One Night - Night at the Museum

Twenty-Two: Museum Tour

"Come along, everyone!" called Lancelot from the front of the group, leading the way even though Larry had the phone-tracker. 

Sac caught up to Larry. "It's good that Nick is here, and Nat too. This journey will be good for your family."

"I hope so."

Suddenly, they heard a loud gasp from behind – Nat.

"Nat!" cried Larry, running back around the corner. "Honey, you okay-"

But she was fine, standing before a display case, eyes wide and beaming.

"The Rosetta Stone!" she cried. "Wow, it's amazing! Isn't it beautiful?" She was adorably excited.

"Hmm, just looks like a large piece of rock to me," said Lancelot.

"This was the key to deciphering hieroglyphs – Ahk look at this!"

The young Pharaoh joined her in front of the display and they shared an excited smile.

"Do you think it's against museum rules to take a picture?" Nat asked.

"Well we did sneak in after hours," Nick reminded her.

"True." With that she slipped out her phone and began snapping pictures of the Stone.

"Honey," Larry said, putting a hand on her arm. "We've really got to go..."

"Okay, just one more-" She spun around and took a selfie with the Stone. "Okay, I'm good, let's go!"

Rounding another corner further ahead, they found themselves in the main hall. They all stopped and stared.

"Oh wow," breathed Nat.

All around them different stone and china animals and figures were all alive. The details and colours were incredible, the hall itself massive and astounding.

Lancelot and Larry in the lead, Nat saw them chatting before Larry stormed ahead, eyes still focused on the phone screen.

"The fool seems agitated," mused Lancelot, falling back into step with her.

"Yeah, it's kind of his way," she said. "Sometimes I think he bottles it all up too much, you know, isn't open enough, but-" She shrugged. 

"So, you and the fool, how long have you been betrothed?"

"Betrothed?" She liked how old-fashioned it sounded. "Oh, it's not really like that."

"Ah." He nodded. "Arranged marriage?"

"No," she chuckled. "We're just together, we're not married or anything, not yet anyways."

Now he looked confused. "But the boy, is he not your son?" Then he gasped. "Is he illegitimate?"

"No, no, Nick is Larry son he's just not my son."

"Ah." Then his face fell. "You mean the fool cheated on you?!"

This wasn't really going anywhere. "No, no!" she cried in assurance. "Larry was married before and had Nick but then they got divorced - this was years ago. And we're together now. Just together, not married or anything, but we're still a couple."

"But you would like to be, married?"

"Ah-" She shrugged a little. "Yeah, I mean I'm happy with where we are right now but, yeah. Every time I think he's going to pop the question, it doesn't happen. We're at the kind of weird middle-stage right now, where it could go either way: we could get married, or things could just stay the same. Personally, I'd be fine with either." She gave a content smile.

"Well, personally I think you could do better. You a fair lady deserves a heroic knight, not a fool."

"I'm not a fair lady," she said. "And trust me, he's not a fool." With that she left his side and followed Larry. Arrogant knights.

Now Lancelot stood with the remainder of the group. "Is it true what he says, that that tablet you hold is magic?"

Ahk smiled and nodded. "Everything here is coming to life for the very first time because of this tablet."

The knight stared around in wonder. "Amazing," he breathed. "But then they're not real?"

"They're as real as any of us," said Teddy. "It can be confusing at first."

"Interesting..." The knight's eyes lingered on the tablet in Ahk's hands. 

Nat had caught up with Larry. He was standing at the entryway into an exhibit on Asia. "Hey, you okay?" she asked gently.

"Yeah," he said, sounding distant, eyes still glued to the screen.

She sighed. "Larry, maybe you should-"

"We don't have time," he cut in, not knowing what she was about to say. Then he called to the others, "hey guys, it looks like we're going to have to cut through Asia."

"Cool," said Nick. 

Suddenly a small, gold winged-creature scuttled into their path.

"Oh, hi guy, we're just passing through," Larry said.

"It's a Garuda from Tibet," Teddy informed him.

"A Garuda? Uh, hi Garuda, how're you doing?" Larry took a step forward, but the Garuda stepped in his path. They repeated this several times, back and forth, but the creature wouldn't budge.

"Wait, Larry, I think he's trying to tell you something," piped up Nat.

Looking ahead, Larry saw that she was right. Up ahead, right in their path, was a giant stone creature with multiple heads, lying  in the centre of the floor, asleep.

(Haha Nat nerding out over the exhibits is me - I love museums!

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :))