One Night - Night at the Museum

Five: A Turn For the Worst

Everything had been going so well when suddenly, it all went from bad to worse. First, chaos had settled amongst the exhibits: first, he had forgotten to lock up the lions, so there were a bunch of animals roaming freely. Then, Attila managed to see though his magic tricks, and he'd almost had all of his limbs ripped off. Dexter stole his keys again, and while he had been distracted with putting out the fire the Neanderthals had started, the monkey had used the keys to open a window. One of the Neanderthals had wandered off and seen this, and had been outside when the sun had risen, consequently turning to dust.

This, of course, hadn't gone unnoticed when McPhee had come in to work, the absence of one of the Neanderthal statues. McPhee had declared him fired, but thankfully he had managed to get one more night's trial.

He hadn't realized Nicky had come in that morning on his way to school, only to see him get fired. However, he had ensured him that it had just been a misunderstanding, and had persuaded Nicky to come to work with him.

As if that all hadn't been enough. Then he'd unintentionally offended Rebecca by trying to tell her about the museum coming to life, but she had thought he was making fun of her and her obsession with Sacagawea.

And now Cecil, Gus, and Reginald had stolen the tablet. Just as he was about to share the museum's secret with Nicky, it had all fallen apart. Now, here they were, trapped in the Ancient Egypt exhibit. It all seemed like a blur.

Larry tried to stay calm for Nicky's sake, but it wasn't working so well. He was out of ideas.

"Teddy!" he yelled. "Teddy if you're out there I need you pal!" He gripped the gate rails tightly in his hands, awaiting any sort of answering to his call. At last, he heard the clicking of a horse's hooves and the former president rode up on the back of his trusty steed.

"Someone called?" he grinned. "Theodore Roosevelt, at your service."

"Whoa," breathed Nick.

"Teddy I need you to help get us out of here, break down the gate, something!" cried Larry in desperation.

Teddy shook his head. "Can't do it man. This is your moment."

Larry was shocked. He wasn't going to do this now of all times, was he? "Will you save the lectures, please? I'm not you, okay, I didn't build the Panama Canal, I wasn't President of the United States."

"Actually," sighed Teddy, removing his glasses. "I never did any of those things, Teddy Roosevelt did. I was made in a mannequin factory. I never shot any wild beasts, I'm not even brave enough to tell that beautiful woman I love her. You've got to finish the job this time, you can't quit. I'm made of wax Larry, what are you made of?" With that, he and Tex took off.

"Hey, wait a minute, wait!" Larry cried. "That's it?!"

"That's it!"

"Dad!" Nicky suddenly gasped. Larry turned to see the two giant jackal statues who guarded Ahkmenrah's tomb threatening them with their spears. At the far end of the tomb, the pharaoh yelled for someone to free him.

Larry got an idea.

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Natasha was sitting at the bust stop waiting for her ride home when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Taking it out she found she had a text message. It was from Larry.

Need help. Any chance you can come to the museum? Urgent.

Pocketing her phone again and without another thought she left the bus stop and began heading back to the museum, a gentle snow beginning to swirl around her. She was about fifteen minutes away.