Simon and Jupiter

The following story (age range is probably from 7 to 11 year olds) came about from my now 35 year old son’s interest in dinosaurs as a child. I made up an ongoing nightly story of a boy called Simon who found a dinosaur egg which hatched and he had the dinosaur as a friend. It went on each night for quite a while (I had to keep on my toes with new adventures) and though I don’t remember it exactly as it was never written down this story is the essence. The adventures continued with Jupiter and Simon becoming a celebrity – think friendly dragon. My son now has his own child - a daughter, though only 5 months old - and when I see them in a few days for the first time in 18 months, due to the pandemic, I will share this with him and ask him if he remembers…

A young boy, who delighted in seeking out the unknown, was walking in the wild trees and grasses near his home in the mountains when he stopped to rest and eat his packed lunch. He saw his mother had also put two apples in from his uncles’ orchard. He put them to one side and ate his sandwich first.

After a while, having eaten all his lunch, including one apple – leaving only the core – which he tucked back in his lunch box - he lay down on his back and looked up at the broad expanse of sky with a few high fluffy clouds slipping past on their way to another place. Cumulous clouds he remembered his teacher called them – “fair weather clouds” she said “like puffy cotton wool balls.”

He was thinking about what he was going to do about Jupiter.

This boy was called Simon. He had a big secret hidden in a secret place. A secret he had not told a single person – not his mum or dad or even his little brother and sister – probably most especially not them, or even his uncle – who might have been the best person to tell.

After a while Simon put his backpack on again and set off heading further up the rocky hillside. About an hour or so later he came to a spot he now knew by heart and he angled off the track and climbed up rocks until he came out on a small plateau. He stood up and looked all around. Far below he could even see his own house nestled amongst others, and when he squinted hard enough, he could see cars and even some people moving about. It made him feel as if he was a giant looking at a world of tiny people.

He put his backpack down again and called our very softly, “Ju – piter, Ju – piter.” There was a scatter of tiny stones and a sound of something big pushing through the bushes nearby. Simon turned around and saw his secret – his very best friend in the whole wide world come romping down towards him. “Whoa!” he put his hands up so Jupiter would slow down. He had grown so big over these past months and was now way too big to run that fast at Simon.

Now it is probably the best time to stop this story here and go back a little way and tell you about how Simon - and Jupiter got to this point.

Some months ago Simon was playing in his uncles’ orchard when he ventured into the old overgrown part. His uncle had told him not to go there as there were bits of old barbed wire from long ago rusted out fences that he hadn’t got around to clearing away yet. However Simon was feeling a bit adventurous and knew he would be safe and stay clear of the barbed wire. He would be super careful; after all he was 11 now and getting pretty grown up.

As he wandered slowly through the long grass – taking particular care, he came across a small rocky hill that seemed to have an opening in it. He hurried towards it thinking he had found a cave that he might be able to use as a secret cubby place – away from his brother and sister. As he got closer he realised it was only a shallow space not nearly big enough for him. Though he was a bit disappointed he got down on his hands and knees and moved some small rocks out of the way to see if he could make it big enough. One rock that he pulled out was a bit different from the rest. Well actually, it looked almost the same but it seemed brighter and even a bit lighter and not so hard. He turned it over and over in his hands and even knocked his fist against it. He had never seen anything quite like and thought it might have been a meteorite or something like that from outer space, but deep down he thought – or rather hoped, it was something else.

Simon had read lots and lots of books about dinosaurs and wanted to be one of those people that found dinosaur bones – a Palaeontologist - he even knew how to say it correctly and spell it. So, yes he wondered, hoped, that this rock was not a rock and was instead a Dinosaur egg. There had been some bones found years ago near here so it was quite possible, he thought, that there could be eggs around here. He looked at the other rocks and though they were similar they were harder and heavier.

He emptied out his backpack and took off his jumper and wrapped the maybe egg up and carefully placed it in his backpack and swung it very very carefully up over his shoulder and started off towards his uncles’ place.

As he walked along he got to thinking that maybe he shouldn’t tell anyone about it – not even his uncle because they might take his egg off him – for science. His footsteps slowed as he got closer and then he turned sharply and headed home. He went straight up to his bedroom and tucked his backpack right at the back of his wardrobe. He could hear his mother calling so he went back downstairs and didn’t tell anyone at all about his find. This was the beginning of his big secret.

Later that night Simon got the egg out again and had a long look at it, even shining his torch over it. It seemed warmer so he wrapped it up again and put it back in the wardrobe. He would have to find a better hiding place tomorrow.

The next day he told his mum that he was going to go for a bit of a hike up the hills. He had done this lots of times before so it wasn’t unusual and she packed him a lunch like when he was at school and he set off, with her saying, as always "to be careful.”

Simon took his Dinosaur egg up high into the hills and found a group of rocks in a rough circle with an overhanging bit like a veranda roof. He packed this with an old sweater and lots of grass under and over the egg. Every weekend he would go up and check on the egg and each time there wasn’t a lot of change, which he found disappointing but even so he liked having the secret and a place to hike to so he continued going up. His mother grew used to him disappearing up into the hills and always made him a tasty lunch to take with him.

A month went past, then six weeks and then one pretty hot day when he got up to his secret place he saw cracks in the egg. He leaned over closer and saw a slight movement. He sat back on his heels, a bit shocked and excited all at the same time. He sat watching the cracks as they spread. Time passed and it was getting close to when he needed to start back home when the egg actually moved quite violently back and forth and he could see something in between the cracks. Something was hatching out. Now he would know for sure if it was really a Dinosaur!

When the egg was just about fully broken Simon picked pieces of the shell away and got his first look at the weirdest creature he had ever seen. It was really cute in an ugly sort of way and sort of a muddy, sludgy, greeny, black colour. Simon was certain he was a baby dinosaur. By now it really was getting quite late and though Simon didn’t want to leave he knew he had to and he could already tell he wouldn’t be strong enough to carry the baby dinosaur down the hill. He looked too heavy – too solid, even as a baby. Simon built rocks up around the nest area and pulled up more grass to pack in and then with last look back he set off quickly towards his home.

Simon spent a sleepless night worried and excited about his dinosaur and was awake at first light ready and eager to get on his way back up the hill. He still hadn’t told anyone of course. He got up the hill quicker than he had ever gone before and was quite puffed out when he finally peaked into the nest. The dinosaur baby seemed to be asleep though woke as Simon poked him gently. He had bought up a bottle of water and a small dish which he placed on a flat area just outside the nest then he reached in and picked up the baby – it was a bit tricky as he was quite heavy – and he bought him out into the open. He could see he had eaten some of the grass so he picked some more and put it down near the water dish.

Simon spent the day up there watching the dinosaur eat, drink, poop and sleep and he was fascinated. He loved the way the dinosaur snuggled up next to him to go to sleep. While he slept Simon thought up names for him. Eventually he decided on Jupiter as his name. This was his favourite planet and it also fitted because it was the biggest planet and dinosaurs were big when they were fully grown. When Jupiter woke up he called him by his new name and he was sure that he knew it was his name. He gave him some more grass and water then picked him up and put him back into the nest.

The summer holidays were just a week away and Simon spent every day he could up with Jupiter. He watched him grow up fast and he even had to start training him. At first Jupiter tried to follow Simon down the hill but he quickly caught on that he was not allowed to go past the boundary that Simon built. He was pretty smart.

By the end of the summer Simon was pretty sure that Jupiter was a Stegosaurus as he had that long low heavy frame he had seen in his books and it looked as if he was getting little bumps along his back.

As he grew, Jupiter roamed more widely to eat grass and low tree branches though he never tried to go down the hill. When Simon was there they walked along together, with Simon chatting away – telling him about school and his brother and sister.

Time went on and Jupiter got bigger and bigger. Simon didn’t know how much longer he could keep him a secret. He was walking further each day and a few times Simon had not been able to find him as he had roamed so far to find new food areas.

Eventually he had to tell somebody and so he asked his uncle to come for a hike with him. Simon was a bit nervous but finally started to talk about dinosaurs and asked his uncle if he had a favourite and told him he had a favourite and said his name was Jupiter and he had found him as an egg. Of course that all sounded like a made up story to his uncle but he played along and they talked about this make believe dinosaur called Jupiter for the rest of the hike.

When they got up to the plateau, Simon called out to Jupiter and then he heard him call back – a sort of swooshing sound made with his tail sweeping back and forth – a bit like a dog but bigger. Simon’s uncle was a bit startled by the sound – but that was nothing to his shock when Jupiter’s head peaked over a distant rock.

It took a while – actually a long while – before Simon’s uncle was convinced that Jupiter wasn’t dangerous and even then he was still very cautious about getting close to him or even letting Simon get too close, which was a bit funny as Simon often curled up beside Jupiter.

It was a relief to share this big secret with his uncle and they talked about what this would mean and how they could manage the safety of Jupiter. Indeed as they walked home, leaving Jupiter behind for now, they talked about the various pros and cons of bringing Jupiter’s existence out into the public and what it would mean.

This was the beginning of many many adventures for Simon and Jupiter as they travelled the world and met many children - and as many adults - who love dinosaurs.