Stranded Safari

 

            Adrian couldn’t believe it. She knew she shouldn’t have come on this safari. She knew she shouldn’t have taken that ticket to Africa. Nothing good ever happened to her, but winning tickets to a special safari had sounded lucky at the time, even if she’d never entered any contest. She should have stayed home in Utah, watching over her flower shop. Instead, now she was stuck in the middle of the desert with a group of strangers in a broken-down Jeep. Their guide had left more than four hours ago to get help. Adrian didn’t think it would take him that long to walk to the village and back, and it was starting to get dark. The blistering heat of the day was slowly disappearing, replaced by a chilly breeze.

            Tired of waiting, one man in her group started organizing everyone to walk back to the village on their own. Adrian wasn’t sure about this. They hadn’t exactly followed any roads out here. All she could see was sand and brush in every direction. She wasn’t even sure which direction the village lay. She wanted to wait a little longer for their guide to come back, but she was outvoted. Not wanting to be left behind by herself, she walked along with the group in the direction they thought their guide had gone.

            Night fell quicker than she thought possible, and the landscape turned quiet and dark around them. She tried not to think of the scorpions and snakes that came out at night, but the small night sounds fueled her imagination, and she walked with her heart in her throat, ready to bolt at the first sign of actual danger. The night and the landscape both felt endless. There was no sign of the village or any kind of human civilization.

            Finally, after at least three hours of trudging through the dust and darkness, their leader said that they should stop and rest and wait for morning to come. “We can’t stay here!” a woman shrieked as she moved closer to her husband. “I’m not going to lay down and wait to be bitten by a venomous snake!”

            Adrian agreed with her, but no one else felt like walking any further. Realizing that there was safety in numbers, she reluctantly lay down to try to rest.

            When she woke up, it was still dark, but she panicked when she realized she was alone. Where was everyone? Had they decided to continue without her? How could they just leave? Her eyes darted around for any sign of the others as she frantically thought about what she should do next. A red glow appeared over the horizon and rushed straight to her.

            Adrian’s breath stopped in her throat as a massive flying red dragon landed directly in front of her. Before she could do anything, the dragon lifted her with its great talons and she was flying high above the desert. She screamed, but it was ripped away by the rushing wind. With her arms held tightly in the dragon’s claws, she could do nothing except kick her legs.

            The dragon took no notice of her squirming and continued on through the night. Lights appeared below her and she was surprised to see that it was the village that they had been trying so desperately to return to.

            The dragon deposited her in the village square, and she immediately ran to warn everyone about the monster that had brought her here. Though she shouted and knocked on every door she saw, no one answered. All the while, the dragon watched her closely, but otherwise left her alone.

            Adrian found the building that housed the tour company of her safari, but unsurprisingly, there was no one there. A flicker of flame from the road caught her attention and she went to see what it was.

            A discarded torch burned brightly in the middle of the dirt road. Grateful for a source of light, she ran over to pick it up, but by the time she reached it, it had disappeared. The dragon flapped its wings and continued to watch her. The torch reappeared, but it was further down the road. As Adrian drew closer, it disappeared again. Glancing back at the dragon, she was startled to discover that it had moved closer to her. The torch appeared further away down the road, and as she walked over to it, the dragon followed behind.

            Feeling as if she was stuck in a trap, she continued to follow the torch that disappeared as soon as she reached it and reappeared further down the road. The dragon followed her, getting closer each time. She didn’t know how far down the road she’d gone, but she was nearly running by the time she finally reached the makeshift camp of the other people from their tour group.

            They were all still sleeping soundly when Adrian appeared in their midst and started shouting at them to wake up because there was a dragon coming. Surprised shouts rang out as they jumped up and gathered around her. “What?!” “What’s going on?”

            When Adrian pointed back towards the dragon, it was gone, and the sun was just rising. All that was left were the footprints that she’d made on her way here. She looked wildly around for any sign of the dragon, but it had completely vanished. Embarrassed now, she pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

            Luckily, her footprints led them straight back to the village which was bustling with activity, nothing like when she had been brought back here by the dragon.

            Later, Adrian could never be sure if what had happened had been real. She never told anyone how a dragon had carried her back to the village and then chased her to where the rest of her group was stranded. Maybe it was all a dream, and they were just lucky that they were able to get back to the village. But, maybe it wasn’t.

Haunted House

 

            Ned couldn’t believe their luck. The one time he didn’t have an umbrella with him and it had started to rain. Josh insisted that they keep going since they were already halfway to Toby’s house and should still get there before it got too dark.

            The rain dripped down Ned’s back and he shifted his pack uneasily. “How much farther?” It was raining harder, and he was getting wetter and wetter. Puddles sloshed and soaked his socks as he trudged through them.

            “It’s probably at least another three miles,” Josh answered slowly. “We’ve got to get out of the rain, though, and wait this storm out.”

            Ned had thought that hiking ten miles to visit their cousin Toby had sounded fun when his brother Josh suggested it yesterday, but now he wasn’t so sure. They could stay for a day or two and go fishing together. Mom was all too happy to let them go. Both boys had made the trek several times before and there wasn’t much else for them to do since school was out. Ned thought longingly now of his cozy bed at home. He shivered as the rain soaked him through and the temperature started to drop. Even though it was still early, the day was growing dark as more clouds rolled in. He kept his eyes open for some kind of shelter where they could try to get dry. There wasn’t much out in these open grassy fields, but he saw something that made him sag in relief. “Josh! Do you see that light over there?”

            Josh looked to where Ned was pointing and saw the light shining from a window of a great, hulking house at the edge of the field. “Yeah, but isn’t that the old Morgan house? I didn’t think anyone lived there.”

            “It looks like someone moved in.” Ned shook his head to clear the rain from his eyes. “Let’s see if they’ll let us stay for a while.”

            Josh grinned at his brother. “Aren’t you worried about ghosts? Everyone says that the house is haunted.”

            A shiver went up Ned’s spine that had nothing to do with the rain. “I know what they say, but I’d rather face ghosts than die from the cold.”

            They crossed the field that was quickly becoming muddy and arrived at the doorstep of the old house a few minutes later. The relief of having a little shelter from the rain fought against Ned’s desire to run away as fast as he could from here. He was already thinking that this was a bad idea when Josh knocked and rang the doorbell.

            Deep chimes rang inside and the hair on Ned’s arms stood straight up as they waited for the owner to come to the door. After a few minutes, though, no one came and then the wind started. Being already wet and cold, the wind set both boys’ teeth chattering.

            “That’s it,” Josh said as he shivered violently. “Let’s go in. I can’t take it anymore out here.” He turned the doorknob and gently pushed the door open. It swung wide with a loud “creak,” and Ned followed his brother inside.

            “Hello!” Josh called out. “We got stuck out in the storm and we’re looking for shelter for a little while. Is anyone home?”

            The only answering sound was a steady “drip, drip, drip” as a puddle formed on the floor around Ned and Josh. A light shone from down the hall, and the boys headed toward it with Josh calling out, “Hello?” They reached a cozy sitting room where a roaring fire burned in the fireplace and filled the room with warmth. Nearly stumbling over each other to stand near the flames, Ned sighed as he felt the warmth seep into his bones.

He was just about to remove his pack when a flapping sound came from behind them. Spinning around, he noticed the large black bird standing on a perch on the other side of the room. It gave out a single “Caw!” that rang in Ned’s ears.

            “Cool!” Josh walked over to get a better look. “They have a pet crow.” He reached out to pet it, but the bird snapped at his hand and Josh jumped away. He eyed the bird with disgust. “They didn’t do a very good job of training this bird.”

            A second “Caw!” sounded out, and the boys turned to see another perch with three more black birds glaring at them. The light from the fire danced off their glossy feathers as they shuffled their wings. More caws sounded, and Ned was surprised to see that the room was now full of crows.

            “Where did they all come from?” For the first time, Ned heard the fear in Josh’s voice.

            “Let’s just get out of here!” Ned turned to go back the way they had come. Only… it wasn’t there anymore. He could no longer see any of the room around them as the crows flapped their wings and caws rang out. Ned’s voice came out a whisper as he said, “We’re trapped.”

            Josh stepped closer to his brother. “We’re just going to have to run through them to get out of here.”

            “Are you sure that’s a good idea? They keep multiplying!” The room swirled as black feathers occupied every space. Hundreds of crows stared at the two boys with what Ned was sure was malice.

            “No, but let’s go!” Josh covered his head with his arms and dove straight into the black birds. Ned quickly followed, afraid of being left behind. He kept his eyes on Josh’s pack straight ahead of him as he felt the birds come at them.

            After what seemed an eternity of wading through feathers, talons, and beaks, the boys finally found their way back to the front door and they crashed through it as they ran back toward the trail.

            With the sound of feathers and caws behind them, Ned dared to look back, and he was surprised to see that the field was completely empty. There weren’t any birds following them, and there was no house. “Hey, Josh, come here!”

            Josh’s voice answered right next to him. “What happened?” He looked over at Ned with blood on his face and hands where the crows had scratched and pecked at him. Ned knew that he couldn’t look much better.

            Without another word, the boys dashed along the trail, heedless of the rain that continued to pelt them and remind them of what they had just endured. They ran all the way to Toby’s house where their cousin was shocked at their appearance. Gasping, they told him about their experience at the old Morgan house.

            Toby’s shock turned to confusion. “But that house was destroyed by a lightning strike that burned it to the ground. It’s gone now.”

            Ned and Josh looked at each other with fear in their eyes. They knew what they had seen and been through. It seemed like that haunted house would remain haunted, even if the house no longer physically existed.

Invisible

 

            Sweat trickled down Reina’s face as she waited for Mr. Price to announce who would be presenting next. When he said her name, she took a deep breath and tried to stop herself from shaking. She really, really hated standing in front of everyone. She somehow managed to make her way to the front of the classroom without dropping her notes or tripping over her feet.

            Standing now at the front of the class, Reina glanced up at all her classmates staring back at her. She felt her face turn red and launched straight into the speech that she’d practiced, trying to get through it as quickly as possible. She knew she wasn’t doing a great job, but she kept going. She fervently wished she were anywhere but here as she rattled off facts about the country of France, the subject of her presentation.

            As soon as she finished, she raced back to her seat with her head down. She was already so hot and embarrassed, but she pulled on her sweatshirt and put the hood up as she tried to hide. She pulled her hands inside her sleeves and hugged her chest, pretending no one could see her.

            The rest of the class was a blur for Reina. She was so focused on hiding from everyone that she didn’t hear another word that was spoken. When the bell finally rang, she jumped up in relief and headed to her next class. Gym wasn’t her favorite, but today it felt like a gift. She could easily blend in and keep her head down so no one would notice her. They were running the mile today, and she knew this was something she could do. You didn’t really need any special skills to run.

            A jolt of alarm rushed through her as she peeled off the hoodie that she’d been hiding inside. Blinking her eyes several times, she willed them to see something different than what she was currently seeing. She rubbed her hands together to make sure she could feel them, but they were just gone. She picked up the sweatshirt and felt it in her fingers, but her hands had disappeared as well as her arms.

            Nearly reaching full-panic mode, she put the sweatshirt back on and grabbed her backpack as she started running. She ran straight out of gym class and out of the school altogether. She didn’t stop until she got home, which was more than a mile away. Running faster than she’d ever run before, she tried not to think about her invisible arms and hands. When she reached her house a few minutes later, she barreled through the front door and slammed it shut behind her. Her parents were at work and her older brothers were still at school, but the feeling of being home and out of sight of everyone was somehow comforting.

            She quickly rummaged through her backpack and retrieved her cell phone. Taking another calming breath, she called Mom.

            Mom didn’t answer until the fourth ring, while Reina tried not to let her panic spiral out of control. When Mom finally answered, Reina wasn’t sure how to explain what had happened, but she choked out, “Mom! My hands disappeared!” Her voice came out much higher and scared than she’d planned.

            “What?” Mom sounded bewildered. “Where are you?”

            “I ran home because I didn’t know what to do. Help!” Reina was gasping in panic and trying to keep tears from spilling onto her face.

            Mom’s voice was calm as she said, “Stay right there. I’ll be home in ten minutes.”

            Mom hung up, and Reina waited for the longest ten minutes of her life. When Mom finally opened the front door, Reina ran to her and threw her arms around her.

            Mom’s face was full of concern as she gathered Reina into her arms and pulled her close. They both stood in silence as Reina felt her heart rate slowly calm down. She knew Mom could fix anything.

            “Let’s see your hands,” Mom said gently as she led Reina to the couch.

            Reina sat down heavily and slowly pulled off her sweatshirt. Her hands were still invisible, but she could actually see more of her arms now. Wordlessly, she showed them to Mom.

            Instead of looking shocked or panicked, Mom’s face was full of joy. She held Reina’s hands in hers and looked into her eyes. “You’ve discovered your power!” A huge grin appeared on Mom’s face, but Reina didn’t feel like smiling.

            “My what?”

            “It looks like you’ve awoken your magic.” Mom then launched into an explanation of the hidden magical members of their family. Only certain people had magic, and Reina was now one of them. Her brothers didn’t have any magic in their veins, but Mom had seen Reina’s potential and had apparently been waiting for something like this to happen.

            Reina sat there in shock as Mom then demonstrated her magical power. Snapping her fingers, a bolt of lightning flew between Mom’s hands, and she sent it bouncing around the room before she caught it and it disappeared. She told Reina that she was finally ready for her magical training.

            “But what about my hands?”

            Mom waved her hand, totally unconcerned. “Don’t worry. They’ll reappear eventually. You must have really wanted to disappear or something. Invisibility magic is really tough to master.”

            Mom and Reina talked for hours. Reina couldn’t fully relax until her hands had reappeared. When they finally did, she caught some of Mom’s excitement about learning more magic. A few hours ago, there’d been no such thing as magic, but now it was a glorious possibility. She thought back to her disastrous presentation at school. At least something good would come of it, even if it wasn’t a good grade.

The Yellow Bird

 

            Beth let out a sigh of relief as soon as she was outside in the cool night air. She’d successfully made it outside without waking anyone up. Pulling her cloak tighter around her, she headed straight into the forest. Tonight was the night that she was going to prove everyone wrong.

            As soon as she reached the shelter of the trees, she threw back her hood and shook out her long, golden hair. “Hector, any sign of it yet?”

            The striped cat seemed to materialize next to her. “Not yet, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find, right?”

            Beth thought about the upper class’ failed attempt to find and catch the rare yellow bird. It should have been easy for them to just use their advanced magic, but they had been unsuccessful and returned empty-handed. Beth might not be in the upper class, but she was sure that she had more magic than all of them put together. The familiar hum in her veins announced that Hector had found something.

            Delighted by her quick success, Beth quickly darted closer to Hector. The cat’s eyes were riveted on the fluttering bird that moved through the trees, twenty yards away. “Good work, Hector,” she whispered as she quietly set down her supplies. It should have been easy to use her magic to bring the bird to her, but she didn’t know how to do that yet. If she tried, she’d probably light the woods on fire or something.

            No, she was going to do this the old-fashioned way. Pulling out the box that she had made earlier that day, she set it on the ground and then poured a neon-green liquid into it. Trying not to breathe in the horrid stench of the liquid goo, she set the spring that would close the box on the bird as soon as it was inside.

            Once the trap was set, Beth stood up with satisfaction. She might not be great at using her magic yet, but she was a true wizard when it came to making potions and concoctions. Her best friend, Katie, loved to tell the rest of the class about how rad Beth was at potion-making.

            A smile appeared on Beth’s face as she thought about Katie. Only Katie ever used old words like “rad.” She couldn’t wait to go back and show her friend what she’d done. She might not quite be a true wizard yet, but maybe she could be wiz’rad.’

            All Beth had to do now was wait for the bird to come in and trigger the trap. The special goo inside was designed to lure the magical bird. It was an incredibly difficult potion to make, but if it was done right, the bird would smell it from miles away and come to investigate.

            Hector wound himself around Beth’s legs as she waited. Scooping him up into her arms, she felt the purrs radiating from his chest. If Katie was her best friend, then Hector was her family. The two were magical partners for life.

            A fluttering of wings announced the approach of the bird. It headed straight for the box and dove inside. The lid snapped shut with a little click. “Gotcha!” Beth carefully put the wiggling box back into her backpack as Hector watched.

            “Well, that was easy. Now take me back where it’s warm.” Hector stretched and arched his back before he sprang up onto Beth’s shoulders.

            Beth chuckled as she rubbed Hector’s ears. “Yes, your majesty.” They started back the way they’d come, moving silently through the darkness, except for the rattling of the box in Beth’s backpack. They had nearly reached home when a great rustling sounded behind them and Beth whipped around to see what it was. Her eyes widened with fear and she ran pell-mell down the path.

            A huge swarm of yellow birds caught up to Beth easily. Hector darted away with a yowl, and Beth tried to protect her head from the birds’ sharp beaks. She soon found herself sprawled on the ground while her backpack was torn away. All she could see were yellow feathers as more than a hundred of the birds quickly tore the backpack apart. An unpleasant smell filled the air and she knew the birds had found the vial of the potion that Beth had used to lure and trap the bird earlier. In a matter of seconds, the potion was gone and the crowd of birds went to work on the box. They easily opened it and finished off the potion inside before the whole flock disappeared back into the forest.

            With her mouth hanging open, Beth could only stare as she realized that her plan had failed. “Looks like your potion was stronger than you thought,” Hector said as he padded back over to Beth’s side.

            A stern voice rang out from the open door behind Beth. “Young lady!”

            A feeling of dread settled over Beth as she stood up to face her teacher. Ms. Markham glared furiously back at her. She knew she was in trouble now. She didn’t even have the bird to justify why she had been outside at night. With slumped shoulders, Beth picked up the ruined remains of the box and her backpack, and she and Hector followed Ms. Markham inside.

            As they walked through the open doorway, Hector said loud enough for only Beth to hear, “I guess you won’t be wiz’rad’ today.”

Dragon Birding

 

            Ted clutched his binoculars as he waited breathlessly for another hoot of an owl. He had to make sure that he had really heard it the first time. Yes! There it was! He hurried over a small stream as he drew closer to the sound and searched the trees above him.

            Finally! Hours of stumbling around in the dark had paid off! A large, snowy owl was perched on a branch high above the ground. Looking through the binoculars, he made certain that it was indeed a snowy owl before logging it in his bird book. Maybe he could even capture a picture of it before it flew away.

            He carefully took his camera out of his backpack and searched for the owl through the lens. As soon as he snapped the picture, the great bird took off through the forest. What a beautiful bird!

            Glancing at his watch, he was startled to discover that it was almost midnight. Ted was familiar with these woods, so he wasn’t worried about getting lost, but he hadn’t expected it to take him so long to find the owl. Quickly packing up his backpack, he started back through the forest.

            He had just reached the trail that would take him back to his car, when he spotted an orange glow that seemed to be coming from the treetops to his right. Curious, he brought up his binoculars to see what it was.

            What he saw nearly took his breath away and made him wonder if he was even more tired than he thought. Was that… a lizard of some kind? Fiddling with the knob on his binoculars, he brought the creature into focus. It was like a dragon the size of a bird. It was perched calmly on a branch, just like the owl had been.

            As Ted watched, the creature opened up its orange wings and flew off into the night. Its scales were glowing and looked like a beacon, calling back to Ted.

            Forgetting how late it was, Ted immediately started after it. If this was real, he had to get a picture of it. No one would believe him when he said he had seen a dragon in the forest. Heedless of branches tearing at his clothes, he ran as fast as he could, trying to catch up to the orange light.

            The forest grew closer around him, and the glow grew fainter. He willed his legs to move faster as he forced himself past dense bushes. He realized he would have to give up when the glow completely disappeared. Bitter disappointment threatened to overtake him until he spotted a clearing just ahead.

            With one final effort, he exploded out of the bushes that were holding him captive. Breathing deeply, he looked up and saw… a dragon. This wasn’t the small bird-sized dragon that he had seen through his binoculars. This dragon was at least ten feet tall and staring right at him.

            Ted nearly collapsed when the dragon spoke. “Why are you following me?” There was anger in his voice and in his eyes.

            Ted gulped. “I-I-I thought you were…something else.”

            “What exactly did you think I was?” Menace filled the clearing as the dragon waited for Ted’s answer.

            Ted could feel the blood leave his face. “A f-f-flying lizard of some kind?”

            A low growl sounded deep within the dragon’s chest and turned into a scornful chuckle. “You see a glowing dragon, and you think I’m a lizard?”

            “Well, you were smaller back there!” Ted felt panicked. Had he upset the dragon? How was he going to get out of here?

            The dragon continued to chuckle and laugh, and the feeling of menace disappeared, replaced by the dragon’s good mood. Ted looked back behind him, wondering if he could safely escape while the dragon continued to laugh. His legs felt like lead, however, and he stayed where he was, unable to move.

            Finally, the dragon’s laughter subsided. The look he gave Ted was still full of merriment as he said, “My name is Keef, and you know what I am now, right?” Ted nodded mutely, unable to say anything else. Keef continued, “Well, what’s your name then?”

            Finding his voice again, Ted said softly, “Ted.”

            “Ted, consider yourself lucky. No one else has been able to see me in over 500 years. It looks like you have the gift of dragon sight.”

            “What’s that?” Ted asked curiously.

            “It means you and I are destined to work together, because you’ve been born with magic. It appears that I am meant to be your teacher.”

            There was so much in this statement that Ted didn’t even know how to respond. He just stared at Keef in disbelief.

            Keef didn’t seem to be bothered by this. He spread his great wings as he prepared for flight. “When you are ready to accept your destiny, come and find me.”

            “How?”

Keef drew closer and touched a great claw to Ted’s chest. Ted couldn’t move because he was frozen with fear. Thinking that he was about to suffer death by dragon, he didn’t notice what was actually happening to him. A warmth spread through his chest that radiated outward to the rest of his body. When Keef stepped back, Ted was amazed at how alive he felt. His entire life now felt as though he’d been asleep through it all.

            Keef’s eyes glowed red as he said, “At the start of your magical journey, I give you an awakening of your talents. When you are ready to continue on this road, use these talents to summon me, and I will come.”

            With those final words, the great orange dragon lifted himself up into the sky with his powerful wings. He headed off to the east where Ted could see that it was nearly sunrise. Had he been here all night?

            Exhausted, Ted stumbled his way back through the woods to his car. It didn’t seem to take nearly as long as it should have. He barely remembered driving home, or throwing himself on his bed. He had a lot on his mind as he decided what on earth he was going to do. His last thought before he fell asleep was, “Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to learn magic from a dragon. I bet magic would help me find more birds.” With that thought, his mind was made up—he would go seek Keef again in the forest.

A Harrowing Ride

 

            Anna’s mind was on autopilot as she drove to the store. Mom wanted her to pick up a few things for dinner and Anna agreed. She had homework to do, but she needed a break and the store wasn’t far.

            It was as she came up to the stoplight that it happened. The grocery store was down the street to the right, but she couldn’t slow the car down to turn. Alarmed, she frantically pushed on the brake, but nothing happened. The steering wheel wasn’t responding either.

            Throwing herself onto the passenger seat, she grabbed her phone out of her purse. All of a sudden, the car swerved to the right, and she was pushed back into the driver’s seat. Looking around wildly, she realized that she had turned onto a different deserted street. Trying the steering wheel again, the car didn’t respond. Then, it turned left without slowing down. In shock, Anna realized that the car was driving itself.

            Finally reaching her phone, she couldn’t believe it when she saw that she didn’t have any service. How could this happen? She was on the best cell phone network, and she always had service. She tried to roll the windows down to shout for help, but they wouldn’t budge. As she racked her brain for anything else she could do, she realized that she had left the city and was now bumping along a dirt road. When had that happened?

            The road disappeared, and the car was swerving through a forest of trees. Anna held on for dear life, just praying that it would be over soon. She looked ahead, and her heart nearly stopped. The car was heading straight for a rock wall.

            Anna braced herself and shut her eyes, waiting for the crash. But it didn’t come. The car continued to hurtle along, and when she opened her eyes again, she was in some kind of tunnel. Had she gone through the rock wall? Glittering diamonds and gems winked at her as she sped past toward some unknown destination.

            It got brighter and brighter as the number of gems on either side of her increased. Something else changed, too. At last, she was slowing down as she left the confined tunnel and a huge cavern opened up in front of her. The car finally came to a stop at the edge of a vast, underground lake. While Anna sat, staring and terrified, the door opened on its own and she felt the seat tilt sideways as her seatbelt unbuckled.

            The next thing she knew, she was on the rocky ground outside the car. With her eyes as wide as saucers, she wasn’t sure if she should get up and run or not. The cavern was silent, but brightly lit by the priceless gems that glowed with some strange inner light. The lake water was still, but then it started to ripple.

            Small waves reached the shore where Anna sat as she watched something rise up out of the middle of the lake. Spires and turrets appeared first, bringing up a castle beneath them. It was immense, but it continued to get larger until it nearly filled the whole lake. Waterfalls rained down from roofs covered in moss and algae. A great gate stood facing the shore. There was the sound of wood scraping along stone, and the gate opened.

            Anna nearly cried with relief when she saw a figure walking toward her. She picked herself up and ran toward the boy with the smile she knew so well. “James!” She threw her arms around her best friend. “What happened? Where are we?”

            After returning Anna’s grateful hug, James pulled back and studied her with concern. “Are you all right? I know how terrifying the first trip here can be.”

            Anna launched into the story of her harrowing journey while James listened patiently. When she finished, she asked again, “What is this place?”

            James’s eyes twinkled with excitement as he said, “It’s a place of magic.”

            “What, you mean like Hogwarts, or something?” She looked curiously at James, waiting for a joke.

            James just shrugged. “If you want to think about it that way, sure. Only people with magic are brought here. Those who have true magic manifest it around the age of 16 or 17. They are then brought here to learn how to control it. For the next few years, you can expect to come here every day to hone your new skills.”

            Anna took this all in with wide eyes. “How long have you been coming here?”

            “Just a few months.”

            Anna was confused. “But, how? I see you at school every day. When do you have time?”

            His eyes continued to shine and sparkle. “You have all the time you need here to finish today’s lessons. When you go home, you’ll discover that no time at all has passed.”

            Anna’s brain felt like mush. “Are you serious?”

            James gave her his best smile as he put his arm around her. “Come on, I’ll show you around.” Together, they walked into the still dripping castle.

            That day marked the beginning of Anna’s education as a true magician.

Waterskiing

 

            Bree stared out at the water as she sat comfortably in the passenger seat of the boat. She loved the water, but this was a dangerous idea. She knew Mara wanted to do something to celebrate with their friends, but all Bree could think about was what she needed to keep secret.

            As Mara drove the boat out into the lake, Bree did her best to decline any offers from the other girls for her to water ski. “No, thanks,” was her standard answer every time one of them asked if she wanted a turn.

            “Oh, come on,” Tracy teased. “This is your bachelorette party—one last day out with just the girls.”

            Bree smiled. “I’ve never liked water skiing. It’s fun to just be out here on the boat with you guys.”

            Bree watched as her friends took turns water skiing. She longed to feel the water on her skin, but she couldn’t let that happen today. Mara was a great boat driver. She expertly turned the boat at the best moments for the skiers, but it caused a bumpy ride for anyone inside. Bree kept a firm grip on her seat as the boat attempted to spill her out into the water.

            At the end of each run, Bree would go help the skiers climb back into the boat. She was helping Tracy when it happened. One minute, Bree was pulling Tracy out of the water; the next, Tracy flashed a smirk, and Bree found herself pulled in.

            The first thing that Bree felt was relief. The water was where she truly belonged. The next feeling that came was panic. She couldn’t let her friends see her like this. While she was still submerged, she removed the scrunchie holding up her ponytail to allow her hair to float freely around her neck and face. She took a moment to make sure that her secret was covered before she allowed her head to bob back up.

            Seeing Tracy’s grinning face, she immediately sent a huge splash toward her friends. “I said I didn’t want to get in the water,” she teased playfully.

            “Oh, well, I guess you’re already wet.” Tracy’s eyes danced mischievously. “Are you ready to waterski now?”

            “No, thank you. I’m good. Hand me a towel, would you?” Bree’s wet hair draped around her neck as she pulled herself up to sit on the boat’s edge. Mara threw her a towel, and she wrapped it around herself like a hooded cloak. No one noticed the tell-tale sign that she might not be completely human. She vigorously rubbed her skin dry until the gills on her neck disappeared. Wow, that was a close one.

            Bree managed to stay out of the water for the rest of the day as she laughed and joked with her friends. The secret of who she truly was remained a secret—for now. No one knew that she was actually a creature of the water, living her life on the land.

Fire Day

 

            Denise pushed the branches away from her face as she ran through the woods. This was the long way home, but she’d had a horrible day and didn’t want to be around anyone else. Tears threatened to spill out as she tried not to think about what had happened at school.

            She barely held back a sob as she thought about Rico and her ruined art project. How could someone be so cruel? She’d spent hours on her self-portrait with pastels and colored pencils. It had only taken Rico two seconds to set it on fire.

            Denise shook her head, trying to clear it of the awful scene. Mr. Fredericks hadn’t believed her when she told him what happened. Now she had to start all over, and she would only receive half credit for turning it in late.

            A groan escaped from her lips. Rico was beyond horrible. Why did he have a lighter at school in the first place? A whiff of smoke caught Denise’s attention, and she nearly stumbled over an exposed tree root. Quickly recovering, she saw a small fire directly on the path ahead of her.

            Her mouth dry, she could hardly think what to do. She grabbed her water bottle before she realized it was empty. Why was fire ruining her life today?

            Before she could do anything else, the fire suddenly burned itself out and she cautiously approached the circular blackened area. Right in the middle of the destruction, where the fire must have burned the hottest, was a tiny baby bird. It flapped its bare wings weakly and let out a tiny, exhausted squawk.

            Denise fell to her knees as tears finally spilled from her eyes. This was too much. How could this bird have survived? Where was its mother? She looked above her, expecting to see the nest that the poor thing had fallen out of, but the only thing she saw was clear blue sky.

            Fumbling through her coat pockets, she finally found her mittens and put them on. Slowly, she leaned forward and gently picked up the bird. The least she could do was get it away from where the fire had been. The poor bird was weak and barely moving. More of her tears fell and landed on the bird’s bare skin with a hiss as steam rose up.

            How could she leave this bird here now? What was she going to do? She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to think. Nothing came to her and she sighed as she opened her eyes and looked at the helpless baby bird in her hand.

            She was startled to see that there were now tiny red and orange feathers covering its little body. Hadn’t it been completely bare before? But wait! As she watched, the bird lifted up its head and looked right at her with one golden eye. It didn’t look to be as weak as she had imagined, and there was intelligence in that eye.

            While she continued to stare at the bird, it started to grow. She swore it had only been the size of a golf ball before, but now it filled her hands. The red and orange feathers stretched and lengthened, and her hands were getting really warm.

            Denise didn’t know what to do. What was happening to this bird? Suddenly, the now handsome bird spread its wings and flew high up into the air. With her mouth gaping, she watched it until a brilliant flash of light forced her to look away. Momentarily blinded, she blinked furiously as she searched for where the bird had gone.

            There it was! It seemed to be coming back down, but was this the same bird? Its wings were enormous and the beautiful red and orange plumage made it almost look like it was on fire. Her eyes widened as it came in and landed directly on her shoulder.

            Hardly daring to breathe, she received another shock when it actually spoke to her. “Thank you for your kind concern,” it said as it unmistakably bowed its head.

            After she nearly jumped out of her skin, Denise managed to stammer, “Y-y-you’re welcome.”

            The bird tilted its head as it studied her. “What is your name?”

            “Denise,” she said weakly.

            “It is nice to meet you.” The bird nodded its head to her. “My name is Fiercefire. Because of your generosity, I was able to reach my adult form quickly.”

            Denise had no idea what to say. What had she done, exactly?

            Fiercefire answered her unspoken question. “Your tears were full of genuine compassion. Because of that, I name you a phoenix friend. If you ever need my help, you have but to ask.” Without another word, the great bird flew away and disappeared into the trees.

            Denise stood staring at the spot where he had disappeared. Was he really a phoenix? Were phoenixes real? She didn’t know how long she stood there, trying to figure out what had happened. It wasn’t until a stiff breeze blew past her that she realized she should probably get home to get started on her art project. It was going to take a while.

            Walking home was a blur as thoughts raced through her head. She trudged upstairs to her bedroom and tossed her backpack against the wall. Pulling out a fresh sheet of drawing paper, she sat down at her desk. To her surprise, there was already another sheet of paper in front of her.

            Denise blinked her eyes and shook her head, wondering if she was imagining it. The sheet of paper in front of her was her finished self-portrait. This was the one that had been burned by Rico. But now, miraculously, it was not. It looked just as it had this morning.

            Leaning back into her chair, she wondered how this could possibly be real. Had today been a dream? Pulling out her phone, she saw it was definitely the afternoon of her project due date. Her project would still be late, but she couldn’t help but wonder. Did this have anything to do with Fiercefire?

            As soon as she had that thought, she felt a weight on her shoulder and a whisper filled her ears, bringing with it a warm heat. “Thanks again, Denise.”

Sleeping Dragon Forest

 

            Meg sighed contentedly as she stepped into the cool stream. What a perfect day! The sun shone brightly, but the coolness of the tree cover was perfect. She sat down on a rock that was jutting out of the water as the stream continued to flow over her feet. She had already hiked two miles, but she had one more mile to go before she reached the cave.

            She smiled as she thought about all the stories she’d heard. Sleeping Dragon Forest was supposed to be haunted, but that didn’t stop her from enjoying the beautiful day. All those stories about a dragon living in the forest were utterly ridiculous. She might be new to the area, but how gullible did these people think she was?

            Feeling refreshed, Meg put her hiking shoes back on and continued on her way. She had no idea that a pair of eyes watched her from the water. When she got back on the trail, she was unaware that something was now following her every move.

            Dripping stream water, the thing rose and padded softly behind Meg. It stayed far enough behind that Meg had no idea that anything was stalking her. Razor-sharp teeth glinted in the sun and long spikes gleamed wickedly from the tail that swished back and forth. Giant feet with six-inch talons held the massive, serpentine body off the ground.

            As Meg neared the cave, the thing behind her crept closer. It waited until Meg stepped inside the cave before it boomed out, “Halt! Do not go any further!”

            Whirling around, Meg finally saw the creature that had been following her. With wide eyes, the only thing she could think of was that her new neighbors had been right. The forest was haunted by a dragon! She backed away until she felt rock behind her.

            The dragon slowly walked forward until its face was only a foot away from Meg’s. Its watery scales shimmered as it blew out a warm puff of smoke that soon surrounded Meg. “This place is forbidden!”

            With the dragon so close to her, its shout reverberated in her head as she closed her eyes and covered her ears. “I’m sorry!” she cried as she tried to make herself as small as possible.

            The dragon glared at Meg before backing away to the side of the trail. “Leave now and never return!”

            Meg felt the fiery gaze on her as she sidled carefully back the way she came, keeping an eye on the dragon’s scales. After nearly tripping on a rock, she finally turned around and started speeding back down to her car. She looked back only once when she heard a giant whoosh, and she saw that the dragon was now gliding above her, following her progress as she nearly tripped and fell down the mountain.

            When her car finally came in sight, she looked up to see that the dragon was nowhere to be found. Not wanting to wait around, she put the car into drive and sped toward the highway as fast as she could.

            She tried to calm her racing heart as she thought about the dragon that wasn’t just a made-up story. She had no desire to go back into the Sleeping Dragon Forest. Once was more than enough for a lifetime.

Star Dragon

 

            “There’s a dragon outside!” Abe ran into the house and threw his arms around his older brother, Tristan.

            “What?” Tristan hugged his brother’s small six-year-old body to him. “What are you talking about?”

            Looking up with frightened eyes, Abe explained. “I was going to bring in some more firewood, but there’s a long white dragon in the sky with six tails!”

            Tristan cocked his head curiously. Abe had a great imagination, but he didn’t usually scare easily. “Can you show me?”

            Abe hesitated before nodding his head. Both boys walked out the front door, and Tristan noticed it seemed too light outside. Had they left out a lantern? They walked towards the end of the house near the woodpile, and suddenly Tristan stopped looking for a forgotten lantern. Mouth gaping, he stared up at the night sky with its millions of stars. There was indeed a dragon up there! A giant ball of light illuminated the night with six streaks of light fanning out behind it. “What?” Tristan barely breathed.

            Abe was holding on to Tristan, saying, “I told you it was a dragon! Do you think it will come get us?”

            After staring for a few minutes, Tristan finally said, “Go get Pa and Grandpa.” Running footsteps sounded behind him as Abe ran to the barn where the men had been working. Soon they were all gazing up at the impossible thing.

            Grandpa was the first to speak. “I always told you boys there were dragons, didn’t I? This one is even bigger than the one I saw when I was a boy.”

            Tristan shook his head, disbelief on his face. “But that was so long ago. I never really believed you before.” He felt Abe’s hand grasp his own. He squeezed it when he felt it shaking.

            “Well, it was nearly fifty years ago,” Grandpa continued. “I was smaller than young Abe here.” He gestured towards Abe.

            “What did it do?” Abe asked in little more than a whisper.

            Grandpa put his hand reassuringly on Abe’s head. “The great dragon watched over us for a month before it finally left.”

            “Did it ever attack anyone?” Pa’s voice had a hint of worry in it.

            “No, it just stayed and looked down on us. Some said that it had come to make sure we were living righteously.” Grandpa smiled at the memory. “Once the dragon appeared, everyone showed up to church. No one wanted to anger the sky dragon, but it didn’t take long for people to forget about church after the dragon left.”

            “Is that why it’s here now?” Tristan asked. “To get everyone to go to church?” He looked at Grandpa skeptically.

            “Well, it definitely couldn’t hurt. You wouldn’t want to anger the dragon, would you? This one is much bigger than the one I saw as a boy. That one only had one tail.”

            Fear prickled down Tristan’s neck. The thought of the huge dragon crashing down on their farm made him want to do anything to prevent that from happening—even if he had to go to church.

            The four of them stared at the night sky for at least an hour. They finally decided they could go to bed since the dragon didn’t seem to be getting any closer.

            It was three months before the dragon finally left. Although they had grown accustomed to being under its watchful eye, everyone was relieved to know that they had passed whatever test the dragon had set for them.

            Tristan never saw another dragon. He never knew that there was another word for it—a comet. He told his children and grandchildren all about the great white dragon that breathed out fire as it flew through the sky. As he got older, fewer and fewer people believed his stories. He insisted that dragons were real and powerful creatures, even when everyone around him tried to convince him otherwise. He was confident in the truth.

Forest Door

 

            Mary’s chest ached as the moving van pulled away. There went any chance of going back home. Now they were officially stuck in this new house. Tears threatened to fall and her throat constricted when she thought about her old house. Why did they have to move? Why did Dad have to get a new job? What was wrong with the old one?

            The house they had moved to was nice enough. It was built almost 100 years ago, but the inside had all been modernized. Their new backyard bordered a wooded area, which Mary was actually almost excited about. That was the one redeeming quality about this place.

            Staring at it now, she decided to go do a little exploring. She was supposed to help unpack and organize her new room, but that could wait. She darted off toward the trees before anyone could stop her.

            Their new house was already outside of town and the countryside around it was pretty quiet, but it became silent when Mary stepped into the tree cover. The breeze didn’t penetrate the interior, and the sounds of her family coming from the house were gone.

            Feeling slightly intimidated by the absence of sound, Mary carefully made her way forward. The air smelled a little musty as she trod on last year’s leaves. The sound of crinkling leaves seemed deafening in here.

            A path appeared through the gloom and Mary breathed a sigh of relief. Here was proof that civilization wasn’t totally absent. She walked along the path until she reached a small stream. The clear water flowed silently by. The path continued over a small log bridge. The sight of the water brought calmness to Mary, even though the woods continued to grow darker around her. The stress of moving and leaving everyone she knew seemed to melt off of her. She knew she should be getting back, but something kept pulling her forward. As she did, the silence lessened. She heard birds chirping off to her right, and the snap of a twig made her turn around to see a fox darting away.

            The further Mary walked, the happier she became. Beams of light filtered down through the trees to land on patches of wildflowers. After being so dark, the area grew vibrant with different colors of flowers. The birds that she glimpsed were brightly colored also.

            The path ended suddenly at a great big oak tree. It was absolutely enormous and looked ancient. Knots grew all along the trunk to surround what looked like a door. Curious, Mary reached out to touch it, and the wood beneath her fingers changed to become a door. A silver doorknob appeared, and she was just about to open it when a loud snap sounded behind her.

            Whirling around, Mary was startled to see a wolf sitting and staring at her. Her mouth suddenly dry, she took a few involuntary steps backward away from the wolf. How could there be wolves in this forest? They weren’t that far out of town, were they? Her imagination ran wild with stories of big bad wolves eating girls traveling alone through the forest.

            This wolf, however, didn’t move. It just sat calmly, watching Mary as she continued to move back along the path. The wolf wasn’t surprised when the girl finally turned around and ran as fast as she could back to wherever she had come from.

            The wolf sat there waiting until a bright blue bird landed on a branch near him and said, “The girl has gone all the way back to the stream, Maximus.”

            The wolf finally moved and nodded his head at the bird. “Thank you, Lancet.”

            “How did she get here in the first place?” The bird, Lancet, cocked his head curiously.

            Maximus took a deep breath. “She is different from the others. Did you feel it?”

            “Do you think she’s the one then?”

            “Hmmm. Maybe. If she had opened the door, she would have been.”

            Lancet ruffled his feathers. “Do you think she’ll come back?”

            Maximus didn’t answer right away, thinking. He stood up and walked to the place where the girl had stood a few minutes before. “If she is the one, she’ll definitely be back. Have the others keep a lookout for her and inform me the minute she crosses our stream again.” He darted off into the trees, leaving Lancet to fly off and spread the word to the other birds.

            The door on the tree was left cracked open, a bright light shining behind it, waiting for the one who would be brave enough to enter and face what was waiting within.