The Accidental Heist

"Amazing..." Brand whispered to himself as he stared at the dinosaur cranium sitting in front of him. The massive skull, that measured almost 6 feet, was lined with rows of giant teeth. Perfect for hunting prey that was even larger than the Giganotosaurus itself. The only drawback for the this magnificent predator was the tiny brain that used to reside in the bone currently resting on the table. "Who needs a brain when all you need to hunt is instinct? Although you were probably smarter than some of the people who fostered me." Brand chuckled to himself. He unzipped his bookbag and pulled out his phone. Flipping it open he took a picture of the fossil. This would definitely make an awesome wallpaper for his phone.

Looking at the skull, Brand's eyes suddenly drifted to the tooth sitting next to it. "I wonder that feels like." he thought as he started walking towards the table. He hesitated slightly before picking up the tooth. It felt heavier than he thought it would and he juggled it in his hands. This thing was almost 12 inches in size! He shuddered to think of it biting down on it's victims. That would probably hurt. A lot.

Suddenly Brand heard voices coming from the hall. Panicking he dropped the tooth on the floor. It bounced a little before sliding to a stop a little ways away from him. Brand hurried to pick up the tooth and then slid it in his bookbag while looking for a place to hide. The voices were almost at the doors when he spied what looked like a closet. He ran as fast as his legs could go. Throwing the door open revealed some brooms, a bucket, and a mop. He quickly stepped inside with one foot in the bucket and shut the door just in time.

Brand heard the doors creak as people came into the room. His heart was beating so fast he thought it might leap out of his chest. He attempted to control his breathing by covering his mouth with his hand. Trying to calm down he tried to listen to what the people outside were talking about. He couldn't hear them very well but from what he could make out they were just complaining about work. The footsteps came closer and closer to the closet he was hiding in. Brand thought he was going to have a heart attack. Then the footsteps passed by the closet and kept going.

Just when was about to pass out from trying to not breath, Brand heard a door in the back of the room open and the voices fade away. They had left. "I've got to get out of here right now." he thought to himself in a panic. Throwing open the closet door he went to start running but tripped over the bucket still on his foot. A small crashing sound echoed through the room as he fell on the floor. The pain in his chest returned when he hit the ground and then faded away just as suddenly. Not even thinking about the pain, the panicked Brand got up and bolted out the double doors and into the hallway. Not stopping he ran as fast as he could to the door to the hall. Reaching the door he finally slowed down to crack the door and make sure the coast was clear. Seeing nobody he slipped out of the door he power walked to the exit that led to the main hall of the museum. Walking through he finally felt a little safe and let himself start breathing normally again.

Brand found a bench next to a water fountain and sat down. Looking up at the clock sitting on the far wall Brand realized it was about time to meet his class at the front of the museum to leave. Getting up he walked as normally as he could to meet his class at the front desk of the MOSH. When he arrived he saw that most of the class was already there. After waiting a few more minutes the teacher finally did roll call. After confirming all the students were there, the teacher shepherded them out of the museum and into the parking lot towards the waiting school bus. Getting on the bus, Brand went to his usual seat at the back of the bus and sat down.

When the waiting bus finally left the parking lot and started on the road back towards the school, Brand let his head hit the back of the seat and he let out a huge sigh of relief. He had made it. He had sneaked into the back room, got to see and even get a picture of the treasured Giganotosaurus skull, and got back to the bus in one piece without being spotted by any of the museum employees. As the bus rolled along his former panic started turning into exhilaration. Brand felt like a conquering hero. He felt like a master thief who was in the getaway car after performing the perfect crime. He felt good.

Nearing the school Brand reached into his bag to grab his phone and look at the cherished picture. Feeling around inside his hand came to rest on something hard. Thinking a moment at what it might be, Brand's face suddenly paled. "IT'S THE TOOTH!" he screamed in his head and almost screamed out loud. He actually was a thief! The bus was the getaway car! "Oh no, oh no, oh no." kept sounding in his brain on repeat. What was he going to do? "Ok ok, no one stopped me at the museum and I wasn't spotted. Everything is going to be alright." he thought to himself when suddenly his face went even paler than before.

"Cameras." Brand said as all hope of not getting in trouble faded away. "I didn't even think of them having cameras. But they're probably set up all over the museum. Not to mention my finger prints are all over that closet and all the doors." Slowly zipping up his bag he slouched in the bus seat resigned to the fact that he would probably be in jail sometime this week. The bus pulled up as Brand was still thinking about what he was going to say to the police to make them understand this had all been a huge mistake.

Before everyone got off the teacher took roll one more time. After he finished he released the class to either get picked up by their parents or take the buses home. Shouldering his bag, Brand trudged out of the field trip bus and made his way to the bus that would take him home. He spent the whole ride thinking about what would happen to him in jail. "I'm not ready for my life to be over." he thought glumly. When he got home his chest started hurting again. "Maybe if I have a heart attack I won't have to go to jail." he said bitterly smiling at the dark humor as the pain faded away.

As day turned to night Brand was sitting in his room when he opened his bag and grabbed the tooth that had caused all of his stress. "Well... at least I'm going to jail for something awesome." Brand clutched the fossilized fang tightly in his hand, fell down on his bed, and fell asleep.