April
Willa was all smiles.
“OK!” she said, her tone almost authoritative, like she was getting ready to lay down the law. “I know exactly what I want to do.”
“Let’s hear it.”
The day was bright and sunny, the air crisp and surprisingly fresh for an afternoon in the city. Willa and I walked side-by-side, her movement those cute little skip-steps that kids liked to do.
“The natural history museum is probably my favorite place to go,” she said. “And I’ve got a really specific plan for what I like to see.”
“Well, we’ve got nothing but time.”
“First, I like to see the stuffed animal displays. You know the ones I’m talking about? They’re on the second floor, and they have all the animals from, like, prehistoric times, and they’re set up in front of these really pretty paintings. They’re so cool, but they make me kind of sad that those animals aren’t around anymore.”
“I know the ones. We can definitely check those out first.”
“Good. And then—ohmigosh—have you seen the dinosaurs? I mean they’re not real dinosaurs or anything, but they’re the skeletons. They’re so big and cool.”
“You know what’s really neat about dinosaurs?”
“What?”
“They used to be really big and scary, like the ones you’ve seen. But they’re actually still around.”
She gave me a confused glance. “What? No they’re not. They went extinct because of the big meteor that hit the Earth, remember?”
“Right, that’s what happened to most of them. But not all of them died off.”
Willa said nothing, and I could tell she was hooked. “So, when the meteor hit the earth it covered the sky with dust.”
“Right. That’s why the dinosaurs went away.”
“Yep. But some of the dinosaurs stayed alive. And over time, they had to adapt to the new temperature. They got really, really small, and over thousands of years they eventually evolved into birds.”
Willa was dumbfounded, an adorable expression of surprise on her face.
“Wait, you’re telling me that huge dinosaurs turned into tiny birds?”
“That’s exactly what happened.”
“But…birds have feathers and wings and stuff.”
“Mhmm. They used to think dinosaurs were scaly, like alligators and crocodiles. But really, they had feathers. And they were really colorful too.”
“That’s crazy. So they already looked like birds?”
“Kind of. Really big birds that liked to eat meat.”
She laughed. “That’s so cool.”
The museum appeared in the distance, the massive stone stairs covered in tourists all making their way toward the entrance.
A silence fell, and Willa’s expression changed to something more thoughtful.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Oh, nothing,” she said, but her downcast expression told me otherwise.