THE LITTLE RED DRAGON continued...
Theo then goes
to the escalator that goes down. But he is too scared to get on it without
holding onto the handrail and he already has both hands full.
*
Meanwhile down in
the toy department on the first floor Marie tugs at Matthews arm. “Where’s
Theo?” she asks. Everyone then realises that Theo is not with them. Maybe he is
in the next aisle? Or the next aisle? Or the next aisle? No, they can’t find
Theo anywhere on the first floor. Maybe he is still on the third floor? And
they rush up the escalators to the third floor but they can’t find Theo there
either!
“Stop for a
moment,” says Matthew. “He is in the store somewhere and we need to leave soon
to catch our train. I have an idea.”
The store
loudspeaker crackles. Then a lady’s voice says: “Would Theodore Acidophilus
Junior please come to the information desk by the main doors. Your friends are
waiting for you there. I repeat, would Theodore Acidophilus Junior please come
to the information desk by the Main doors. Your friends are waiting for you there.”
Theo heard. But
how was he to get there? He hurt all over from his fall. Sniff. Both his arms
hurt from holding up his tail. Another sniff. His head hurt from holding back
his tears. How can he ask anyone for help when he is invisible? I’m invisible…Yes!!
I’m invisible! It was Theo’s turn to have a good idea. He quickly went over and
stood next to a group of customers waiting at a counter to be served. The
salesman was very busy.
Theo called out
in his very best grown-up voice. “Excuse me sir, would you tell me how to get
to the main doors without using the escalator?”
The salesman
hardly turned around to see who had spoken. “The open doorway over to the left will
lead you to the stairway down Sir.”
The lady at the
information desk was not sure what went on. First there were six very upset
children, asking her to use her microphone to call their friend Theodore
Acidophilus Junior. But barely five minutes later, they were laughing and
jigging around and rushing out the doors. They didn’t wait for their friend
after all.
Jack stopped
them for a moment when they were out on the street and clipped back up Theo’s
tail. “Now we are late, we are going to have to run for the train.” And down
the street they ran and caught the train just in time.
Next morning, before
roll call and before the story, the class loudly sang Happy Birthday Miss Grey.
And Miss Grey looked very surprised and very pleased.
“Fancy you
remembering it is my birthday today.” She opened her big card with all their
names in it. And said it was lovely and what lovely messages they had all
written in it. Then she undid the red ribbon on her present. She took off the
silver paper. She opened the box, and took out the shiny red cellphone. “Oh,
it’s beautiful, and such a lovely red. It is just what I wanted. Thank you all
so very much!”
“Miss, miss, it
has a camera in it too,” called out Theo. And everyone laughed.
Then Miss Grey
said why should they all have to wait until lunchtime to eat birthday cake and she
cut the very big chocolate birthday cake into lots of big pieces. Theo was so
excited he sang Happy Birthday all the way through in his deep grumble voice,
and the class joined in at the end to add Hip Hip Hooray, and Miss Grey took a
photograph of them all singing with her new shiny red cellphone.
Somewhere
between eating birthday cake, singing happy birthday and the roll call, Miss
Grey and the rest of the class heard all about the adventure in the city. Theo
showed off all his blue sticking plasters that Marie had put on for him.
Miss Grey looked
concerned. “It could be dangerous for Theo if ever gets lost again.
Would anyone
mind if I gave him my old cellphone so he is always able to contact someone?” And
when everyone replied they thought that was a good idea, “And Matthew, would
you teach him how to use it?”
And that is how
Theo had an adventure in the city, ate chocolate birthday cake and was given
his own cellphone.
The Weekend of the Stay-over
Matthew had a
very important question on his mind. He finished eating his dinner and before
being asked, gets up and clears the table and washes the dishes. Afterwards he takes
his parents a cup of tea each and a plate of ginger biscuits. It is time to
ask: “Mum, Dad, can Jack come to stay for the weekend? And before you answer,
Dad, you don’t have to pick him up. We have talked it over and he can come home
with me on the train after school on Friday and go back with me on Monday
morning.”
His Dad looks
at his Mum. “It’s ok by me.”
We’ve met
Jack,” says Mum, “he seems a sensible boy. I shall phone and organise it with
his mother.”
What Matthew
did not add was that he also had invited Theo to stay. In a couple of weeks the
school was going on a beach picnic and Theo was worried that he could not swim.
“We have a swimming pool at home, Jack and I can teach you,” he had said.
Miss Grey had
to remind Matthew and Jack on Friday to pay attention and stop whispering in
class. She noticed that Theo was also very restless. “Matthew, Jack, Theo. I
would like you to stay behind at playtime. I want to talk with you.” It was
then that Miss Grey heard about the coming weekend and what they were worried
about.
“We don’t know
if Theo can stay all that time with us. Normally, he tells us that after we
leave for home he just goes ‘pop’ and arrives back at his house, just in time
for his dinner.”
“Mnn,” answers
Miss Grey. “Theo, you could leave the school grounds and go on the Nature Walk
and also go to the city and you were with your friends until late that day. I
think maybe it is as the class says: it is your friends wanting you to be with
them that keeps you here. But Matthew, do make sure his cellphone stays
charged.” She continued, “you can tell the class all about your weekend on
Monday morning.”
*
Matthew’s
mother was busy in the kitchen when they arrived. So she just briefly put her
head around the kitchen door. “Hello Jack nice to see you here. Put your bag in
Matthew’s bedroom. I have made up a bed on the floor for you. You boys can
change out of your school clothes and have a swim in the pool before dinner
time. Arion is already in the pool. It is BBQ for dinner tonight.”
Arion is
Matthew’s older brother. Matthew had tried to tell him about Theo but Arion had
laughed and said he was too old to believe in dragons anymore. Matthew grinned,
his brother was going to get a big surprise today. And Arion did get a
surprise.
He saw Matthew,
and then Jack, jump into the pool. “Come on, jump Theo!” they yelled. Arion saw
two float rings rise up in the air and then before they hit the water there was
a huge, huge splash. Then he heard ho ho ho and ha ha ha in a deep grumble
voice.
Arion thought
the boys were teasing him because he was at the age where his own voice was
changing. He could have a high voice, then a low voice even in the same
sentence. But Matthew was saying, “Arion I would like you to meet my red dragon
friend, Theodore Acidophilus Junior. Theo I would like you to meet my brother, Arion.”
Arion was so
surprised he forgot he did not believe in dragons - at first he saw a big bright
red dragon tongue with a purple stripe down it, then a smile, that quickly becomes
a red dragon, right in front of him in the water.
“Gosh, a live
dragon! Hello Theo.” Then Arion asks,” Does Mum know he is here?”
“No,” says
Matthew with a giggle. “We checked up close. Twice.”
Time for Theo’s
swimming lessons. Theo said he only had streams and ponds where he lived, but
none big enough to swim in. Soon he was floating so well he could take off the
float rings. By the end of Saturday he could swim from one side of the swimming
pool to the other.
“This is fun.”
calls out Theo, “Watch how long I can hold my breath and sit on the bottom!”
But he sat on the bottom so long that Arion got nervous and dragged him up to
the top.
“Did I stay down
longer than any of you can?” asks Theo, taking big gasping breaths.
“Much, much
longer. But please don’t stay down that long again. Your face has gone all blue
and your eyes are bulging!” worries Arion.
Just at that
moment there was a call. “Boys, boys. Nearly time for dinner. Get out of the
pool now and get the table and chairs out of the shed and put them over there under
the trees. The weather is so lovely we’ll eat outside tonight. Why just look at
that ocean of water you boys are leaving on the floor! You better wipe it up.”
That was the
only time that Matthew’s mother come even close to discovering they had an
extra visitor that weekend. Though, she was left with a couple of small
mysteries. The boys seemed to eat much more than she expected, the cupboards
were nearly empty. And then there were the conflicting stories about the guinea
pigs.
to be continued...
Copyright: Lois E Hunter
lois.e.hunter2@gmail.com
