The Dinosaur's Tea Party (a short story inspired by Natalie Robinson's photo)

George looked at his cup and frowned, "Who's big idea was this?"
Hilda and Stephan strained to keep a straight face. Frank, however, couldn't control himself. "Big idea!" He laughed, "Big idea!"
George looked up to the rim of his cup towering above him. "Does anyone have a bendy straw?"
Hilda finally succumbed to her giggles and put her paw on George's leathery hide. "Oh, George, " she smiled, "you're the sweetest stegosaurus I know."
George couldn't blush, which was probably a good thing. Hilda swished her tail as she walked slowly back to her spot at the picnic blanket. Using her tiny hands, she held her tea cup delicately. Drinking from it, however, was another story. The teeth of a tyrannosaurus rex were not designed to sup on a cup of tea.
"So where did that big cup come from?" Frank asked. "Really wish I could say that it was my idea, but sadly it wasn't."
"Well, you are supposedly the clever one out of us," George replied. "At least, you're forever telling us that velociraptors are cleverer than the rest of us. So you tell us?"
Frank smirked.
Hilda, so often the calm one, hushed the boys before an argument could start. "If none of us did it, how did it get here?"

The Lake (a short story inspired by Sara Lee's photo)

The lake was strange. Shrouded in fog in early morning, flat like glass. The man had thrown the tennis ball in to it, but his dog had just watched it fly. There was no chase. The dog understood and wouldn't step within 20 yards of the water. But the man had long ago learnt to ignore his instinct.  Frustrated, he walked in to the fog to retrieve the ball. But it wasn't floating on the water like he expected.
The water was perfectly still.  Here, even the air was still. The man frowned. After a minute or two of looking, he called back to his dog, but the animal only whimpered, his silhouette hazzy in the fog. Where was the ball? Picking up a small rock on the shore, he tossed it in to the water in frustration.
The rock hit the water but didn't splash. The water allowed it to sink beneath its surface, bending itself around it. No ripples spread out from its landing spot.
Instinct finally settled on the man and he gingerly took a few steps back. Goose flesh rose on his arms, as the temperature seemed to drop suddenly.
Quietly, he walked away. His dog followed him, tail between his legs and head lowered. The walk was over for them.

Deep down at the bottom of the lake, something stirred. A ghost of a figure swimming in the murky depths. It was not alone. A larger figure also moved through the silt. And in its clawed hand, the yellow of a dirty tennis ball. It passed the ball to the smaller figure, who took it. Wonder filled its black eyes and an expression of joy filled its scaled face. Holding it tightly, the small monster grinned at its mother. And just like any child, it scurried away to play...

©2013 Kari Milburn