A confused dinosaur in a world full of woke millenials; a prehistoric creature, out of time and out of place; yes, that was Ty the T-Rex for you. He was the scroogiest, grinchiest dino to have ever stomped upon the earth. To say that he didn’t have the foggiest about social interaction, would be an understatement. Now, all this wasn’t because he was totally unwilling to learn. That is to say, it didn’t start out that way. He had tried numerous times – and failed just as many times- in trying to understand the ways of the world. Eventually, after years of failure, he resigned himself to a life of…well, just himself.
As sad as it was, Ty was determined to look on the bright side of things. He took care of all his problems himself and didn’t have to rely on anybody for help or comfort. He didn’t have to deal with annoying arguments, pesky emotions, betrayal, fair-weather friends, all-weather foes… All he had to deal with was his loneliness… and there were worse things – a broken heart, for instance (Ugh! He shuddered at the very thought). Thus, Ty became the iciest dino to have ever existed.
Ty’s heart carried the marks of the ages- the Alvarez Event had nearly shattered it and the Ice Age following the meteor crash had frozen it solid. For centuries, Ty wandered the vast expanse of the earth and witnessed the various vagaries that Time wrought on the world. He saw empires rise and fall, civilizations flourish and die out, monuments that symbolised power and love, wealth and faith. Yet, despite all the changes around him, he remained as constant as the North Star. Unchanged, unmoved and unaffected, he viewed all of humanity with the cold cynicism and contempt that Time is wont to inspire in anyone who has lived long enough to be well acquainted with her temper tantrums.
However, this was not to last. Winter had come, but winter would go too. After all, nothing cold stays. Global warming was making its presence felt and as much as Ty hated unwelcome visitors, or any visitors, really, this was something he couldn’t ignore. Denial wasn’t his strong suit and it never ceased to amaze him how some wielded it as their trump card. Some things are beyond even dino comprehension. But, we’re digressing. Where were we? Oh yes, the Universe said-“ Let there be light.” And there was light. And heat. Lots of heat. Enough to begin to thaw his icicle of a heart. This was largely because of two sunrays in particular. Now, they weren’t like those super sunny sunrays humankind greets with those bug-eye thingies on their faces. In fact, as sunrays go, they were aberrations. But they were driven and dedicated (read annoying and tenacious) and eventually they succeeded in melting his heart and worming their way into it.
And you know what? Ty realised that while he wasn’t that big on a broken heart ( who is, really?), he didn’t really mind having a holey one. It felt good. It felt right, like those beloved old, comfy hoodies humans wear that are more holes than cloth. Though, he’d sooner scratch his eyes out than tell them that. But wait, that wouldn’t be possible now, would it? What with T-rexes having small arms and all.
Written by Samyukta Menon (4th year)
