by Nan Sweet
Chapter 6
It was still dark when Ivy opened her eyes. Her shoulders and arms ached from the battle to protect the egg. Her cheek was resting against the shell and vibrating along with the egg while a tapping sound echoed near her ear. Remembering the mess eggs made when she made cakes with her mom, Ivy decided to remove herself and the egg from the bed. No gallivants were present but she took no chances.
A night light was on in her room. Not that she needed it, but she was grateful that she could sneak around her room without turning on the light and alerting her mom that she was awake. The tapping from the egg continued.
Ivy pulled her painting shirt from the bottom of her dresser. It was her Dad's shirt and for a long time went to her knees. Now that she was older the shirt looked ragged with splotches down the front where she had spilled when she painted. A few holes were starting to show at the seems and every time she wore it, her dad threatened to throw it out.
After settling onto the floor in her bean bag chair with a bundle of blankets and the egg wrapped up in the t-shirt on top of her lap, Ivy sang to the egg very quietly. Her parents turned the heat down, so it took a minute to get warm under the pile of fleece. Realizing that the egg must be cold, she decided to draw one of the blankets up over the egg. She made a little tent for it and poked her head inside.
Tapping and rocking the egg rolled first one way and then the other. A crack split wider and it seemed for a minute that the egg would break right open, but the shell held firm. Ivy was drifting off to sleep again when she heard a squawk that startled her awake. She lifted the blanket and peeked at the egg. Shells were scattered along the t-shirt and sticking to the blanket. A pair of large eyes inside a small dragon body watched her.
“Hello?”
Ivy wondered if the dragon understood what she was saying. “Are you hungry?”
And she had a sudden sinking feeling. The egg-care and dragon instructions were in her desk in school stuffed with a hundred other papers. She had no idea what the dragon would eat or how to care for her. The dragon leapt onto her shoulder and hissed when a gollivant appeared just behind her. Ivy jumped back, hitting the wall. The dragon squeaked and tightened her claws on Ivy’s shoulder, which hurt.
“Hey!” Ivy reached around to lift the dragon away, but the dragon butted Ivy’s hand and loosened her grip without intervention.
Three gollivants were now surrounding her and snitching pieces of egg shell and gnawing on them happily as if they were slices of chocolate.
“You can have all of the egg shells you want. Just leave the dragon alone.” Ivy said sternly, feeling very brave now that she knew they wouldn't hurt her.
The clock said seven-thirty and was about to go off. Ivy stood with a hand on the dragon's body to help her balance, and carefully shook out the towel, letting the egg shells fall to the floor while the little creatures giggled and chittered. Turning off the alarm, Ivy looked at the dragon and then her backpack. It was the only way to get the creature to Mrs. Huffity without her parents seeing the little creature, but would the dragon go willingly?
Deciding to save the backpack for later, she got dressed, pulling on her jeans and a fleece button-up shirt with pink and purple plaid. Her sneakers were downstairs by the door, but she pulled on a pair of white socks and then scratched the dragon’s head. The dragon made a soft sound that Ivy decided must represent happiness, something between a purr and a trill.
Ivy stuffed one of her doll's blankets into the bottom of the backpack and carefully lowered the dragon baby into it. With a contented sigh, the dragon curled up and even allowed Ivy to zip it closed. She left a small opening for air flow. Glad to get the first problem over, she lifted the pack onto her shoulder and headed downstairs for breakfast.
Her mom and dad were both sitting at the kitchen table, Mom in her robe and slippers and Dad in suit and tie. “Up so soon?” Her dad chuckled. “We were going to let you sleep. School's canceled.”
“But I have a project.” Ivy thought of the warm little body in the backpack snuggling up to her shoulder.
“Everyone's going to be out today. The project can wait until tomorrow.”
Ivy thought of the paper in her desk telling her about the proper feeding and safety for a dragon. Normally it was something that would interest her. At least it wasn't social studies, but somehow she managed to ignore most of what was on the paper. She remembered the class making a big deal about the eating habits because Mrs. Huffity said that dragons liked to eat their prey live, the same as spiders. Ivy couldn't help but think it was a poor comparison now that she got a look at a dragon. The dragon really was cute.
“Can I call Carrie?”
Her mom raised her eyebrows, “Are you sure it's not too early?”
“She'll be up for school, too, at least at first. I really need to talk to her.”
Ivy took the phone and backpack up to her room and shut the door. It took a few rings until a bleary voice answered, “Hello?”
“It hatched.” Ivy unzipped her bag and peeked in at the little dragon who now lay curled into a tight ball at the bottom.
“Ha.Ha. Thanks for waking me up.” Carrie still sounded half asleep.
“Carrie, I need your help. I left the instructions in class, and she hasn't eaten yet. I remember Mrs. Huffity saying something about dragons preferring live prey, but I didn't pay attention.” Ivy pulled herself onto the bed and stared at the ceiling, one hand on the backpack and one with the phone to her ear.
“Are you seriously serious?” Carrie asked.
“Deadly serious.” Ivy said.
“Okay, I'm coming over. If you don't have anything like insects to feed her, she'll eat raw meat. Mrs. Huffity said hamburger would work, although it wasn't exactly healthy for her. But since we're desperate.”
“And insects are healthy?” Ivy shook her head. She couldn't believe she was having this conversation.
“According to Mrs. Huffity, anyway. I'm coming over. I'll bring some meat in Ziploc bag. We had hamburger for dinner and my mom has some raw left in the refrigerator.”
“Good. I'm a little nervous having her here and I don't know what I'm doing.”
They hung up and Ivy waited. Carrie would probably be walking and their families lived three blocks from each other so it would take about twenty minutes for Carrie to get there, counting time to get ready. Ivy yawned and checked on the dragon and waited.
