Dinosaurs in the Fata Morgana

Poppy had decided that at the end of everything, her life would be retold in a series of father/daughter conversations. Sitting in her father’s car outside ‘The Fata Morgana Pizzeria’, she knew this conversation would make her final anthology before it had even begun.

“Poppy, is it even real?”

“Dad, what are you talking about?”

“The Pizzeria. It might just be a figment of our imagination.”

“Of course, it is real. Karen’s parents own it.”

“But, it’s the name.”

“What about the name, it is Italian, it adds an air of mystery, it makes it sound exotic.”

“It is Italian but it means mirage. A fata morgana is an optical illusion.”

“Dad, you are being weird again?”

“Yes I am, but let me finish.”

He smiled at his nineteen-year-old daughter. She could see through his smeared glasses and unkempt appearance that there was the most wonderful man with the biggest heart. A definite odd ball that struggled to exist in this world but he had a purity to how he saw things. She was getting older and would soon be gone. Not forever, but she would soon be leaving his day to day life. These moments would become more infrequent. They were important to him now and probably would be to her much, much later on. She reached out and touched his hand.

“Tell me Dad, I’m listening.”

“A fata morgana happens when heat bends light. It makes images appear in the distance when they are not really there. When they are actually somewhere else. This pizza place might not be here at all. It might actually be on the other side of town and we are only seeing the image of it here.”

“What are you really trying to tell me, Dad?”

“The cruellest illusion, for sailors was always the ship on the horizon. Especially if they were shipwrecked, lost or low on supplies. It was a view that calmed the souls, a promise of something to fulfil them and complete them.”

“I’m confused.”

“Tonight I hope you find your ‘real’ ship on the horizon, not something false, unreachable and untouchable.”

“I’m going speed dating, Dad, not sailing round ‘The Cape of Good Hope’.”

He laughed.

“I’m being over dramatic again, aren’t I?”

“Yes you are.”

“I’m trying too hard again… To be Mum and Dad.”

This time she laughed and nodded. He continued.

“I wish she was still here to see you.”

“This is only my first time speed dating, not exactly a normal milestone to commemorate.”

“No not because of that. Just generally. Don’t you lot now date through the computer? Isn’t speed dating a little old school?”

“It is retro, very 1980s, it is all the rage now. After the turmoil of the last couple of years, Karen’s parents now need bums on seats, people back in the business. I am just here to help make up the numbers and give a bit of support to Karen, who is hosting.”

“Okay, okay, no kissing any boys, not until they at least pay for the pizza.”

“It doesn’t work that way.”

He smiled again. He thought she was growing up so fast. Far too wise for him.

“One last thing, keep your promise,” he said.

“Do I have to?”

“Promise. You will thank me later and can tell me all about it afterwards.”

“Okay, I promise. Now can I go?”

“Of course you can. Have fun.”

She leant over and let him kiss her forehead. With that Poppy climbed out of the car and walked over towards the door into the pizzeria. It was an old converted public house. She looked up at the swinging sign and saw the name of the business around a painted sailing ship. It was swinging in the motion of the wind. From this angle it was sitting on the horizon. Poppy turned to wave to her father. He was sitting there waiting for the wave so he could return it. Then he turned the key in the ignition and started to drive off.

As Poppy opened the door she could hear Boy George’s ‘Do you really want to hurt me?’ playing. The interior of the Fata Morgana was decorated with paper Pacman’s. She could see a buffet full of pizza, mini hotdogs, mini burgers, cheese and pineapple hedgehogs and shrimp with thousand island dressing. She was shocked to see everyone was dressed in 1980s fashion, Karen had not told her about that.

“Poppy.”

She spun round and there was Karen in an aerobic leotard with sweatbands on her head and wrists.

“I wish you told me it was fancy dress,” said Poppy, “I feel silly now.”

“Oh don’t worry about that,” replied Karen, “You are a lifesaver.”

Poppy rifled through her purse to get the twenty-pound entry fee.

“Put that away, you are not paying Poppy, you are helping me survive a couple of last minute cancellations”

“Karen, thank you. I have never done anything like this before. How does it work?”

“You will love it. You take this,” She handed Poppy a sheet of paper and a pen, “You are starting at table six. Every time I ring the bell, that will be every five minutes, your date will get up from your table and a new one will arrive. You chat, flirt, whatever. Make your notes here. If you like the guy tick this box, if you think he is a minger, tick this box.”

“Okay.”

“If you both tick yes and match, I will send you both an email tomorrow and you can see where things go from there.”

“Sounds simple enough”

“We are starting soon, grab a drink from the bar and I will see how you are doing at the break.”

With that she was gone like a whirlwind, navigating the room like the perfect host. The eighties theme was incredible. Poppy had done some research when Karen had phoned her in desperation that afternoon. She did not have the heart to tell her that speed dating was invented in the late nineties. The crowd was young, no one here would care, they were not even born then. There seemed to be no point in shattering this illusion of the Fata Morgana. She made her way to the bar and ordered an orange juice.

Poppy’s first date was dressed like the lead from the film Buckaroo Banzai. Jeans, white shirt, tailored jacket with the sleeves rolled up and a pencil thin red tie. He was attractive. He also knew it. She smiled.

“Hi I’m Callum.”

“Poppy.”

“It’s lovely to meet you.”

An awkward silence descended over the table. Poppy was lost for words. They just smiled at each other awkwardly. Then Poppy heard her father’s voice in her head.

Keep your promise.

Callum broke the ice, starting to tell Poppy everything about himself. How he was on the books of the local non-league side, how he was not going to university, yet, he had plans for an awesome gap year…

Ask the question.

Poppy interrupted Callam’s sale pitch.

“If you were a dinosaur, what dinosaur would you be and why?”

“Wow, what a clever question… Mmm… A T-Rex”

“Why?” smiled Poppy.

“They are just badass, the boss, I am a natural leader…”

She tuned Callum out and let him rant on recalling her father’s advice from that afternoon.

Anyone who says they want to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex is a dickhead. The word tyrant comes to mind. If your date picks a carnivorous apex predator, he is definitely not boyfriend material.

She very casually ticked the no box without her Buckaroo even noticing and let him have the rest of the time to ramble on about why he was so wonderful. He did not even return the question and ask what dinosaur Poppy would be. She had to admit it, Dad might have picked the perfect question to hack the game.

Walking back from the toilets after the break she looked at her sheet. She had ticked no twelve times. There had been six T-Rex’s, all of them psychos. Three triceratops, although two could not remember the name and just described the dinosaur. Dad had said the Triceratops’s want you to think they are cool, so maybe. She had decided none of them were cool. Two Brontosaurus, one said because they had long necks and he would like a long neck, the other said because they were vegetarian and he thought harming animals was just way uncool. They were the easiest no’s this evening. The guy who picked Stegosaurus chose it because he liked how the name sounded. He was the closest to a yes so far.

You are looking for the guy you would not normally choose. The one with something to say. The one who surprises you. That one has more to offer.

Poppy was now back at her table. The bell sounded again and a very unassuming guy in normal clothes sat down opposite her. He introduced himself as Jack.

“If you could be any dinosaur in the…”

“Oh that’s easy I would be a plesiosaur.”

“A what?”

Poppy had put down her pen and was now giving Jake her undivided attention.

“A plesiosaur, although I’m kinda cheatin’. They’re not really a dinosaur more of a whole genus of dinosaur.”

“What do they look like?”

“They are swimmers. I had a picture of one on my wall as a kid… Well I am a bit embarrassed to say I still have that picture on my wall.”

“Go on.”

“Well my grandmother lived in Fort Augustus in Scotland. I used to stay with her every summer. Well Fort Augustus is near Loch Ness. I became a bit of a fan of the stories of the monster she used to tell me that lived there. Well I went to the library and decided it was probably a Plesiosaur. Oh my, I am really embarrassed now, just write dinosaur nerd in the box and tick no.”

Poppy reached out and just touched his hand. There was a small spark between them. She pretended not to notice but could see he felt it too.

“No go on, do you believe in the Loch Ness monster?”

“No of course not. But… Always be careful of anything that comes after but… that’s what my mum told me before I came here tonight.”

Poppy laughed. Jake continued.

“But, there was a magic to the story and a magic to my grandmother in the way she told the story. Plesiosaurs could still exist somewhere in the world. More than any other dinosaur. Believing that means I believe that there is still some magic in the world.”

“Where would they exist?”

“There is a massive ocean to the west of Australia with deserted islands and hardly any ship or boat traffic. If I was a plesiosaur, I would live there.”

“Would you now?”

This time Jake laughed.

“Yes and if I saw or heard anything I would just disappear into the distance.”

“Like a ship over the horizon?”

“Yes… If you like.”

Jake and Poppy kept on talking, she had already wrote ‘magic dinosaur guy’ in the comment section and now she ticked the yes box. Maybe there were now going to be new conservations with different people to add to her anthology.

Thank you for reading my story.

I publish my stuff independently for no other reason that I would rather these strange ideas that rattle around my head from time to time have a place to go.

My reach is decided by you so if you enjoyed this and think it could reach a little further I would love for you to share it.

If not that is also cool.

I have more strange musings here, Enjoy.

Have an awesome day.