Supporting Stephen the Stokesosaurus

Rodent reporter Zoey and her faithful photographer Zeek meet up with a Stokesosaurus who has not made it from the Jurassic in one piece; will they be able to find a way to boost this Stokesosaurus clevelandi’s spirits (and avoid making fun of his glasses)?

Zoey: Oooh, I’m so excited to meet Stephen! A real Jurassic dinosaur—can you imagine?

Zeek: I hear he’s kind of geeky.

Zoey: (Shushing him furiously) Zeek, he might hear you!

Zeek: So what? I hear he’s a pipsqueak! What’s he gonna do—eat me? He couldn’t hurt a fly.

Zoey: Shhh! Here he comes. (Stepping forward) Hello, Stephen! I’m Zoe, and this is my photographer, Zeek. We’d love to talk to you if you’ve got a minute.

Stephen: (Surprised) Really? You want to talk to me? Are you sure?

Zoey: Well, of course! We know you’re new here, and we’d love to introduce you to our readers. We know so little about you!

Stephen: (Sighs) You and everyone else. There’s not much to tell, really.

Zoey: The life of a dinosaur has always seemed exciting and mysterious to me.

Stephen: To be honest, it’s a lonely life when no one knows who you are. It’s not just that I’m extinct—and by that I mean really extinct, by more than 145 million years. You just can’t get much more extinct than that. Even more humiliating is the fact that paleontologists have only found a handful of my bones, and frankly, the rest is all scientific conjecture. Just imagine how you’d feel if no one could verify that parts of you even existed! I look like I do because they say I look like this—but when I look in the mirror, all I see is disappointment. (He pauses, shaking his head wearily.) I just want someone to really know me, y’know? Deep down inside. I can’t help it. Sure, we dinosaurs aren’t all warm and fuzzy like some of the other Jurassic creatures, and I’ve been on a wild bender of a rampage myself a time or two, but that doesn’t mean we don’t yearn to be loved. And the worst part is, I’m related to someone who is so famous that, by comparison, I might as well be invisible.

Zeek: (Wielding his camera) Oooh, famous people take great photos! Who is it? Is he here? Can I meet him?

Stephen: (Shaking his head sadly) Heeere we go. It’s Tyrannosaurus rex, okay? T. rex, T. rex—that’s all I hear anymore! Let me tell you, being the geeky distant cousin of a famous dinosaur gets you nowhere in life. Everyone is always comparing me to him, and I always fall short.

Zoey: Oh, Stephen! I’m sure that’s not true.

Stephen: Oh, please! Everybody knows it. He’s very talented. Have you seen his hands? They’re amazing! He’s well-traveled, he’s got a ferocious rep. Seriously, he’s even got a better name than I do. T. rex—what’s cooler than that? I’ve never traveled outside of Utah, and no one’s seen hide nor hair of my hand bones for 145 million years. I’ve tried to get the other dinosaurs to call me Stokes. You know, they could say, “Hey, Stokesie,” or, “Look out, everyone, it’s Stokesville,” and then I could say, “I’m Stoked to meet you”—but no one’s buying it. (He kicks the sand.) I guess I’m just too dorky for a cool nickname. Half of them pronounce my name like it’s a stutter—Stokeso-so-so-so-saurus—and the other half just call me So-So. It’s really unfair!

Zoey: But I’m sure you’ve got plenty going for you without even realizing it, Stephen.

Stephen: Like what?

Zeek: (Snickers) Yeah, Zoe. Like what?

Zoey: Well, okay. (Sh pauses, thinking.) You say that no one knows very much about you, right?

Stephen: (Sighs) That’s right. It’s like I don’t even exist.

Zoey: Well…when you meet new friends, you have the opportunity to make a good first impression, if you put your best foot forward.

Stephen: Great. More bones I don’t have.

Zoey: No, no…what I mean is, since no one knows who you are, you can choose to show them the best parts of your personality first. For instance, you seem very kind and understanding.

Zeek: Yeah, chicks dig that stuff.

Zoey: Zeek!

Zeek: It’s true! But the glasses are a turnoff.

Stephen: (Loudly) Who says I wear glasses?

Zeek: Eeek! I—I’m sorry! I just thought I saw you wearing a pair when we first entered your exhibit.

Stephen: (Roaring) Just hearing the word “glasses” sends me into a rampage!

Zeek: I take it back! I take it back!

Zoey: (Bravely) But Stephen, if you don’t like them, why do you have them?

Stephen: My father makes me wear them! He says I need them to see better, plus everyone knows dinosaurs have tiny braincases, and they’ll make me look smarter. He says everyone respects someone with brains. (Roaring) It’s like he wants me to be a social outcast!

Zoey: Oh, Stephen! I’m so sorry you feel that way. But if you truly can’t see well, maybe your father has your best interests at heart. It could be you’re just looking at things from the wrong perspective.

Zeek: (Whispers to Zoe) Get ready. (Loudly) It sounds to me, Stephen, like you could use some rose-colored GLASSES. Run!