleep again. The mixture was cool and painless as he applied it to the wound.
"Thank you." Sarah nodded. "What is that?" She asked, pointing at the dinosaur, who looked slighted at being called a "that."
"He is Greenleaf, a Compsognathus. I suppose you are very confused, but he is a dinosaur. My mother will explain it all." He smiled and turned to leave. He snapped his fingers at the dinosaur, who stuck his little paw out, fingers splayed.
"I'm sorry I called you a 'that'." Sarah said appologetically. The Composgnathus chirruped and nodded, then followed the boy out of the room.
Her mind thoroughly confused, Sarah threw off the cover and tenatively stepped onto the floor. She now noticed the rug which covered most of the floor space, woven by hand with intricate designs. She leaned on the night-stand, not putting weight onto her bad ankle. Whoever had brought her from the beach had changed her clothes, putting her in what she would call a very comfortable pair of pajamas. Silk pants, and a loose top, which buttoned diagonally down the chest and shaded the prettiest shade of blue, matching the covers for the mattress.
Another knock on the door before a plump, short woman entered, carrying a tray of food.
"My son told me you were awake." She spoke in better English. Her accent was hard to place, but she looked very much Indian or, at least, from that general area.
"Where am I?" Sarah asked, confused beyond belief. Her mind refused to clear and she always thought back to the dinosaur.
"You are a few miles from the town of Prosperine, on the island of Dinotopia." She smiled and placed the tray on the night stand.
"Dino-whosawhatsits?" Sarah asked confused, shaking her head. Her neck still hurt, but not as much as before.
"Dinotopia. It's a hidden island. You Outside Worlders only get here through wrecks and are washed up on the beach, or brought to shore by the dolphins, thus our word for newcomers is 'dolphinback'." She took an orchid from the tray and tucked it behind the Buddha's ear, whispered a prayer and turned back to face the still confused girl. "Please, eat, you must regain your strength."
"Thank you. I'm still confused though." Sarah sat back on the bed. "Why the dinosaur?"
"Dinotopia is a land that time forgot. Here, dinosaurs still walk the land and swim in the oceans, but they co-exist with humans peacefully. We have a mutual relationship rather than a pet relationship. Dinosaurs are rather smart beings, sentient, and willing to help a human out for a favor in return. We base our society on a barter system, and it works well for our size."
"Where on the globe are we?" Sarah asked, taking a slice of bread, dipping it in flavored oil, and taking a bite.
"You know, I do not know. It seems, we both have much to learn, but for now, you must eat. I will bring you some tea to drink." The woman began to leave.
"Oh, just water, I never liked tea." Sarah said before she left. "And my name is Sarah." She smiled.
The woman smiled in return. "Our tea is unlike the Outside's, so I have been told. My name is Radha, and my son is Minesh. If you need anything, just call for us."
"Thank you."
Radha left. Sarah's confusion was cleared slightly, but not by much. She inspected the tray of food. There was no cheese, or dairy products, and no sign of anything containing eggs. The only meat was some sort of fish that had been smoked. Instead, there were several slices of fruit, some slices of what looked like wheat bread with the dipping oil and a salad. Sarah tried the fruit and found it very sweet. Radha brought in a large mug of fresh, cool water, crisper and cleaner than what she had ever tasted in the Outside World.
Sarah spent the next few days in the room, gathering what information she could about her location, and allowing her ankle to heal. What was a swollen, infected injury was reduced to what would be a small scar after tha stitches came out. Her initial fear of Greenleaf wore off as she began to move about the property and met more dinosaurs of various kinds and personalities.
Of them all, she most liked Scarlet, a Hypsilophodont with a bright red face and green-blue body with white feet and hands. She was the youngest of the hypsies on the farm, the most boisterous.
Radha, it came to be known by Sarah, was the matriarch of a large Indian family the ancestors of which arrived in the 1800's when an English ship bound for the Cape of Good Hope and then England was blown off course. Her grandparents started the farm with a few trees in the orchard, which grew to about a hectacre of fruit trees, and several fields of clover. Her family produces both fruit and honey, as well as syrups made from the sap of the fruit trees. Sarah toured the grounds, riding on the back of Twinspot, a young Parasaurolophus with twin spots on his nose and his tail. Scarlet accompanied them when she wasn't checking the sap taps, and stealing a few licks here and there, or doing other work where needed. Radha generally found time to accompany Sarah and begin teaching her the Dinotopian language. She learned that the book in the desk drawer was written in the Footprint Alphabet.
She also learned that she needed to travel to Waterfall City to register her arrival and formally learn in the schools there.
As well, she learned that she could never go home, which, like it does for all dolphinbacks, disheartened her slightly, until she came to accept the fact.
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