What a rosy morning!“ said Kit the cat as she greeted Din Din early Sunday morning.Even though winter could be felt in the air, Din Din’s garden looked vibrant with the blooming pansies and bright dogwood.

“It certainly is!” exclaimed Din Din. “Let’s get ready for some serious gardening today!”The dinosaur’s garden was his passion and despite his busy schedule at school, his duties being a monitor as well as his responsibilities in building and maintaining the stepwell at the Orange Orchard in Fruit Park, he always squeezed out time to devote to his garden. Having Kit the cat and her kittens as the live-in garden caretakers really helped.

Sunday was the one day he dedicated completely to spending in his garden. When evening fell Din Din wiped his brow after hours of ceaseless weeding and planting.

“The beans and peas look so lovely and green this year,” remarked Kit as they surveyed their hard work.

“Yes, they certainly do,” agreed Din Din with pride. “Mom’s waiting for me to harvest them so she can make a healthy salad with our meals.”

As the sun lowered in the eastern sky, Din Din left for the lakeside to meet his friends.“Bye Kit. See you tomorrow after school,” he called out.

At the lakeside, Din Din, Dazel and Delma were enjoying the splendid sight of the setting sun when suddenly Din Din heard someone calling out his name. Turning around he saw Kit and her kittens scampering towards him.

“Din Din!” panted Kit. “Something terrible has happened.” Din Din’s heart began to beat loudly. His mouth dried. A thousand terrifying thoughts raced through his mind.

“The garden,” gasped Kit as she stopped near Din Din, trying to catch her breath. “Some gigantic creatures trampled through our garden and…and,” she cried and then promptly burst into tears.

“Oh dear!” gasped Din Din and without another word he began sprinting towards his garden. Kit and her kittens were on his heels. Dazel flew overhead towards the garden. Delma the dolphin felt frustrated because she could not come out of the water.

“Oh! What in the world could have happened?” she fretted.

At the garden site, the sight that awaited Din Din was a devastating one. All his neatly trimmed flower and vegetable beds had been trampled by huge foot prints. Din Din took in the scene before him with glazed eyes. He was shellshocked. “What happened here?” he whispered to Kit. “I was here just an hour ago!”

“A while ago, I heard a loud thundering noise. Suddenly, I saw a herd of large, grey creatures running towards me. They were so strange…with huge, flapping fan-like ears and…and a nose…a long snout hanging from above its mouth…,” explained Kit through her tears. “They just sped past me and went southwards….I couldn’t do anything to stop them.”

“Elephants,” Dazel murmured at the description.

“Months of hard work…down the drain,” muttered Din Din as if in a trance. And with those words trudged towards Fruit Park. Dazel flew after him, “Din Din, wait! It’s okay. We will replant your seeds. It’s not as bad as it looks.”

But Din Din seemed not to have heard. “You go home, Dazel. I’m going home too. Good night.” But a flustered Dazel flew on ahead towards Din Din’s home and told Mrs Dee what had happened.

When Din Din reached his cave home his entire family was waiting at the cave entrance ready to console him. But Din Din walked right past them all. “I’m going to bed. Please do not disturb me,” he murmured.

Din Din lumbered into his room. Dazel and Din Din’s brothers, parents and grandparents glanced at each other in concern. “What will we do now?” asked Dazel.

“I have never seen him so upset,” said Din Din’s grandfather in anxiety.

“Give him time,” said Mrs Dee. “He will get over it.”

Dazel flew to her pond home while Din Din’s family sat down for dinner. But no one felt like eating. A sleepless night was experienced in Din Din’s household. His brothers peeked into his bunk in their room but Din Din’s eyes were closed. The next morning was a school day but Din Din did not go to school.

“Din Din,” said Mrs Dee gently as she shook him awake. But Din Din did not budge. His mother fretted over him a bit but finally went away. All the adults in the house tried to cajole him to get up and have breakfast but he would not move.

“We need to call Dr Trish,” said Grandmamma anxiously. “I am very worried about him.”Mr Dee left for work reluctantly while Grandmamma and Grandpa went to Dr Trish’s clinic to see if she was free to check Din Din. Ever since she had been elected head of the dinosaurs she could devote very little time to her clinic.

Mrs Dee sighed and made her way to the kitchen, “I’ll go make Din Din his favourite porridge.”

Derek, Dave and Don, his three brothers, also left for school feeling strange that their elder brother was not accompanying them.

Din Din was finally alone in his room. He opened his eyes and the image of his trampled garden flashed in his mind. He squeezed them shut again.

“My garden, my beloved garden, my days and months of hard work and sweat and toil — all in dust,” he spoke to himself.

Maybe if he remained in bed he could forget or ignore what had happened. “I’m never getting out of bed again,” he whispered to himself.

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