Dinosaur Lake VIII: For Love of Oscar

Book excerpt: Chief Ranger Henry Shore once fought the lethal infestation of prehistoric dinosaurs in his beloved Crater Lake National Park. The first monster, which he called Godzilla, then the flying nightmares, the Gargoyles, then the small evil dinosaurs, and finally One-Eye and its twin. With his wife, Ann, his rangers, and his friends he eliminated the blood-thirsty beasts not only in his park, but over time in many other places. From the beginning of the dinosaur wars he was befriended by a small, intelligent telepathic dinosaur he affectionately named Oscar. Oscar was a benevolent creature who believed humans, the ‘sticks’ as he thought of them, were his friends, too. Oscar saved Henry’s life, and others, many times. Truth be told, Oscar actually saved the world when sinister aliens unexpectedly arrived, and wanted to annihilate mankind because of our murderous, warlike tendencies; how humanity had never been able to live in peace. Oscar telepathically communicated to the aliens in our defense–and humanity was given one final chance–an ominous warning–to learn to live together. Live together in peace or die. Or the aliens would return and end our species forever. Now Oscar, and his expanding family, need Henry’s help. They’d been living happily deep in the backwoods of Crater Lake Park, hidden from human eyes and malicious human interference, when the out-of-control wildfire flushes them from their safe haven…and they end up in Crater Lake. Of course, they can’t remain there. They’d be seen, discovered. Exploited or hunted to extinction because people still feared and loathed dinosaurs because of how many humans they’d slaughtered during their bloody reign. But, aside from Henry’s love of Oscar, the Oscars’ survival is crucial if the aliens ever return, so Henry and his paleontologist son-in-law, Justin, must lead the horde away from the lake to a new safe home in another isolated section of the park. They must protect the Oscars. But one infant dinosaur has been left behind, and in saving that little dinosaur, returning it to Oscar and its family, Henry almost pays the ultimate price…but Henry would do anything for Oscar. After all, Oscar would–and had many times–saved Henry’s life; he saved the planet as well. So Henry, and Earth, are undeniably and forever indebted to the small dinosaur.