But I’m not excited about the baby
I don’t want to have to go and fake it
Oh
What?
Well, you were right about Luis
What do you mean?
I’m glad you convinced me to give him
another chance after the movie incident
He’s really nice
So you think I should go?
All I’m saying is, if you have to
have a brother, maybe you
should try to be a little excited
At least go and eat free cake!
Haha. I’ll think about it.
RECEIPT
SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK
PARKING RECEIPT
TYPE: CAR PARKING
DATE: 7/11/15
TIME: 11:05 AM
PAID: $25.00
VISA:
XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-5921
THANK YOU AND DRIVE SAFELY!
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
EXT. ZOO—DAY
Blue sky. Some trees. An elephant wanders by.
LUIS
No, you push that button there.
CLAUDIA (O.S.)
This one?
The camera zooms in on Luis’s face.
LUIS
Yeah.
CLAUDIA (O.S.)
Wave.
Luis waves at the camera.
* * *
—————
EXT. ZOO—LATER
Papa and Luis walk side by side while Claudia films them.
LUIS
So, my mom was really mad when my dad bought me the camera.
PAPA
Mad? Why?
Luis shrugs.
LUIS
My mom came here as a baby. They didn’t have a lot of money growing up. So she does not like the idea of me doing anything artistic. Doctor, lawyer, engineer. That’s what I’m supposed to be.
They stop by a small waterfall.
LUIS (CONT’D)
I don’t get it. The map says it’s right . . .
PAPA
There! There it is.
He points. Sure enough, behind a low metal fence, hidden in a bunch of tall bushes, is a huge fiberglass triceratops.
It’s surprisingly lifelike. About nine feet tall, and over twenty feet long. His three horns point straight at the camera, the two big ones by his eyes, and the small one on his snout too. His skin is mottled and his bony frill protects his neck. There is a sign in front of the statue that says KEEP OFF THE DINOSAUR.
CLAUDIA (O.S.)
It feels like it’s looking at us.
Papa’s face twitches. He blinks a few times and scratches an eyebrow. Finally, he covers his face with his hands and his shoulders start to shake.
CLAUDIA (O.S.)
Papa. Are you okay?
PAPA
I’m fine.
But he doesn’t take his hands away from his face.
CLAUDIA (O.S.)
You’re crying.
Papa wipes his eyes.
PAPA
I’m not crying! I just need to sit down.
He turns and sits on a nearby bench. Sweat beads on Papa’s forehead. Luis pulls a bottle of water out of his backpack and hands it to Papa. He takes a long, long sip.
PAPA (CONT’D)
Thank you. I feel better now.
CLAUDIA (O.S.)
What . . . what happened?
PAPA
When he was little, Jeff used to play on this dinosaur in front of the Natural History Museum. He loved dinosaurs. I didn’t approve. I thought it was silly.
He glances at Luis.
PAPA (CONT’D)
I guess I had pretty firm ideas about what he was supposed to be too.
Claudia hands the camera to Luis. He refocuses quickly. Claudia sits down next to her grandfather on the bench and puts her head on his shoulder. They sit like that for a long time.
VOICE MEMO
Walter Dalton’s Cell Phone | Saturday, July 11, 2015, 1:15 p.m.
[RECORDING BEGINS]
Lily, this therapy is not helping. It’s making everything worse! I’ve never broken down like this. I started crying at the zoo. It was so embarrassing. I gave the kids twenty bucks and told them to go buy themselves some ice cream. Now I’m sitting in the car, talking to my phone, trying to pull myself together.
’Cause we can’t just go home. Oh, no. Claudia wants to go to the Natural History Museum, since that’s where the Uncle Beazley dinosaur used to be. Still too many possible puzzles. We have to narrow it down.
I can’t tell her no. Because . . . because maybe if I had been more involved . . .
Maybe if I had been more involved, more understanding, less judgmental, a better father, maybe Jeff would not have left. Maybe he would have just told us what was going on. Maybe this is all my fault.
[RECORDING ENDS]
RECEIPT
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
10th St. & Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20560
Saturday, July 11, 2015
2:31 PM
MAMMAL STORE
First Floor
Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals
10:00 AM—5:30 PM
1 plush animal
9.99
(Baby Triceratops)
1 “Dinos Rule” onesie
12.00
size 0-3 months
21.99
Subtotal:
1.26
Tax:
23.25
Total:
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
INT. NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM—DAY
Claudia stands in the rotunda. She points at a huge stuffed elephant.
CLAUDIA
Apparently, his name is Henry.
PAPA
This thing has been here since Jeff was a kid.
LUIS (O.S.)
Any elephant puzzles?
Claudia pulls the list of puzzles out of her pocket.
CLAUDIA
“Elephants of the Wild.” Five hundred pieces.
Papa walks over to a security guard.
PAPA
Where are the dinosaurs?
GUARD
Fossil Hall is closed until 2019.
Papa looks like he’s about to cry again. Claudia rushes over and takes his arm.
CLAUDIA
It’s okay. We’ll just look at other stuff.
* * *
—————
INT. NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM—LATER
Ocean exhibit. A huge life-size model of a blue whale hangs from the ceiling.
PAPA
Is there a whale puzzle?
CLAUDIA
Maybe “The Giant of the Deep”? Two hundred fifty pieces.
* * *
—————
INT. NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM—LATER
Close-up of a sparkly necklace with a huge blue jewel. It’s displayed in a thick glass case, and the pedestal it’s on rotates slowly.
PAPA
The Hope Diamond.
CLAUDIA (O.S.)
Could it be “Rocks and Gems”? That’s only a hundred pieces.
LUIS
I hope it’s that one.
CLAUDIA (O.S.)
Haha.
PAPA
It’s also called “The Cursed Jewel.”
CLAUDIA (O.S.)
Ooh, that’s on the list too. Two hundred pieces.
* * *
—————
INT. NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM—LATER
Claudia stands in front of a huge crystal ball, staring into the glass.
PAPA
Come on, Claudia. It’s time to go.
NOTE TO READER
WHEN WE GOT home, we had seven puzzle possibilities. Luis and I found the puzzles on the shelf and looked at the pieces before we started working them. The cardboard on the back of the Uncle Beazley piece was blue. The cardboard on the back of “Stegosaurus,” “Elephants,” and “Giant” was brown. “T-Rex,” “The Cursed Jewel” and “Rocks & Gems” were gray. And “Pterodactyls” was a weird beige color. So none of those were right.
Luis started pulling the boxes off the shelves and looking at the pictures on top. Sometimes you can’t tell from the title what it is. Like how the “Orbiting Earth” puzzle didn’t mention Skylab. So we decided just to look. We were about halfway through when we found one called “The Gentle Giant.”
It was a scene from a museum, with a crowd of people gathered around a triceratops. When we opened the box, the cardboard on the back of the pieces was blue. And there was a VHS tape labled “Uncle Beazley.”
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
INT. NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM—DAY
A group of kids and parents wait in the rotunda, a huge stuffed elephant looming over their heads. Jeff stands with his ear to a white wand with a cord attached to the exhibit. A boy comes over and taps him on the shoulder.
BRIAN
Hey! What are you doing here?
JEFF
I’m signed up for the Dinolab class.
BRIAN
The one where you get the behind-the-scenes tour of where they excavate the bones?
JEFF
Yeah.
BRIAN
Me too!
He grins.
BRIAN (CONT’D)
If they put us into groups, we should team up.
JEFF
Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good.
Jeff smiles.
WOMAN
Dinolab! Over here, please.
A group of twelve-year-old boys shuffles toward her.
* * *
—————
EXT. NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM—DAY
There’s a big plastic model of a triceratops on the mall in front of the museum. Brian and Jeff climb up the front, hanging off the horns. Two women stand nearby, watching the boys.
BRIAN’S MOM
Your son is Jeff, right?
NANA
Yes.
BRIAN’S MOM
I’m Lucile. Brian’s mom.
NANA
I’m Lily. Nice to meet you.
BRIAN’S MOM
Jeff seems like a really nice boy.
NANA
He is.
PAPA (O.S.)
But who ever heard of a kid wanting to study science on the weekend instead of signing up for soccer?
Brian’s mom laughs.
BRIAN’S MOM
It’s not that odd. Brian likes science and soccer.
The boys climb over the dinosaur’s frill, sit on the top of its back for a moment, and slide down its tail. Lily turns to the camera.
NANA
Walter, watch my purse.
Without waiting for an answer, Lily strides over to the dinosaur. She puts her hands on her hips and studies it for a moment before grabbing the horns, putting her foot on the nose, and pulling herself up.
The boys cheer.
VOICE MEMO
Walter Dalton’s Cell Phone | Saturday, July 11, 2015, 7:30 p.m.
[RECORDING BEGINS]
Apparently, this is the day for embarrassing myself. I certainly didn’t expect to get all teary-eyed watching some old home movie.
But I did. When you marched over and climbed up onto that dinosaur, I laughed out loud. You looked so pretty and young. I wished I had told you how much I loved it when you did silly things like that. I wish I had been more like you.
Well, with Claudia, maybe now I have a second chance. Don’t want to waste it.
[RECORDING ENDS]
EMAIL
From: Claudia Dalton <claudiadalton195@gmail.com>
Date: Saturday, July 11, 2015 9:09 PM EST
To: Jeffery Dalton <jeffdalton327@gmail.com>
Subject: Uncle Beazley
Dear Dad,
Uncle Beazley!! We found a video of you and Nana on Uncle Beazley. That was so cool! When did you write these clues? A bunch of them are out-of-date. Seems like it might have been a long time ago.
But it’s funny, ’cause they all remind me of stuff I’ve done with you. Like that time when you played with me on the monkey bars. We both hung upside down and you were so tall, your hands reached the ground. You looked just like you did on Uncle Beazley. Is that why you wanted me to watch them?
Anyway, we found the next puzzle, “The Gentle Giant,” and finished it tonight. It was only 300 pieces. And sure enough, there was one piece left over, red on the front, beige cardboard on the back, with a clue written in pencil.
Love, Claudia
PS. Did you ever look into the crystal ball in the gems and jewels exhibit at the Natural History Museum? I spent a long time there today, trying to see when you would come home.
PUZZLE
TEXT MESSAGE
Claudia Dalton’s Cell Phone | Sunday, July 12, 2015, 9:15 a.m.
KATE
Okay, I’ll say it
You were right
The baby shower last night was actually fun
I’m glad
We played a game where you
had to change a diaper on a doll
And I won!
Learned how to do that in the class
Cool
Mom got so many presents, she said
I could have the Target gift card
Nice
And the cake was yummy too
Claudia, are you okay?
Cause you’re texting like my dad
Sorry, I’m just eating breakfast
We found another puzzle piece last night
What?!
It’s red on the front
Says “Bobs on the pendulum” on the back
Who the heck is Bob?
And why is he on a pendulum?
Haha
Google pendulum
A bob is the little weight thingie at the end
Is there a puzzle of a pendulum?
No
So what are you going to do?
Work all the puzzles with red?
Too many
But Papa says there’s a pendulum
at the American History Museum
We’re gonna check it out
Is your boyfriend going too?
Haha
Well, is he?
No, his mom is sick and he
has to babysit his little sister
Oh well. Next time. Have fun with Papa
Thanks
DIRECTIONS
Trip Planner
Trip Planner Results
From KING STREET METRO STATION
To SMITHSONIAN METRO STATION
Leaving at 10:00 AM | Sunday, July 12, 2015
ITINERARY 1—24 MINS
Leave at: 10:10 am
Arrive at 10:33 am
KING STREET METRO STATION
Yellow Line to FORT TOTTEN
Exit at L’ENFANT PLAZA METRO STATION
L’ENFANT PLAZA METRO STATION
Orange Line to VIENNA FAIRFAX–GMU
Exit at SMITHSONIAN METRO STATION
$2.75 SmarTrip Fare
$1.70 SmarTrip (Senior/Disabled/Medicare)
RECEIPT
STARS AND STRIPES CAFÉ
National Museum of American History
14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW
&nb
sp; Washington, DC 20001
Order #: 68261 Date: 7/12/15
Server: Cashier 2 Time: 12:53 PM
2.99
1 Diet Coke
2.99
1 Dr Pepper
3.00
1 Cherry Pie
2.99
1 Chocolate Pudding
3.50
1 Ice Cream Sundae
3.00
1 Coffee
18.47
Subtotal:
1.85
Tax:
20.32
Total:
Thank You For Dining With Us!
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
INT. AMERICAN HISTORY MUSEUM—DAY
Papa walks through the front doors. There’s a metal flag on the wall in front of them, but no pendulum. Papa looks around, bewildered.
PAPA
I don’t understand. I could have sworn it was right here!
* * *
—————
INT. AMERICAN HISTORY MUSEUM—LATER
Papa talks to a museum guard while Claudia films them. The guard is so old, even his beard is white.