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?