In Her Time Of Need

Roger set his broom against the porch railing and wiped the sweat from his brow. It had been a long, hot day, but everything was finally done. He turned to head into the house, when he heard a faint, familiar voice. His ears perked and he turned to see his sprout, Astrid, tearing down the long dirt road, headed directly for him. A huge smile broke across his normally hard face and he leaped from the porch, arms outstretched.

"Dad! Dad, you won't believe the time I had!" Astrid excitedly blurted as she crashed into him, almost knocking him over with a hug.

He wrapped his long arms around her, holding her tight. "Then you'll have to tell me all about it! But first just let me look at you, I missed you so much!" He gave her a loving squeeze, then took a step back, his hands on her shoulders.

She was almost as tall as him now, and looked much more toned and mature than when she'd left almost two years ago. Her hair was long and thick, swaying lazily at her shoulders, and tied back messily in what looked like hand-woven rope. There was a potion in her hand, most likely from Fabian, and she seemed to be itching to drink it. Tucked under her other arm was a large, faintly striped egg. A strange bird-like creature that he hadn't noticed before was circling them and swooped down to perch on her shoulder, letting out a tiny squawk as if to say "Hello."

He let out a bellowing laugh. "Well, hello to you, too!" He said to the creature before addressing Astrid again. The same familiar strength and determination still blazed in her eyes, and yet it was softer now, almost patient. "You've really grown up, haven't you? I'm so proud of you, Kiddo."

She smiled. "I missed you, too Dad."

With a knowing nod, he placed his hand gently on her back and turned to the house. "Now come in and tell me all about that adventure you had! I'm sure Lolo will be happy to hear it, too."

"Oh, Lolo! I almost didn't think about her!" Astrid hurried ahead of him to the house and flung open the door, calling for her cropea.

Roger shook his head with an amused grunt and followed her indoors.

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An hour or so later, after Astrid had greeted Lolo and gone outside to see her trusty Floophorse, Sakura, she finally settled down in the love-seat next to Roger. It was an old, faded seat, but she'd played in his arms in it as a tiny sprout and still came back to it when she wanted to spend time with her caretaker.

He wrapped an arm around her and positioned himself to look at her. "Ok, now tell me everything, especially how brave you were" He chuckled.

Both of them knew all too well that bravery wasn't her strong suit, and she gave him a playful jab in the ribs for it. They both laughed for a moment before she took a deep breath and began her tale.

"It was really weird at first," She started. "I was expecting to go to the time that you went to for your trial, but instead it spit me out in a time before Earth even had humans."

Roger tilted his head curiously. He knew the portal always led Bagbeans to where they needed to be, but he'd never expected his sprout would have gone so far back in time.

"I was in this huge jungle, with trees as tall as mountains! The foliage was so thick you could walk on it, and the bugs were giants! I almost expected one to eat me!" She went on and on, telling him about the dinosaurs she saw, and thanking him for putting her good tools in her bag. She told him that she'd had to make her first few outfits out of leaves, and he laughed. The strange bird creature, who she'd named Vincent, nuzzled her face lovingly as she told Roger about finding him and saving him from a giant carnivorous plant. "I was in the jungle for probably a year, learning how to take care of myself from Vincent and the other creatures. After a while, though, I got lonely and decided to leave the jungle to look for something else." She stopped to scratch Vincent's chin, who chirped happily at her in response.

Roger looked down at the egg still tucked in the crook of her arm. "Was this the 'something else' you found, or did you take it from some poor mama?" He joked.

Astrid's eyes darkened at the jab, and she looked down at the egg, running a thumb softly over the surface of the shell. She sighed softly, and Roger almost wondered if he'd said something wrong.

"This, um..." She started again, he voice quieter this time. "This was a gift..." There was a long pause. "When Vincent and I left the jungle, we found a large plain. There were these huge dinosaurs, like the ones you see in books. We saw diplodocus, brachiosaurus, all kinds of theropods, and... stegosaurus." The last word almost sounded painful for her to say, and Roger held her a little tighter. At that she seemed to notice how quiet she was being and straightened up. "I'm ok, really! We stayed in the plains for some time, usually with the herds of stegosuarus. They were pretty docile creatures, and were ok with us as long as we didn't spook them!" She tried out a smile, but Roger could tell something was wrong. "After a while the stegos started laying eggs. Vincent and I helped the mothers keep track of their eggs, and in return the males in the herd offered us protection as well. It was a lot of work, but so worth it when the babies started to hatch! Have you ever seen a baby stegosaurus? They're so cute, and much smaller than you'd think."

Roger smiled. "I don't doubt it."

She looked down at the egg again. "But, one of the mothers was having a hard time with her eggs... They weren't hatching on time, and the rest of the herd was leaving her for better feeding opportunities. Vincent and I decided to stay with her and help her watch them, and she seemed really appreciative of that." Her voice had begun to shake, and she sniffled a little. "Then one day... a tyrannosaurus attacked her... She was able to fight it off but..." Astrid sniffled again, trying to wipe her tears before Roger could see them. "It smashed all her eggs... All but this one..."

Roger could tell that she was trying to be strong, trying so hard not to break. He could see now that she'd been holding this in for a while, and his heart broke for her. He wrapped her in a hug. "It's ok, sweetie. It'll be alright."

She was sobbing into his chest now, her one arm wrapped around him while the other cradled her precious gift. "She was so beat up... She couldn't even walk..." There was a long pause and a lot of shaking. "She gave this egg to me, with her dying breath..." With that her story was over and all she could do was cry.

Roger held her for a long time, wanting so much to take the pain away. But he was helpless. All he could do was hold her and help her get through it. In that moment a rage began to build in his belly. He couldn't handle seeing his precious sprout going through so much hurt, so much pain. He vowed to be stronger, to protect her from whatever the world threw at her. He would make sure nothing and no one hurt her like that again. Next time he would be there for her in her time of need...