Nothing to Fear

"Museums are BOOOOOORING!" Roger complained. "We could have gone to a baseball game. That would have been fun."

"Baseballs games are not educational," said Lance.

"Who cares about that?" Roger fumed. He stomped his foot. "I'm bored! There's nothing in here but ugly old lizard bones."

"They're fossils and they're from dinosaurs, you caveman," said a familiar voice.

"SHUT UP, ALOYSIUS! NO ONE CARES!" Roger shouted.

"I enjoy learning about fossils and dinosaurs," said Lance.

"No one cares, Kelly!" Aloysius growled.

"Don't call me by my last name all the time, Aloysius," Lance complained sullenly. "It's impolite."

"I don't care," Aloysius retorted.

"You're BOTH BORING EGGHEADS!" Roger complained. "If you love education so much, why don't you MARRY it? Or better yet, marry each OTHER! GoodBYE, losers." He departed while giggling.

"Good. Now that he's gone, I can enjoy my trip to the museum," Aloysius muttered. He glared at Lance Kelly. "Unless you're going to ruin it for me with your constant whimpering at long dead carnivores!"

Lance's expression grew embarrassed. "I love dinosaurs," he admitted. "But I prefer the herbivores. The carnosaur's teeth frighten me! Can you imagine how dangerous they were when they were alive all those millions of years ago?"

"They're DEAD and fossilized. There's nothing to be afraid of, you wimp!" Aloysius said. "Now shut up and let's keep exploring the displays before the time is over and we must return to the bus."

"I want to see the triceratops," Lance declared.

"I want to see the gorgosaurus," Aloysius stated. He glared at his partner. "Gorgosaurus first! And then the rest of the Tyrannosauridae!" He smiled evilly at Lance's frown.

"But," Lance began before he was interrupted.

"No butts!" Aloysius said. "If you aren't coming, then I'm going by myself." He began to depart.

"Wait!" Lance called after him. "We aren't supposed to leave our field trip partners! If we do, the teachers will punish us!"

"That doesn't appear to bother Roger one bit since he was annoying us for roughly twenty minutes without his partner, and it doesn't bother me, either," stated Aloysius. He folded his arms. "So if you don't want to get in trouble, you'd better stop whining and come along before I abandon you. Maybe you'll end up lost in here forever. It is a big museum!" Aloysius grinned at Lance's fearful expression. "Think about it. Alone in the dark with all those huge, frightening carnosaur teeth!"

Lance let out a shriek. "No!" He ran to Aloysius's side and clutched him. "Please don't leave me alone!"

"Yuck! Get off before you wipe some of your inferior genetics on me," Aloysius grumbled as he pushed Lance off his body. "You can walk beside me and stop acting like an idiot!"

The two boys continued to wander the museum looking at large fossils of ancient carnivores. Truly, they were terrible lizards.

Lance became increasingly afraid. He shut his eyes as Aloysius wandered very close to the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Albertosaurus displays. He was forced to follow closer than he wished to get multiple times. He held up his hands and peered through them at the giant's huge skeletal craniums, dagger-like teeth, ghastly empty eye sockets, so on. He kept imagining himself caught between the jaws of such a creature each time. It made him shiver to ponder. He knew he was going to have nightmares.

"Okay, this is the last exhibit," Aloysius finally said.

"It is?" Lance asked. He felt intense relief. He wiped his forehead. "I'm glad," he muttered.

"I'm surprised you didn't pass out!" Aloysius said. "I can't believe someone could be so afraid of long dead bones. It's not like they're going to come to life and attempt to devour you. Pathetic!"

Lance blushed with embarrassment. "I can't help it. After this, can we go somewhere else?"

"Maybe," Aloysius said. He placed his hand on the sign for the Tarbosaurus. His eyes grew wide until he jerked away his hand and let out a shriek. "EEW! A SPIDER!"

Lance observed Aloysius fleeing behind him. "What? Where?"

"On the sign!" Aloysius yelled. "This stupid museum should have exterminators ensuring there's no repulsive vermin anywhere!"

"You dislike spiders?" Lance asked while he walked to the sign and witnessed a harmless brown spider crawling along the top. He trapped it in his hands. "But they're so small and harmless."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, KELLY?" Aloysius shouted. He took a step back as Lance took a step forward with the spider on the palm of his hand. "GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!"

"I can't believe someone would be so afraid of a tiny, harmless spider," Lance taunted. He enjoyed every minute of Aloysius's shrill screams as he chased the dark-haired boy around.

"STOP!" Aloysius pleaded. He cowered in a corner where Lance had him trapped.

"Can we go see the triceratops now?" Lance asked while grinning. The spider remained cupped in the palms of his hands.

"YES!" Aloysius shouted.

The End!