The kids at Roarington Elementary went wild about the dinosaur discovery The principal Mrs Proton even led a campus dig for the fifth grade students before school started Suki and Sumi dressed up in matching safari outfits though they didn’t want to get dirty The perfectionist Whitney-Raelynn surprised Paisley when she dug a hole with her bare hands I’ll find the most complete dinosaur skeleton in history she said Ben dug a little faster Whitney-Raelynn’s fancy sweater was covered in more dirt than Paisley’s T-shirt Paisley took pride that she had a bruise on her shoulder from her crazy adventures that Whitney-Raelynn didn’t have Dinosaurs can’t come back to life the way they do in the movies can they Arjun asked as he uncovered something white and solid RRRrrroooar Rosalind yelled as she wheeled up behind him Aaaaah Arjun screamed He ran away from the rock he was digging up with a speed that might’ve 8
rivaled the ostrich-like dinosaur Dromiceiomimus Rosalind laughed so hard she had a coughing fit That was the most exciting part of the dig since no one had any luck finding fossils Paisley planned on digging in her backyard with Ben later Too bad his was mostly concrete between the porch and the swimming pool Once the morning bell rang the teachers at Roarington Elementary assigned all kinds of school projects about dinosaurs Paisley and Ben had to read dinosaur books write dinosaur stories and Mrs Decibel even had them sing dinosaur songs For your next project you’ll create a model of what you think the dinosaur might’ve looked like Mrs Beaker the science teacher said These terrible lizards are going to give me a lifetime of nightmares Arjun said Paisley laughed but not as loud as Rosalind The word dinosaur meant terrible lizard though they weren’t actually lizards Paisley didn’t think they were terrible either 9
Paisley and Ben got started on their dinosaur models after digging around in her backyard after school Newton Paisley’s pet mongoose thought digging holes in the grass was great fun Newton pounced and dined on grub worms until his tummy bloated Too bad we can’t dig in the Pendleburys backyard Paisley said When she peeked over their neighbor’s fence she caught the little girl Mia spying on them They waved at her and she ran off Dad had dinosaur veggie nuggets waiting for Paisley and Ben once they cleaned up just like he used to make when they were the same age as Mia Why did we ever outgrow our dinosaur phase Paisley asked as she dipped one of the nuggets in ranch dressing I’m not sure we did exactly We just buried it with a lot of other new phases Ben said He pulled out one of his old dog-eared dinosaur encyclopedias from his backpack He and Paisley used to read it out loud together to memorize facts like how some dinosaurs were as small as chickens Compsognathus or as long as five double-decker buses Seismosaurus 10
True though we aren’t as obsessed as we used to be Paisley said She laughed thinking about how Dad had sewed them dinosaur blankets and Mom trimmed a hedge out front to look like an Allosaurus Their neighbors Mr and Mrs Pendlebury forced them to cut it down after Halloween because they thought it looked tacky After eating Dad showed Paisley and Ben a replica of the fossils found near Roaring Mountain It pays to have paleontologist friends at the university Dad said Paisley knew she could count on him Dad held up the fossil replica See how there is a hole in the hip socket This feature sets dinosaurs apart It helped dinosaurs stand upright Otherwise their legs would be out to the side like other reptiles Did it help dinosaurs run faster Ben asked Exactly Dad said Newton climbed on Paisley’s shoulder after sniffing the replica Paisley was surprised to find the bones were hollow and the walls of the bones were thin It was like Dad could read her mind 11
