When my mom asked me what I wanted for my tenth birthday, I don’t think she expected me to say that I wanted a T-Rex. She gave me the same funny look that she had when I started making peanut butter and Frosted Flake sandwiches (they are really quite delicious, and she has no idea what she’s missing). “But honey, wouldn’t you like a nice puppy instead? Or maybe a gerbil? Or perhaps a cat?”

I shook my head. I knew what I wanted. “No, I want a T-Rex.”

Her thin eyebrows wrinkled in concern. “What about a nice lizard? Or a snake?”

If she thought she could appease me with those lesser reptiles, she was dead wrong. “I want a T-Rex.” Was I speaking Chinese? How could she not understand my very simple request? It wasn’t like dinosaurs were extinct anymore. They hadn’t been for a while now. Ever since Dr. Whu discovered how to make dinosaurs just like they did in Jurassic Park, dinosaurs were now a common household pet. If you’re worried that my pet T-Rex might eat me or my family like those old movies, don’t. Dr. Whu was much smarter than those dumb scientists in the movies and he put in a non-people eating gene in all the dinosaurs. He also made them very obedient. Dinosaurs are pretty smart, you know. They’re easier to train than most dogs, and they don’t cost a lot to order or take care of. Plus, we live on a ginormous farm with plenty of room for a T-Rex to roam happily in, so I don’t know what my mom’s hang-up is.

“How about I get you a nice plant-eating dinosaur? Why not a triceratops?” I could tell she was desperate now. I could tell from the way she knelt down and had that shiny look in her eyes like how a dog looks when it’s really hungry and wants people food.

I crossed my hand and stood my ground. “It’s a T-Rex or nothing.” You might be wondering why I wanted this T-Rex so bad. I mean, surely a couple birthday presents that were okay are better than no birthday presents at all? But that’s where you would be so very wrong. I’ve done my research, and I can say with 102% certainty that a T-Rex was the very best pet that anyone could ever have. They’re huge, have adorable little arms, and really sharp teeth. They may have been the most fearsome predator back in the Jurassic period, but now they were huge, friendly, fearsome giants. Besides, they were clearly the coolest dinosaur. You don’t have to be a scientist to know that.

When Mom saw I wasn’t going to give up on my birthday wish, she let out a heaping sigh. I had worn down her heavy defenses. “Fine,” she said simply.

“Yay! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Mom!” I gave her an extra big hug because she deserved it. I couldn’t wait to meet my new T-Rex!

When the delivery truck turned down our long, winding driveway, I was so excited I screamed. “Samantha?” Mom hollered from downstairs. She didn’t like it when I yelled for no good reason, but this was a good reason. My very own T-Rex was finally here! I screamed again because I just couldn’t believe it. I was downstairs and outside before the truck pulled to a complete stop. I danced a little as I stared at the big white truck. The left side of the truck was covered in red lettering that said, “Dino Express: Back from extinction.” The logo was familiar as it was on a lot of commercials. My favorite one featured a whole school bus worth of kids riding on a T-Rex. The T-Rex gave a little wink when the announcer said the logo. I wondered if I could teach my T-Rex to wink, or did it already come with a winking feature?

The delivery guy got out of the truck. He wore a thick mustache and was super short. He reminded me of Mario. I giggled when I saw his nametag though, which read “Luigi.” He saw me and smiled. “I have a T-Rex for a Ms. Samantha Jones?”

I nodded so much that I mad myself dizzy. The very Mario-looking Luigi handed me a clipboard with a piece of paper on it. “Would you mind signing your name at the bottom?” I never did learn cursive like my parents did when they were my age, but whenever someone asked my parents to sign something, they always make a bunch of weird scribbles, so I did the same. “Great, let me get him out for you.” The delivery man opened the back to truck and what I saw made me finally stop dancing.

What I thought was going to be a fully-grown T-Rex turned out to be a dinosaur that was only slightly bigger than a regular house cat. My shoulders dropped. The delivery guy tied a rope around the little dino and handed him off to me. It was a dumb-looking dinosaur, with big yellow eyes and greenish-grey scales. Its teeth were tiny and not at all fearsome. It yawned in this babyish kind of way and looked up at me curiously, pawing my leg slightly with its itty-bitty claws. I moved my leg away. “Oh! I almost forgot.” Luigi the delivery man went back into the truck and pulled out a bag of dinosaur food. “Just give him one pellet every day and he won’t have to eat anything else.” He set the food bag down by the garage. “Enjoy your T-Rex,” Luigi said before getting back into his truck and driving away, leaving me stuck with this cutesy little thing before I could ask for a refund.

The dumb dino looked up at me. I tugged on his rope leash. “Come on,” I said, and the dinosaur followed me without hesitation.

I opened the sliding door, where my mom was sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by a bunch of papers. She was wearing her reading glasses, which were so far down her nose that I thought that they might slip off at any moment. They were always like that, but they never fell off. She must hold them on her nose with special nose glue or something. She looked up and immediately read my disappointment. “What’s wrong, muffin? Aren’t you happy to have your T-Rex?”

“It’s small.”

“It is now, but if you take good care of it will grow big and strong in no time.”

I gazed suspiciously at T-Rex, who stared back with a blank expression. I sighed. “Alright,” I said to my mom. Then, I turned back to my new pet. “Come on, let me show you around.” I tugged at the rope, and it followed me obediently. I guess even a tiny T-Rex was better than no T-Rex at all.

I showed the little dino around the farm, across the cow fields, around the massive corn fields, and at the super huge barn, which Mom and I cleaned up just for the little guy. The overgrown lizard gazed at everything with quiet disinterest. Maybe it’s hungry? I went back to the garage and tried to open the food bag. It was really tough to open. I struggled and pulled and tugged, but I couldn’t tear it open. Finally, the little dinosaur bit the bag and tore a little opening easily. I stopped him from eating everything and gave him only a single pebble of food.

I chuckled. “Maybe I should call you Chomp Chomp.”

The tiny dinosaur looked up expectedly.

“Chomp Chomp it is then.”