Rex Can't Hug

10 pages · 6 min · ages 4+

Stego sat on the hill all by himself. Stego was sad. His favourite napping stone had rolled down the hill and into the river. It was a good stone. It was flat. It was warm. It was just the right size for a nap. “Gone,” said Stego. Rex looked at his friend. When somebody is sad, you give them a hug. Everybody knows that. Rex wanted to give Stego the biggest hug in the jungle.

Rex stomped up the hill. Stomp, stomp. He opened his arms wide. Wide, wide, as wide as they would go. It was not very wide. Rex leaned in for the hug. His tiny arms did not go round Stego. They did not even go round Stego's leg. They tickled his knee. Tickle, tickle. “Rex can't hug!” said Rex.

Topsy came up the hill with her baby brother, Tiny Tops. “Stego is sad,” Rex told her. “I want to hug him. But my arms are too short.” “Hugs aren't about arms,” said Topsy. She lay down and curled herself all the way round Tiny Tops, like a nest. Tiny Tops snuggled in and smiled. Rex did not understand. Hugs were ALL about arms.

Rex had a plan. If his arms were too short, he would use a vine. A long vine could go all the way round. Rex held one end of the vine in his teeth, and he ran. Round Stego. Round and round and round. The vine went round Stego. The vine went round Rex. The vine went round a tree.

Boing! The vine pulled tight. Rex and Stego and the tree were tied up together in one big green knot. Stego blinked. “Tight,” said Stego. “Rex can't hug!” said Rex, from somewhere inside the knot. It took Topsy a very long time to untie them.

Rex had another plan. If he couldn't hug with his arms, he would hug with his head. His head was very big. He put his big chin gently on top of Stego's head. That was a hug. Sort of. But Rex's head was very, very heavy. Stego went down. Slowly. Down, down, down, until he was flat on the grass. “Heavy,” said Stego, from underneath. “Rex can't hug,” said Rex.

Rex lifted his head. He sat down on the hill next to Stego. Now Rex was sad too. Two sad dinosaurs on one hill. Rex's big tail curled round his feet, the way it always did when he sat down. Tiny Tops toddled over and climbed right into the curl of Rex's tail. He snuggled in. He sighed a happy baby sigh. Rex looked down at his tail. He looked at Tiny Tops. And Rex had the biggest idea he had ever had.

Rex scooted over to Stego. He swung his long, strong tail all the way round his friend and pulled him close. Round Stego's legs. Round Stego's plates. Round and round, soft and warm, like a big green blanket. “Squeeze,” said Rex. Stego didn't say anything for a long time. Then Stego smiled. “Good hug,” said Stego.

“A tail hug!” said Topsy. “Me next!” Topsy got a tail hug. Tiny Tops got another tail hug. A frog hopped up and got a tail hug. Three birds landed in a row and got a tail hug. A butterfly got a tail hug. It did not know what was happening, but it liked it. “Rex CAN hug!” shouted Rex.

By the end of the day, everybody in the jungle had had a tail hug. Everybody except Rex. Rex tried to hug himself. His arms didn't reach. His tail didn't bend that way. “Rex can't hug Rex,” he said. So Topsy leaned in from one side. Stego leaned in from the other. Tiny Tops climbed up on top. And that was the biggest hug in the jungle.