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Rex Jr. was not a Tyrannosaurus Rex. He was a Microraptor—a tiny dinosaur about the size of a robin, with magnificent blue-black feathers. Rex Jr. considered himself a gourmand, but he had an extremely particular dining habit: he would only eat human food, and it all had to be miniature.

Rex Jr. lived in a cozy terrarium in the house of a kind woman named Maya.

"Maya," Rex Jr. squawked one evening, landing on her shoulder. "Tonight, I require a three-course meal. Specifically, a tiny portion of spaghetti and meatballs, followed by a microscopic slice of pizza, and dessert must be a miniature, single-serving lemon meringue pie."

Maya sighed. This was always a difficult request. "Rex Jr., where am I supposed to find a microscopic pizza slice?"

"You must craft it!" Rex Jr. demanded, fluffing his neck feathers dramatically. "The crust must be made from one ground poppy seed, the sauce from a single drop of strained tomato paste, and the cheese must be a tiny shaving of Parmesan!"

Maya started the difficult task. First, the spaghetti. She cooked a single piece of angel hair pasta and, using a pair of tweezers, wrapped it into a neat little coil. For the meatball, she used a tiny crumb of ground beef, which she rolled into a sphere the size of a pinhead.

Rex Jr. ate the pasta with great dignity, using a single feather as a fork. "Adequate," he declared. "Now, the pizza. And it must be baked perfectly!"

Maya spent twenty minutes creating the poppy seed crust, applying the drop of sauce with a needle, and carefully placing the Parmesan shaving. She placed the entire microscopic creation on a foil chewing gum wrapper and held it over a candle flame for three seconds.

Rex Jr. devoured the tiny pizza in one rapturous gulp. "Magnificent! Now, the lemon meringue pie!"

This was the hardest part. Maya managed to squeeze a pinprick of lemon juice onto a tiny disk of cracker. For the meringue, she used a single drop of whipped cream, which she toasted with a hot toothpick.

Rex Jr. stared at the pie. It was beautiful. He took a bite. "It is exquisite! The balance of citrus and sugar is unparalleled!"

Just as he finished, his friend, a common house mouse named Milo, scampered by, dragging a massive, half-eaten potato chip.

"Hey, Rex!" Milo squeaked. "Why are you eating dust? Want a chip? It's huge!"

Rex Jr. looked down his tiny snout. "Milo, I am dining on culinary art. I wouldn't touch that enormous, vulgar piece of starch for all the tea in China!"

Milo shrugged and dragged the chip away. Rex Jr. finished his microscopic meal, burped politely, and settled down for a satisfied nap, dreaming of tiny, perfect feasts.