Apologies. I don't usually write stories on here, but had the weirdest idea the other day. If anyone likes it, please steal it and write it properly! Thanks to anyone who reads it.
Nicholas was shocked when he heard the news.
It couldn't be. It couldn't be true.
He'd just seen his dad on Sunday, they'd talked and laughed while getting ice cream. They'd finished off the night at the museum, and it had seemed like every other night.
He couldn't have known it would be their last together.
A car had slammed into his dad's in the intersection. The other driver had been drunk, and had escaped with barely a scratch. His dad... Larry Daley... had died.
At the funeral, Nicholas was trying not to cry as he looked at the still body in the coffin, when it hit him.
And yeah, maybe it was crazy, but so was everything about his dad.
And so it was, a few days later, that Nicholas drove over to the museum at night. Along with Teddy, who didn't entirely agree with his plan but also was saddened by Larry's passing, he'd brought Jedidiah and Octavius, who both claimed to have experience in the realm of grave robbing (although Octavius later admitted he wasn't the grave robber in that instance), and Lewis and Clark.
And shovels, of course.
Teddy pointed out that they'd best park a little away from the cemetery, and even though they had to hurry or everyone who'd joined Nick would be turned to dust as the sun rose, they did.
It was easier than Nick expected, as the dirt hadn't settled yet, and soon the wooden coffin was exposed. It smelled vaguely of decay, and Nick hesitated. He should have waited longer, maybe...
But now there was no going back. He, Teddy, Lewis, and Clark carried the coffin out to the car, then came back and pushed the dirt back into the grave before Nick sped back to the museum with everyone.
Nick stored Larry's coffin in the very back of the storage below the museum. He came back early the next afternoon to wait, making sure he'd slipped back downstairs before the sun had set.
After a few minutes, he heard his dad scream like a girl. Nick laughed, lifting the lid off the coffin, so relieved to hear him.
"Why am I in this coffin?" Larry asked his son.
"Well... you're..." Nick shuffled his feet. "You don't remember the crash?"
"Oh... you mean... I'm dead?" Larry asked, looking horrified. "I died and you brought me to the museum?"
Nick nodded, looking sheepish. "I couldn't bear it, though... and it seemed so simple. Teddy, Jedidiah, and Octavius helped."
"You mean you... oh, gosh..." Larry looked at himself, making a face. "I guess I look prettu good for a dead guy. Huh. I wonder what Kah Mun Rah will say. Did you talk to him about this?"
"I did, actually," Nick said. "He said it would work as long as you weren't, well, cremated."
"That makes sense, I guess," Larry agreed. "But... now what?"
"I guess you're part of the museum now? And... I guess it'll be just like it is for everyone else that comes alive from the Tablet."
"Ouch. No more ice cream, then," Larry complained.
Nick laughed. He still had his dad half the time, at least.