There was an emergency meeting of the dinosaurs of Fruit Park early Saturday morning.

“And emergency meetings always spell trouble,” muttered Din Din as he accompanied his father and grandfather. Together they jostled their way through the scented orange trees into the orchard enclosure.

The orchard was usually a beautiful place surrounded by groves of orange trees and a huge stepwell in the middle where people came to collect water. It was the meeting place for all major events of the dinosaurs and where the dinosaur leaders lived.

“Some locusts have been spotted in parts of D’Land,” Dr Trish announced in her loud, solemn voice as soon as the adults had gathered at the Orange Orchard. There was a disquieting murmur in the crowd.

“It has been years since the locust have been seen; they are content to live in one end of the savannah. But my sources tell me a swarm was seen flying east towards Fruit Park,” Old Rex, the elderly dinosaur and their retired leader, joined in.

“There can be only one reason that their swarms are in outbreak,” Dr Trish added. “They are becoming gregarious!”

Looking at the blank faces of her audience she sighed, “That means they are ready to attack and when they attack they strip fields and crops leaving behind nothing.” There was a gasp of disbelief.

“This is a major concern especially for the Fruit Park as fruits grow here in abundance and our survival depends on them,” Dr Trish ended.

“But what can we do to stop them?” asked someone from the gathered crowd. “What’s kept the locusts at bay for so long? Why do you think they’re ready to attack now?” blurted out Din Din.

Dr Trish and the other elder dinosaurs looked at Din Din. Din Din shifted on his feet uncomfortably. He disliked being the centre of attention. “I’m sorry to interrupt but I have a garden and I’m very concerned about what will happen to it when the locusts attack,” Din Din explained.

“Certainly, we are all concerned and your question is valid,” replied Dr Trish. “The answer is that locusts release serotonin in their brains that triggers a dramatic set of changes: they start to breed abundantly, becoming gregarious and nomadic. They form bands and the swarms move rapidly and strip fields.”

“In other words they don’t realise what they are doing and there is no reasoning with them when they are in this phase,” added Old Rex grimly. “I remember when I was a young dinosaur many, many years ago and the locusts attacked several parts of D’Land. There was a famine for many months.” There was a wave of anxious whispers in the gathered crowd.

“But there is a solution,” announced Dr Trish. “An unpleasant solution!”

“What? What,” were the cries from the crowd. “Garlic spray is the main trick for controlling locusts — they can’t bear the odour of garlic!” said the triceratops.

“Is there a supply of garlic we can get from the gardens and fields of D’Land?” the doctor asked.

Din Din nodded eagerly, “Yes, I grow a patch of garlic in my garden.”

“That’s great, Din Din,” cried Din Din’s grandfather triumphantly.

“But a single patch is not enough,” interrupted Dr Trish. “We need more to make a lot of garlic spray.”

“I can get more from Burrow the rabbit. His huge gardens are near the lake! Also, I can ask Flame the flamingo who manages a very large nursery near the coastal jungle,” hollered Din Din excitedly.

“That is great, Din Din! You must set off at once to get as much supply of garlic. Then we need volunteers to prepare the spray,” Old Rex said.

Din Din left with his brothers at once; he first picked the garlic from his own garden and then trudged to Burrow’s garden. The rabbit was worried to hear about the locusts too.

“Sure, I’ll give you a basket full of freshly unearthed garlic. But I’ll keep the rest because I’ll need it too to make the spray for my garden as well. Thanks for sharing this tip.”

Din Din hauled the basket on his brother Derek’s back. “You take this to the orchard. I’ll move ahead to Flame to get more garlic. The coastal jungles are far. In the meantime you can ask the elders to start using this garlic to make the spray.”

Flame was as cooperative as Burrow and Din Din puffed back towards Fruit Park with his heavy burden of Flame’s strong smelling garlic. When Din Din reached the Orange Orchard it was nightfall. He saw huge, bubbling pots of garlic being boiled in water.“

“Din Din,” greeted Dr Trish warmly. “You did it! You got us an ample supply of garlic.”Din Din blushed with pride.

“Now tomorrow when this garlic solution has cooled down we will spray the entire Fruit Park with it,” Old Rex instructed. “We need as many young volunteers as possible.”

The next day was spent in spraying all the trees and bushes with the garlic spray.

“Ewwww,” cried Don, Din Din’s youngest brother. “Everything stinks of pungent garlic!”

“But it’s better than having to go hungry, Don,” explained their father as he sprayed the berry bushes outside their cave home with garlic spray. A week passed as the dinosaurs remained alert to any sign of the locusts.

“We’ve done it!” cried Din Din at the dinner table. “I heard Dr Trish saying that the locusts had been spotted flying back to the savannah. We are safe at last.”

“And all because of you,” announced Mr D proudly. Din Din’s cheeks became as red as beetroots.

“But I don’t think this smell of garlic will ever leave Fruit Park,” Don said, screwing up his nose distastefully.

“We will think of a way to combat that too,” Din Din promised with a smile.

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