Arlo and the boy were walking along the river when they heard a strange voice call to them from behind the trees.

“Hello.”

Arlo looked around, timidly. “Hello?”

“We’ve been watching you,” the voice said.

Arlo walked toward the voice and saw a collection of creatures perched on the branches of a tree. They were all staring directly at him.

“We thought you were going to die,” the voice said.

Arlo still couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from. He searched the animals in the branches, trying to figure it out. He kept looking.

“But then you didn’t,” the voice said.

Finally, two eyes appeared, revealing a Styracosaurus with big branchlike horns. Small creatures of all sorts perched on the outstretched horns. The dinosaur took a step forward, abandoning the camouflage created by the woods.

His name was Forrest Woodbush, and he was a collector of pets. The animals sitting in his horns were his friends, and they protected him from the wild.

“That creature protected you,” Forrest said. “Why?”

“I—I don’t know. I’m going home,” Arlo said. “Do you know how far Clawtooth Mountain is?”

The red bird sitting in Forrest’s horn chirped, and he responded, “Good idea…” Forrest turned back to Arlo. “We want him.”

“Wh-why?” Arlo asked.

“WHY? ’Cause it’s terrifying out here. He can protect me, like my friends.” Forrest introduced all the creatures to Arlo, explaining how each one helped to keep him safe in the wilderness. He pointed to a slothlike creature first. “This is Fury. He protects me from the creatures that crawl in the night.”

Then he pointed to a furry critter. “This is Destructor. She protects me from mosquitoes.”

Next, he pointed to the cutest, big-eyed creature of the bunch. “This is Dreamcrusher. He protects me from having unrealistic goals,” he explained.

Finally, he pointed to the red bird. “And this is Debbie.” She chirped again, and Forrest nodded. He said firmly to Arlo, “We need him.”

“W-wait,” Arlo said. “He—he’s with me.”

“If he’s with you, what is his name?”

“His name? I—I don’t know,” Arlo answered.

“Hmmm…then I will meditate on this.” Forrest calmly closed his eyes for a moment. He opened one and quickly blurted, “I name him. I keep him.”

Forrest continued to hum, closing his eyes and shouting out names as they came to him. “Mmm…Killer!”

All eyes darted toward the boy. He gave no response.

“Mmm…Beast!”

The boy still didn’t answer.

“Mmm…Murderer!”

Arlo was all of a sudden nervous. He started throwing names out, too. He had no idea what he was doing. But Arlo couldn’t lose the boy now.

“Uh…Grubby!” Arlo said, trying to get the boy’s attention.

The boy sniffed around in the dirt, ignoring them.

Arlo and Forrest continued to blurt out names, but nothing seemed to stick.

“Funeral Planner!”

“Cooty!”

“Hemorrhoid!”

“Squirt!”

“Fffffrank!”

“Stinky!”

“Manic!”

“Funky!”

“Violet!”

“Spike!”

“Lunatic!”

Finally, Arlo cried out, “Spot!”

The boy stopped, turned, and looked up. A big smile grew across Arlo’s face. “C-come here, Spot! Come here!”

The boy happily trotted over to Arlo, and Forrest sighed. “He is named. You clearly are connected….Good for you. On your path to Clawtooth Mountain, that creature will keep you safe. Don’t ever lose him.”

Then the red bird began to chirp loudly and angrily. “No. No…no! You—you can’t have him, Debbie!” Forrest scolded the bird. She took off and flew at Arlo, chirping wildly, scaring him. Spot jumped at her, growling. Then the two ran as the bird continued to follow.

“ Debbie!” They heard Forrest call. “Stop! You’re better than this!”

Arlo and Spot hid behind a boulder to escape. As Debbie flew by with Forrest chasing behind her, the two unlikely friends looked at each other and laughed.