Jim Baen's Universe

Introducing: Stories by new authors

Chicken Soup

Written by A. F. Tesson

Illustrated by Alexandra Dawe

"Moooom! Patton's eating my dinosaurs!"

That rotten dog again. Eliza pulled the last of the laundry from the dryer and grabbed the basket. She yelled down the hallway, "Patton! Get in here!"

Cold rain pattered on the windows. The smell of Grandma's homemade chicken soup wafted from the kitchen. Her husband Joseph had a cold and Grandma had always said that chicken soup fixed everything.

"Mom! Patton won't stop!"

Eliza sighed. Laundry would have to wait. Patton adored Joseph and would do anything he said, but she knew the mutt would ignore her until feeding time. Joseph was working late that night, so it was up to her to keep the peace.

She set the laundry basket on the sofa and went to her daughter's room, calling Patton as she walked. She stopped at the door and her thoughts tumbled about in her mind as she tried to make sense of the unreal scene before her.

Dozens of colorful ankle-high plastic dinosaurs dashed for cover as Patton darted about the room and snapped at them. Panicked cheeps and tiny roars sounded through the room.

Five-year-old Gillie jumped up and down on her bed and yelled at the scruffy dog to stop. Patton chased a red ankylosaurus, but it dodged the dog's jaws and hid inside a dollhouse.

Eliza gripped the door frame to steady herself. She recovered her wits and bounded across the floor to her daughter. "Come here. Don't worry. We'll get out of here."

"No, Mom." She slapped Eliza's hands away. "Make Patton stop."

A blue stegosaurus clambered over her foot, its own feet warm on her bare toes. Eliza cringed as it tried to hide behind her ankle. Patton shoved at her leg to get at the dinosaur.

"Mom, help Steggie!"

Eliza grabbed Patton's collar and held the squirming dog while the toy stegosaurus scrambled under the bureau. She pushed Patton out of the room and shut the door. A frustrated whine echoed in the hallway.

Eliza leaned on the door. What was happening? "Gillie, you have some explaining to do."

Her small face smiling once again, the little girl jumped off her bed and lay down on the floor. She called her dinosaurs by their names. They peered cautiously from their hiding places. When they were certain the dog was gone, they gathered around Gillie in the middle of the floor. She sat up and beamed at her mother.

"Are these . . ." Eliza motioned at the figures milling about on the floor. "Are these your toys?"

"Yes, they're ready to play now."

Eliza chewed at her lip, uncertain what to do next. Patton snuffled underneath the door.

"Are your dinosaurs friendly?"

Gillie looked offended. "Of course."

"Even the meat-eaters?"

"Are you guys going to play nice?" A chorus of grunts and hoots rose from the small crowd. Gillie looked up at her mom. "They said they will be nice."

Eliza mulled this over, not quite comfortable with animate plastic objects in her house, even if they were friendly. The tinny chirp of a kitchen timer interrupted her musings. "Well, dinner's ready. Let's go eat. Leave your dinosaurs in here." Patton would keep the dinosaurs corralled while she thought of something to do.

"They're hungry."

"Mm. I don't think so. We'll feed them tonight when we feed Patton."

"Okay, Mom. But Dad's not home yet."

"He will be home any minute now. We'll just set the table, okay?" Eliza carried Gillie into the kitchen, and left Patton snuffling and snorting at the bedroom door. "Gillie, I want you to tell me why your dinosaurs are running around."

"Because it's raining outside. They get antsy when it rains."

Eliza sighed at the inarguable kindergarten logic. She opened the crock-pot to dish up the chicken soup. A small green euoplocephalus clung to the bouquet garni. She cried out and dropped the lid. A very excited Patton skidded into the kitchen and tried to jump up on the counter, but missed and plopped down on the floor in a tangle of legs.

"What's wrong?" Gillie ran to the crock-pot. "Oh, I forgot Yewie. He didn't wake up with the others, so I left him in there."

"Wake up? You cooked them to wake them up?"

"I didn't cook them," Gillie huffed. "I warmed them up. Like that show on PBS." She used a slotted spoon to scoop Yewie out of the pot, then dried him off with a kitchen towel. "Their blood was cold and it made them sleep but some had warm blood and they could run around when it was winter and it's winter now so I put them in the crock-pot to warm up."

Eliza blinked. Could it work? Plastic was formed as a byproduct of oil, which in turn was formed from living creatures. She shook her head. Impossible. But she said, "I see."

Gillie nodded, apparently satisfied that she had gotten through to her mom. "I'll just put Yewie in my room with his friends." She ran back to her room and opened the door.

Too late, Eliza grabbed at Patton. He pushed past Gillie and Eliza saw dinosaurs scatter again. Several ran down the hall towards her and she sidestepped to keep them from touching her. Patton swung around to pursue the fleeing dinosaurs into the living room.

Eliza knew she needed something to contain the toys. But what? She picked up Gillie and hurried to the master bedroom. She set her daughter on the bed and dug through the closet for a shoe box. She emptied it and handed it to Gillie. "Get your dinosaurs and put them in this shoe box. Patton will eat your toys if you don't keep them picked up."

"Yes, Mom."

Gillie darted through the house. Eliza stayed close, still worried about the carnivores. She picked up an allosaurus and it chomped on her finger. She winced,