A Big Feast [Autum 2024]

A light breeze blew and played with the dry autumn leaves in the midday sun as two Styracosaurians walked along the old path to some long-abandoned fields.

The humans had planted these before they disappeared and delicious plants still grew there.

On the way to their meal, they passed a river where a black Atopodentatus was bathing in the sun.

The Styraco lady, who was also black, approached the reptile: ‘Hello Kleophia. Are you enjoying the midday sun?’

‘Oh yes, it's very pleasant at this time of day and my yellow stripes shine so beautifully in it. What are you two doing today?’ replied Kleo, looking at the yellow stripes, dots and dark spots on her partially feathered body.

‘Ahm, we're on our way to the forgotten fields. Many delicious plants grow there in autumn. At least that's what Sterntaler says,’ said the male, brown Styraco with the white speckles and dark brown horns.

Sterntaler nodded to confirm Monyahn's statement.

‘Yes, that's right. My mum was often there with me at this time when I was little. Why don't you come with Kleo too?’

Kleo's amber-coloured eyes sparkled longingly and she looked down at her short legs.

‘I'd love to, but my legs are so short and the swimming days aren't so good for hiking. I would only slow you down.’

The two Styracos looked down at the ground, but then Sterntaler had an idea.

She sat down close to Kleophia and lay down on her side.

‘Try holding on to my feathers and I'll just carry you to the fields. You're so small and definitely light, so that won't be a problem.’

‘Okay, we can try that!’ said Kleo happily, clinging to Sterntaler's back.

When the dark Styraco lady with the grey belly tried to stand up, Monyahn helped Kleo not to fall down by pushing her into the right position.

‘Uhhhh that's high! And it's wobbly too!’ said Kleo, squeezing her eyes shut as she held on to Sterntaler.

After a while, the Atopodentatus got used to the new view. The path to the fields was also quite short.

‘Here we are,’ announced Sterntaler and settled down right next to some pumpkins so that Kleo could climb down again.

‘Oh, that's a lot!’ Monyahn marvelled and a little saliva ran out of his mouth as he marvelled at all the fruit and vegetables.

‘Have I promised you too much? We'll have something tasty to eat here for a few days,’ said Sterntaler with proud blue eyes and pushed a large pumpkin towards Kleo. ‘Try this one, it's my favourite.’

Kleophia looked at the orange thing and tried to bite into it.

However, her teeth were completely unsuited to breaking open the skin of the fruit.

She looked back at the Styracos, who had each opened their own pumpkin with their beaks and were already eating them with relish.

‘Excuse me, but how am I supposed to eat this? Can someone please help me?’ she asked, looking hopefully at her companions. 

‘Oh yes, sure,’ Monyahn said and walked over to the Atopodentatus.

He hooked it hard with his beak a few times and the pumpkin gave way.

With a large hole in it, the fruit was now helplessly at Kleo's mercy.

‘Thank you very much,’ Kleophia thanked him and stuck her head into the orange fruit.

She nibbled on it and when she got a taste for it, she couldn't be stopped.

‘You look like a duck eating!’ laughed Sterntaler, amused.

‘Hey, I'm not a duck!’ Kleo complained, but took the remark with humour.

Monyahn, on the other hand, rummaged through the vines for grapes and leaves. His face was still completely orange from the pumpkin and some seeds were stuck under his green eyes.

Sterntaler jumped up happily and ran to the other Styracosaurus.

‘Oh grapes! Mum never let me eat too many of them. Some of them taste a bit funny, but they're especially delicious,’ she enthused.

‘I see,’ said Monyahn, eyeing the grapes sceptically.

He tried some of them. They tasted really funny. Sweet, but also sour.

As a matter of precaution, he preferred to leave the rest on the vines while Sterntaler ate them one by one.

Curious about what else was growing, he wandered through the fields, but always stayed close to the two females.

Strange, very large grasses grew here. Their inflorescences with seeds were huge compared to the normal grass. The stems and leaves had also long since turned yellow.

Monyahn plucked at the seeds with interest and crunched them between his teeth.

They were dry, but tasty. The stems and leaves, however, were tasteless and bland.

His mouth quickly became dry and so Monyahn looked for another pumpkin.

Kleo next to him had almost completely disappeared into her pumpkin and only her tail and hind legs were still sticking out.

The pumpkin tilted and rolled with the Atopodentatus against the vines that were holding it up.

‘Oh hello, Kleo, what are you doing?’ Sterntaler asked the pumpkin next to her.

Kleo stuck her head out. ‘I've never been ashore so quickly. That's fun. What are you eating Tala?’

‘As long as nothing's happened to you. These are grapes. Here, have a taste,’ replied the Styraco lady and passed some grapes into Kleo's pumpkin.

And so the three friends ate their fill of all the goodies. Winter would come again, but at least they had made provisions.