Chapter 1: Welcome to Little Garden

Robin dragged a couple of bags through the snow of the driveway to the back of the van.
A bird chirped and flew through the air as she hefted the bags into the back.
“Boys! Let’s do this!” she shouted towards the house, brushing her straight, black hair behind her ear.
She was so excited for her son’s trip. Too bad he was still in his room. She went through the door and met her blue-haired husband, Franky, coming the other way.
“The bags in the back?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’ll get the kids,” she answered.
She briskly jogged up the stairs to the second floor. As she passed by a door marked by “Keep Out” signs, pin-ups, and cooking recipes, and rapped her knuckles on the door.
“Sanji, time to go!” she shouted.
Her eldest was probably listening to music or talking to his girlfriend over the phone. Her youngest was in his room, probably looking at dinosaur pictures.
“Chopper?” she knocked on the door. “Honey, what are you doing?”
He was looking through a view master at images from old dinosaur movies.
Chopper was a normal kid and his room could testify to that. There were dinosaurs toys, robot toys, and monster movie posters on the shelves and walls. He was just a little smarter than normal kids. He could tell you how many ribs an Apatosaurus had and how many stitches there were in a triple bypass.
She was so proud of, and sometimes annoyed by, this little smart-aleck.
He was so absorbed in the view master, she had to take it out of her hands.
“C’mon, hunny, your flight’s in two hours,” she said, zipping up his carry-on bag.
That was when his smart-aleck mode kicked in.
“Dane County Airport is thirty-six minutes away, sixty with traffic.”
“And how long to get your little butt in the van? Hmmm?” she retorted. “How many of those?”
Chopper smiled, pleased at her snappy comeback and excited for the trip he was going on. He got up and walked out with his mother as she mussed up his chestnut brown hair.
Outside, Chopper rushed past his big brother Sanji, who was holding and bidding a fond farewell to his blue-haired beauty in the snow.
“Call me everyday,” Vivi said. “And text me pics so I don’t forget what you look like.”
“I’ll only be gone a week,” Sanji reassured her, his blonde hair parted over one eye.
“Sanji!” his father called from the driver’s seat. “You’re not going off to war, here. C’mon.”
Sanji turned back to Vivi and began to speak.
“I…”
“I love you.” Vivi said.
“…will see you later,” he finished, rather unimpressively. “Bye, ok?”
“Vamanos!” Franky shouted as he started the car.
“Bye~!” Vivi waved.
Sanji jogged around the van and got into the back. He wasn’t prepared for his mom and dad’s teasing.
“I know it hurts, sweetheart…” Robin said.
“Are you gonna be ok?” Franky said in a pouty voice.
Sanji frowned sullenly and put on his headphones.
                     *                    *           *                   *
About an hour later, the family was at the security checkpoint for the plane. Robin crouched to Chopper’s level and gave him the ticket.
“Everything right on there?” she asked him.
He looked up and nodded.
“I’m so jealous!” she continued. “You’re gonna have so much fun! I love you!”
“I love you too, mom,” Chopper said as he hugged her.
As she held her youngest child, a worried look appeared on his face. Chopper looked up at his father and he smiled wryly.
“Ok, right!” she said, letting go of Chopper. “Let’s give these to your brother, okay?”
She took the tickets and gave them to Sanji.
“I need you to take care of these,” she said.
“Right,” he answered, trying to spy any cute girls entering into the security checkpoint.
“Hey,” Franky said, catching his attention. “Listen to your mother.”
“Ok, look after your brother, answer your phone,” Robin continued. “I’m serious. It’s the green button. When you see my name, push it, ok?”
Sanji nodded, a little annoyed at this responsibility gig.
“And remember,” Robin said, smiling that cold smile. “If something chases you…run.”
“Ha, funny,” Sanji said, obviously not amused. “Bye.”
Sanji put his arm around Chopper and herded him towards the boarding gate.
“I miss you already!” Robin called out as they wound through the checkpoint.
“So much for out last family breakfast,” Franky muttered.
Robin sighed.
“Why do you have to say things like that?”
As Chopper waved goodbye, Franky asked a reasonable question.
“Did you call your sister?”
“Straight to voice-mail,” Robin said flatly.
“They’ll be fine,” Franky said, reassuring his wife. “She handles two thousand people a day. She can handle two more.”
                     *                    *           *                   *
A couple of hours later, the plane lands in Costa Rica without incident.
Sanji and Chopper take the shuttle to the ferry. By the time they’re climbing on, Chopper is asking questions that Sanji does not have straight answers for. Apparently, he didn’t ask enough on the plane.
“How big is the island?”
“Big,” Sanji answered tersely.
“But how many pounds?” Chopper continued.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Soon, the ferry was on its way across the sea. This, unfortunately, didn’t stop Chopper’s incessant info-spouting.
“When they first opened,” he continued. “They had eight species. Now they have fourteen herbivores and six carnivores. That’s, like, fifty tons of food a week.”
He looked up at his brother and noticed that he wasn’t paying attention. He was too busy eyeing the ladies leaning against the bow of the ferry.
He rolled his eyes. Even though he had Vivi, he couldn’t keep his eyes off other girls.
That was when he looked ahead. He could see the island. It was massive, majestic, yet ominously looming in the ocean’s waters.
This place was no mere amusement park. Ever since four years ago, this island had become an international city on par with Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, New York, Paris, Dubai, Sao Paulo, and Los Angeles, and it was pretty noticeable once they reached the harbor. Businessmen and tourists from all over the world had come to see this island’s amazing attractions. Welcomes and greetings sounded out of the PA in at least ten different languages to go along with the similar banners hung along the stairs that led to the monorail.
Sanji and Chopper made their way through the crowds, looking for someone they knew.
Instead, they found a woman with dark hair, sunglasses and a white suit, bearing a sign with their names on it.
“Where’s Aunt Nami?” Chopper asked.
Sanji sighed at his Aunt’s usual tardiness, but also at the beauty of the assistant who greeted them.
Once they walked up to her, the woman introduced herself.
“Hello, I’m Viola, Nami’s assistant.”
“I’m Sanji and this is my brother Chopper. And may I say, you are a gorgeous assistant.”
“Oh, well thank you!” she blushed slightly.
“Ugh,” Chopper rolled his eyes.
A couple of minutes later, they were on the monorail, heading for the park. Sanji was back on his headphones while Chopper was super excited. Right when the monorail PA system began to talk about the gates of the park, Chopper knew they were coming right up. He got out of his seat, ran straight to the head of the monorail just in time to see the gates opening.
Before the monorail stood this massive gate, with wooden doors supported by stone pillars. Sconces sat in the pillars and they were aflame. Above the doors was the sign that read:

LITTLE GARDEN

Once the monorail came to a complete stop, Chopper took off like a rocket towards the Hilton Hotel. Sanji tried to follow behind while Viola told him the situation.
“Your Aunt arranged to meet you at one o’clock,” she then looked ahead at Chopper, zipping up the escalators. “Can he slow down?”
“Nope,” Sanji sighed.
“C’mon!” Chopper called from the escalator, waving his hands.
Finally, they made it to the hotel room. Sanji was exhausted, but not exhausted enough to hear Viola’s sweet voice.
“Your Aunt’s got you VIP access so you can get on all the rides without waiting in line.”
“Let’s go!” Chopper said as he took off his backpack.
“Dude, she said we had to wait,” Sanji said as he fell backwards onto his fluffy suite bed.
“No! I don’t wanna wait anymore!”
Chopper ran over to the doors leading to the balcony, opened them up and stepped outside.
He could see the sparkling, crystal clear lagoon from his suite. The monorail zipped by on its tracks, catching the sun’s rays and passing it back. And past that, he could make out all the shops that constituted the main street and all the thousands of people enjoying the park. To the sides, he could see all of the exhibits, the rides, and even the petting zoo. And in the center of it all, he could see the visitor’s center in the distance. It was a large, metal structure with crystal clear windows. It glittered like the crown jewel of the park.
This was the sight that he had waited three months for.
The Dinosaur Amusement Park: Little Garden.