Jimmy Smith Has a Dinosaur: Short Fiction

Jimmy Smith Has a Dinosaur

 Chris Costello

"No, Billy, you can't have one." Billy's mom picked up another plate, one of the chipped ones, and started wiping it dry with quick, almost savage strokes of the dishtowel. She knew what was coming next.

"But why, Mom?" argued Billy. "Jimmy Smith has a dinosaur!"

Billy's mom sighed. Put the plate in the cupboard, reached for another, and began wiping it dry. "If Jimmy Smith's parents choose to let him have a dinosaur, that is their decision and they can afford to do so. Me, I really don't think it's proper to let a child have that kind of a pet."

Even if it is "just a micro-sized plant-eater" like that Amelia said.

"But, Moooooommmmm!"

"Don't 'but Mom!' me!" Billy's mom spat. "No dinosaur and that is final!"

Billy scuffed a sneaker-clad foot against a crack in the kitchen linoleum. "'S not fair. Jimmy Smith gets to have a dinosaur, he gets to ride around on his own SeaSkidoo, gets to learn kickboxing with Jackie Chan's clone, go to Mars for summer holidays, to--"

"Oh, for pity's sake!" Billy's mom cried in exasperation. "If Jimmy Smith got permission to jump off a cliff, would you want to go too?"

Blessed silence followed. For a moment. Then...

"Jimmy Smith has a jetpack."