“Who’s ready to go on a safari?” he asks, wearing binoculars around his neck and ridiculous, poofy khaki safari pants on his legs.
“I amnotwearing that,” I tell my grandads. My tone leaves no room for argument.
“Oh! Look who’s back. What took you so long?” Eric asks, his eyes twinkling mercilessly.
“Nothing, just took Xavier a little while to get me dry,” I lie, not even bothering to look him in the eye, knowing I won’t be able to hide my guilt. I hope Xavier went back and cleaned the sofa.
“Liar,” he whispers as John pats my leg.
“Don’t worry, we will find you something suitable to wear. Now quiet, the both of you, this is my favorite part.”
“Does anyone know what we’re hunting?” William asks the crowd, and I hear a little voice pipe up.
“Bears?”
William shakes his head. “Nope, bigger.”
“Elephants!”another little boy shouts, and William shakes his head again.
“No, even bigger.”
“What’s bigger than an elephant?
“There isn’t anything bigger than an elephant!”
“The only thing bigger than an elephant is a whale.”
“Please stand back while we erect the barriers once more,” William commands, and the crowd quickly does as he says.
This time they go up a lot farther and it’s a double barrier—first the glass and then power lines on the inside, creating an electrical fence.
“Please refrain from touching the glass. It should be safe, but we wouldn’t want to risk it.”
The crowd sounds confused, and it’s then when giant, loud footsteps start to shake the arena. The large door on one end slides up, and in lumbers Viggy.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the tyrannosaurus rex.” The crowd surges to their feet in a wave of panic, but Fiona is sitting on Viggy’s back. She is miked up and dressed in an outfit somewhat similar to William’s, but more feminine. “Okay, I’d wear that,” I tell the brothers, my eyes locked on the sight in front of me. I’ve seen him before, but it really is incredible to be so close to an extinct animal.
“Don’t be afraid. Viggy is practically an overgrown puppy. Who would like to see him play fetch?” she calls into the crowd, who seems to have calmed down and are starting to take their seats again.
She reins Viggy to a halt, climbs out of the basket she was sitting in, and gingerly walks down his back and tail before jumping to the ground.
“Do you want to play catch?” she asks, and his tail starts to beat up and down. He wiggles just like a Labrador, and the crowd laughs, still a little uneasy.
“Okay then. Sit, Viggy,” she commands, and he sits back on his haunches with his little T-rex arms out in front of him. He waits patiently, his tongue hanging out over his giant jaw and teeth. Really, he just looks like the dinosaur from theNight at the Museum, just full bodied as opposed to skeletal.
Fiona skips to a trunk on the side of the arena, and William goes over and helps her open it. Together, the two of them pull out a big ball.
“How is that not going to pop?” I ask the grandpas, not taking my eyes off what is happening in the arena.
“It’s made of a special material. It’s kind of like those Kong toys for Earth dogs, but obviously rated for dinosaurs,” Eric explains.
“Oh yeah, obviously,” I reply sarcastically, and he flicks my ear.
“Such disrespect to your loving grandpas. How will we ever cope with such an ungrateful granddaughter?” he and John chuckle to themselves.
Fiona rolls the ball across the arena. The thing is almost as big as she is.
“How is she going to throw that?” I ask when she gets to the other end. What I hadn’t noticed before is a catapult device, which she loads the ball into. She steps away and raises her hand.
