Meet Bowser. Those horns may look intimidating, and his toothy grin can be downright fearsome.  But you know what they say about books and their covers… 😉

Let’s take a peak through the bushes, I saw Bowser taking a nap in the sunshine just ahead…

Here’s the short story if the video is not working for you, or if you’d rather just read instead of listen. This is one of the stories I’ll be including in the little collection I’m putting together.

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A Scent in the Air

written by Patricia Bujard

Crouched in the dappled shade of a gnarled cedar tree, Bowser inhaled a long, slow breath. He smelled the bitter tang of oily sap that bubbled from a gash in the tree’s trunk. The dusty heat from sun-baked rocks and chalky, clay-hardened soil. The earthy spice of charcoal and wood smoke…and a sweetness so tantalizing he could almost taste it as the scent filled his sinuses.

He opened his yellow eyes, and unfolded up off the ground to stand on two powerful hind legs. Three-toed, clawed feet padded forward without a sound beneath the twittering of birds and humming of insects. Big as he was, he held his head low and level with his spotted body, careful not to break the dry, low-hanging cedar branches with his thick, muscular tail.

Walking downhill, the scent grew stronger. A thick cover of palm fronds and young cedar saplings separated him from the crackling of fire. He cocked his head to one side, birdlike, as he listened. The clang of metal hitting metal. The murmur of voices. He knew that voice…or at least one of them. Bowser’s mouth watered as the scent lured him closer, even as new intrigue sparked in his reptilian mind. That voice always meant good things. But that smell…

Through the branches, he watched a young woman hold a flat, round object towards an older man. The man stood at a large, black stand, and flipped small disks of meat onto the plate held out to him.

“That smells amazing,” said the woman.

“Thank you,” he said, and he chuckled. “We might be expecting a few…uninvited dinner guests.”

“What do you mean?”

The man’s eyes looked up to the thicket of trees where Bowser hid, and the woman squinted at the scrubby trees- searching- but her gaze swept past the hidden predator, distracted by the people and music behind them.

“No worries,” said the man as he flipped the last morsel onto the plate. Bowser’s eyes followed it. “You go on and take that to the table.” The woman nodded and turned away, taking the pile of meat with her. It wasn’t what brought him here, but it was closer, and it smelled rich and warm and he wanted at least a nibble-

Bowser bumped into something cold and hard. A low concrete wall that brushed against his broad chest, waist-high for the silver-haired man walking towards him.

“You want to join the party boy?” The man was almost bent over with the weight of the bucket in his arms. Bowser took a deep breath, and a low guttering rumble echoed from his throat. There it was! Rich, ripe, sweet…That’s what his nose led him to. He followed the man and his bucket along the wall, away from the party, and the man heaved it up onto the wall and dumped it. Sweet, sun-ripened meat and offal tumbled to the ground.

Bowser pounced.

Making progress…

It’s good to see you here! I hope you enjoyed another read-aloud.

I must admit I’m disappointed with this month’s progress. I ended up taking quite a bit more time than expected with the drawings. Ah well, any progress is good progress, especially when life throws unexpected little things at you. Something that tends to happen when you homeschool 5 kids. 😀 Little, necessary things add up if you’re not careful, and sometimes even when you are careful!

It was fun to figure out the new video program I found, Hitfilm Express. It’s a free program that actually has a great potential for cool features. I’m keeping things simple for now, but I’m looking forward to playing with the program and seeing what I can do with it. It’d be awesome to have some simple animations! I’m thinking along the lines of a book trailer. Blinking eyes, waving tails, a little movement for the head, that sort of thing. I’ll get this done before I dive too deep into it though. One thing at a time lol! My biggest problem is chasing after shiny things and things that’ll “only take a minute” that end up taking way more time than planned. 🙂

See you for Fossil Friday on the 14th and the 21st! I only have one Fossil Friday critter scheduled so far, but even if I don’t have a second Fossil Friday critter I’ll still post something on the 21st. 🙂 It’ll be one of the sketches I’m working on for the collection, which one do you think it’ll be? 😀

• Scutellosaurus
• Pterodactylus
• Dimorphodon
• Dryosaurus
• Allosaurus
• Camptosaurus
• Rhamphorynchus
• Ornitholestes

Here’s a fast and ugly calendar so we both have a nice visual for when the posts are scheduled for. 😀

Coming June 1st…

This little flyer just wants a little snack…please? 🙂

Share your guess in the comments! He’s one of the critters over on the critter page. 🙂