On a chilly Saturday evening in April (2026), the Miller family had a nice dinner: mixed green lettuce with sliced cucumbers and shredded carrots, topped with Catalina dressing; spaghetti and meatballs, topped with grated cheese, and fudge brownies for dessert. To drink, Tom and Sarah (the Miller parents) had wine, while Gabrielle, James, Victoria, and Olivia (the Miller children) had apple juice.

Gabrielle was 14 years old, James was 11 years old, Victoria was 8 years old, and Olivia was 6 years old. What made Olivia stand out from her siblings was the fact that she wasn't human. She was a Velociraptor mongoliensis! The Millers lived in Maplewood, New Jersey.

The Millers discovered Olivia about six years ago, when she was just an infant who was trapped under a fallen log. A storm had knocked the log down on the nest. She was the only surviving member of her dinosaur siblings. The Millers felt sorry for her and took her back home with them.

They trained her to be more humanlike after they realized that she didn't like raw meat. She imprinted on them and became a very social companion. She couldn't speak like a human, but she acted and ate like one.

She became a worldwide sensation in the Spring of 2025 when a neighbor named Janet Henderson, who had once babysat the Miller children a few years earlier, saw Olivia playing with her human siblings in the backyard. Janet snapped a photo and reported that the "dangerous beast" was hunting the children.

The news media had a field day. Headlines screamed:

• DANGEROUS MONSTER IN NEW JERSEY!!
• A REAL LIFE JURASSIC PARK IN MAPLEWOOD!!

Similar headlines continued to flood the media. Social media websites were flooded with numerous posts and texts from concerned people. Some called it a hoax, but others were scared for the Miller family and the population of Maplewood. Paleontologists were astonished to learn of her existence, since they had known for years that Velociraptors had gone extinct about 71 million years ago.

It wasn't long before the small town became a "hot spot". The police and the SWAT team arrived at Maplewood, armed and ready to take down this "dangerous beast". The Millers defended Olivia and said she was family, not a monster. They fought for a few months to keep Olivia in the family...and finally won. Olivia was finally allowed to live in peace alongside her human family.

Mrs. Henderson apologized to the Millers for all the trouble she had caused. To make amends, she invited them out to a pizzeria for dinner. Olivia, of course, loved pizza (hold the toppings), and devoured four slices of it.

One customer, who had been sitting at a table nearby, smiled when he saw the gentle Velociraptor eating pizza instead of people. When the Millers and Mrs. Henderson finished eating, he stood up and introduced himself to them.

"Hello. My name is Alan Grant. You might recognize me as the paleontologist who was almost eaten by these dinosaurs on Isla Nublar and on Isla Sorna many years ago."

"Olivia's harmless, Dr. Grant," Gabrielle said. "She wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone people." "It's true," Tom said. "She's really sweet and gentle. You can even pet her if you like."

Dr. Alan Grant, the man who had dangerous encounters with these prehistoric animals, slowly reached out and gently petted the top of Olivia's head. She purred and gently nuzzled his hand as though she were a house cat.

"I never thought that I would be doing this to a Velociraptor instead of running away from it," Alan said. "The scientific community will never believe this."

After goodbyes, Alan left the pizzeria and thought about what he could tell the scientific community and the other paleontologists. Velociraptors were always thought of as fierce, intelligent, and deadly creatures in the world of paleontology, not to mention in the world of Hollywood media. Olivia was, indeed, intelligent, but she was neither fierce nor deadly. What could Alan possibly tell the other paleontologists? What would YOU (the reader) tell paleontologists if you encountered a Velociraptor like Olivia?

The End!

P.S., if only this were real instead of fiction...

"Why isn't the dinosaur eating?" Elizabeth asked, and Tony responded, "I guess she's not hungry right now."

Soon after, Fiona's stomach began to growl. But she still ignored the untouched hamburger patty. It was raw, and she didn't want it. It just sat there on the plate until Julia had to toss it out before it smelled up the whole house. Fiona's stomach growled louder, and all three children suddenly figured out the problem.

The youngest child, a girl named Madison, said, "I bet that she would have eaten that hamburger if it had been cooked first." "Honey," Julia said, "this creature is a carnivore. Carnivores eat raw meat from animals." Or so she thought. "Even Lucky ate part of the patty until he was full," Tony said. "Speaking of food," Ryan said, "how about we have pizza tonight for dinner?"

Upon hearing the word "pizza", Fiona perked up and whined loudly. "She wants pizza, too," Elizabeth said. The family settled on pizza that night. Tony ordered pizza from a local pizzeria in town. With two adults, three children, and a hungry dinosaur, he decided to order three large pizzas. One pizza was half-plain/half-pepperoni. The second was plain cheese. And the third was half-plain/half extra cheese.

Fiona devoured SIX slices of pizza: four plain and two extra cheese! The rest of her human family ate what they could from the remaining pizzas. Three slices (one pepperoni and two plain cheese) remained, but Fiona was full, so Tony and Julia wrapped them up and put them in the freezer.

Weeks passed. Lucky was growing bigger, and Fiona was happy to live with her family. She was well-fed with good food. Her four favorite foods were pizza, macaroni & cheese, salad (yes, SALAD) topped with Catalina dressing, and sugary snacks. Of course, she ate other foods, as well. Any meat she ate was always fully cooked. She was home, at last, and no longer the lonely Dromaeosaurid she had been. They all lived happily ever after.

The End!

After navigating the small town, the Achillobator found a neighborhood and figured that someone might take in the small kitten, who was fast asleep on the dinosaur's back. By this time, another round of light rain began to fall.

The dinosaur crept up to a house and lightly scratched on the front door, hoping for someone to open it. But there was no response.

What the Achillobator didn't know was that the people who lived there were gone for the day. The adults were at work, and the children were at school. It was a Tuesday, after all. The only thing the Dromaeosaurid could do was wait for the humans to return home. Fortunately, it crept into the family's garage to protect the small kitten from the elements. The prehistoric animal curled itself into a ball and closed its eyes.

3 HOURS LATER

The Achillobator woke up to the sound of human voices nearby. When it peeked out from the garage's entrance, it saw the human adults heading for the house and let out a soft whine to get their attention.

"Whoa there, big guy!" the male adult human said in surprise. His wife gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. It whined again before it revealed the small kitten on its back. The adult humans realized that this dinosaur was protecting the furry feline, and their hearts melted. The rain was beginning to pick up in intensity.

They brought the Achillobator inside their home and called out to their children, who were upstairs finishing up their homework. When they saw the large dinosaur with the small kitten, they could hardly believe their eyes.

The prehistoric animal found a heating vent on the floor near one of the side windows and gently let the kitten slide off its back to help warm it up. Soon after, both animals began to dry off from the rain.

It was unanimous that they wanted to keep both animals in their home. The children decided on names for the dinosaur and the kitten. After some debate, they settled on "Fiona" for the Achillobator and "Lucky" for the kitten.

With names out of the way, the next problem this family had was feeding them. The oldest child, a boy named Ryan, suggested raw meat and fish. Unfortunately, neither option was available in their home. The middle child, a girl named Elizabeth, suggested hamburger patties, which they had in their freezer. The father, named Tony, quickly went to the freezer and took out a box of burger patties to defrost.

Tony took out a plate from one of the cabinets, placed two frozen patties on it, and warmed them up in the microwave to fully defrost the meat. When they were defrosted enough, he gently placed the plate of patties onto the floor near Fiona and Lucky. Lucky crept up to the plate and nibbled on the meat.

Tony's wife, Julia, took out a small saucer from a cabinet, then went to the fridge, got out some milk, poured it into the saucer, and gently set it by Lucky. When Lucky ate as much meat as he wanted, he began to lap up the milk. Guess who was NOT eating!

To be continued...hopefully.