Fearless ≫ Zach Mitchell

i.

o n e

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Isla Nublar, 120 miles off the west coast of Coasta Rica- better known as Jurassic World.

Ashton Grady arose from her deep slumber as the song of a Brachiosaurus echoed throughout the early morning air. To her, the sound of the 40-foot-tall herbivore was almost as normal as the sound of a car horn was to a person living in the city of New York. It became her own sort of alarm clock, as it was almost impossible to sleep through the racket caused by the dinosaurs as they began their early-morning feeding frenzy.

As a child, Ashton was always absolutely infatuated by dinosaurs. Ever since she was 8 years old, she had wanted nothing more than to be a Paleontologist. By the time she was 9, she could name over 100 species of dinosaurs, along with their diet and what period they lived in. She was always an extremely smart girl, though as her mother once said, she was the Albert Einstein of dinosaurs.

After her mother died, due to frontal temporal dementia, a rare form of dementia that shrinks the brain and cannot be cured, her mentally-unstable father sent Ashton off to live with her uncle, former soldier Owen Grady. Little did 10-year-old Ashton know, her life was about to change. Little did she know that she was about to move onto an island that just so happened to be inhabited by dinosaurs, an early childhood dream.

Now a fifteen year old, Ashton Grady was almost 100% positive that part of her uncle still lived in the military. He refused to let his niece have anything that involved modern technology. Besides a phone, of course, though that still took months and months of begging. She had an iPhone 4, a phone that she knew was already beginning to grow out of date, as people were beginning to buy phones that were able to unlock with a simple fingerprint. Owen Grady didn't allow his niece to own an alarm clock, as he knew it was nearly impossible to sleep past 6am anyways, with all the racket from the dinosaurs and their beautiful songs.

Though after five years of living on the tropical island known as Jurassic World, Ashton has grown used to the early mornings and the long day of work that lay ahead of her. After having nothing else to do (the island didn't exactly have a high school), she finally convinced her uncle into letting her help out around the island. Now, she was known as Owen Grady's personal assistant. This also meant she got to help out with one of the park's most popular attractions- the Velociraptors. Of course, she didn't get the privilege to do the more exciting jobs- like training and feeding the dinosaurs- but she was still able to name one of the raptors. The first time she handled her Velociraptor- in which she had named Echo- was when the creature had only just broken through her egg. She was 11 at the time, though the dinosaur was only as big as her hand. Ever since then, she had felt an unshakable bond towards the sandy-colored Velociraptor, and she often found herself sitting in the pen alongside her uncle as he examined the animals every day.

Currently, Ashton was sitting in the passenger seat of her uncle's Jeep, half-heartedly nodding as Owen Grady continued on with his third rant of the morning. Over the past five years that she had been on the island, the pair had grown closer than your average uncle and niece. Of course, it was pretty much inevitable, as they were forced to live with each other in a tiny beach-side bungalow. Though the relationship that the two shared was just like the one Ashton and her raptor had- unshakable.

Ashton was pulled back into reality as the Jeep pulled to a halt just outside the Raptor paddock. Owen Grady killed the engine, the sound of his deep, raspy voice dying off along with it. His hand reached over to the door, ready to open it, though Ashton was faster. Her hand found its way to her own door, clicking the button that locked the doors. Her uncle turned to look at her, eyebrows raised and an expectant look on his face. Though Ashton only wriggled her eyebrows, her plump pink lips curling into a coy smile.

Grady rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "No," he said simply. Once again, he reached out and unlocked the door, this time successfully opening it. Ashton quickly scrambled out after her uncle, trailing behind the older man like a lost puppy.

"C'mon, Owen," she begged, tugging on the sleeve of his brown cargo shirt. "I'm fifteen years old- I think I'm ready."

"Yeah, fifteen going on ten," Owen retorted bluntly, snickering as he approached the several sets of metal steps.

Ashton stopped in her tracks and blinked, an eyebrow cocked as she attempted to think of a comeback. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," she finally responded, the sound of metal clanking beneath her feet as she followed Grady up the stairs. "Me and Echo- we have a bond. It's only a matter of time before she completely turns on you. You may be the alpha, but she's the lone wolf searching for a new leader. And that leader just so happens to be me. It'd be better if you just let me take over her training now."

"You and your father have one thing in common- you are both persistent. I'm telling you, you should be a lawyer." Owen Grady came to a halt, causing the fifteen-year-old blond to run into his muscular back. She took a step backwards, crossing her arms over her chest and letting out a huff. Though she stayed silent as her uncle continued to talk. "But I'm pretty persistent, too. And my answer ain't changing."

"And that answer is yes?" Ashton countered, her lips curling into a sly smile. She desperately hoped that her stubbornness would do her some good- as it had done when she lived with her parents. Though after years of trying, her stubbornness continued to fail her.

"The answer is no. Do you wanna hear it in Spanish? Noh," Grady retorted. His niece parted her lips to argue, though he chose not to listen, turning away from the young girl and mumbling beneath his breath. "And that's final." He did his best to make his tone sound stern, though it was pretty obvious that Owen Grady wasn't exactly the average parenting type. So, for now, he chose to just stick with the immature uncle who just so happened to be the fifteen year old girl's best friend.

"And that's final," Ashton mocked the older man under her breath, though chose not to argue anymore. Pursing her lips and letting out a stubborn huff of air, she twisted around on the balls of her feet and headed back down the steps. Someday she would get her way, someday Owen would have to allow her to take care of Echo.

But for now, she was only Jurassic World's youngest employee- who just so happened to do little to no work despite her abnormally large pay.