An essay by Ken Korman, as provided by Adam Rowe
Art by Katie Nyborg
An audio version of this story is available at http://academicemmett.com/1-4-the-dog-and-the-dinosaur/
“Do you believe in fortune telling?” Emmett asked me. He was staring thoughtfully up at the ceiling, long legs resting on an equally tall chair back.
“No more than you do,” I told him, “time travel machine aside.”
“Hey, I’ll get that up and running one of these days,” he said with a subdued indignation before returning to his thought: “What if I could predict the future? I’ll bet you a pizza I can tell you who the next person to walk in that door will be.”
I listened for footsteps, but the second floor of the college library was just as quiet as it always was. That wasn’t surprising, as that was the main reason Emmett and I hung out here. The other reason was the free coffee a floor below.
I took the bet. “It’ll be Charlie Becker,” Emmett predicted, “here on an urgent matter. He’ll be frantic.”
No sooner had the word left Emmett’s mouth then sharp footsteps began to sound on the metal staircase. Charlie Becker’s flushed face pushed into view, followed by the rest of him. “Emmett! Are you free?” he said through puffs for air. “I need you right now!”
“I’ll take a large pepperoni,” Emmett said, then, at my eyebrow, “The ceiling light is particularly shiny. I saw his reflection through the window as he walked up to the library.”
“You couldn’t know that he’d talk to you, though.”
“He texted me, too.”
“I’m not paying for that! You said you’d predict it.”
“And I did! I predicted the future based on the available information. I am a scientist, after all.”
Charlie, who had been shuttling his head back and forth as he followed the conversation, gave an exasperated drone, “Guyyys. I said it was important.” Once he had our attention once more, he explained. “I found a dinosaur.”
Our pizza was forgotten. “A … a what? An actual dinosaur?”
“A … a what? An actual dinosaur?”
To read the rest of this story, check out the Mad Scientist Journal: Autumn 2013 collection.
Ken Korman is best friend to Emmett Barclay, collegiate mad scientist extraordinaire, but is otherwise intelligent. His voice of reason is no match for Emmett’s wild shriek of inanity, but that never stops him from trying.
As a current senior communications and writing major, Adam Rowe was able to base a lot of his tales off of his own college experience, despite the fact that he’s caused considerably fewer chemical explosions. He’s proud to say that he’s proven the existence of just as many missing links as any of his characters. Ken and Emmett’s ongoing adventures are documented as podcasts at AcademicEmmett.com, and Adam can also be found on his blog.
Katie Nyborg’s art, plus information regarding hiring her, can be found at http://katiedoesartthings.tumblr.com/
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