“Why would you want to do that, dear?”
“I want to share this fantastic gift you gave me with my new best friend.”
“Oh, Egg, what a wonderful thought. Well, there is no rule that says you can’t. But remember, an hour after you land, she’ll have completely forgotten what happened.”
“I know she’ll forget that I was Flying Girl, but won’t she remember the flying part?”
“Probably. But it will seem like a dream to her.”
“Would that be bad?”
“No dear, it wouldn’t.”
*****
School finally started and Egg entered third grade. Her teacher this year was Mrs. Sparks who spent the first day describing her summer vacation biking all over France. She made it sound so interesting, and the pictures she took were so lovely, that Egg decided she would fly there the very first chance she got. Maybe she would take Sylvia with her.
The rest of the day zipped by, as did the rest of the week. And before she knew it, September was gone. She had managed to fly only once in all that time. Homework and soccer kept her very busy and there simply was no opportunity to slip away.
But she wasn’t too worried. Besides, everything else in her life was going so well. Her teammates on the soccer team were amazed at the new Egg. She didn’t try to hog the ball or do all the scoring herself. She would pass it to the other girls and cheer wildly when they scored. And if the team lost, she’d give everyone a pep talk about how well they played and explain that some days the other team might be a little better or luckier. Besides, she would tell them, “Next week we’ll win.”
Then in the middle of October, she found time to fly. She decided to cruise up and down the streets in her town looking for cats in need of rescuing. But today there were none.
After about twenty minutes, she decided to head for home. Sometimes it was tough to do good deeds. As she flew over one particular house, she happened to notice a mom walking with a stroller and two young kids. She hovered overhead just to watch since she had nothing more important to do.
As the mom bent over the stroller, one of the kids dropped a ball he was carrying and it rolled between two cars and out into the street. The boy ran after it before his mother even noticed he was gone.
To her horror, Egg saw that a car was speeding down the road and would never be able to stop in time before hitting the little boy. Without hesitation, she dove down and snatched up the child just seconds before the car reached him.
It was the shrill screeching of brakes that finally got the mom’s attention. She whirled around and noticed one of her sons was missing. Looking to the street, she saw the car bearing down on the boy . . . and then something fly down and pull him to safety. She nearly fainted.
Egg delivered the boy to his mom who pulled him close to her body. Then she looked at him to make sure he was alright. Her face was as white as a ghost and she was crying.
“He’s okay, I think,” said Egg trying to reassure the very upset woman.
“Thank you . . . but . . . but . . . were you flying?”
“Oh yes, it’s such a nice day to be up and about. Well, I have to go,” and Egg leaped into the air, threw them a kiss and disappeared.
The mom and her two little boys stared at the flying girl as she flew away.
“Mommy, was that a bird?”
“No, Mommy, tell him that was superman.”
The mom didn’t answer either of her children. She didn’t know what or who it was.
*****
Sylvia had accepted Egg’s invitation. It was going to be a slumber party for just the two of them. And now it was Saturday morning, December 2nd, her birthday and she was standing at the window in her room looking at the street. Her friend was due any minute.
And she was nervous. It wasn’t because she hadn’t seen the other girl since camp. They had been emailing and talking almost every day after Egg received her letter. No, she was nervous because she was going to show Sylvia the flying suit. Grammy had said she could do it this one time, but she had to be wearing it when she had the conversation. Then in an hour, the other girl would no longer remember anything and Egg’s secret would be safe.
She saw the red car pull up in front of the house and Sylvia jumped out holding a small overnight bag. Egg raced downstairs and outside – in too much of a rush to put her coat on. “SYLVIA,” she yelled.
The girl giggled and ran up the walkway to greet her friend. They hugged and laughed. “Thank you for coming to my party.”
“Oh, silly, you know I wouldn’t have missed this for anything.”
“You two come inside,” cried Egg’s mom. “It’s freezing and my goofy daughter didn’t put her coat on.” The girls held hands and skipped into the house.
While Egg’s mom talked to Mrs. Hampton, the two best friends went up to Egg’s bedroom.
Egg proudly showed her friend all of her earthly possessions including the picture of the two of them from camp framed and hanging on the wall.
“Oh, Egg, I’m so glad we’ve become good friends. I just knew it the first time we met that we’re very much alike.”
“Me, too. And I can’t believe I was so mean to you. What was I thinking?”
“I don’t want to talk about that. It’s completely forgotten.”
So the girls did what they were supposed to do . . . talked about school, and sports, and clothes, and music, and movie stars. And they giggled and laughed at everything.
Just before noon, there was a knock on Egg’s door. “Come in.”
“Happy birthday, my darling.”
“Grammy, meet my best friend. Sylvia this is Grammy . . . she has the same name as me. Grammy, this is Sylvia.”
“Very pleased to meet you, Sylvia. Egg’s told me so much about you.”
“Thank you. So is your name Egg, too?” She said it with a big smile.
“Oh my no. There is only one Egg in this family. Well, I’ll let you two get back to your important conversation. I’ll see you downstairs in a little while.”
*****
They had cake and opened presents and sang happy birthday. They went to see a movie and ate pizza for dinner. Finally, it was time to turn in and the girls said their good nights and ran back to Egg’s room.
“Sylvia, I have something to show you.”
“Okay.”
Egg went into the bathroom and came out wearing her flying suit.
“Wow, what is that?”
“It’s a flying suit. Let me tell you a story. It’s going to sound fantastically unbelievable. But I swear on our friendship that it’s true. Promise not to laugh?”
“I promise . . . cross my heart and hope to die.”
So Egg told her the same story that her grandmother told her.
“Have you actually done it . . . you know fly?”
“Yes. Sylvia it’s so much fun you can’t believe it.”
“Isn’t it scary?”
“No. But the strange part is that it feels even better when I get to do a good deed.”
“Like what?”
“Well, I saved a cat in a hat that was stuck on a roof, and a little boy who ran in front of a car. Here, let me show you something.” She went over to the desk and pulled out the newspaper clipping that her Grammy had seen. Sylvia read it.
“Oh, gosh. It really is true.”
“Would you like to fly with me?”
“Where?”
“France.”
“Let’s do something closer . . . this first time. How about Washington?”
“Walk over to the balcony with me. Now take my hand…don’t be afraid.” And they lifted off into the night sky. Egg started slowly for her friend’s sake. But once Sylvia felt comfortable, they flew faster and faster. In hardly any time at all, they were over the nation’s capitol.
They circled and soared and observed everything that they could.
There was the Lincoln Memorial . . .
. . . and the Washington Monument…
<
br /> . . . and, of course, the White House…
It was all so beautiful. Then Egg turned them around and they flew back home in silence. They landed on the balcony and walked back inside.
“Oh, Egg, thank you, thank you, thank you. That was more than amazing.”
Egg didn’t respond at first. She was sad because this would all seem like a dream to her friend by morning. “Anytime you want to fly to France, just ask.”
*****
Remember that old saying, “Time flies when you’re having fun?” For Egg, it was, “Flying is fun when you have the time.”
As the weeks slipped away and Christmas came and went, Flying Girl made sure she spent a part of almost every day flying. She had only seven years until the magic wore off. And she wasn’t going to waste any of it. Besides, there were so many good deeds that needed to be done.
Little did she know that one day, one of her good deeds would take her to another world filled with dragons and sea serpents and little green girls. But before that could happen, she had to discover the magic of the necklace, the bracelet and the ring.
Book 2
Ham and Egg
Book 2 of
Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood
© Copyright, 2016, by Robert Iannone,
All Rights Reserved.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Say What?
Chapter 2 – Hey Ham, Move Over!
Chapter 3 – Hello, Dolly
Chapter 4 – Egg on Their Face
Chapter 5 – Ski-Daddle
Chapter 1 – Say What?
It was a wonderful day to play dress up because it was snowing and cold with no place to go and no friends to visit.
In fact, it had been snowing since Thursday and now it was Saturday. That’s a lot of snow. It’s funny how parents thought it was way too much while most kids thought it was just the right amount. The two different conclusions came from the same fact – the snow had forced all the local schools to shut down.
Egg was in her bedroom talking on the phone with her best friend Sylvia. “So, I went through my mom’s old clothes chest and found a beautiful print dress with sequins and a big floppy hat. And there’s a red boa made of peacock feathers, long white gloves and a pink purse. I couldn’t decide which heels to wear. Then I thought you can’t go wrong with black ones. When we hang up, I’m going to get dressed and I’ll have Ashley take a picture and I’ll email it to you.”
“We really need to get cell phones with cameras like everyone else in the world.”
“Mom says not till I’m a teenager. She said when I’m old enough to get my own Facebook account, I’ll be old enough for a smart phone.”
“Yeah, my mom says the same thing. Anyway, I wish I lived closer so I could come over.” Sylvia lived about twenty-five miles away. They had met at camp this past summer and eventually became “almost-modern-day” pen pals…using email, instant messaging and the telephone instead of old-fashioned letters. But without cell phones and social networking accounts, they still felt like dinosaurs and completely out of touch with the real world.
“Me, too. Especially today when there’s nothing to do. Maybe your mom could drive you over.”
“I asked. She said most of the roads have so much snow on them that it wouldn’t be safe.”
“Well, I could fly to your house.”
“What?”
Egg realized what she had said and turned red in embarrassment then white in horror. For a moment, she stopped breathing. If she held her breath long enough, she would turn blue and see stars. The American Flag would have been very proud of her.
“Oh, silly, I was just kidding. You know my super powers don’t work on snowy Saturdays.” She gritted her teeth waiting for her friend’s response.
“You are such a goof.” Egg let out her breath in relief. “Anyway, I gotta hang up. Mom wants me to help her bake some cookies. I’ll check my email a little later then I’ll call you. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Egg hung up the phone and flopped on the bed. ‘Oh, my gosh, what was I thinking? Grammy would be so mad. I absolutely promised her I would never, ever tell anybody my secret . . . even my best friend.’ And that thought made her a little sad.
Her secret, of course, was that her Grammy had given her a flying suit. When she wore it, she could fly anywhere just by thinking it. When she wore it, she became Flying Girl.
After taking a minute to calm down, she got up, undressed and put on her mom’s clothes. She walked over to the big mirror on her bathroom door and admired herself. She looked straight on, and then turned left then right. From every angle, she liked what she saw. Very stylish, fashionable with just a hint of sassy. But, something was missing. Hmmm…what could it be?
“Of course” she said to her reflection, “I’m missing jewelry.” But that was a problem. Her stuff was obviously not very grown up…the diamonds in her tiara were made of plastic and her ruby ring was really glass painted red. No, that wouldn’t do.
Then she had a brainstorm…her grandmother had given her three fabulous pieces when she gave her the flying suit. Grammy had said that they were supposed to give the person wearing them some kind of magical powers but no one ever figured how to make them work. She was told to experiment with them and now seemed like a perfect time. Besides, they would make her go from sassy to gorgeous.
She went to the closet and pulled out a little stepping stool. She climbed up and reached to the top shelf where she hid the little chest her grandmother had given her to hold her suit and the jewelry. She found it and took it down. Getting the key from her desk drawer, she unlocked it and emptied the contents on her bed.
There was the suit, of course. But there was also a ring made from silver with a golden orange colored stone . . .
. . . and a choker made from a donut-shaped reddish colored crystal . . .
. . . and a silvery-green bracelet in the shape of a two headed snake or sea serpent.
She had been too afraid to try any of them on. Her grandmother said that if she, Egg, was able to unleash their magical powers, no one on earth could help her control whatever it was that they did. So if the bracelet caused sea serpents or snakes to appear – there was no telling what trouble they could cause.
But right now that didn’t matter; it was dress-up day. She had to do whatever it took so that the picture she emailed to Sylvia would be fabulously glamorous and her girlfriend would be forced to hang it over her desk. And that meant wearing the jewelry.
So Egg slipped the ring on her finger but it was way too big. Disappointed she went to take it off, but to her surprise when she tugged on it, it felt snug . . . not too tight, not too loose. Hmmm . . .
The choker did the same thing. It was too big when she latched it closed . . . and then it seemed to shrink to just the right size. Curious-er and curious-er.
By this time she had no doubt that the bracelet would do the same thing. And, she wasn’t disappointed; it did.
‘Well’ she thought ‘that was a pretty neat trick.’
She decided this might be a good time to try to evoke whatever magic these things possessed. The ability to shrink themselves to the right size was probably not the only thing they did. Maybe she could conjure up a rabbit like a real magician.
“Abracadabra” she whispered and waved her arms. But no rabbit appeared from inside the little chest. “Okay, how about Hocus-pocus” but still nothing. “Alright, you silly things, the only other one I know is Presto Ala Kazam.” If there was a rabbit in there, he was way too embarrassed to come out. She slowly peeked inside but it was empty. She was both relieved that nothing bad had happened and annoyed that the stupid rabbit was nowhere to be seen. “Oh, well, at least it should be safe to wear.”
After one last look in the mirror, she knew she was ready to have her picture taken. She took out the digital camera she received as a Christmas present from her grandmother and went looking for her sister.
“Ashley” she y
elled. She walked down the hall and knocked on her sister’s door. “Ashley, stop kissing Brad and take my picture.” But there was no answer.
She walked downstairs and looked in the living room then the kitchen all the while yelling “ASHLEY.” Her parents were both out until later and her sister was supposed to be taking care of her. Then she spotted a yellow sticky note hanging from the refrigerator door. She took it down and read . . .
“OH, THAT GIRL” Egg said in a huff. She reread the note, walked to the front door, and opened it with every intention of yelling for her sister. But a blast of cold air took her breath away and she hurriedly closed it.
“Well, what do I do now?” she asked herself. As if by magic, the door opened and Ashley poked her head inside.
“Hey, Egg. Did you get my note?”
“Yes. Why didn’t you just tell me?” she asked with more than a hint of peevishness.
“Cause you were on the phone with Sylvia and I didn’t want to bother you. And, anyhow, what’s with the costume . . . playing dress-up?”
Egg smiled and pirouetted for her sister “What do you think?”
“Drop dead gorgeous. Give me your camera and I’ll take a picture.”
“How should I pose?”
“Hmmm, how about hands on hips, point your body slightly that way, now turn your head and look at me with a big, delicious smile.” Egg did as she was told. “Perfect” said Ashley, “don’t move and . . .” the camera flashed. “Okay, one more . . . turn your whole body towards me . . . smile . . .” and it flashed again. “Here you go” and she handed the camera back to her kid sister. “Now go email those to Sylvia. We’re still walking and practicing our Spanish for a test on Monday. Can you handle being alone for another half hour?”
“Of course I can. You better hurry on out because I’m sure Brad is freezing to death and desperately needs to hold your hand” Egg teased. “Oh, and thank you for taking my picture. Did you want a copy?”
Boxed Set: Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood: [The 12 book 1st adventure + the series prequel] Page 13