Warren & Dragon Volcano Deluxe

by Ariel Bernstein

I try to duck my head.

  Mr. Harris asks us a bunch more questions. Then he takes some photos of me, Ellie, Michael, and Kaleb. Dragon sneaks into most of the photos.

  Soon after Mr. Harris leaves, it’s time for Michael and Kaleb to go, too. I thank Kaleb for helping me with the card tricks. He says I can keep the pack of cards he brought over and wishes me luck.

  I figure I should go practice what Kaleb taught me before I forget it, when Ellie stops me.

  “You’re really set on having a magic show at our bake sale?” she says with her arms crossed.

  “Yes,” I reply.

  “Fine. But you’d better have a good one ready. Especially if we get a big crowd from people seeing the newspaper article.”

  “It’s going to be a great magic show,” I declare.

  “Do you even know what magic tricks you’re going to do?” Ellie asks suspiciously.

  “Yes,” I answer. I do not say I’m not totally sure what magic tricks I’m going to do.

  “You’re not really going to just do some card tricks like I saw you practicing in your room with Kaleb, right?”

  “Wha . . . what?” I sputter. “I’m going to do something way more awesome than some card tricks.”

  Ellie looks relieved. “Good,” she says.

  Abandoning my plans to practice the card tricks, I try to find Dragon. I’m going to need his help. Unfortunately, I find him sleeping underneath the kitchen table. A full day of stealing chocolate chips and getting famous can really wear out a dragon.

  7

  Magic Trick

  All week I see everyone get ready for the bake sale. Ellie, my parents, Michael, and Michael’s family are busy working on it before and after school. Businesses around town let Ellie put her posters up in their windows. At school, Principal Fenly has Michael read an announcement about the charity event over the loudspeaker after the morning school news. My parents fill part of our hallway with supplies to bring on Saturday.

  So what am I doing to prepare? More specifically, what are Dragon and I doing to prepare?

  Well, we were going to practice our disappearing Dragon act. But when Dragon hid, he fell asleep and forgot to come back. Then I tried to pull Dragon out of a hat, but he got stuck and I had to cut the hat carefully to let him out. It wasn’t easy because Dragon kept squirming, worried I’d accidentally nick one of his wings, but he was fine.

  By Wednesday, I’m started to get a little worried. And by a little, I mean I’m starting to panic. If I don’t have a good magic show, I won’t make any extra money to buy me and Dragon the volcano building kit.

  Ellie doesn’t help my panic when she finds the town newspaper in our mailbox. We walk home from school with our dad and she rushes ahead to check the mail.

  “It’s here!” she shouts, holding up the paper.

  “Let’s take a look,” Dad says happily as he opens our front door.

  Dragon bounces down the stairs to join us. “What’d you bring me?” he asks me. Dragon always expects me to bring him something on my way home from school.

  “I can’t wait to find the article about us in the paper,” Ellie says, and marches into the kitchen with our dad right behind her.

  “Oh, you brought the paper!” Dragon clasps his claws together. “Can we get copies to hand out to everyone who doesn’t know me? Because I feel like having my photo in the paper will help people understand how important I am.”

  “I don’t have any money to buy more papers,” I tell Dragon. “That’s the whole point of the magic show, remember?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Dragon says. He looks disappointed.

  “Come on,” I say. “Let’s go see if they wrote about us.”

  Dragon follows me into the kitchen. Ellie has opened up the paper on the kitchen table. The front page has something to do with the upcoming mayoral elections. The next page is filled with scores from the high school sports teams.

  “Where’s the bake sale info?” Ellie huffs as she flips the pages.

  “I can’t believe we aren’t front page news,” Dragon says.

  Ellie turns another page and lets out a squeal. “Here we are!” She points to a photo Mr. Harris took of Ellie, Michael, me, and Kaleb. Ellie, Michael, and Kaleb are all smiling in the photo. Dragon is also there in the photo, smiling as he positions himself in between Kaleb and Michael. I’m not smiling in the photo, because I’m looking at Dragon with a worried expression on my face.

  “You don’t look so happy in the photo, Warren,” Dragon points out. “Didn’t you hear when Mr. Harris told us to smile? I look very happy because I remembered to smile. See how shiny my pearly whites are?”

  I slap my hand against my forehead.

  “Why is your dragon in the photo?” Ellie asks me, but then shrugs. I can see she’s starting to read the article below the photo.

  The article discusses how we came up with the idea for the bake sale and gives details about the Saturday event, suggesting that people stop by to help us raise money. At the end of the article, it mentions there will also be a magic show.

  “This is a great article on your event, kids,” Dad says. “You should be proud of yourselves.”

  “Thanks, Dad,” Ellie says, beaming.

  Dad turns to me. “Warren, how’s everything going with your magic show? Are you all prepared?”

  “Well, I just need to make a few adjustments,” I tell Dad. “And practice.” I nudge Dragon toward the kitchen door. “I should probably do that now, actually.”

  “Okay. Just make sure you get your homework done first,” Dad calls out to me after we leave the room.

  “We have to figure out something for the magic show,” I tell Dragon as we walk up the stairs to my bedroom.

  “I can’t work on an empty stomach!” Dragon moans, and flops down on my bed.

  “Why don’t you just get a snack from the kitchen?” I suggest.

  Dragon frowns. “I ate them already.”

  I sigh. “What about all the cookies in the freezer? Take a couple out and after a little while they’ll defrost. Just don’t take too many since they’re for the bake sale.”

  Dragon looks up at the ceiling and starts to twiddle his claws. That’s never a good sign.

  “What did you do?” I ask.

  “Oh, nothing,” Dragon replies. “I, um, don’t want to take any cookies away from the bake sale. That wouldn’t be right.”

  “You didn’t eat them all already, did you?” I ask. I’m starting to get nervous.

  “No, no,” Dragon insists. “The cookies are definitely still in the freezer.”

  I’m still suspicious but I can’t figure out what Dragon did.

  “Don’t worry,” Dragon says suddenly, hopping off the bed. “You do your homework, and I’ll find something to eat.”

  I shrug and start my math sheet. All of a sudden, my pillow comes flying over, landing on my head.

  “Hey!” I say, pushing the pillow onto the floor.

  “Found a cookie on your bed!” Dragon announces, holding one up.

  “Great!” I mutter, returning to my homework. A moment later, I feel a bump on my chair. I look down to see one of my sneakers lying next to the chair leg.

  “Found two marshmallows in your closet!” Dragon says, and stuffs them into his mouth.

  I watch as Dragon moves through my room, throwing items about and finding snacks. I don’t want to clean everything up, but I have to admit it looks pretty funny.

  And then I realize, I actually have an idea for the magic show. A great idea.

  8

  Cotton Cookies

  Saturday finally arrives, and everyone besides me and Dragon is freaking out. We’re supposed to drive over to the school to get ready for the bake sale in just a few minutes.

  “Where are the signs to put in front of the bake sale tables?
” Ellie yells as she runs past me and Dragon in the downstairs hallway.

  “In the den where you put glitter all over them!” Mom shouts back.

  “Are you ready, Warren?” Dad asks me as he carries trays to the car. “I’ve already packed your sign for the magic show in the trunk. Do you need to bring anything else out to the car?”

  “Nope,” I say. “I’m all prepared.” I pat my back pocket where I’ve kept Kaleb’s pack of cards. I’m not planning to use them, but I feel I should bring them anyway like a good-luck charm.

  Dad raises an eyebrow as he looks at me, obviously surprised. “Okay,” he says. “Help me bring more supplies out, okay?” I grab a bag full of napkins and we load everything into the trunk.

  Ellie comes out with her signs and some clipboards. “Where’s your stuff for the magic show?” she asks me.

  “I don’t need to bring anything,” I tell her.

  “What about a hat and rabbit?” Ellie says, looking anxious. “A saw? A wand?”

  I shake my head. “A true magician doesn’t need any props.” Dragon coughs loudly. “Well, other than Dragon,” I say. Dragon smiles.

  “I think we’ve got everything!” Mom exclaims as she shoves a few clipboards into the already packed trunk.

  We get into the car and head toward the school parking lot. Usually we just walk to school since it’s only a couple of blocks from our house, but we’re bringing so much stuff for the bake sale today that we need the car.

  When we arrive, Principal Fenly, Michael and his family, and a few people who agreed to volunteer are already there. I see Alison walking over with her parents. They’re carrying a few large plastic containers that I bet contain cupcakes.

  Ellie quickly gets out of our car with a clipboard and starts talking with people about where to set up. Soon more people show up and bring more treats with them to sell.

  With everyone else working to set up the bake sale, Dragon and I are left alone to put up the magic show sign. I bring over a small table to stand on before Dragon and I each take a side of the sign and tape it to the side of the building.

  I know that it will be a few minutes before actual customers are supposed to arrive, so I wander over to the bake sale tables. I spot the s’mores cookies that Ellie made with our parents, the brownies that Michael’s family brought, and Alison’s cupcakes. There are also doughnuts, sprinkle cookies, fudge bars, and chocolate covered pretzels.

  Principal Fenly tells Ellie and Michael they’ve done a great job setting up. Ellie beams and Michael gives a small smile.

  I hear my stomach grumble and wish I had eaten more than three bowls of cereal at breakfast.

  I’m about to sneak a cookie when I hear Ellie squeal. “It’s starting!” she shouts, and proudly smiles at a family lined up to be the first customers.

  I retract my hand from the cookie platter and check the magic show area. No one’s walking over there yet. My stomach is grumbling even louder now, and I figure I have a couple of minutes to get a treat before starting the show.

  I wait to see that Ellie’s busy with a new customer before reaching over for a brownie.

  “Warren, those are one dollar each,” Michael’s mom Nia tells me.

  “Even for performers?” I ask.

  Nia smiles at me. “All right, just this once,” she says, and goes to pick up a brownie. “Huh. That’s odd.”

  “What’s odd?” I ask.

  Nia points to the brownies, counting them. “I thought we brought more than this,” she says. “Well, we’ll sell what we have.” Nia still looks confused as she hands me a brownie on a napkin.

  I thank her and start to eat the brownie when I hear someone shout, “YUCK!” I accidentally drop the brownie on the ground and groan. The kid that yelled is now spitting a cookie into his napkin. “That’s gross,” he proclaims, and points to the cookies on the table.

  “What’s wrong?” Ellie asks, her face scrunched up in confusion.

  “There’s something weird in those s’mores cookies,” he says. “I want my money back.”

  My dad picks up a s’mores cookie and starts to break it apart. “What in the world . . .” he says, squinting at the cookie pieces. “These aren’t marshmallows. These are pieces of cotton balls!”

  “Disgusting!” Ellie moans. “How did that happen?”

  Everyone looks around, trying to figure out how mini marshmallows got replaced by pieces of cotton balls.

  I have a feeling I know exactly how this happened. I look around the blacktop for Dragon. He’s usually pretty easy to spot, but there are a lot of people and I don’t see him right away.

  “Warren,” my mom calls out, and waves me over. “Maybe you should start the magic show while we figure this out.”

  I nod my head, but I can feel myself start to panic. I can’t do the magic show without Dragon. I quickly look around the bake sale area but can’t see Dragon under the tables or anywhere else.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” Ellie’s voice says over a bullhorn. “We’re going to take a short break from the bake sale to figure out this, uh, situation. In the meantime, please enjoy my brother Warren’s magic show!”

  I gulp as I watch the customers slowly make their way over.

  9

  Real Magic

  Luckily, when I look back at the magic show area, Dragon is already there under the sign.

  I rush over to him. “We’re going to talk about the cotton ball thing you did to the cookies later,” I tell him. “But right now, we have to put on the magic show.”

  Dragon covers his mouth with his hand and yawns. “It’s not my fault they didn’t buy enough mini marshmallows,” he says with a shrug. “It took a lot of time to switch the cotton balls for the marshmallows. I work hard for my sustenance.”

  Dragon crosses his arms, and that’s when I notice his mouth. “Seriously?” I say.

  “What now?” Dragon asks.

  I smack my hand onto my forehead. “You had to steal brownies too?”

  Dragon licks his lips where there are brownie globs stuck on. “I knew there was some left over.” He smiles and wipes his mouth clean with his tongue. Dragon pats his belly and gives another yawn.

  “Stop yawning. It’s time for the show,” I tell him before turning around to face the crowd that’s assembled. “Welcome to the best ever magic show!” Then I bow. I’m not sure why I bow, but I feel like it’s something a magician would do. Dragon takes his cue from me and also bows.

  “What kind of magic show is this?” says Nicky, a boy from my class. I recognize Nicky and a few other faces of kids from school, but some of the people I don’t know.

  “I told you, it’s the best magic show ever,” I say. “It only costs one dollar to be completely amazed! Behold the wonders of my magical mind. I can see things no one can see. I can hear things no one can hear. I can . . . do magical stuff. Take an object, any object, and hold it in your hand.”

  Everyone watching reaches into their pocket or bags to pull out something. I see Nicky take out a small green bouncing ball.

  “Now, I am going to turn around. When I do, hide your object somewhere. On the count of three, I will turn back around and know exactly where you’ve hidden it.”

  I hear Nicky snort in disbelief as I turn around. A lot of other people there don’t look too convinced that I know what I’m doing. I smile as I begin to count. “One . . . two . . . three.”

  I turn around to see that everyone has put their object somewhere. I nod at Dragon. We walk from person to person. Dragon points to where they hid their object, and I call out the hiding place.

  “Under your shoe!” I tell a man who has put a business card under his shoe. He reaches down to get it and looks surprised. Some people nearby gasp.

  “That’s right!” the man says, impressed.

  Dragon then points to Nicky’s baseba
ll cap before letting out another yawn. “Under your cap!” I tell Nicky. His eyes open wide as he takes off his cap to reveal the green ball.

  “How’d you do that?” he asks.

  I roll my eyes. “Magic,” I say like it’s obvious.

  Alison is the last person I get to. Based on Dragon’s motions to her pocket, I point to it, and Alison pulls out a barrette. She looks as stunned as everyone else.

  They all start to clap and I bow again. I smile at Dragon. We make a good team sometimes.

  “For the next magic trick, please hold out one dollar, which I will make disappear.” I collect all the dollar bills and put them into my back pocket.

  Everything is going according to plan. I just had the easiest, most successful magic show ever.

  I look over to give Dragon a thumbs-up sign, but he’s no longer standing next to me. In fact, he’s no longer standing at all. Dragon is at my feet, curled up like he’s about to fall asleep. I lean down and nudge his shoulder.

  “Dragon, wake up,” I whisper.

  “Mmmm . . . food coma . . .” he moans. I can tell he’s fallen fast asleep when he starts to snore.

  “Is that the whole show?” Nicky asks. I stand up and count the money. It’s only twenty-one dollars. Not nearly enough for the volcano building kit, let alone enough to give money to the charity too.

  I check my back pocket and pull out the pack of cards Kaleb’s gave me. I might as well try it. “I’ve got a few tricks left,” I tell Nicky before walking to the small table I had stepped on earlier to hang the sign.

  After taking a deep breath, I wave the cards in the air and try to mimic Kaleb’s dramatic tone. “Ready for some real magic?” I ask the crowd. They shout back, “Ready!”

  I spread the cards on the table and ask for a volunteer. Alison raises her hand right away and I point at her. She comes forward to the table and everyone else gathers around.

  I feel my palms get a little sweaty, wishing I had practiced the card tricks more during the week. “Okay,” I say. “Pick a card. Any card.”