"Come on Adrienne!" Helga shouted. I stumbled through the doorway, trying to put my notebook in my bag.
"I'm coming!"
She looked at me impatiently from the huge black car. I finally got my notebook secure in my bag and sat in the passenger seat. She turned on the car and we backed down the driveway. "So, are you excited to be going to the museum?" I asked.
"Not really."
"Why not?"
"It's not my thing."
"So why did you agree to come with me."
"Because I felt like it."
"Oh…yeah all right then." I adjusted my bag on my lap.
"What do you have there?"
"This? It has a lot of my research in it. I like to take notes when I visit the museum. I think that it might help me some day if I ever go on an expedition."
"That sounds logical." We drove the rest of the way in silence. Then we pulled up in front of the museum. "You go ahead," Helga told me. "I'm going to park and then I'll catch up to you." "Ok." I got out of the car and stared at the huge museum. I loved it there. It was almost like a second home to me. I hadn't gotten the chance to go in a few months, so I was sure that there was something new and interesting to research. I went through the large doors and found myself in another world. "This is great!" I whispered excitedly. I knew what I wanted to see first: dinosaur skeletons. So that's where I went. I stared at the skeletons of those ancient creatures in awe. I wondered: what would it be like to share the earth with them? I giggled to myself. It would probably be difficult to live with such huge creatures roaming around. You certainly couldn't lock them in a zoo. I took out my notebook and a pencil. I'd draw a few sketches and move on. While I was deep in my drawings, I didn't notice a man come up next to me.
That is, until he said "Wow! Those sketches are really good!"
I almost jumped out of my skin, to tell you the truth. I stared at him, openmouthed for a moment.
"What?" he asked.
"Oh! You startled me."
"Sorry about that. I just noticed that you were really interested in these dinosaurs. I work at the museum, you know." I studied him. He was tall and thin, with brown hair and glasses. Judging from his appearance, I believed him.
"That's nice," I said. "I'm a student of archaeology. What's your expertise?"
"Cartography and linguistics. My name is Milo Thatch." He extended his hand. I shook it.
"Adrienne Whitmore."
"Mr. Thatch! What are you doing up here?" I looked around Milo and saw a little man. He was short and fat and (really) ugly.
"Uh…sorry Mr. Harcourt, I…"
"Boy, you need to be down with the boilers. I've already gotten two complaints."
"Yes, sir." He turned back to me, a defeated look on his face. I raised an eyebrow.
"Your expertise is in the boiler room? So…you lied?"
"No! I swear. The boiler room is only temporary. I'm studying to go on an expedition someday."
"Uh huh. Me too. I'd like to explore pyramids in Egypt…"
He laughed. "Why go somewhere like that when you could find a lost city?"
"A lost city? Like where?"
"Atlantis!" he said in a mysterious voice.
"What are you talking about?"
"Come with me." He grasped my wrist.
"Hey! I really can't…where are we going?"
"The boiler room. Let me show you my research."
I was suddenly very intrigued by this man. Funny, that seemed to happen to me often. My curiosity was the cause of my biggest problems, but I couldn't help it. We went downstairs to a small room.
"Check it out," he said, thrusting an armful of papers at me. I looked through them. All that was on them was a bunch of strange looking symbols. "What is this?"
"That's the language of the Atlanteans."
"How would you know?"
"I've been studying this for my whole life. You see, there's a journal called the Shepherd's Journal. It actually can lead the way to Atlantis." I looked at him skeptically. "Look I'll prove it to you." He handed me another piece of paper. "This is thought to be a page from the journal," he explained. "See, the language is the same as these papers that you were looking at. And this." He ran across the room and picked up a shield. Struggling under its weight, he brought it over. "The writing on this shield is a dead language. But if you look here, it's similar to the writing in the journal."
I looked over everything. "So what you're saying is that this Journal…no, that Atlantis is real?"
"Yes. I've been working on this for a while. I want the museum to fund an expedition to Iceland…"
"Atlantis is in Iceland?"
"No, no, no! The Journal is. Once I get the Journal, then I can find Atlantis! I will do anything to find it. Not only for me, but for my grandfather."
"You're so dedicated to this…"
"Yeah, it was a dream of my grandfather's. He did so much for me. I want to do this for him."
"That's good. My parents died, and now I'm living at my grandfather's house. How ironic is that?"
"Too ironic," he answered.
"Well, what do you think Atlantis is like?" I asked.
"My grandfather used to tell so many stories about it. I imagine that now there's only some old buildings…maybe pottery or something, but it's beautiful. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah. What do you think it was like when it was thriving?"
"Powerful. Supposedly there's a type of power source there. Maybe I'll be able to recover it. Anyway, it was probably one of the most beautiful places in the world. Waterfalls…lush greenery…" I laughed. "What? Why are you laughing at me?"
"It sounds so beautiful when you talk about it…like a fantasy world. Tell you what, if you ever get the funding, I'll go with you."
"Really? So you believe me?"
I nodded. "It sounds farfetched, but anything's possible. It would be a good experience for me."
"We'd learn a lot, I'm sure." I took my notebook out again and began sketching. "What are you doing?" Milo asked.
"You'll see." After about ten minutes, I showed him my drawing.
"Whoa…" he breathed.
"It's Atlantis," I told him.
"I figured as much. It looks exactly how I picture it in my mind."
Suddenly I realized that I'd been with Milo for a long time. I checked my watch. Forty-five minutes had passed. My stomach dropped. Helga must have been waiting for me…wondering where I was. "I have to go now," I said and stood up.
"So soon?"
"My friend is waiting for me. In fact, she's probably angry at me now for not meeting her." "I'd go with you, but I'll get yelled at again." I smiled at him. "Nice meeting you, Milo. Good luck with your research."
"Nice meeting you too, Adrienne."
"Bye!" I left the boiler room and ran up the stairs. I was out of breath as I scanned the room for Helga. She was standing by the skeleton of the tyrannosaurus, the look on her face unreadable at first. "Helga!" I called and ran to her. She faced me. The look that she gave me when she spotted me…could have frozen me right there.