by David Estes
Chapter One: Mr. Miyagi barks away the storm
“Checkmate! Whoop whoop!” Spencer yelled gleefully.
“You win again,” Mrs. Nickerson said.
Nikki was watching TV while her best friend, Spencer, played chess with her mom. She was bored, but not because her friend was talking more to her mom than to her. She was bored because it had been two days since she had done anything amazing.
“I gotta get outta here,” Nikki mumbled. A cartoon flashed across the screen, and although she was looking at the TV, she wasn’t really seeing it. She was too busy thinking.
“What did you say, honey?” her mom asked.
Nikki turned her head. Her mom was looking at her strangely. She forgot that she had spoken. “Oh, nothing, Mom. I’m just bored, that’s all.”
Her mother grinned sheepishly. “I’m sorry, dear. I guess I’ve been stealing Spencer away all afternoon.”
“It’s okay. It’s not that. I think I just need to get out of the house,” Nikki said.
Mrs. Nickerson laughed. “The rain doesn’t seem like it will stop anytime soon, Nikks. You might just have to find a way to amuse yourself indoors.”
Nikki groaned. Ugh. Rain, rain, and more rain. All day, all night. For two days straight it had poured down rain in Cragglyville. Nikki could have stopped it, could have made the sun come out again, but she and Spencer agreed that she shouldn’t. The news reporters were saying how good the rain was for the farmers, how they really needed it. And Nikki didn’t want to cause the farmers any trouble. Especially because one of the farmers was a close friend of hers, Farmer Miller.
But still, she was tempted to do something about it. Now that she was a superhero, Nikki wasn’t used to having to wait so long for adventure. Two days of rain is a long time, she thought. Surely it was enough for the farmers. Right?
As she considered stopping the rain, Nikki stared at her wrist. Tight against her skin was a thin, metal bracelet holding a single round, blue gem. Her powerbracelet. Any moment it could flash, calling her into action—Nikki Powergloves to the rescue! Instead, it just stared right back at her, as if it was saying, “Sorry, Nikki. Nobody needs your help today.”
Spencer plopped down next to her on the couch. She glanced up at him, but not before he saw that she was staring at her bracelet.
Nikki said, “So…my mom beat you at chess one out of five today, huh?”
Spencer leaned toward her and whispered, “I let her win, but don’t tell her.” His eyes gleamed mischievously.
“I thought so,” Nikki said, smiling for the first time in hours. What would I do without Spencer? she asked herself. He had been her best friend for as long as she could remember. He had also been a genius for as long as she could remember. She was lucky to have him, especially now that she was a superhero. In her first week as a hero, she had battled against her arch nemesis, a boy villain who called himself Jimmy Powerboots. She might never have defeated him if not for Spencer’s help. He was a good friend.
Motioning to Nikki’s bracelet, Spencer said, “You hoping for an adventure today, Grasshopper?”
“Anything to get out of the house,” Nikki said. “Are you sure it won’t be sunny anytime soon?”
Spencer began humming to himself, his usual signal that he was thinking. After ten seconds, he said, “Well, the weather is very unpredictable, but I was looking at the radar earlier today, and it is showing rain for at least another couple of days.”
Nikki groaned again. “I don’t know if I’ll last that long!”
Overhearing their conversation, Nikki’s mom said, “Don’t be so dramatic, Nikki. Why don’t you kids just play a game while I start getting dinner ready?”
“Good idea!” Nikki said, grabbing Spencer’s hand and pulling him off the couch, across the room, and up the stairs. Over her shoulder, she yelled, “Thanks, Mom! We’ll play Monopoly or something in my room.”
As soon as they were in her room, Nikki shut the door. A ball of fur stirred on the carpet in front of her. A low whine issued from the furry creature. “Sorry, Mr. Miyagi, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Nikki said. Nikki’s dog licked his chops and then yawned as his eyes slowly opened. The gray Scottish terrier smiled sleepily when he saw Spencer, who promptly scratched him behind the ears.
“That’s a good boy,” Spencer said in a high-pitched voice. “Where are your games, Nikki?”
“For being a genius, you’re kind of slow sometimes, Spence,” Nikki said.
Spencer cocked his head to the side, confused, like he was trying to make sense of what Nikki had said. “You mean we didn’t come up here to play Monopoly?” he said. He sounded disappointed.
“Nope. We’re gonna fix this little weather problem.”
“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?”
Nikki paused to think about it. Then she said, “Yes! It’s a great idea! In fact, it’s my duty because if I don’t stop it soon this whole town might flood. I am just trying to help.”
Spencer said, “Okay. If you say so, Bumble-Muppet.”
Nikki laughed. Even though she was used to the way Spencer always called her funny names and yelled crazy things, he still managed to surprise her every now and then with a really silly one. “Bumble-Muppet?” she said.
Spencer shrugged. “It’s a gift, what can I say?”
Nikki giggled. “Now, back to this little weather problem…”
She reached in her pocket and extracted a small box. Both Mr. Miyagi and Spencer watched her curiously. She placed the box on the carpet in the middle of her room, well away from the walls or furniture. Then she stood back and used a string attached to the lid to open the box. The tiny box, which was really a miniature chest, suddenly exploded outwards, ballooning in size until it was more than half as tall as Nikki.
Nikki was given the treasure chest earlier that summer. The giver was a strange talking creature that called itself a Weeble, but looked more like a cross between a beaver and a porcupine. When Nikki met the Weeble her life had changed forever, because inside the box was a more incredible prize than she could have possibly imagined.
With Spencer and her dog still watching her, Nikki reached inside the chest and removed two gloves. They looked rubbery and were colored black and yellow. A picture of a lightning bolt was etched on the palms. Nikki tugged the gloves onto each hand. As always, they fit perfectly.
Just in case her mom came into her room, Nikki pushed the heavy lid back onto the chest. As soon as it snapped into place, the magical chest began to bubble and then shrink, getting smaller and smaller until it was no taller than a quarter. Nikki pocketed the tiny box for safekeeping.
Scooting onto her bed, she crawled across to the window. Spencer followed and settled in on his knees, shoulder to shoulder with her. Mr. Miyagi leapt onto the bed and pushed his head between their hips, so he could see out into the yard. Lasers of rain fell from the sky, coating the plants, lawn furniture, and grass in wetness. The sky was dark, full of smoggy clouds that seemed intent on covering the blue skies forever or maybe even longer. Although it was the late afternoon, it felt like the dead of night.
Nikki concentrated. In her mind swirled images of the clouds moving away. She could picture a beam of sunlight bursting through the storm, providing a small measure of warmth and light. Then she pictured another sunbeam, and another, and another, until the sky was full of light, the sun shining brightly on the little town of Cragglyville.
Mr. Miyagi barked. Nikki looked at the sky. A final burst of rain poured from the heavens and then the storm began to slow. The clouds parted, moving impossibly in all directions. Mr. Miyagi kept barking at the sky, as if he wanted to chase the clouds away with his voice. The fat droplets of rain went on a diet and were soon thin and misty. Just before the rain stopped completely, a glorious burst of color arced across the sky! A perfect rainbow, full of reds and blues and yellows, streamed overhead.
“Wow!” Spencer said. “Jumpin’ banana skins, that’s incredible!”
Mr. Miyagi barked once more, as if to say, “I love rainbows!”
There was a knock at the door and then it opened. Nikki turned to see her mom enter the room. “What’s all the fuss?” she asked. “I heard Mr. Miyagi barking.”
Nikki smiled and said, “It was nothing, Mom. Mr. Miyagi was just barking away the storm.” Mr. Miyagi wagged his tail and grinned proudly.
