((continued from A Trip to Die For))
He stood, towering proudly over the bustling attendees.
And Bree returned his gaze.
Yeah. In retrospect, it was a little bit of a “her” cliche that she’d go to the National Museum of Natural History first. But honestly. There was… close to everything. There was an insect zoo. There were bones. There was an ocean hall. There was a “garden lounge.” There was a hall of human origins. There was even an exhibit full of taxidermies. It boasted that it had the largest natural history collection in the world.
Really. It was a biologist’s wet dream. She’d be crazy if she didn’t check it off quickly. And, well, when she heard about the group planning to go today...
She looked down at the information on the elephant display in front of her. His name was Henry, and he was an eleven-ton African elephant. His pelt had been donated, and he was now used to educate the public on elephants and greet the guests as they walked through the rotunda.
Bree was still feeling the sting of what happened the day before. Once they had gotten on her floor, Oppenheimer handed her her keycard and pointed out the room she was staying in, before leaving her be. She’d been quiet as she unpacked, the look on her face probably giving her away. However, on the way to the museum she’d brightened up some, making conversation with some of the other people in the group. Word traveled quickly at George Hunter, so a few people brought it up without her even mentioning it. Some of the jokes were funny, others… weren’t.
But in any case. She was here now.
Bree lifted her phone again.
Speaking of word traveling fast… she heard about what happened with Ross the night before the trip. Apparently, he hurt his shoulder or something, and had to sit the trip out? Shortly after that word got out, another word got out that Ariana had set up a plan for him where they could send him stuff.
Ross was one of those people who was friendly with everyone, but not really best friends with anyone. Kind of quiet, but still went to parties and stuff, right? But you know what? Here, she’d send him something.
And she did.
Bree put her phone away and smoothed out a bit of her hair.
The group was going to move on in a bit. Probably to one of the ground-level exhibits.
Life Finds a Way
Adventures at the National Museum of Natural History! (open)
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The Bearded One
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2019 6:24 am
- Location: USA
[Clayton Barber continued from Wakey Wakey Eggs & Bakey]
The morning was bright, blinding Clay almost completely. He made his way up the marble steps without much difficulty, and at the building's entrance, someone held the door open for him. Once inside, the glare of the sunlight and the white marble exteriors were behind him, and he could see the blurs of color again. Mostly, he saw a sort of ambient yellow-gold light and a morass of multi-colored people swirling around him. What he had not expected was the security check point just inside the entrance.
Embarrassingly, the museum security guard pulled Clay aside for a more thorough check, apparently because he had set off the metal detector. The guard's beeping wand found his magnifying glass and belt buckle, and once assured that there were no actual weapons on his person or in his clothing, he was allowed to proceed into the main floor of the museum.
The multitudes of human voices were echoing off of the walls and floors all around him. The unfocused noise made it difficult for Clay to pull any one line of conversation out of the din, especially since a significant minority of the voices were not English. He could make out snatches of French, Russian, Japanese, and a few others that he could not immediately place. He tried to move away from the crowds near the security checkpoint at the main doors.
The central attraction in the center of the first room was a large brown blob standing on a brownish-yellow mound within the cavernous yellowish-cream vaulted room. Fortunately, Clay was able to overhear a tour guide describing the brown blob as an African Bush Elephant, thirteen feet tall and eleven tons. Clay smirked to himself that nothing in the wild would dare challenge an animal that huge, but a moment later he remembered that at some point this giant of the savanna was indeed brought down by some human hunter. His smirk vanished, and he moved to follow the tour guide to wherever they might lead next.
The morning was bright, blinding Clay almost completely. He made his way up the marble steps without much difficulty, and at the building's entrance, someone held the door open for him. Once inside, the glare of the sunlight and the white marble exteriors were behind him, and he could see the blurs of color again. Mostly, he saw a sort of ambient yellow-gold light and a morass of multi-colored people swirling around him. What he had not expected was the security check point just inside the entrance.
Embarrassingly, the museum security guard pulled Clay aside for a more thorough check, apparently because he had set off the metal detector. The guard's beeping wand found his magnifying glass and belt buckle, and once assured that there were no actual weapons on his person or in his clothing, he was allowed to proceed into the main floor of the museum.
The multitudes of human voices were echoing off of the walls and floors all around him. The unfocused noise made it difficult for Clay to pull any one line of conversation out of the din, especially since a significant minority of the voices were not English. He could make out snatches of French, Russian, Japanese, and a few others that he could not immediately place. He tried to move away from the crowds near the security checkpoint at the main doors.
The central attraction in the center of the first room was a large brown blob standing on a brownish-yellow mound within the cavernous yellowish-cream vaulted room. Fortunately, Clay was able to overhear a tour guide describing the brown blob as an African Bush Elephant, thirteen feet tall and eleven tons. Clay smirked to himself that nothing in the wild would dare challenge an animal that huge, but a moment later he remembered that at some point this giant of the savanna was indeed brought down by some human hunter. His smirk vanished, and he moved to follow the tour guide to wherever they might lead next.
It was true that Henry was originally poached. A Hungarian hunter had… yeah, and then later he donated him to the museum.
It was weird to think about. Here he was, dead, killed by a hunter, but he had been given a new life educating others. Kinda weird, if you asked her.
Bree readjusted her bag a bit as the tour guide went on, giving more information. Apparently his tusks were replaced. They were originally made from celluloid casts, then they were fiberglass.
She looked at the signs around Henry, which gave some info on elephant ecology, the poaching today, and so on. She then saw Clayton out of the corner of her eye.
Okay, it might be “wrong” to wonder this… but do vision-impaired people get something out of museums? She shook that thought aside. Probably a dick thing to ask. She was a judgmental bitch and proud, but even she had standards.
Might as well strike up a convo.
“Uh, hey, Clayton. What do you think so far?”
Maybe he’d have something to say about Henry, or about the poaching, or about… something. They didn’t talk a lot, really. He was on the debate team, she was on the swim team. He was friends with Michael, at least.
It was weird to think about. Here he was, dead, killed by a hunter, but he had been given a new life educating others. Kinda weird, if you asked her.
Bree readjusted her bag a bit as the tour guide went on, giving more information. Apparently his tusks were replaced. They were originally made from celluloid casts, then they were fiberglass.
She looked at the signs around Henry, which gave some info on elephant ecology, the poaching today, and so on. She then saw Clayton out of the corner of her eye.
Okay, it might be “wrong” to wonder this… but do vision-impaired people get something out of museums? She shook that thought aside. Probably a dick thing to ask. She was a judgmental bitch and proud, but even she had standards.
Might as well strike up a convo.
“Uh, hey, Clayton. What do you think so far?”
Maybe he’d have something to say about Henry, or about the poaching, or about… something. They didn’t talk a lot, really. He was on the debate team, she was on the swim team. He was friends with Michael, at least.
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The Bearded One
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2019 6:24 am
- Location: USA
Apparently there were several areas of the museum which were under construction or renovation, so the tour guide started slowly leading the group clockwise around the elephant display and toward the hall of mammals. While moving with the group from the echo-y yellow-gold rotunda to a slightly more muted grey-green hall, a girl spoke his name.
What do I think so far? I think that huge crowds milling about like this are a rather poor way to educate people, and the museum is probably just a place where tourists come to take pictures to post on Instagram just to prove they did something away from home. I think that a place like this probably has an overpriced gift shop and a little cafe tucked away somewhere with expensive but crappy food. I think that I probably won't really get anything out of coming here other than what I could have read on either Wikipedia or the Smithsonian's own website without ever leaving home.
But Clayton didn't say any of those things. Instead, he searched his memory and guessed who the voice belonged to. “I think that Bree Jones probably didn't get pulled out of line by the security guards at the entrance to the museum. Did you even bring a bag or a backpack? This place is a huge tourist trap, and given the political climate, there are probably a couple of terrorist groups who would love to find this many potential victims in one place.” He paused for a moment before flashing a cool smile. “But you probably were talking about the animals and other displays that I can't see, right? I assume they're lovely, but the little kiddies are going to be disappointed that the dinosaur hall is under renovations right now.”
He thought for another second and allowed his smile to melt away before asking an unintentionally genuine question. “Are you planning to stay with the tour group, or are you thinking of wandering off around the museum on your own?”
What do I think so far? I think that huge crowds milling about like this are a rather poor way to educate people, and the museum is probably just a place where tourists come to take pictures to post on Instagram just to prove they did something away from home. I think that a place like this probably has an overpriced gift shop and a little cafe tucked away somewhere with expensive but crappy food. I think that I probably won't really get anything out of coming here other than what I could have read on either Wikipedia or the Smithsonian's own website without ever leaving home.
But Clayton didn't say any of those things. Instead, he searched his memory and guessed who the voice belonged to. “I think that Bree Jones probably didn't get pulled out of line by the security guards at the entrance to the museum. Did you even bring a bag or a backpack? This place is a huge tourist trap, and given the political climate, there are probably a couple of terrorist groups who would love to find this many potential victims in one place.” He paused for a moment before flashing a cool smile. “But you probably were talking about the animals and other displays that I can't see, right? I assume they're lovely, but the little kiddies are going to be disappointed that the dinosaur hall is under renovations right now.”
He thought for another second and allowed his smile to melt away before asking an unintentionally genuine question. “Are you planning to stay with the tour group, or are you thinking of wandering off around the museum on your own?”
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The Bearded One
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2019 6:24 am
- Location: USA
If it was Bree, she didn't answer him, at least not audibly. Clay followed the voice of the tour guide through the Hall of Mammals toward the Evolution of Mammals area. There was a video presentation in a little amphitheater there and the tour guide directed people to sit down while the video started up with its eight minute mini-documentary.
He sat, not at all sure that the girl from his class had entered the amphitheater along with him. Did he care? He didn't have a lot of friends at school aside from Michael and some of the debate team. He had tried to stay in touch with some of the folks from the school choir, but since he had dropped out, he didn't hear from them as much, and some of them he didn't hear from at all.
His thoughts were interrupted by the video presentation. It was very clearly aimed at a much younger audience than he represented. There was some pre-historic mammal mascot called Morgan (short for Morganucodonta) guiding the exploration of the mammal family tree. Apparently, the first mammals that evolved before the dinosaurs died out were small and nocturnal. But after the meteor wiped out the dinos, mammals were able to diversify into nearly every ecological niche.
It was actually fairly educational aside from the kiddie aimed parts of it. As the presentation wrapped up, Clay considered the incredibly hard life of a tiny proto-mammal struggling to survive in a landscape dominated by larger, well-adapted dinosaurs. But that's what evolution is all about, he thought. Life finds a way.
He sat, not at all sure that the girl from his class had entered the amphitheater along with him. Did he care? He didn't have a lot of friends at school aside from Michael and some of the debate team. He had tried to stay in touch with some of the folks from the school choir, but since he had dropped out, he didn't hear from them as much, and some of them he didn't hear from at all.
His thoughts were interrupted by the video presentation. It was very clearly aimed at a much younger audience than he represented. There was some pre-historic mammal mascot called Morgan (short for Morganucodonta) guiding the exploration of the mammal family tree. Apparently, the first mammals that evolved before the dinosaurs died out were small and nocturnal. But after the meteor wiped out the dinos, mammals were able to diversify into nearly every ecological niche.
It was actually fairly educational aside from the kiddie aimed parts of it. As the presentation wrapped up, Clay considered the incredibly hard life of a tiny proto-mammal struggling to survive in a landscape dominated by larger, well-adapted dinosaurs. But that's what evolution is all about, he thought. Life finds a way.