Galapagos Larvae

by AT Gonzalez

The Galapagos Islands. These 127 wonders are a pocket of lost worlds adrift on our majestic blue marble. Near the coast of San Cristobal, there stands one large gazebo and four smaller ones. These huts of straw, chrome and silicone make up the campus of Discovatorium (Sponsored by Giga Octane Petrol). Beast Kommander Jefferson Buford and Beast Trainer Stacey Nevins have completed a full lap of their tour to a group of visitors in the largest building. Buford speaks. "Well that just about concludes this run-through, I hope you all learned so much about marine iguanas today." Beast Trainer Stacey interjected with artificial intrigue. "Hold it there, Jeff! We still have fifteen minutes left. What about... the *special* creatures?" The crowd murmured to themselves. "The special creatures?" Buford rubbed his chin feigning deep contemplation. "Aww... heck, why not!" He pressed a red button on his wrist. The assistants, decked out in all-white bodysuits, wheeled a terrarium into the lobby. In the center of the terrarium was what appeared to be a bird's nest with four eggs, the size of baseballs. The eggs were all numbered "1" to "4" in what appeared to be black marker. "Ladies and gents, consider yourselves very lucky" said Buford. "No-one outside our laboratories have laid eyes on these babies. We have timed the gestation of the eggs perfectly so they would hatch in front of a live audience." An egg timer sounded. The shells cracked. Out of the twiggy nest hatched not four birds, but four... larvae? They looked like fuzzy caterpillars. They were gray with black spots and neon orange highlights. The larvae crawled out of the nest into the sandy shores of the tank for all to see. Buford gestured grandiosely. "I introduce, *Sauropoda galapagensis*!" The crow murmured. "A sauropod? Like, a dinosaur?" Stacey interjected "That's right! These are living dinosaurs!" A voice from the crowd shot back. "But they look like bugs!" Buford chuckled and reassured them. "They're juveniles. You're about to see the wonders of metamorphosis and macroevolution in action." The four larvae circled around each other for a moment, and then moved to the corners of the tank. "Now witness the stage we call... The Competition!" The four larvae headed toward the center of the tank. Larva One opened its mouth and Swallowed Larva Three whole, doubling in size. The crowd gasped. A youth shouted "Bug fight, bug fight, bug fight!" A woman mumbled softly "This is inhuman..." Of the remaining smaller larvae, Two and Four collided into each other a few times, then Four swallowed up Two. Now there were larger larvae competing. They bashed and whipped each other with their tails, until One could no longer fight back. Four swallowed One whole... and it was now the dominant larva. The crowd was captivated. They could not bring themselves to leave but raised some degree of protest. A man said "This is cannibalism!" Buford waved dismissively "Don't be alarmed folks, this is the Circle of Life in action. The behavior you have just witnessed is consistent with all the Galapagos sauropod broods we've observed." The larva appeared to stand upright as if it were a dog doing a trick for its master. It began glowing. Its gray skin gradually turned purple. The body contorted and clicked. The neon highlights dispersed. It grew into the shape of a stalk. Eight beady neon green eyes formed. It had now taken on the appearance of... a sea anemone? Buford spoke "Galapagos sauropod has a short juvenile period. It lasts less than ten minutes. We're going to have to feed it soon." He pressed the red button on his wrist. The assistants brought three garbage bags fully loaded with kelp. They cut them open and threw the green mass into the tank. "We keep the kelp away from the juveniles, as we've discovered most foods are toxic to them. The adolescent sauropods are a different story. They need to be fed quickly after their metamorphosis. If we don't, I suppose you could say they get quite cranky." He let out a chuckle. "If they are not fed within minutes of achieving puberty, they expel an acid that is very harmful to anyone within the vicinity. Then, they collapse and die." The anemone creature made slurping noises as it devoured all three bags of kelp. It belched. The crowd responded with a hearty "Pee-yew!" The anemone tilted over to its side. Stacey exclaimed "And now, the main event!" The anemone turned an aquamarine color. "Blue-green! It's a boy!" Stacey said. It grew four limbs that crunched their way out of the stalk. A black turtle shell with seafoam highlights formed on its... back? *His* back. Last of all, a neck formed from the center of the body. A head bloomed from the neck. It was like a miniature brachiosaurus and a tortoise in one. It opened its mouth and showed off its razor-sharp teeth. The dinosaur made a face. It grinned. "Heh heh heh." Did the dinosaur just chuckle? Someone in the crowd yelled "Holy shit!" A few others left the lobby. Other brave souls stood there captivated despite their revulsion. Stacy reassured the onlookers "Don't mind them, folks." "And here it is!" Buford said. "The fully mature Galapagos Sauropod! Isn't it grand?" A man shot back "'Grand', my ass! That's a damn freak o' nature!" Buford responded, "Perhaps, in a glass tank somewhere, a creature is looking at us humans and thinking the same thing..." A teen girl said woefully "Is it going to eat us...?" The Sauropod locked eyes with the crowd. "Heh heh heh..." Buford said "There should be no concerns. Once it is fully mature, the Sauropod is a strict herbivore... in most circumstances. Do not provoke the creature and you should be fine." The Sauropod appeared to be bending his knees. He was trying to jump. More and more of the crowd drew away from the glass. Stacey shouted to the crowd "Don't worry, he can't jump that high! Maybe... two feet at the most. He should stay in his tank. That's their behavior. He likes his tank." From the anxious crowd, a man's cell phone went off. It was the clang clang of a ship's bell. Clang clang! Buford's normally stone face was now white. "No! I thought we said to turn off your phones during the tour! No! No, not that sound... EVER!" The Sauropod's aquamarine skin turned red; his head grew a plate of armor. Shiny metal spikes grew out of his turtle-like shell. He licked his lips and said in a whispery and unassuming voice: "Heh heh heh. I know what I am. Heh heh heh." He jumped and rammed his head on the edge of the terrarium. The glass shattered. Stacey had already made her way to the desolate shores of the Galapagos as screams could be faintly heard from the Discovatorium. The same cannot be said for Buford. PREVIOUS | TABLE OF CONTENTS | NEXT