Chapter 1 Cleaning Up

R-O-A-R!

The thundering bellow of the Tyrannosaurus rex reverberated through the forest.

In his headlong flight to safety, Brandon crashed through the dense undergrowth, heedless of the branches jabbing him from head to toe. His only thought was to put as much distance between him and the T-rex as possible.

It should have been a simple safari. Earlier in the day, he had come across the tracks of a vast herd of Triceratops grazing in the grasslands. By noon, he had caught up with a straggler, and had spent the most part of the afternoon observing the feeding habits of the Triceratops. Hiding behind some convenient foliage, he took in the beast which stood at a mere stone's throw in front of him. The creature was placidly pulling fronds off the low-lying cycads and chewing them contentedly, swaying its magnificent head as it did so. At one point, the Triceratops had lurched towards Brandon, causing him to stifle a muffled gasp and take a hurried step back. It proved to be a false alarm. The Triceratops had evidently decided that tastier food lay elsewhere and lumbered off.

In the blink of an eye, a T-rex higher than a double-decker bus thundered out of a copse of conifers and burst onto the scene. From his voracious reading of books on prehistoric life, Brandon knew that the carnivorous T-rex frequently preyed on Triceratops, tending to pick out the weaker ones who had strayed from the group.

The ground shook as the T-rex had charged at the Triceratops. The Triceratops gave a great bellow and lowered its head in readiness for the T-rex's assault. The two animals attacked one another fiercely, each giving the other no quarter. Crouched behind the fern, Brandon clenched his fists in nervous anticipation. Wanting to give the duelling monsters a bigger fight area, he took a step backwards. It was an erroneous decision. He had inadvertently stepped on a dry twig which snapped with a loud crack.

The T-rex paused in its slaying of the Triceratops and looked up, his massive head turning one way then the other, bloody saliva dripping from his jaw.

The next thing Brandon knew, he was running through the forest for dear life as the T-rex roared. Oddly enough, the roars of the T-rex were changing. In fact, they did not sound quite like roars any longer, and were more like shouts. Soon, the shouts turned into actual words. Perplexed, he stopped short and turned around.

Goodness, it's Mum! What's she doing here? was Brandon's last thought before he found himself back on the floor of his bedroom, surrounded by his collection of books and assorted paraphernalia on dinosaurs.

"Brandon Chan Yong Jun!" yelled his mother.

Oh no, Brandon groaned inwardly, it's never a good sign when Mum calls me by my full name.

"Brandon Chan Yong Jun! It will be Chinese New Year in two days' time and your room looks like a hurricane hit it! The spring-cleaning has to be completed by today. I want the whole house to be as neat as a pin when your relatives visit us. I do not want to hear Third Auntie telling me yet again that you are a lazy boy who does not help out at home unlike her Benedict. I gave you a very simple task, which is to pack your room and clear out all the books and toys you don't want any more. I did not," his mother paused at this point to glare at him fiercely, "I emphasise, I did not ask you to sit here and read all your books!"

Brandon tried explaining to his mother. "But mum, I haven't read these dinosaur books in a long while, and it brings back happy memories, and..." Brandon did not get any further. His mother was in full flow and could not be stopped. Her words rolled over him as efficiently as a steamroller.

"I also told you that you have to help Ah Gong with spring-cleaning his room as well. Ah Gong is old and needs your help. Have you forgotten how he used to bring you to Chinatown to browse among all the shops?" Her eyes misted over and her voice took on a softer tone. "Ah Gong can't help getting older, and so what if he's a little forgetful? We will all get older one day, and so will you too, young man!" With that, Mrs Chan marched out of Brandon's room, presumably to render the rest of the house respectably clean enough to pass muster with the relatives descending upon them.

Sighing, Brandon turned his attention to packing. He hoped he would not be bored stiff while tidying Ah Gong's room. Suddenly, he brightened up. He had just recalled that Ah Gong was an antiques buff. There was a faint chance that some gem, hitherto undiscovered, lay buried in one of Ah Gong's cupboards.