Grant was learning a lot from the iguanodon he'd brought through time and named Lucky. He thought he knew all there was to know about iguanodons, his favourite dinosaur. But that was from the perspective of a palaeontologist, rather than a caretaker.
He'd done a lot of stupid, reckless things. But this particular dino had saved his life. While he was doing one of those stupid reckless things. So, he had to do something even stupider and more reckless to save the dino's life too.
Hence why he was sitting inside his lab, examining Lucky's poop.
'Working late I see, Dr Seeker.'
Grant turned around. 'Dr Marsh. Um. Yep. I'm just doing some research now.'
Dr Marsh walked over to Grant and put a flyer on his desk, next to the poop. 'Can you explain this, Dr Seeker?'
Grant looked down at the flyer and flushed red. 'Uh…'
The flyer was one he definitely recognised. On some graph paper was a rather crude drawing of an iguanodon, coloured in green. In big, bold capital lettering on the top read "HAVE YOU SEEN THIS DINOSAUR?". "THIS ONE (ARTIST RENDERING)" was written under the drawing with an arrow pointing to it. Another two arrows pointed to the drawing - one reading, "WOW" and the other reading, "MAGNIFICENT". At the bottom it read, "IF FOUND, PLEASE RETURN TO DR. SEEKER". And under that, "(DON'T TELL DR. MARSH)".
'So, you do know something about it,' Dr Marsh said.
'I didn't write it,' said Grant. 'I promise. It was my nephew - you know my nephew. Will. He… likes dinosaurs too.'
'Your nephew did this?' Dr Marsh said in disapproval as she tapped the flyer, her fingernails clacking against Grant's desk.
'Of course he did,' said Grant. 'Look at that handwriting. Mine's way worse.'
Dr Marsh gave a small shrug. Of course it was. She'd seen way too many of his reports now, and in some of them, his handwriting was ninety percent illegible.
'I don't know what to say,' said Grant.
'Don't forget to feed Lucky,' said Dr Marsh. She walked away, leaving the flyer on his desk.
Grant packed up the dinosaur poop and took off his gloves. Without washing his hands, he picked up the flyer, folded it up, and put it in his lab coat pocket.
He walked the halls alone. It was quiet and he could hear his own footsteps and the sweeping sound of the janitor's mop. It wasn't like in the daytime, where the museum out front was bustling and Bill Nye the Science Guy's voice was audible over the throngs of tourists.
Grant went out back to his dinosaur pal. Or was Lucky more of a pet now? Grant only given him the name "Lucky" to avoid multiple conversations regarding "the iguanodon". And he'd learned a thing or two about how to sex a living dinosaur - Lucky was definitely a boy. He was actually the only person ever to sex a living dinosaur.
As he observed Lucky, Grant pulled out his notepad and made notes. He wasn't just looking after a dinosaur, after all, he was contributing to science. He couldn't call himself "a heck of a palaeontologist" if he didn't actually contribute anything to the field.
'Uncle Grant!'
Grant turned around, and on seeing his young nephew Will, put his notepad in his lab coat pocket. 'Hey, Will,' he greeted.
'Is that your pet dinosaur?' Will asked.
'Lucky isn't my pet,' said Grant, 'he's a specimen.'
'But you called him Lucky,' said Will.
Grant said nothing.
'Can I pet him?'
'Sure,' said Grant. 'He won't eat you or anything - he's a vegetarian.'
Will reached over and touched Lucky. 'He's scaly. I thought they were supposed to be birds.'
'Birds evolved from dinosaurs,' said Grant, 'but not these kinds. More t-rex, and velociraptor. The theropods.'
'Isn't an iguanodon a theropod?'
'Ornithopod.'
Will nodded, accepting the answer. 'So… so, you said you'd take me to the Dino-Rama.'
'I did?' asked Grant.
'You did,' Will confirmed.
Grant nodded and put his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. There were all kinds of stuff in there - he just kind of put all his stuff in there. Including the flyer.
He pulled it out and unfolded it. Then he looked at Will. And Lucky.
And he nodded. 'Yeah. Let's go.'
He rubbed Lucky's arm. He wasn't tall enough to get higher. 'I'll be back tomorrow,' he said. 'I promise.'
Then he put his hand on his nephew's shoulder and handed him the flyer. 'Let's go to the Dino-Rama.'
'Uncle Grant,' asked Will, 'did you get this flyer from Disney Springs?'
'It doesn't matter where I got it from, but it was from Dr Marsh,' said Grant.
'And you didn't get fired for it?' asked Will.
'Not yet,' said Grant. 'Not yet.'
The Flyer is real!
You can see it every Christmas at the Christmas Tree Trail in Disney Springs! I saw it in 2019 and found it amusing. I won't be seeing it this year though, I'm leaving on the 10th November and the trail starts the next day on the 11th.
If you aren't planning a trip down to Disney Springs this holiday season, you can still see the flyer here: /wp-content/uploads/2018/11/DisneySpringsHolidays_ChristmasTreeTrail_
So, did Grant Seeker design that flyer himself or was it his his nephew, Will? I'll let you be the judge, but I have my own thoughts.
The queue area of the Dinosaur ride is themed as a museum, and Bill Nye the Science Guy appears on voice over giving facts about dinosaurs.
As always, Lucky is Aladar from the Dinosaur film. That's who it is in the ride. He's called Lucky here in reference to a walk around dinosaur (animatronic) character from DinoLand. It wasn't, like, a mascot in a dinosaur suit.
