VICTOR AND SCHOOL TRIP TO THE DARHLOW MUSEUM

Following the winter holidays Victor and his peers were to have an excursion trip to the brand new Natural History Museum of Darhlow. This year has been insane. First, the marigold project, then their class went to Disneyworld as a treat from their homeroom teacher Mrs. Goldstein. This was her last year teaching them, she was moving across the state because her husband got a promotion. It would be a sad parting but that is how things are sometimes. 

Another excursion followed the trip to Disneyworld. They trekked through Mianus River Gorge Preserve in search of bobcats and weasels. This time they were to study the natural history of North America. A brand new museum with modern moving representatives of the pre-historic Dinosaurs and even rides like the ones in amusement parks. 

‘This is going to be fun’ thought Victor. “We should go on that ride for sure”, Charlie said to him. “Yes. I want to see the dinosaurs. I overheard Brian saying there is a whole moving section too. We should stick to the dinosaurs today.” Victor agreed. 

“What’s your favorite?” Charlie asked out of the blue. “My favorite?” Victor repeated turning towards his friend with a confused look on his face. “Yes, your favorite dinosaur?” Charlie clarified. 

“Oh, my favorite dinosaur? T-Rex of course.” Victor answered. Then almost as an afterthought added, “Yours?” 

“It’s Triceratops. Did you watch all the Jurassic Park movies?” Charlie continued, “I haven’t watched the latest one. You?” answered Victor.

“Yeah, I watched all of them. I’m a huge fan. I wish we could get to see them for real. But I guess the closest we will get to it is the simulation we will see today.” Charlie revealed to Victor.

Small talk and laughter filled the bus. It became an ever-present companion as the ride continued onwards until they arrived at Darhlow Museum. 

Together as a group, they were greeted by a lovely young lady named Vivian. She was bubbly and quite fun to listen to. She led them through all the different sections of the museum. It was all fascinating, but not what Victor was looking forward to. His impatience was getting the better of him, he was only interested in the dinosaurs after all. It looked almost as though they were not even going to look into that section. Of course, Victor ended up being wrong as he tended to be when impatient. 

The Dinosaur world as they called it, happened to be their last stop. This place was their “pride”. The most expensive and impressive part of the whole museum. Solely based on this section they already managed to get a reputation as one of the best spots for kids to spend time at. It took them around 6 months to get on the list. Extremely quickly, considering how long it usually took. Soon Victor and his classmates were going to find out why.

Their first stop was the evolution and history section. It explained the theory and perceived history of the dinosaurs. Ms. Vivian guided them through it in detail and explained all. After about another 30 minutes of her explaining how other animals evolved from Dinosaurs the class was finally dismissed. They were given 2 hours to explore the rest of the museum, preferably the ‘Which dino is this?’ and ‘The world as it was’ parts of the dinosaur section.  

As soon as they were given the mark Victor and Charlie were off to catch the ride of their life. Which ride you may be wondering? The ride through The world as it was. A 30-minute-long virtual reality ride through the nine different habitats the dinosaurs lived in. The line to get on the train was 20 meters long and the trains transported 12 people at a time. Victor and Charlie had to wait a whole 15 minutes. For the impatient Victor, they felt like 3 hours. But when finally on the train with their goggles on, their world was flipped upside down. Victor would later say, he would have waited actual 3 hours to be able to go again. 

Their journey began slowly in the flatlands of Pangea. Victor and Charlie with 10 other girls and boys first met the herds of plant-eating Ceratopsians, Hadrosaurs, and Ornithopods who were grazing on prehistoric plants. Suddenly a herd of small lizard-looking animals rushed into the scene on their right. Chasing them were meat-eating Velociraptors and Tyrannosaurs. The train sped up following them at their great speed.  

The terrain became more and more dry. Tyrannosaurs relinquished the chase while Velociraptors kept up their pursuit. Soon they were joined by Proteoceratops and Oviraptors. Looking around the kids realized they were not in the flatlands anymore. The terrain was now even drier and the air even warmer. The train was now strolling through the deserts. It kept going faster and faster after the dinosaurs until it overcame them. To the surprise of all though it didn't stop accelerating. All heads turned behind, watching the ever more distant dinosaurs they left behind. Turning their heads back in front, they got to admire the vastness of the deserts. The train's speed soon made things blurry and the weather became chill.

Already blown away by the sights they saw, going through a cloud of mist opened them up to a new world. The train began to slow down little by little until it settled at a steady intermediate speed. Capable of seeing their surroundings better now, an involuntary chill went down Victor's spine at the frosty look of the environment they rolled into. They found themselves in the polar regions of Earth. The sight of the cold-blooded Ankylosaurs and other cold-blooded dinosaurs may have contributed to the chilly feeling too.

They entered a valley with high mountains towering over them on each side. The ice slowly began to be replaced by rocky terrain with some small vegetation. In the far distance, they could see the exit from the valley they were far approaching. There the terrain was similar - rocky with patches of vegetation springing up here and there.

The chilly feeling persisted for a short while when it suddenly started to give way to warmer weather once more. The rocky terrain gave way to the soggy low-lying wetlands. A place where herbivores such as Iguanodon, Polacanthus, and Hypsilophodon had their domain. Steadily they continued through the wetlands, expertly zooming through the soggy terrain at a slow pace.

When they finally hit more steady ground the train accelerated once more. That warm feeling persisted when the train began to approach big trees at a slightly more accelerated pace. Soon it was zooming through lush green forests with Diplodocus dinosaurs racing alongside the train while long-necked dinosaurs could be seen eating vegetation in the back.

As quickly as they entered the lush green forests they also exited. Other flowers and vegetation joined the trees and swampy became the land. Duck-billed dinosaurs entered the scene with some other smaller species surrounding the train. All of a sudden they started to slow down. The train's back right side also started to dip little by little.

“Captain we have a problem?" a voice said all of a sudden. "Seems like our last set of wheels is being pulled in by quicksand.” it continued. “Roger that! Get some hands up front and pull this train out of it!” was the Captain's response.

The guests were in for a spectacle. A jeep with 4 men appeared. They all tentatively yet quickly exited the jeep and started with their mission. Effectively they slowly managed to get the train out of the quicksand. Not a moment too soon it happened as a T-rex started to emerge from the foliage at that precise moment. Too distracted it was with chasing a small dinosaur to notice them. The train once more started to run, the men were safe inside their jeep when it finally detected their presence. Too late though for all the vehicles with their passengers were well on their way already. “Safe and sound. Boy, that was a close one.” one of the soldiers from the jeep said. 

Throughout the ride, Victor and the rest of the boys have been way too stumped to even comment. ‘This is insane!’ thought Victor. He will forever be grateful he could be part of this. 

Done with the swamps, they soon exited the forest and gazed upon the beautiful blue-looking lagoon. What a sight to behold with Ptesaurus flying all over the place. Some were standing in the shallow water gazing at the newcomers disturbing their peace, while others just dived to collect their dinner from the pristine-looking lagoon. 

Leaving them to their dinner the train with Victor and his peers boarded a ship that traveled towards a nearby Island. A needed restful 5 minutes the ride lasted. Bright blue sky filled with flying dinosaurs was the sight that accompanied them.

Soon after they were departing from the ship when giant pterosaur Hatzegopteryx towered over them. Luckily though, they were not their prey. The dwarf-sized titanosaur Magyarosauruses were. Animals on Islands evolved smaller body sizes to save on resources or so it is theorized. It was no different in this case.

The train rode around the small Island down the coastline for a couple of minutes. Kids took in the natural beauty of the Island and the dinosaurs living there seeing the occasional Pterosaur dive into the sea to get some fish. All the habitats had a different feel to them. The Island felt mysterious for an odd reason. It felt as though something was hiding in the forests on their left. Lurking there in the shadows. The feeling left them once they boarded the ship once more. They were returning to the mainland. 

They exited soon after at the shoreline where they had to navigate their way back to the base by steering their way through all the different dinosaurs walking along the shoreline. By far one of the most exciting parts of the ride. Seeing the plant-eating dinosaurs up close, even from beneath. Going through the legs of the last dinosaur signaled this train ride as a success. All that was left was making the last couple of meters to the base right in front of them.

But this wouldn't be the Dinosaur World if everything went smoothly. From the forest emerged a T-rex that looked straight at them. It took a lunge after them and ran after the train at full speed. But who knew that this train could go so fast? It accelerated to its maximum speed. The T-Rex soon gave up on the chase when it realized it was not gaining up on the train at all. Doors to the base opened with a sliding mechanism and quickly closed after they drove through. Safely they came to their destination. 

They departed from the train, walked through a tunnel, and emerged near the beginning of the train ride’s long cue. Contemplating whether they should go again, Charlie’s desire to see the rest of the exhibition prevailed. They stepped towards the third part of the world of Dinosaurs - “What dino is this?” showering the ride and Museum with high praises.

'What Dino is this?' ended up being a long hall full of movable skeletons and pictures. The movable skeletons were made from hard plastic and were not just for display. When you touched a certain part other parts moved. It was perfect for entertainment purposes and for observing the moving mechanisms of dinosaurs.

There happened to be some real skeletons inside glass atriums too, usually found close to the big-sized skeletons. Playing with these skeletons was almost as fun as the ride discovered Victor and Charlie. Though Charlie was the one most excited to see this section, Victor ended up being the one who enjoyed it the most. Truly intrigued by the moving mechanisms, he had to play catch with his buddy on two occasions. When he got distracted a third time though, Charlie was long gone. Decided to in go search of him he soon steered away from his mission when he noticed a separate room. Inside the biggest skeleton, he had seen up until now stood. In the far right corner there stood an atrium and a smaller skeleton of a baby dino too. Excitement ran through Victor. He quickly moved forward when the big dinosaur suddenly moved. The movement startled Victor and he ended up tripping when moving backward. He landed in the atrium and broke the glass. 

Shook he stood there for a bit when panic suddenly told Victor to run for safety. He quickly departed from the room and ran for his life down the hall until he caught up with the majority of his classmates. There amidst them happened to be Charlie too. They were all gathering up since it was nearing departure time.

Joining Charlie he took a moment to calm down. Realization hit him and he thought to himself, ‘None needs to know about it!’ Victor relaxed and once more started to enjoy himself. Sadly though it quickly got replaced by guilt that once more wiped the smile off his face. Even Charlie noticed and asked, “You ok?”. Victor nervously replied that he was fine. But the feeling of guilt kept increasing even further and got to its highest when their group rejoined their teacher in the lobby. 

Victor tried to ignore it, but he finally caved in and approached his teacher. After spilling the beans, together they approached the front desk. There Victor retold his story. Expecting anger and punishment he waited there nervously while they were checking the damage. When they returned, though, he was surprised by their appreciation for telling the truth. As Ms. Vivian said “Thank you for telling us about the broken atrium. Someone might have cut themselves on the broken glass. And we now know that the tile mechanism that set off the dinosaur was a bad idea.  We will have to rethink the whole room.” The room was sealed off until further notice.   

They went so far as to let Victor pick a favorite toy from their collection. Thinking of picking a T-rex, he ended up opting for a bobcat instead surprising even himself. Maybe he had enough ddinosaurs for the day.

On the bus ride back home, Victor contemplated the whole day in silence. He couldn’t help but feel glad that he had chosen to do the right thing. Not only did the museum profit, but they even let him pick a toy. And no one else got hurt. 

When arriving home he told his mother everything. She praised him like the Museum workers too. “God gave you grace to do the right thing, though it was uncomfortable to do so.”

Before going to bed Victor thought about his mother's words. While reading the Bible he happened to read in 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV), “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and love, and a sound mind.” For the first time started to understand what that verse might mean.

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Until next time!