Dragons vs Grizzlies

 

            Squinting his eyes until they were almost shut, Cody looked at the pitcher as he got ready to throw the ball. This was the one that he was going to hit. The Dragons were behind the Grizzlies, but he was going to even it up.

            The pitcher performed his windup and sent the ball sailing over home plate. Cody swung the bat as hard as he could, thinking that this was going to be a big hit. Instead, he barely missed the ball and the umpire called, “Steerike Three!”

            How could he have missed it? It was right there! Cody felt heat rising along with anger. The pitcher must have done something to the ball! There wasn’t supposed to be any magic during the game, but that had to be why Cody had missed hitting that ball.

            Fuming now, Cody threw down his helmet and charged the pitcher’s mound, letting his fury flow through him. His uniform changed into scales to cover his growing body. Wings sprouted from his back, and he opened his jaws wide, preparing to let loose a jet of flame at the large grizzly bear that now faced him.

            A shrill whistle blew. “Stop!” yelled the umpire, now a towering polar bear. “No transformations or magic during the game!”

            This felt so unfair that Cody shouted, “Well, he started it!” He pointed at the grizzly bear who was ready to tear into Cody. “He did something to the ball that made me miss! I was going to hit it!”

            The polar bear looked seriously into Cody’s eyes. “Are you sure? Maybe you just missed. It didn’t look like anything happened to the ball. I was watching.”

            A new feeling began to overtake Cody. Shame started down in his toes until it rose up into his face. If he hadn’t already been a red dragon, his face would have been aflame now. Did he really just miss? But he was so sure that he was going to hit that ball.

            Slowly, Cody backed away from the grizzly bear. He walked back to home plate and picked up his helmet with his hand that was now scale-free. Glancing back toward the pitcher’s mound, he saw that the grizzly bear had disappeared, and the pitcher was holding the ball, a big smirk on his face.

            Cody tried not to think about how he could have won the game. Because of his strikeout, they had lost their chance to catch up to the Grizzlies and now the Dragons had lost.

            Lining up with his teammates, Cody prepared to congratulate the other team. The words, “Good game,” came out of Cody’s mouth automatically as he gave each member of the Grizzlies a high-five. After he reached the pitcher and gave him a high-five, the pitcher leaned closer conspiratorially and said, “Thanks for giving us the win.” He gave Cody a huge, obvious wink and turned to leave.

            Cody had to fight for control as anger filled his body again. Next time the Dragons played the Grizzlies, things would turn out differently. Magic or no magic, Cody would not let his team lose again.

Wish On A Shooting Star

 

Cameron tried to stop the yawn that was trying to escape, but was unsuccessful. Maybe he really should go to bed. He rubbed some of the tiredness out of his eyes and looked through his telescope once more. The moon was so much more amazing when he could clearly see the craters through the telescope.

With a sigh, he moved the telescope from the moon and prepared to put it away. But what was that? Something just streaked across his vision. Focusing the telescope once again, he found a meteor that was making its way across the sky. Most people would call it a shooting star, but Cameron knew what it really was. He knew that wishing on a shooting star wouldn’t do anything, but he always had a wish ready anyway.

Closing his eyes tightly, he whispered his usual wish. “I wish I had a dog.” He’d wanted a dog for a long time, but his parents didn’t. One day, he would convince them to let him get a dog, but he was only ten, and he didn't really have a lot of bargaining power. Oh, well. He might as well just go to sleep. Throwing himself onto his bed, he was asleep within minutes.

The next day, Cameron was out weeding in the garden. It was one of his weekly chores, but he didn’t enjoy it. They didn’t have a huge garden, but it was big enough to have to spend an hour pulling up weeds. He tried to focus and get things done as quickly as possible. He was by the green beans when he heard the whine.

Snapping his head up, he tried to figure out where it came from when he heard it again. Over by the fence was a small, gray ball of fur. Cameron ran over to investigate. He gasped when he realized the little ball of fur was a puppy. As he admired its soft coat, it turned its head and stared right at him. It immediately tried to dart away, but it tripped and fell.

“It’s okay,” Cameron called softly. Kneeling next to the puppy, he saw that it had a rope wrapped around its neck. The poor thing had tripped right over it. Slowly, Cameron reached out a hand and untangled the rope. The dog eyed him warily but didn’t move. As soon as his hand touched the puppy’s back, he felt the little body relax. Carefully, he picked it up and held it close. He could feel the puppy’s heartbeat against his own chest and knew that if he was ever going to get a dog, it would have to be this one. There was no way he was going to let it go.

“Hey, Cameron! What are you doing over here?” Dad had come to see what was going on.

Cameron looked up at his dad with hopeful eyes. “Can I keep him, Dad, please?”

Dad leaned down to look at the pup. “Well, we’ll have to see if he belongs to anyone.” He reached out a hand to pat it. “He’s pretty cute, isn’t he?”

Hope swelled inside of Cameron. Cradling the pup in his arms, he looked into its eyes and saw the puppy staring back up at him. Maybe wishing on a passing meteor had been a good idea after all.

Flight to Jupiter

 

Ellie took a deep, steadying breath. She was excited, but nervous. Her entire life had been filled with stories of Jupiter’s magic school from her older siblings. Magic was strong in her family, and all six of her older siblings had attended there. Now it was her turn.

The private jet parked outside looked ordinary enough. From the outside, it seemed like it could hold ten passengers comfortably, but the inside was a different matter. Having heard about this from her family beforehand, she wasn’t too surprised when she stepped inside the plane and found herself inside a space that could have easily held an entire basketball court. Rows of soft, comfortable chairs filled the area. Chatter surrounded her as students from all over the world prepared for their flight. Smiling attendants helped each student find their seat.

The kind-faced woman who led Ellie to her seat seemed a little overexcited and chatted about how thrilled she was to have a spot on the plane. Ellie didn’t say much. She knew how exclusive the school was, and how rare it was to even get a glimpse of the place. She smiled and sat down in a comfortable recliner as the woman asked her if she needed anything.

When the woman finally left, Ellie turned her attention to the other student seated next to her. “Hello,” she said brightly to the girl who looked as nervous but excited as she felt herself. “I’m Ellie. What’s your name?”

The girl’s soft voice answered, “Melissa. Nice to meet you.” She flashed a small smile.

It took nearly an hour for all the passengers to arrive, in which time Ellie and Melissa were fast becoming friends. It turned out that Melissa also had older siblings that had attended Jupiter Diamond Academy.

Finally, they felt the jet engines roar around them and a clear voice came over the loudspeaker. “We are cleared for takeoff. Please keep yourselves securely fastened in your seatbelts. Our estimated travel time is three hours.” The engines increased in volume until Ellie was sure that she would have permanent hearing loss. The plane moved forward, and Ellie found herself being pushed farther into her seat as they accelerated.

During takeoff, the nose of the plane rose until it was nearly vertical. When Ellie looked through the large windows at the end of their row, she was startled to see that the sky was already gone. Black space surrounded them. “Whoa,” she breathed softly. Her older siblings had always told her that the flight to school was amazing, but they could never convey the way that Ellie felt now. They hurtled past the moon, and soon all Ellie could see was stars.

Ellie spent almost the entire journey gaping out the window. She and Melissa enjoyed seeing the small red planet of Mars fly by, and as they neared Jupiter, they excitedly talked about what would be coming next.

“It’s weird that most of the world thinks Jupiter’s made up of gas,” Ellie said with a smile.

Melissa grinned back. “Well, they had to do something to hide its true nature. They didn’t want any unexpected visitors.”

“Of course. Only the magical community knows the truth about what’s lying underneath the swirling gas clouds.”

Melissa nodded fervently. “I can’t wait to see all the animals that everyone else thinks are only mythological. I’m especially excited to see the unicorns.”

“I can’t wait to see the dragons. I have dreamed about training a dragon since my older brother talked about his when I was only three years old. For the last ten years, that’s all I’ve thought about.” The excitement in Ellie’s eyes grew more intense. “And then there’s the magic, of course. I can’t wait to work the magic that allows me to fast travel between Earth and Jupiter. Then we won’t have to bother with the three-hour plane trip.”

“Yes, that will be so cool. But I’m also excited to stay at the school.” Melissa looked at Ellie with a grateful smile. “I was worried about being alone before, but I’m glad I’ll have a friend.”

Ellie grinned back. “For sure.”

After they descended through miles of swirling orange clouds, they finally got a glimpse of the real Jupiter. Lush green forests surrounded tall buildings. Ellie’s heart sped up when she spotted a few dragons doing training maneuvers with their riders. She felt confident as she disembarked the plane, and she and Melissa entered the magical world of Jupiter together.

Wounded

 

            Derek groaned in pain as another bullet hit his leg and he stumbled and fell. He’d already gotten shot in the arm and the pain was excruciating. How was he supposed to get to safety now?

            Trying to rise to his feet, he realized that was going to be impossible. Instead, he crawled along, using his good leg and good arm. He only made it about a foot before he collapsed. Why had he joined this stupid war? He should have just run away when he saw the Royal Guard coming to enlist him a few weeks ago. Let the King figure out his own mess with the angry rebels. He could have found somewhere to hide. The Black Forest would have been the perfect place. Maybe it wouldn’t have been all that comfortable, but everyone else was too scared to set foot there.

            Breathing heavily, Derek tried to work up his strength for another run to safety. Gunshots still sounded all around him and he wasn’t safe here. Clawing the dirt with his good hand, he made the monumental effort to rise to his knees, but his strength was nearly gone. Against his will, he found himself falling back to the ground, but someone caught him. With sweat rolling into his eyes, he turned to see who his rescuer was. “Billy!” he cried weakly.

            Billy tried to hide the shock at seeing the state his friend was in. “Derek! Come on! It’s not much farther to the tree line. We can make it!”

            Derek pushed him away weakly. “No. I can’t walk. You go and get yourself out of here.” He grimaced as another crippling wave of pain hit him.

            Billy glanced ahead, but stayed with his arm around Derek. “No way. I’m not leaving without you.” Rummaging in his suit jacket, he pulled out a small vial with purple liquid. “Drink this.” He pulled out the stopper and held it up to Derek’s lips.

            Derek tried to protest, but Billy tipped the purple liquid down his throat. Smoke issued out of his mouth as he coughed and spluttered. When he caught his breath again, Billy was heaving him upright.

            “Just lean on me, Derek. I’ll get you out of here.” Billy half-dragged Derek as he made a beeline for the trees.

            Derek was trying hard not to pass out as his bad leg dragged behind him. Thankfully, they were nearly to the trees and as soon as they reached decent cover, they dropped out of sight, breathing heavily. Gunshots were still sounding, but the denseness of the forest blocked out the worst of the noise. Derek lay on the ground, trying to calm his racing heart. “Thank you,” he managed to choke out.

            As they waited for the firing to stop, Derek found himself able to breathe easier. The pain was no longer debilitating and he pulled himself up into a sitting position. It was then that he realized that Billy was no longer there. “Billy?” Derek was alone in a small, protected clearing. Where had he gone? It had also gotten deathly quiet. Was it finally over? Would he be safe to leave and find help?

            Slowly, Derek hoisted himself to his feet and was surprised to find that his bad leg supported him. Looking down, he saw his torn pants coated in blood, but there wasn’t any kind of wound in his leg. Without thinking, he leaned down to feel it with his bad arm and received another shock as that arm was also working properly without any kind of wound.

            With his eyes as wide as saucers, Derek remembered the purple concoction Billy had given him. He slapped his head as realization hit him. He hadn’t seen Billy for over two years, much longer than the war had been going on. Derek had always assumed that Billy had gone to attend the prestigious college in the capital, but now he realized that Billy must have been attending an even more prestigious school—Hawthorn’s Wizarding School. It was the only explanation for Billy appearing out of nowhere with a life-saving magical potion.

            Grinning broadly, Derek enjoyed having full use of his limbs again as he thought of Billy. Wherever Billy had disappeared to, Derek hoped that he would see his friend again. He was glad he had a friend who was willing to come and rescue him from danger.

Vanishing Creek Trail

 

            The leaves were beautiful up here. Jane was glad that she’d decided to do the hike this morning. Breathing in the crisp fall air, Jane felt better than she had for the last week. She had several exams coming up in her classes, and the worry about them had slowly been eating away at her. She’d studied so much in the past few days that she had trouble focusing on anything else.

            As Jane hiked, she felt some of her worry slip away. They’d had an unusually mild fall this year, so she only had a light jacket on. When she reached the place where the trail went over a creek, she paused. Having done this hike several times before, she knew that from here, the trail continued another couple of miles to the viewpoint.

            Today, she saw another trail that followed the creek. “Hmm. I’ve never noticed that before. I wonder where it leads?” Making up her mind, she followed the little side trail. It obviously hadn’t been used in a long time. Grass and brush nearly covered it, making it hard to see.

            The trees grew closer around her and the creek grew louder until it opened up unexpectedly and Jane found herself standing outside a quaint little cottage. It was dark and abandoned and obviously hadn’t been used for many years, but the lawn around it was exploding with color.

            Several maple trees stood guard over the little cottage with leaves of bright red, orange, and yellow. Staring in wonder, Jane stood rooted to the spot, drinking in the magnificent scene. Taking out her phone, she took several pictures before turning around and heading back.

            The hike back to the main trail took longer than she thought. It took so long she started to think she had gone too far. “No, I would have seen the bridge,” she whispered under her breath.

            Finally, the bridge came into view, and Jane sighed in relief. Anxious to get home now, she memorized where the side trail was before she headed back to her car. She definitely wanted to visit again.

            Jane felt rejuvenated when she got back home. Her worries about her exams didn’t return and she ended up doing really well on them.

            She wanted to go back to the cottage, but she was never able to find it again. No matter how many times she went back and forth along that trail, the little path remained hidden. She loved looking back at the photos she’d taken, but when she showed them to others, all they saw were dead trees surrounding a dilapidated shack.

            However, that’s not what Jane saw. She firmly believed her life had been touched by magic. Somewhere along Vanishing Creek Trail, there was a beautiful secluded cottage surrounded by maple trees.

Mountain Race

 

            Ty took a deep breath. Ah! The perfect day for Field Day! It was still winter, but it wasn’t snowing and the air was still. Maybe he wouldn’t have frozen fingers and toes when he finished.

            Looking to see who his competition was for the event, he groaned when he saw that Crystal was among the three other students. It’s not like he had anything against her, but Crystal was… a distraction. They had been friends since coming to the training academy at age 10, but that was six years ago. Ty wanted to be more than friends, but he didn’t want to ruin their friendship.

            Shaking his head, he focused back to the task at hand. They were supposed to retrieve the school’s banner from the lower mountain cave. Whoever reached it first won their team fifty points. Stepping up to the starting line, he waited for Master Nelson to start the race.

            With a noise that sounded like a gunshot, the race began, and Ty took off running. The cave was a little more than three miles away, and the four competitors bunched close together, each trying to take the lead. Crystal ran ahead of him, and Ty couldn’t help noticing how nice she looked today. She turned and gave him a quick smile before she used her first magic spell and summoned her horse from the stable.

            They were only allowed to use two spells for the race, so they had all been reluctant to use any magic, but once Crystal was mounted, she would reach the cave sooner than the rest of them. Not wanting to be left behind, Ty summoned his horse as well, and soon there were four horses running toward the mountain.

            Ty was glad when he mounted his stallion. He really couldn’t run the entire way to the cave. Lowering himself as close to the horse’s neck as he could, he urged it forward and took the lead. His horse was young and fast, and he reached the mouth of the cave first, several minutes before the others.

            Quickly dismounting, Ty instantly became more alert. The mountain caves were notorious places for dragons to take shelter during the winter. Not wanting to be burned to a crisp, he crouched in front of a boulder, carefully surveying the area. No sign of any dragons—yet. The cave was dark and went quite a way inside the mountain, full of twists and turns and plenty of places to hide. The banner was sure to be hidden well. He cast his second magic spell: one that would guide him directly to the banner. He entered the cave just as the other three competitors arrived. Ty was pleased to see that Crystal was leading them. Should he wait for her? No, he had to focus.

            Ty darted into the cave following his magic. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been watching very carefully where he was going and tripped over a thick rope.

            Ty landed hard on his hands and knees, narrowly missing a jutting rock formation that would have probably sliced his head open. He quickly jumped up and brushed himself off, embarrassed for tripping in front of Crystal. He chanced a glance back at her and was surprised to see a look of fear on her face. “Ty! Behind you!” she shouted, pointing.

            Whirling around, Ty was stunned to see a yellow dragon standing in front of him. It whipped its long, rope-like tail away from Ty. How could he have been so stupid? He’d actually tripped over a sleeping dragon. Flinging himself behind a boulder, he felt the heat from the scorching flames that issued from the dragon’s mouth. He had to move—fast.

            Ty darted to another bunch of boulders as he heard the dragon coming toward him. His first thought was, “At least it’s coming after me and not Crystal.” He’d woken the sleeping dragon, and now he had to take care of it. Drawing his sword and retrieving his shield from his back, he got ready to make a dash for the entrance. He had to lead this dragon out of here.

            Resolutely, he stepped out from the boulders and faced the dragon. Thankfully, it was on the smaller side—only about ten feet tall. “Come on, dragon!” he called as he banged his sword on his shield. “It’s time to leave!”

            The dragon regarded him with its orange eyes before it sent a white-hot stream of flames at him.

            Ty jumped out of the way just in time, and moved closer to the open air. “Come on, buddy. Move your feet and come get me.” He backed away, keeping his eyes on the dragon.

            The dragon didn’t budge, and Ty realized he had to try something else. Knowing he would be disqualified from the race, he cast another magic spell. A flock of sheep appeared and he herded them outside. A series of thumps behind him let him know that the dragon was moving at last. When he looked back, long ropes of saliva were dripping from the dragon’s mouth. With a roar, the dragon shot out from the cave to chase after the sheep.

            Ty watched the dragon with satisfaction as it took to the air to come at the sheep from above. Nodding, he turned his attention back to the race. He was just in time to see Crystal emerging from the back of the cave with the banner in her hand. Ty knew he should feel some remorse for not winning, but he couldn’t stop the grin that covered his face. If anyone had to beat him, he was glad that it was Crystal.

Trapped!

 

            Steel looked through the glass jar that he found himself in. How could he have let himself be captured? He would never be able to live this down. Transformers were never supposed to get caught. Because he could turn into any animal he wanted, he should have been able to easily escape any kind of trap.

            Steel let out a sigh. He should have paid more attention as his eel body shot through the water. He was too busy admiring how he could swim through such small spaces. Swimming through a particularly tight section of the river, he hardly noticed when the large jar was lifted out of the water with him trapped inside it.

            Oh, well. It shouldn’t be too much of a problem to escape. He just needed some open air above him and a place where no one else was around. Glaring at his surroundings, he waited for his opportunity. This was his first time riding inside of a car. Steel would have enjoyed it more if he could move freely. It seemed like an eternity before the car stopped moving and his jar was carried outside and set down in some grass.

            Where was the forest? Instead of trees, there were lines of boxy houses lined up in a row. Steel could only stare as he was carried into a backyard. Finding his jar in the grass once again, he watched as a blow-up kiddie pool filled his vision. Waiting some more, he was relieved when the lid of his jar finally twisted open, and he could hear and feel the fresh outside air.

            Without warning, he was dumped into the kiddie pool which was filled with water. He turned to study the human who had put him there. Groaning, he realized that it wasn’t even an adult that had captured him, but a child. His family was really going to laugh at him now.

            As Steel stared at the little human, the child started talking. “There you go, buddy. I got you a nice little home with some food.” He suddenly cocked his head as he listened to another human yelling from the direction of the house.

            “Tommy! It’s time to come inside!” Hearing this, the boy ran toward the house and disappeared inside.

            Looking around carefully, Steel made sure that no one else was around. Whew! Finally, he was alone. Something bumped into him from behind and nearly scared him out of his skin. Spinning wildly around, Steel saw what it was – a lemon wedge. Was this the food that the small human talked about? He wasn’t a fan of lemons and wouldn’t be taking that with him.

            Taking a deep breath, Steel shot himself out of the water and transformed immediately into a sparrow. Flying up and up, he transformed again into an eagle. Ah! Much better. Now he felt like he could breathe properly. He started flying toward the feeling of home and soon he was soaring over a vast forest.

            Joyfully, he let out a shrill eagle cry and then transformed into his true form – a shiny silver dragon. Effortlessly, he made his way to his den, halfway up the great mountain jutting high above the forest below. This is where he was meant to be. He had no wish to be caught again. Maybe he would steer clear of the rivers for a while. Eels were overrated anyway. Dragons were far superior.

Mountain of the Dragon

 

            “Can we go down now?” Archie’s hands gripped the seat as he tried not to look out the window. His brother, Jake, thought it would be fun to drive up the mountain in their truck. The problem was, there weren’t really any roads. Archie felt like they were hovering above an abyss.

            “Just a little farther. The view should be spectacular from up here.” Jake grinned reassuringly.

            “I don’t think the truck can take much more of this.”

            Sighing, Jake said, “All right, all right. Let me turn around.”

            Archie chanced a look out the window and felt his stomach drop. It was a long way back down to the road they had left. Why had he let Jake talk him into this?

            Archie didn’t relax until they reached the dirt road. Just then, the truck started to rock violently back and forth. “What’s happening, Jake?!” he shouted.

            Jake’s face was panicked as he shouted back, “It’s not me! It must be an earthquake!”

            Instead of slowing down, Jake was accelerating down the mountain. Looking back, Archie saw why. The mountain was crumbling behind them and something else was rising up through the debris—something huge with metallic green scales. His mouth fell open as the thing opened up its huge wings and gave an earth-shattering roar. “It’s a dragon!” he yelled.

            Jake’s lips and knuckles were white as they continued racing downhill. By the time they reached the highway, the shaking had stopped, and they could no longer see the dragon. With trembling hands, Jake pulled the truck over to the side of the road, and both boys stared back in silence—dumbfounded at what they saw.

            The mountain appeared to be unchanged. There was no dragon coming after them, and there was no damage from the massive earthquake that they had experienced. “What just happened?” Archie asked in shock. He went outside to get a better look. As he went to close the door, he noticed a small lizard with metallic green scales.

Completely unafraid, the lizard scrambled right up his arm and said, “Hello, Archie.”

Archie’s brain felt fried. “W-w-what?”

            “My name is Ajax, and I’ve been waiting for you to ascend the Mountain of the Dragon.”

            “Why?” Archie stared back at Ajax incredulously.

            “You have power and great potential. With my help, you’ll be able to do amazing things.”

            The other door slammed shut, and Jake asked, “Who are you talking to out here?”

            Ajax slithered into Archie’s jacket pocket and Archie said, “Uhh, no one. Let’s go home before anything else weird happens.”

            “Right.” The two boys got back in the truck and started away. They agreed not to tell anyone about their experience—who would believe them? Archie patted his jacket pocket. He didn’t tell Jake about the lizard. They had experienced enough weirdness for one day.

The Interview

 

            Sweat trickled down Maggie’s neck as she took a deep breath and opened the door. When she approached the desk, she smiled at the receptionist and said, “Hi! I’m Maggie Avery and I’m here for an interview.”

            The receptionist waved her over to some chairs and said, “Wait there until your name is called.”

            Maggie sat down nervously but only had to wait a minute before she heard her name. Trying not to let her nerves show, she walked over to the woman who was holding a door open for her. After shaking hands, they walked inside.

            Maggie sat down in the chair across from the woman and waited.

            “Hello, Maggie,” the woman said with a kind smile. “My name is Tracy.”

            Maggie thought she managed to murmur a hello, but her nervousness was creeping to the surface.

            “Why do you want to attend this school, Maggie?”

Nervously clearing her throat, Maggie found her voice. “Well, my family has been attending this school for generations.”

            “You know that doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed a spot here, right?”

            “Of course, I just wanted to let you know that I have a lot of the same talents that other members of my family have.”

            Tracy wrote something down on her notepad. Looking up, she asked, “Can you demonstrate for me?”

            Forcing herself to relax, Maggie took a deep breath, closed her eyes and focused. Stretching out her hand, she felt for her magic. A crash sounded and she opened her eyes. The window behind Tracy had broken and pieces of glass now littered the floor.

            Tracy nodded and said, “Impressive. Now can you put it back?”

            Focusing her magic again, Maggie envisioned the window as it had been before. Shards of glass flew together and fused into a single pane that fit into the window space.

            For the next fifteen minutes, Maggie answered questions and did a few more magical displays. She did her best to show that she deserved to be there.

            Tracy jotted down several notes. Finally, she said, “Okay, thank you for your time. We’ll let you know within one week if you’ve been accepted.”

            Maggie stood and shook Tracy’s hand before she left. Once outside, she barely held it together until she got on the bus that would take her home. Sitting down in the first empty seat she saw, she slumped over and closed her eyes. Light Sands Magic School was the best there was. She’d done her best, and now she just had to hope that it would be enough. But, no matter what happened, at least she wouldn’t have to go through another interview like that again. Once was more than enough.

Mythical Creatures

 

            Tina checked the list on her phone. She needed one more gift for her daughter, Tracy. Christmas was only a week away, and Tina had been doing some last-minute shopping. She had to make sure that each of her kids got the same number of gifts. She didn’t want anyone to feel like they missed out or anything.

            Tina sat back in the driver’s seat of the car with a sigh. She was tired, but she really wanted to get this done. What else could she get for Tracy? The answer hit her like a lightning bolt. Of course! Another book had just come out in a series that her daughter loved. Tina wasn’t even sure if Tracy knew about it or not.

            Making up her mind, Tina drove to the small bookstore on Main Street. Normally, she would have just ordered it online, but she didn’t want to take any chances of having a late delivery. The quaint little bookstore sold new and used books, and when Tina walked in, she inhaled the smell of the written word.

            Walking straight to the Young Adult section, Tina found what she was looking for right away. Yes! Tina felt a thrill at the thought that after she paid for this book, she would be done with her Christmas shopping. As she walked toward the front of the store to check out, she was distracted by the sound of books falling behind her.

            Spinning around, Tina looked at the rows of shelves, but nothing seemed to be out of place. But wait—there at the very end of the row, a book lay on the floor. She had walked right by there before. Did she accidentally knock it down? She walked back over and saw that it was one of the used books. Picking it up, she was intrigued by the picture on the cover. A magnificent green dragon with its fearsome outstretched wings dominated the picture, with craggy mountains in the background.

            Tina had always liked dragons, even though she was supposedly too old for such things. She ran her hand over the cover and flipped through the yellowed pages. It appeared to be some kind of illustrated encyclopedia about mythical creatures. Each page was more beautiful than the last.

            Making up her mind, she shut the book and took it up to the checkout stand. She was going to buy this book as a reward for finishing the Christmas shopping. She deserved it, right? Besides, maybe she could just count this as an early Christmas present.

            Clutching her purchases, Tina nearly raced back to her car. She wanted another look at that book. When she pulled it out of the bag, however, she was horrified to find that the dragon on the cover was no longer there. The mountain scene was beautiful, but it was dragon-less.

            Tina continued to stare at the book, wondering if she’d accidentally switched books inside the store somewhere. Should she go back inside and see if she could find the original book? Her hand was on the door handle when she heard a small cough from the passenger seat.

            “Ahem. Good afternoon.”

            Tina turned to stare at the glittering green dragon from her book, now sitting patiently on the passenger’s seat. “Whoa! Did you just say that?”

            The green dragon looked offended as he said, “Yes, I can talk. I’m here to teach you all about the so-called mythical creatures in the world. Didn’t you just buy my book?” He glared pointedly at the book still in Tina’s hands.

            Tina glanced down at the book, and then back at the miniature dragon. “Y-y-yes, but I didn’t realize that you would be narrating. I just thought it looked like a cool book about imaginary creatures.”

            “Excuse me, but none of the creatures in my book are imaginary.” He cleared his throat and said, “My name is Pablo. The fact that you even found my book shows that you have some magical talents and can make use of the information I can give you.”

            Tina looked from Pablo the dragon to the bookstore and back again. Was she dreaming? Was she okay to drive home? Realizing that Pablo was staring at her, she said, “I think this must be a dream.”

            Pablo’s eyes bored into Tina’s as he said, “You aren’t dreaming. With your gifts, you will lead your family to greatness, and I will help you do it.”

            When Pablo looked away from Tina, she blinked furiously, trying to find the words she wanted to say. When she looked back to the passenger seat, Pablo was gone and she was once again alone in her car. Glancing at the book still in her lap, she was startled to discover that Pablo was there on the cover again. Shaking her head furiously, Tina set it on the passenger seat and drove home, trying to convince herself that what had just happened was some kind of daydream.

            By the time she reached home, she had completely convinced herself that nothing had happened. As she went to put the books away, however, Pablo stared at her from the cover of her book. It was impossible for Tina to pull her gaze away from him, and then he blinked and beat his wings.

            Oh, well. Tina sighed as she put the book on her bookshelf. She did love dragons. She decided she would just roll with it. After all, who wouldn’t want to become the hero in a story with the coolest creatures ever?

Digging

 

            Ashley admired her nails as she walked home. At Kristin’s house, they had spent the last hour giving each other manicures. They had gotten out all of Kristin’s 31 different colors of nail polish and made beautiful designs on their nails. The one that Ashley was particularly proud of was a pink and yellow flower on her index finger.

            Completely wrapped up in her nails, she didn’t notice the sound at first. She was near the playground when the sound finally penetrated into her hearing. It was almost like tinkling bells that were playing some kind of song. Looking around her, she was surprised to see that the playground was deserted. This was a popular park and there was nearly always someone playing there.

            The minute Ashley began to pay attention to the bells, they grew louder. Intrigued, she went to find where they were coming from. She started heading across the field, and the music drew her to the sandbox. Yes, the music was definitely coming from underneath the sand. Had someone buried something here?

            Not wanting to dirty her nails, Ashley gingerly poked her foot around the sand. The music was getting louder and seemed to be right underneath her feet. She started digging with her heels, but it wasn’t very effective. She admired her nails one more time before grabbing a small shovel that someone had thoughtfully left there.

            Slowly at first, she dug into the soft sand. As the music continued to taunt her, she moved more quickly, wondering what in the world someone had buried this deeply. What could possibly be making so much noise?

            After digging for at least twenty minutes, the small shovel finally hit something solid. With relief, Ashley dug around it and brought it out of the hole with her. She was surprised that she had dug so far down into the sand. She remembered when she and Kristin had tried to dig to China here. They hadn’t gotten very far before they ran into a bed of clay that was almost impossible to dig into.

            Now, Ashley had a hard time climbing out of a hole that was almost as tall as she was. Finally, she emerged and brought her prize over to a bench. It was a wooden box, about the same size as a box of cereal.

            Setting it on her lap, she carefully lifted the lid and saw—a book. The music had finally stopped, and she couldn’t tell where it had been coming from. The book looked very old, and once she took it out of the box, there was nothing else there. The thick covers were made of purple velvet, and it was quite heavy. There were no other markings.

            Making herself comfortable, Ashley opened the book on her lap. The first page read: “Congratulations to you, Ashley! You have been chosen to join this year’s ranks of junior witches and you are invited to attend Dragon Eye Academy. You have passed the first test: finding this book. To continue your magical journey, come join the Dragon Eye Open House to discuss what’s next for you and your family. We look forward to seeing all of you this evening at 7:30 PM. Your new witch mentor will escort you and your family to the meeting and will be waiting outside your front door.”

            Looking down at her watch, Ashley discovered that it was nearly 6 PM already. It would be time for dinner soon, and she couldn’t be late. Tucking the book under her arm, she raced home as fast as she could. The two blocks passed by in a blur as she completely forgot about her newly painted nails. She had much more important things to worry about now.

Minecraft

 

        Nolan woke up his computer and opened Minecraft. He had an idea to add a water park next to his castle. He’d been thinking about it all day at school since his friend, Jack, had added one to his world.

        Nolan loved Minecraft and had spent countless hours in creative mode, building his castle and surrounding village. After playing for an hour, his mom called down the stairs, telling him he had to come and set the table for dinner. “Ok, Mom!” he called back. “Just a minute!” He made sure to save his game, and then he exited to the home screen. He was about to close the game when he noticed something strange.

        There were his two save files—one for creative mode and one for survival mode. But underneath that, there was a third file. “What? Who made this one?” Just as he was about to click on it, his cat, Onyx, jumped up onto his keyboard. “Aw, man! Move out of the way, Onyx!”

        “Nolan, I need you upstairs, now!” Mom called. She was starting to use her mom voice.

        Sighing, Nolan closed Minecraft and went upstairs.

        Onyx sat next to the keyboard and watched Nolan run up the stairs. Suddenly, he was joined by Slate, his brother. “Whew! Good thinking, Onyx!” Slate said as he licked his paw. “Another minute, and he would have found our game.”

        Onyx rolled his eyes and sighed. “He’s going to figure it out sometime. I just put off the inevitable.” He started washing his face. “We’re going to have to save our game somewhere else.”

        “How?” Slate tilted his head to the side.

        “We’ll figure it out later tonight, when we play.”

        Arching his back, Slate said, “Let’s play for a few minutes right now. The humans will be eating dinner for at least an hour.” He went to move the mouse. “Come on, you be on the keys, and I’ll be on the mouse.”

        Onyx stepped in front of Slate. “Not now, you idiot! We have to wait until after midnight.” He sat right next to Slate, nearly pushing him over.

        “All right, all right. But did you see what the kid added in his game? All that water?”

        Onyx shuddered. “I’ll build whatever you want, except for anything to do with water.” He shuddered again.

        “Hey, you know what we should make?” Slate’s tail moved back and forth in excitement.

        “What?”

        “An enormous scratching post attached to a couch!”

        “Another one? But we’ve already made five of them.” Onyx’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

        “Aw, come on. You can never have enough scratching posts.”

        “Okay, but this time—” Onyx’s ears stood straight up. Someone was coming down the stairs.

        Nolan came and grabbed his backpack. He had forgotten to put it away earlier. When he walked by the computer desk, he saw Onyx and Slate watching him. “Hey guys, get off the desk!” He shooed them off before going back upstairs, carrying his backpack. He chuckled as he went to finish getting ready for dinner. He thought about how funny it would be if the cats accidentally turned on the computer or something. If there happened to be a Word document open, the cats would ruin it by sitting on the keyboard. He laughed again. Cats were so dumb.

Drawing

 

            Kurt stared at his backpack for several minutes before picking it up and walking over to his desk. With such a huge mountain of homework, he should probably get started. He’d do his art assignment first—that would be the easiest.

            The assignment was to draw a place that you would like to visit. Kurt immediately got to work creating a place where time didn’t exist. If he could visit that place, he could spend as much time as he wanted there doing only the things he loved to do. When he was ready to leave, he could return at exactly the same time he’d left.

            What he really wanted to do right now was to go outside for a hike, so he drew a beautiful mountain scene in the background, and a trailhead in the foreground. He was a fairly good artist, and the pencil strokes came naturally. When he was finished with the scenery, he added a signpost that said: Time Doesn’t Exist Here.

            Surveying his work, he was satisfied with the result. Now, if only he could actually go there. As he started to put it away, he noticed something odd. He had drawn everything in pencil, but the trees were filled in with color. As he stared at the picture, the rest of it was being colored in.

            Kurt leaned closer to the page as he tried to figure out what was going on. Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled forward, out of his chair. He landed with a thud on a dirt path. What had just happened?

            In a panic, Kurt looked wildly around. To his right stood the signpost he had just finished drawing. Did I fall asleep? It was the only thought that made sense. If this was a dream, he might as well take advantage of it. He set off up the trail.

            This is the best dream I’ve ever had. The mountain air helped to calm him as he felt his worries about homework slip away. When he reached a magnificent waterfall at the end of the trail, he tilted his head back and enjoyed the sunshine. Now he felt ready to do anything. He closed his eyes and breathed in the sweet, earthy scents of the forest.

            When he opened his eyes, he was sitting at his desk, staring at the black and white picture that he’d drawn of the trailhead. He felt rejuvenated and refreshed. “Best nap ever,” he whispered.

            Glancing at the clock, he was startled to discover that half an hour had passed since he’d gotten home. He felt like he’d been hiking for hours. I hope that happens to me again, Kurt thought as he started on the rest of his homework. That place was amazing.

Sleepwalking Misadventure

 

            Sleep clung to Brock as someone started shaking him awake. Without opening his eyes, he said, “Go away.” He turned over and reached down to pull the covers back over himself, but they weren’t there. Annoyed, he sat up and opened his eyes and found himself lying in a grassy meadow, the sunlight glinting off the morning dew. “What the…?”

            A scraggly horse was standing next to him. It lowered its head and nudged Brock again. Thoroughly bewildered, Brock looked around. The only thing he saw was grass. “Hello!” he shouted. Listening for an answer, none came. He started walking in a random direction, and the horse followed him. How had he gotten here? Where was his house? Feverishly, he tried to remember anything that would explain his current situation. He remembered going to bed, worrying about a science test the next day. The school year had just started, and ninth grade was turning out to be much more difficult than eighth grade.

            Despite finding himself in an unknown meadow, Brock smiled and said, “At least I won’t have to worry about the test now.”

            Behind him, the horse knickered. Brock stopped to study it more closely. It was black and looked like it hadn’t had a good meal for a while. There were no reins or saddle, but its eyes were deep and intelligent. Slowly, Brock reached out his hand to pet it. To his surprise, the horse walked right up to his hand and allowed him to rub his velvety nose.

            Brock felt a strange sensation travel up from his hand into his body. Suddenly, the horse no longer looked half-starved. It stood up taller, and Brock could feel the power in his strong legs. His fur was no longer dirty, but gleamed in the sunlight. Brock also felt a change in himself. Confidence filled him, and he now knew what he needed to do. He had never ridden a horse before, but he hoisted himself onto the horse’s back and said, “Take me where I need to go.”

            The horse immediately started running with Brock totally at ease. He began to see a destination in his mind and knew that the horse was taking him there. Sighing in relief, he realized that it wasn’t too far from his house, on the outskirts of town.

            As the miles vanished under them, he wondered how he would explain his disappearance to his parents. Would they be worried? He knew that he sometimes walked in his sleep, but he had never gone outside before. Surely this couldn’t have been a sleepwalking misadventure. Soon, trees appeared on the horizon – just a few at first, but then they grew thicker around them.

            In no time at all, they had pushed through to the edge of the forest and Brock looked at the familiar landscape ahead of him. Expertly dismounting, he gave the horse a grateful pat. “Thanks, boy. I don’t know what happened, but I’m glad you were there to save me.”

            The horse nodded his head and then spoke. “You’re welcome, Brock, but I’m the one who needs to thank you. You have released me from my lonely life of wandering. It was me who brought you out there in the first place.”

            Brock’s mouth dropped open in shock. “You know my name? How did I get out there? How come you can talk?”

            The horse gave a low whinny, almost like a laugh. “My name is Daniel, and I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Only someone with your talents has the power to bind me to them.” He whinnied again when he saw Brock’s look of confusion. “You’ll learn all about yourself in due time. I have a lot to teach you. For now, just know that you and I are now connected. I will find you wherever you are, and you will be able to find me.” With that, Daniel turned and galloped away.

            Brock started walking home, trying to make sense of what had happened. The first thing he noticed was that he could indeed feel in which direction Daniel lay, and knew that he would be able to call him if he wanted.

            When he reached home, he walked inside, wondering what he was going to say to his parents. The house was quiet, so he headed up to his room, and was surprised to see that his clock read 4:08 AM. How did that happen?

            Rushing over to peek through the curtains, Brock saw that it was very dark. Hadn’t the sun just been shining? Had he just woken up from some crazy dream?

            No. Brock could still feel Daniel and knew that it hadn’t been a dream. Was it magic? Wearily, he crawled into his bed and got comfortable. The last thought he had before he fell asleep was, “I guess I’ll have to take that science test after all.”

French Bread

 

            Wind blew through Preston’s hair as he feverishly pedaled his bike to the corner grocery store. Why did he have to go, right now? He was so close to leveling up on his video game. Soon, he would get the legendary sword and be pretty much invincible. But, of course, Mom had to send him to go get a loaf of French bread for dinner.

            It only took Preston a few minutes to ride to the bike stand outside the store. He threw the lock on haphazardly, his mind still on what he needed to do next in his game. He ran up to the sliding door and was startled to see someone standing off to the side. His mouth dropped open when he realized it was Talus, his avatar from the game. He looked just like he had come out of Preston’s TV. He even had the blue shield strapped to his back and the double sword blades Preston preferred.

            A woman bumped into Preston from behind with a hurried, “Whoops, sorry!” Preston glanced at her as she stepped through the door. When he looked back to where Talus had been standing, there was no longer anyone there. He spun around, but couldn’t see Talus anywhere.

            Shaking his head, Preston decided he had been seeing things. He stepped up to the sliding doors, and they opened with a whoosh! He stepped over the threshold before realizing that he must be in the wrong place. Instead of looking at shelves stocked with food, he was standing at the edge of a jungle. He blinked, trying to make sense of what was happening.

            Before he could do anything, Talus was standing next to him. “Ready for a real adventure?” The smile on Talus’s face was full of malice.

            “I-I-I’m supposed to pick up some French bread for my mom,” Preston stuttered.

            Placing a hand on Preston’s shoulder, Talus said, “Don’t worry about your mom. Aren’t you tired of facing danger from the safety of your couch? Find out what it’s really like to be fighting monsters, face-to-face.”

            Preston felt all the blood leave his face. “Um, no thank you. I’ve got to get back.” He turned and ran back through the sliding doors, which were miraculously still there. He didn’t stop running until he had grabbed his bike and was pedaling hard. He rode three blocks to another small grocery store, focusing only on the French bread.

            He finally made it back home, where he tiredly set the bread on the kitchen counter.

            “Thank you, son,” Mom said with a smile. “I know it was hard to take a break from your game, but now you can go play it again.”

            Preston left the kitchen without a word, but he didn’t return to his game. He decided he’d had enough of it for a while.