Dragon Eggs

 

            Ben couldn’t believe it. “What did you say?” he asked his best friend, Chance, incredulously.

            “Our dragon laid eggs, and my Dad said that we’ll be selling them as soon as they hatch,” Chance answered. “I wish we could keep at least one, but Dad says that having Freida is dragon enough”

            Ben’s mind raced as he took this in. He had always been slightly envious of Chance and his dragon, Freida. Dragons were the coolest pets, and nearly everyone had one. That is, except Ben and his family. “How much is your Dad selling the hatchlings for?” he asked curiously.

            “$500,” came the response.

            “$500!” Ben said in dismay. “When will the eggs hatch?”

            “About six weeks,” Chance said, looking at Ben curiously. “Do you want one?”

            “Heck yes!” Ben answered excitedly. “I’ve got a little money saved up, but I’ll talk to my Dad, and see if we can buy one.”

            Ben thought of nothing else as he sat through the rest of the school day. Chance kept telling him all about the eggs and how they were all different colors. Pet dragons made very faithful pets, and Ben wanted nothing more than to get one for his very own.

            When the bell finally rang, Ben ran home in record time to find that his house was empty. Both of his parents were still at work, and his older sister, Jessie, was babysitting over at one of the neighbor’s houses. Ben ran upstairs to his room and pulled out the jar that held all of his savings. Dumping it out on the bed, he counted it. “$120,” he breathed slowly. His weekly allowance was $10, so in six weeks, he would have a grand total of $180, not nearly enough for a dragon. He would have to ask his parents if they would help him pay for it.

            Ben flopped backwards onto his bed. The chances of him getting more than $300 from Dad were slim, but he had to try. Slowly, he got up and went downstairs to wait for his family to get home. He should have done his homework, but Ben couldn’t focus on his seventh grade math, and ended up watching a game show instead.

            Five o’clock came, and Ben got up with an idea. His parents and sister would be home soon, and if Ben was going to ask for money, he should probably do something to show that he deserved it. He started to make dinner. All Ben had to do was warm up yesterday’s leftovers, so it wasn’t hard. He set the table, and started to do the dishes that had been sitting in the sink since breakfast.

            Jessie came home first and looked at Ben quizzically. “What are you doing?” she asked. Ben never helped get dinner ready. That was usually her job.

“I just wanted to help out today,” Ben said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Sure,” Jessie answered, obviously not believing him.

By the time his parents got home, dinner was ready and on the table. Everyone sat down gratefully to eat.

Mom and Dad talked about their days at work. Mom worked at a greenhouse, and Dad worked at a shipping company. Finally, they asked Ben about his day.

Before Ben thought, he blurted, “Chance’s dragon has laid eggs, and I want to get one!” Ben quickly looked down. He’d wanted to bring this up a little more casually, but he slowly looked back up at Dad and said, “Each egg costs $500, and in six weeks, I’ll have $180.” He took a deep breath and asked, “Could I have the rest, so I could buy the dragon, please?”

Both Mom and Dad stared at him for a moment, and then Jessie said with a laugh, “Oh, that’s why you got dinner ready, and cleaned up the kitchen!”

“You did this, Ben?” Mom said, surprised.

Ben tried to act like it wasn’t a big deal as he said, “I thought I could help out a little.”

Dad took a deep breath and said, “$300 is a lot of money, son. I don’t think we can afford that right now.” He put a hand on Ben’s shoulder as he said, “Maybe we’ll get one next year. There’s bound to be someone else with dragon eggs, and that would give you more time to earn some money.”

Ben felt smaller as he said slowly, “Yeah, okay Dad.”

After dinner, Ben went up to his room and thought about the dragon eggs. Dad was right, of course, but Ben wanted one now. It would take him most of the year to earn enough money. Unless, Ben thought suddenly, I could earn money mowing lawns. Every once in a while, their neighbors would ask Ben to mow their lawn, and they would pay him $10. All he had to do was mow a bunch of lawns to get more money.

The more he thought about it, the more confident he became that this would work. He would have to mow 32 lawns to get enough money, but that shouldn’t be too hard over six weeks. Excited again, he ran downstairs to ask Dad about it.

“That’s a great idea, son,” he said with a smile. “Of course, you’ll have to pay for gas for the mower, but that shouldn’t be a problem.”

Right, gas, he thought, surprised he hadn’t thought about that. Oh well, I’ll just have to mow more lawns.

The next day, he went to ask his neighbors about hiring him to mow their lawns. A few of them agreed, so on Saturday, he headed out to work.

Six weeks later, Ben had mowed 28 lawns and now had $415, after paying Dad for gas for the lawn mower. “So close,” he said dejectedly, after counting out the money on his bed. Tomorrow, he would have to tell Chance that he didn’t have enough to buy a dragon. He felt miserable.

Face down on his pillow, there was a soft knock on his bedroom door. Ben muffled out, “Come in.” Slowly, Ben rolled over to see who it was.

Dad stood in the doorway with a smile. “How much have you saved?” he asked.

“Only $415,” Ben replied softly. “I’m going to tell Chance that I won’t be buying a dragon.”

Dad put his arm around Ben as they both sat on the bed. “You’ve worked hard these last few weeks,” Dad said slowly. “Even though you didn’t get what you wanted, I’m still really proud of you.”

Ben swallowed down tears. “If only I had a few more weeks, I think I would have had enough.”

Dad sighed and said, “Sometimes life is like that, son. We can’t always get what we want.” He paused and then grinned at Ben. “However, I can see that you know how to work to earn money now. What if you and I worked out a loan situation?”

Ben felt his hopes rising.

“How short are you?” Dad asked.

“$85,” Ben said, unbelieving.

Dad thought and nodded as he said, “Well, I think I can loan you that amount, but I want you to work just as hard as you have the last few weeks. Do you think you could pay me back in three weeks?”

Ben barely stopped himself from literally jumping for joy. “Yes!” he cried happily, hugging Dad.

A few days later, Chance called Ben to let him know that the eggs had hatched. Minutes later, Ben was at Chance’s house, looking down at the dragon hatchlings. “Wow,” he breathed. Pet dragons didn’t grow to be larger than two feet in height, but the hatchlings were so tiny.

Ben knelt down for a closer look to decide which one he wanted to keep. There were six baby dragons, all of different colors. It was like looking at a solid, wriggling rainbow. The dark green dragon stumbled over to Ben, and Ben put out his hand to pet him. The dragon leaned into Ben’s hand and closed his eyes as he made a strange, low, growling sound.

“This is the one,” Ben said happily.

“Good choice,” Chance said, smiling.

Ben never felt happier as he paid $500 for his new dragon.

“What’s his name going to be?” asked Chance curiously.

Ben thought for a minute and then said, “Mower.”

Chance looked confused and asked, “Why…?”

Ben smiled as he said, “Because of how many lawns I had to mow to get him.”

Ben walked home, so excited and full of plans for his new dragon friend, Mower.