Truth and Fiction at Dinosaur Ridge

Eva Wander’s greatest life achievement was inventing the game Chickey Bop when she was seven years old. Here’s how Chickey Bop works: Andy and Eva team up against Mom and Dad. Both teams are armed with a chicken picture sketched on a sticky note. The team that first sticks their note onto an opponent’s back wins. The losers must perform an especially jazzy version of the Chicken Dance.

Chickey Bop is a silly game that the Wanders take very seriously. Today, they were playing it at Dinosaur Ridge, a formation in the Rocky Mountains that’s full of dinosaur fossils and tracks. Dad agreed to the game on the condition that Eva and Andy wouldn’t complain about visiting the fossil site on the family’s road trip. Andy and Mom were assigned the sticky notes, and the game was on.

But complicating this round of Chickey Bop was a man wearing a T. rex hat who called himself “Dino Dale.” Dino Dale roamed from group to group sharing dinosaur facts, even though he didn’t appear to work for the park. “The Apatosaurus was buried 150 million years ago,” Dino Dale told the Wanders.

“AHHH!” Eva squirmed out of a hug from her mother to escape the sticky note.

Dino Dale blinked a few times before continuing. “And over here is a bone bed with fossils. See if you can spot dinosaurs from the new Triassic Island movie.”

Mom and Dad had won the last five rounds of Chickey Bop, but today was going to be different. The kids had been studying under the greatest master of stealth the world has ever known: Reginald Baines.

Mr. Baines may not have ever technically served in the CIA, but he did star in 132 episodes of Super Agent Reggie Baines from 1987 to 1993. Throughout six seasons of the hit show, Reggie had developed a number of signature moves. Today, Andy and Eva were going to use those moves to defeat Mom and Dad.

“There are raptor tracks on this side of the road and a great view of Red Rocks Mountain Park on the other,” Dino Dale said. “If you cross the street, just be sure to watch for tour buses.”

That was exactly what Andy needed. He wandered across the street, then turned to wave at Dad.

“I’m gonna disappear!” Andy yelled.

“You’re gonna be a chicken!” Dad yelled back.

Andy glanced around the corner and smiled when he spotted a tour bus. Reggie Baines ended every episode by standing on a sidewalk, then disappearing when a vehicle passed by. Andy was about to use that move to get the drop on his parents. He held up three fingers and counted down. Three. Two. One.

VROOOOM!

Andy started running as soon as the tour bus passed between him and Dad. When the bus easily pulled ahead, Andy directed every ounce of concentration toward running faster. He should have saved some of that concentration for watching where he was going.

“OOF!”

Andy ran into a stomach-high wooden post and flipped over.

The Wanders sprinted across the street to Andy. “Are you OK?” Dad asked.

Andy leaped to his feet and spun around. “Nice try!”

Andy and Eva pressed their backs together in the pose that Baines and his partner, Heidi Duke, would use to avoid sneak attacks. They kept that pose as they shuffled awkwardly back to the raptor tracks. Dino Dale looked befuddled when they returned.

“Chickey Bop,” Andy explained.

Dino Dale had no idea what that meant, so he just said, “Oh.” Then his face lit up. “Did you know that chickens came from dinosaurs? That’s why they used chicken DNA to recreate the T. rex in the Triassic Island movie.”

“Oh.” The kids glanced at each other and then shrugged. They stayed back-to-back through the next several minutes of the tour but finally gave up after getting their legs tangled for the third time. They needed a new plan—one that was, as Super Agent Baines would say, “nincomproof.”

Finally, Eva got an idea. “Reggie’s airplane,” she whispered to Andy.

In the episode titled “The Eagle Has Launched,” Reggie Baines smuggles sensitive information out of an enemy prison by folding it into a paper airplane and launching it over a mile to Heidi Duke. Andy followed his example by running ahead of the group and folding his chicken sticky note into a perfect paper airplane. Then, when his parents were distracted, he launched it to Eva.

Or at least that’s what he tried to do. The plane flew two feet before taking a hard right turn into a garbage can. Eva put her head in her hands. “What a disaster!”

But as Super Agent Baines always says, disaster is just another word for opportunity, and Andy had spotted a terrific opportunity. He would go undercover as a custodian. Andy lifted the lid off the garbage can and . . .

“Ow! OW! OWWWWCH!”

Andy had uncovered a bunch of bees scouting for leftover soda. He sprinted back to his family while swatting, spinning, and screaming. Dad helped shoo the rest of the bees away, while Mom put her cold water bottle on one of Andy’s stings.

“Didn’t go how you planned it, huh?” Dad asked once things calmed down.

Art by David Leonard

“That never happens on TV,” Andy moaned.

Dad glanced over at Dino Dale who had given up on the Wanders and moved onto another family. “That might be a good lesson for everyone here, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Chickens coming from dinosaurs? That’s as hard to believe as someone disappearing behind a moving bus. Genesis says God created birds on day five of creation week and land animals, like dinosaurs, on day six.”

“Yeah, birds and dinosaurs don’t look anything alike,” said Eva.

“And that’s not all,” Dad said. “Birds and dinosaurs have different bone structures and a different breathing system. And dinosaurs didn’t have feathers. You can’t believe everything you see on dinosaur movies and shows. You’ve got to start with the Bible.”

Andy thought about that for a second before saying, “But I like dinosaur movies.”

“And I like spy shows. But if we’re not careful, both can lead us to believe things that aren’t true.” Dad stood up and offered Andy a hand. “Feeling better?”

“Starting to.”

“Good.” Dad nodded to Mom who slapped a chicken drawing on Andy’s back. “Cuz you owe us a Chicken Dance!”

What's the Point?

The movies and TV shows we watch can affect what we think and do before we even realize it. That’s why it’s important to be careful about the things we watch and to make sure we go to God’s Word for answers. When you hear TV shows or movies mention ideas like dinosaurs evolving into birds, ask an adult to help you separate the truth from the fiction.