Night at the Museum (Book 1)

First Night

At six fifteen, I left my house and headed to the museum. I entered and found a man with black hair standing at the desk, looking at his phone. He looked up as I walked over.

"Hello. I'm Savanna Rose. I'm the new night guard," I said, holding my hand out.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Larry Daley. This is my first night here," he admitted.

"Same for me."

"You'd better get into your uniform."

I followed him to the locker room and found the uniforms. I changed quickly and went to join him again. I found him at the desk, messing with the intercom. I laughed lightly and turned to explore. I found myself heading into the Egypt section and stood next to the sarcophagus of the Pharaoh Akhmenrah. I noticed his tablet on the wall behind him and smiled.

"You must be lonely here," I whispered, touching the surface of the sarcophagus.

A golden glow brought my attention to the tablet. I gasped. The glow was followed by sounds of things coming to life.

"Magic does exist," I breathed.

The sarcophagus next to me suddenly started shaking, and screaming could be heard within. The sudden noise startled me, and I let out a sharp scream, causing the coffin to go quiet. I turned and saw the jackals on the walls move. They pointed their spears at me, and I screamed even louder. I heard muffled Egyptian words being shouted through the sarcophagus beside me, and the jackals moved back to their original positions.

"Thank you, Ahkmenrah," I told the sarcophagus.

I felt bad about leaving him there, but I heard Larry start screaming about a dinosaur. I sighed.

"I have to make sure Larry, the other night guard, doesn't get himself killed. I'll come back. I'll try to get you out," I said.

The sarcophagus banged in reply, and I smiled. Turning on my heel, I fled. I ran to the lobby and found Larry trying to get away from the giant T-Rex skeleton chasing him. I giggled.

"Hey boy," I called out.

The T-Rex turned to me and moved over. I ignored Larry's shouts and stood still. The T-Rex stopped in front of me and tilted its head to the side. It dropped a bone in front of me, and I picked it up. I noticed that the T-Rex looked like a puppy now, waiting for the bone to be thrown. I launched the bone, and the dinosaur took off after it. I quickly dropped to the ground to avoid getting hit with its tail. Larry came over, and I looked at him.

"Are you okay?" he asked

"Yes. He's like a puppy. He just wants to play. Don't be scared. They're all exhibits," I told him calmly.

"Hello there," a voice said.

I looked up and saw a man on a horse.

"Theodore Roosevelt, twenty sixth President of the United States," I said.

"You can call me Teddy, miss," he said with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Teddy. I'm Savanna, and this is Larry. We're the new night guards. I always believed that magic like this could exist. That's why I'm not freaking out like Larry," I told him.

Larry talked to Teddy while I walked off to see the other exhibits. I came across the Africa section and saw the animals getting up and growling. The lions got up and turned their heads to me. I remained calm, though, knowing it was a bad idea to run. The lions came over, and I slowly lowered myself to my knees, hand outstretched carefully. The male lion padded up and sniffed my hand. He backed up and growled. I slowly lay down and turned onto my back. I had studied animals and knew this was a sign of submission and a gesture that said 'I'm not going to hurt you.' This turned out to be true as the lions sat down, and a cub ran up to me, pawing my hair. I sat up and played with the cub until a monkey jumped down and landed on my head.