Tag Archives: children’s fiction

The Tiny Boy and His Dragon

bulldog ant

Found at the Canberra Pest Control website

The Sixteenth Story in the Adventures of the Ambrosial Dragon: A Children’s Fantasy Series

Landon was getting excited. There were only a few more weeks before school was out for the summer and he wouldn’t have to do homework anymore…

…or so he thought.

“I don’t want you to forget everything you’ve learned this school year, so every night, we’ll go over your reading, spelling, and math.”

“Aw, Dad. Don’t I get a break?” Landon was sitting on the sofa with his Dad David after school talking about future plans.

“At least you won’t have tests every Friday, Landon.”

“Well…okay.” The boy was hardly thrilled but he still had to do what Dad said.

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N is for Net

n is for net

© James Pyles

“Oh Bernard, I have a terrible feeling about Androcles. He should have gotten here days ago.”

“Now, now, Miss Bianca, I’m sure he’s fine. He probably just got tied up with something.”

At the edge of the monsoonal eucalyptus woodlands, Daniel watched the two mice, who seemed all too human, talking about their missing companion, the one who was supposed to stand guard to make sure the King didn’t escape their trap. They also seemed the two most compassionate mice among the group. Mickey showed no interest in what happened to Androcles whatsoever, spending most of his time with Minnie trying on each other’s clothes. The rest of the mice seemed just as distracted and frivolous.

“William.” Daniel called to his kangaroo companion.

“I’ll be right over, Daniel.” The kangaroo was talking to his sister Esmeralda. Something about not putting her son in danger again. She seemed really insistent.

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I is for Ice

i is for ice

© James Pyles

Ten year old Daniel let the screen door slam behind him as he walked into the kitchen. Uncle Ethan was working with the new horses this morning and Aunt Abby had gone into town. He grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with ice cubes from the freezer.

Ethan and Abby still had a freezer old enough to need ice-cube trays. The child momentarily considered this a charming anachronism in the 21st century.

He filled the glass with water and swallowed it down, attempting to quench not only the heat of an Idaho summer morning, but the growing sense of surrealism he was experiencing, particularly at the latest disturbance, a talking hen.

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H is for Hen

h is for hen

© James Pyles

Another morning, another visit to the henhouse for Daniel. Most of these eggs would be sold at the market, which added a modest amount to his aunt’s and uncle’s income. His experiences yesterday taught him to get in, collect the eggs, and get out.

Since his encounter with the frog, nothing amiss had happened to the boy. He and Towser had walked over to Ben Swigert’s farm, found his uncle and old Ben, and watched them struggle with and cuss at the thirty year old tractor until almost sunset.

Finally, replacing several hoses and a fuel pump later, the machine roared back to life.

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G is for Grape

g is for grape

© James Pyles

After leaving the pond, Daniel didn’t go back to the farmhouse right away. He spent a lot of time wandering around, looking at everything which, since his encounter with the frog, seemed perfectly ordinary.

He played “fetch” with Towser until the boy got bored (the dog never got bored with “fetch”), he found Fearful Symmetry and two of her three kittens (the pink one was still missing) near the barn and petted them for a while. He even peeked into the henhouse only to find it was still an ordinary henhouse with ordinary hens.

Finally, he slipped back into the backdoor of the house and into the kitchen.

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F is for Frog

f is for frog

© James Pyles

It was after lunch and Daniel was still haunted by the incident of the egg. He explained to Aunt Abby that he accidentally dropped one, but besides saying “Accidents will happen” and giving him a rag to wipe up the mess with, she proceeded calmly with the matter of making breakfast.

Only the broken shell and a small bit of the yoke was left on the floor by the time the ten year old got back to the henhouse. Now, as he was walking down the path leading to the pond near the edge of his uncle’s property, he was still wondering what happened to the rest. For that matter, ever since he arrived at the Harris farm for his annual summer vacation, he was wondering how everything that had once been comfortable and familiar had become strange and menacing.

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E is for Egg

e is for egg

© James Pyles

The first day of his vacation on his aunt’s and uncle’s farm was “free,” but after that, he was given some chores to do. It wasn’t really a lot of work, and Daniel was still given a lot of discretionary time to have fun. Even Uncle Ethan tried to offload a lot of his normal work to hired hands so he could spend more time with the ten-year old.

This morning, Daniel was in the henhouse collecting eggs. He momentarily remembered the “cycle of life” message from the Disney film “The Lion King.” The hens were blissfully unaware that what potentially could have been their offspring was about to be consumed for breakfast.

The eggs were warm and for a moment, Daniel held one in his hand. It felt comfortable, and he put down his basket so he could cradle it in both palms.

Then he felt movement. “But that’s imposs…”

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D is for Dog

d is for dog

© James Pyles

Daniel was deciding just how much damage a small kitten could do to him, even if it were an anomaly, when frantic barking came from the other entrance to the barn. Towser, the large golden retriever, charged in racing at the strange pink cat. The feline immediately ran away, ducking behind bales of hay.

The dog followed growling, which was really unusual for Towser since he normally got along with the farm cats. After a few moments, he started whining and looking around, unable to find the object of his interest.

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Return to the Dark Realm

dark castle

Image: spyderonlines.com

The Fourteenth Story in the Adventures of the Ambrosial Dragon: A Children’s Fantasy Series

Landon was practicing using his invisible cloak, but without Buddy’s permission. It was Saturday and he was at the playground. While his Grandpa was sitting on a bench reading a book, Landon slyly pulled the cloak out of his backpack, walked around the edge of the school, and put it on.

Instantly he vanished. He thought maybe he could play some pranks on his friends, but as he continued to wear the cloak, the world around him started to look strange and distorted. It was almost as if all of the kids playing on the swings and slides and other equipment weren’t real.

But if they weren’t real, what was?

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The Day the Kid Got a Stuffed Animal: Part 2

baby

© James Pyles

This is the direct sequel and conclusion of part one of this story, which was based on a plot developed by my eight-year-old grandson.

Chapter 4: Glowing Red Eyes

Little Dan was having a hard time sleeping. Every little noise woke him up and reminded him of the horrible things that had happened and the evil toy giraffe.

Then, at the foot of his bed, he heard a familiar voice.

“You didn’t think you could get away from me that easily, did you Dan?

Dan looked and saw the stuffed giraffe Baby with the terrible glowing red eyes.

He jumped out of bed like a shot and started running for the bedroom door. “Mom! Mom! Baby’s back!”

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