Vela Walks Again

by Joe Coleman

Story 4

33

Glossary

huge: (adj.) extremely large or big in size or amount.

Sofia has a passion for dinosaurs. Mostly it’s boys that love dinosaurs, but Sofia has always loved finding out about them, and she has a huge fossil collection, too. None of her friends share Sofia’s interest in dinosaurs and fossils, but she doesn’t care. She likes them, and in her case it’s not surprising. Her dad is a paleontologist.

Sofia’s dad often goes on digs. When he comes back he always tells Sofia about the things he’s discovered. He often brings back little fossils for her, too. That’s why her fossil collection is so big! During the vacations Sofia and her dad sometimes go on fossil hunts. Usually her Uncle Alvaro goes with them, too.

Sofia’s Uncle Alvaro is her dad’s brother…his identical twin brother. Uncle Alvaro’s interested in dinosaurs, too, but he isn’t a paleontologist. He’s a tech whizz and works on augmented reality. Sofia doesn’t really understand what he does exactly, but she knows it’s something to do with computer technology. Uncle Alvaro isn’t married, and he doesn’t have any children of his own, so he spoils Sofia a lot. He’s a really cool uncle! Glossary spoils: (v. 3rd per.) to treat someone very or too well, especially by being extremely generous.

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One day Sofia was watching a program on television about dinosaurs. It was about a dinosaur skeleton that had been found in Coahuila in Mexico. Sofia called her dad in to see the program with her. “Were you on that dig?” she asked him. “No I wasn’t,” her dad said. “But I heard all about it! That was when they discovered the Vela!”

Sofia and her dad watched the program in silence. Vela was a dinosaur that the scientists named a velafrons dinosaur. It lived on the Mexican coast 72 million years ago. It had a beak like a duck, so it must have been a plant eater, not a meat eater. “The fossilized skeleton that the paleontologists found near Saltillo in Coahuila was the most complete dinosaur skeleton ever found in Mexico,” the television narrator said.

After the program had finished there was a knock on the door. It was Uncle Alvaro, who had come over for supper. While Sofia’s mom made the supper, Sofia told her uncle all about Vela, the new Mexican dinosaur. “How exciting!” Uncle Alvaro said, when Sofia had finished. “Yes, it is exciting,” said Sofia, “But it would be more exciting to see a real dinosaur, not just its skeleton!”

Glossary

extinct: (adj.) no longer existing. “You’re never going to see a real dinosaur again,” Sofia’s dad said. “The planet is different now! Dinosaurs are extinct. You can only see what they looked like all those years ago in dinosaur movies!” “I know,” said Sofia. “But somehow it’s not the same. I wish dinosaurs could come back and walk again. That would be SO exciting!”

Sofia’s dad laughed. “I don’t think it would be exciting!” he said. “I think it would be very frightening!” Most dinosaurs were enormous, you know. Vela was certainly enormous!” But Uncle Alvaro didn’t laugh! He just looked thoughtful. “I know what you mean, Sofia,” he said. “Yes, it would be exciting to see a dinosaur walking down the street nowadays, wouldn’t it?” “Supper’s ready,” shouted Sofia’s mom.

Glossary

frightening: (adj.) making you feel fear.

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Several days passed. Sofia was busy at school. Her dad was writing an article about some shell fossils he had found where no one knew the ocean had ever been. And Uncle Alvaro didn’t come to visit or even call them! And so it went on all week until Saturday. But on Saturday Sofia’s mom and dad had to go out, so Uncle Alvaro invited Sofia to have lunch with him in a restaurant.

The restaurant was rather full, but Uncle Alvaro and Sofia found a table for two next to a rather fat man who was eating fish. They sat down and Sofia started to study the menu. Meanwhile Uncle Alvaro got out his laptop and started to play with it. Sofia felt quite cross. She wanted her uncle to talk to her and not sit in front of her working!

Sofia ordered a glass of lemonade and a pasta and salad. Uncle Alvaro asked for a glass of beer and a steak. When the server had gone to get their food Uncle Alvaro went on working with his laptop. But he didn’t seem to be looking at the screen. He was looking at the door of the restaurant. Suddenly he said “Wow Sofia. Just look at that!”

Sofia looked in the direction her uncle was pointing in. An enormous velafrons was walking in through the door – right through the glass of the door without breaking it! It was walking among the tables! It was coming right for them! People were jumping up in horror! Several people knocked over glasses and plates. The velafrons stopped at the fat man’s table and seemed to grab a fish from his plate and eat it. The fat man nearly fell off his chair! Glossary knocked: (past v.) to repeatedly hit something, producing a noise.

Glossary

begged: (past v.) to make a very strong and urgent request. Uncle Alvaro switched off his computer and shut the lid down fast. The velafrons disappeared. Uncle Alvaro stood up. “Sorry everyone!” he said. “There’s nothing to worry about! It was a computer augmented hologram. I just wanted to show my niece here what a dinosaur would look like in today’s world.” Everyone sat down again laughing. Several people begged Uncle Alvaro to show them the hologram again. So he did. Sofia couldn’t believe her luck, as the velefrons stopped in front of her! “Thank you Uncle Alvaro,” she said. “That’s so cool! Wow! Vela walks again!”

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