Event | All Eyes On Me

It was a cold morning. Every blade of grass was covered in a thin layer of frost. The sky was a crisp, clear blue, and as the sun had just risen it had not yet fully crawled all the way above the horizon. The three mostly grey dinosaurs had arrived at the Museum earlier than they intended. They were all nervous and excited . They had never been to a carnival before. Each breath seemed like a wisp of mist drifting before them, clear and distinct. They were thrilled, as if even their breath carried direction as they walked toward the entrance. They exchanged glances. Their faces beamed with bright smiles.

Åra, from the moment the three dinosaurs met a while back had been quietly and unanimously recognized by the other two dinosaurs as their leader. So it was only natural that she stepped forward first to point the way into the museum. Ära and Öre followed her without hesitation.

The inside of the museum was slightly warmer than outside of it, but the spacious hall felt less comfortable than the industrial warehouse where the three gray dinosaurs usually lived. Perhaps it was because Åra, Ära and Öre  had all put so much effort into transforming the warehouse into a cozy living space, while the museum didn't seem like a place where dinosaurs truly lived. Despite the slight chill in the air that made all their feathers stand slightly on edge, the museum was still breathtaking.

Accompanied by a low cheerful music emanating from further in the museum they saw many ancient animal skeletons they had never never before even imagined could exist. Each skeleton stood beside a rusty metal plaque inscribed with characters they couldn't decipher. 

“Wow! Look at this! This one is even bigger than you are, Ära!” Öre exclaimed excitedly as they passed a massive skeleton. Parts of it had fallen but the metal frame had managed to keep most of it standing. The skull was somewhat damaged with many small cracks carefully clued together a long time ago to strengthen, on the parts still standing there were big missing chunks of skeleton, and it was quite clear that the bones had been damaged long before they ever got to see it. “What do you think it is?” Öre asked curiously, leaning closer to it as she let her gaze travel over all the small details on it. She dared not touch it, afraid the slightest touch might shatter it - make it fall to the ground before her. Ära also didn't know what creature the skeleton belonged to; he just shook his head at her question. Indicating that he had never before seen anything quite like this before either. Out of curiosity, he too stepped closer to the bones. The big Sucho could easily reach over the rusty little fence that kept visitors at a distance from the remains, stretching his neck he could probably even touch the bones without even stepping over it. He examined the skeleton carefully, with Ära and Öre watching beside him. He shook his head again. He had absolutely no idea what kind of animal this skeleton belonged to.

“It's okay, it's okay!” Åra nodded as she spoke. It didn’t matter that much but seeing him slightly upset about not knowing anything about the skeleton, Åra said, “Maybe someone else knows something about it. Either way. It’s still so cool that it’s so big. And there’s so many.” Her words radiated positivity as she turned around to indicate all the skeletons posed around them, and both Ära and Öre couldn't help but smile at her, instantly cheering up. Their leader always knew how to turn the situation around with only a few words.

“Maybe we can find someone to ask at the Carnival.” Öre offered comfort to the big, grey Sucho. Ära lowered himself slightly and nodded towards them both. He didn’t know why it mattered so much for him to be able to add something of value to the conversation. But their cheerfulness made him feel better.

“Alright, let's go inside! I heard there are lots of different games to play here!” Åra declared with great excitement.

“I heard you can even win prizes if you do good enough!” Öre added. “I hope there’s a strength competition because then Ära is definitely going to win!” 

The three dinosaurs ventured deeper into the museum. The shift was rather slow but as they walked they could see more and more different posters along with more and more colourful decorations. The music also got slightly louder. They didn’t know if it was the warmer colours or if the museum actually started to get warmer the deeper they got but it made both Öre and Åra almost jump Ära in excitement. They’re little raptor bodies barely containing the excitement of the carnival. Ära also wanted to join them in their excitement but he was afraid that his size as a Sucho combined with jumping around would cause damage to anyone nearby. He instead responded to their excitement by shimmying his body as he walked behind them.

“Step right up into the ring and show the audience what you can do!” A voice boomed out. Åra, Ära and Öre all stopped in their tracks at the sound of it. Åra was, as usual, the first dinosaur to step forward as they peeked around the corner. The big open room filled with various different animals and skeletons was much warmer than the entrance of the museum had been. This room seemed to shine brightly in warm colours. There was a light blue raptor walking around in the middle of a circle as a few onlookers looked at each other. Wondering who would dare to step up and show a talent.

Åra looked back at the second Raptor and Sucho before she nodded enthusiastically and walked into the room. Öre and Ära looked at each other before following her. 

“Here here! If you’ve got a talent, we want to see it! If you impress me you might even win something.” The raptor was trying to coax the audience as he walked around. No one seemed to want to be the first dino to step into the ring as they all looked at each other. 

“Should we do it?” Öre asked both Åra and Ära as she too looked around at the different faces in the audience.

Ära shrugged as he looked from Åra to Öre. He would do it if the two raptors did it but he wasn’t sure what talent he could offer. He wasn’t as agile as the two raptors were. He could jump through hoops.

“Do you remember when we tried to get McDuckface onto the big thing in our home?” Åra asked. She had a certain grin on her face that made Ära squint slightly at her question.

They had tried to hang one of their soft ducks from a line hanging in the rafters. They hadn’t succeeded because all three of them had underestimated how far up the roof was in the industrial warehouse they called home. 

“What if we do something with that?” Åra added with an excited nod. Ära looked unsure at the suggestion. He was strong enough to carry them both on his back. But what if he tripped and they got hurt - or he dropped them. Öre on the other hand looked excited at the suggestion. 

“Don’t worry, don’t worry! It’s perfect.” Öre said quietly as she could see the worry on Äras face. “It will showcase your strength and our agility.”

“You just keep steady.” Åra added and Ära finally nodded his head yes. 

As the Ringmaster raptor once again urged the audience to step up, the three grey dinosaurs all stepped up together through the small crowd with Öre and Åra walking just in front of Ära.

“Looks like we have a few brave souls! Don’t keep us waiting. Tell us your names and show us what you’ve got.” The raptor might just have been happy that anyone actually entered the ring to get it all started. He barely waited for Åra to introduce them all before ushering them to start performing. 

It started simple enough with Ära standing in the middle and both Åra and Öre hyping up the audience before they showed off their jumping abilities by jumping up onto Ära’s back. They elegantly landed on his back from the ground. Ära made a quick turn where the two raptors kept their balance easily before Åra carefully made her way out onto his tail, showcasing his strength and ability to keep his tail still even with the weight of another dinosaurs on top of it. Both Åra and Öre used Ära's back as a balance beam, exchanging places. Pretending too fall before miraculously catching themselves and before long Ära started moving around at a higher and more confident speed. The audience was enjoying their antics as Ära made his way around in a circle, he was mostly showing off his ability to use his strength in support of the two raptors jumping on his back but he was gaining confidence with every stride. Åra and Öre who also gained a bit of confidence from the cheers of the audience and the way they were egging them on as they showcased more and more daring feats of acrobatics. Öre would jump from farther out on the tip of the big Sucho’s tail, showing his strength and ability to hold it steady while Åra would be pretending to lose balance only to jump off and land in the middle of the circle. It felt as if they had gone for hours but when they were finally out of breath it had barely been ten minutes of acrobatics. Still there was a cheer and murmur travelling in the public as all three of them bowed their heads multiple times.

“Wow! Well. What a showcase of strength and agility! What does the public say?” The ringmaster took the moment to get a few more cheers out of the dinosaurs that had previously themselves been too scared to join the ring but were now eagerly waiting for their own turn to follow in the two raptors and the Sucho’s footsteps. “That does seem like they liked it. Clearly a talented couple of individuals.”

Åra, Ära and Öre all bowed their heads one last time, carrying big smiles on their faces as they walked out of the ring to make space for the next dinosaurs who wanted to showcase their abilities. 

1759 words.