“No,” I reply. “If Michael and I build it today, then tomorrow we’ll have to spend the day figuring out how to hide it from people. Especially parent- and sibling-type people.”
“Oh, right,” Dragon says. “That will take all day.”
“So, do we have a deal?” I ask.
“Deal,” he says, and extends a claw. We shake on it. My plan is back on. “I’ll write you the best hamster report ever written,” Dragon adds.
I hand Dragon a small pad of paper from the desk and a pen.
“Warren,” I hear my mom call. “Michael’s here.” I walk over to the front door.
“Hi, Michael,” I say.
“Hi!” Michael says excitedly. He’s carrying a notepad, a pen, measuring tape, duct tape, and a jump rope.
“What are you two up to today?” Mom asks, eyeing Michael’s assortment of things.
“Something really cool!” Michael says. “But I can’t tell you what it is, because it’s a secret.”
“You can’t even give me a little hint?” Mom asks Michael in her super-nice voice. I know that voice. She uses it when she’s pretending she doesn’t care what your answer is, but she really does. Because if you give her the wrong answer, then her voice becomes not so nice. But Michael doesn’t know that, so I interrupt.
“Mom, does it matter what we’re doing as long as we’re not sitting inside playing on your iPad all day?” I say.
I can see my that my mom is thinking about what I said. “I guess it’s good you’ll be playing outside . . .” she begins.
“Don’t worry, Mom,” Ellie says. I turn to see her standing behind me. “I’ll watch over the pets’ playdate. I mean, the boys’ playdate.”
“That’s, uh, nice of you, Ellie?” Mom says, confused.
“You can’t watch us,” I say.
“Why not?” Ellie asks.
“Because I already have to watch Chewy and that actually takes time. And you’re going to slow us down even more by pretending we’re pets and telling us what to do. We’ll never finish our super- secret project with all these distractions.”
Dragon pulls at my shirt to get my attention. “I can’t work on the report with too many distractions,” he says.
“We have very important things to get done,” I declare, and fold my arms. “No more distractions.”
The doorbell rings.
8
A Crazy Amount of Pets
Since Michael is closest, he opens the door. It’s Alison, and she’s huffing and puffing. Her face is almost as red as her hair. She looks like she ran over to my house.
“Hi, Alison,” Mom says, sounding confused again. “Do you and Ellie have a playdate today?”
“Mom, I wouldn’t schedule a playdate while I’m watching pets,” Ellie says. “I mean, the boys. I’m not irresponsible like that.”
“Is he okay?” Alison asks, looking down at Chewy.
“I’m a little parched since Warren didn’t give me any orange juice at breakfast, but otherwise doing okay,” Dragon says, and flexes his dragon muscles. “See, I’m in tip-top shape.”
I don’t tell Dragon that I don’t think Alison is talking about him.
“Chewy’s fine,” I tell her.
“I told my parents it was a pet emergency,” Alison says as she steps inside the house. “They understand because we have a lot of pets and there are always lots of animal emergencies.”
“How many pets do you have?” I ask.
“Any dragons?” Dragon adds.
Alison holds up her hands to check off her fingers. “Let’s see, we have two dogs, Ralph and Lenny. Four cats. Really three cats and one kitten. Mittens, Guppy, Lexie, and Captain Blotch. Captain Blotch is the kitten. One gerbil named Joe. Three fish, Riley, Smiley, and Kylie. There were four but you know how it is with fish.”
Dragon nods his head in understanding. “That’s why you have to get dragons. We live a really long time. I’m a hundred and twenty-two and I don’t look a day over thirty-five.”
“There’s also a deer that always comes into our backyard,” Alison continues. “My parents say I can’t keep him as a pet but I named him Bobby anyway.”
“That’s a crazy amount of pets,” I say. I do not say I feel kind of silly for complaining about having two pets for just one weekend.
Alison crouches down to look at Chewy in his cage. He’s running around in his wheel. Dragon stands by Alison and begins telling her about all the benefits of having a dragon as a pet. “We never get fleas, we can toast all your marshmallows to a perfect crisp, we sleep through the night as long as you feed us dessert. . . .”
I crouch down next to Alison and look at Chewy, too.
“You’ve got to be easier than having two dogs and four cats,” I tell Chewy. He doesn’t say anything. I take it that he agrees with me.
“Are you okay?” Alison whispers to Chewy. “I’m here to help you.”
“Jeez, I only tried to eat him once or maybe ten times,” Dragon huffs. “And I’m not even trying to eat him anymore!” Dragon makes notes on the pad. “The handsome dragon has decided to stop trying to eat Chewy. Chewy is both relieved and grateful.”
“Warren, maybe we should start working on our . . . uh . . . secret thing,” Michael says, and smiles nervously at my mom.
“Whatever it is, make sure you don’t make a mess,” Mom says. “Alison, I’m going to call your parents to see how long they want you to stay.”
Mom leaves and Alison stands up. “What secret thing?” Alison asks.
“Doesn’t anybody know what secret means?” I say.
“I bet it means something that you and Michael are going to do that’s going to make a big mess,” Ellie declares. “But I’ll be watching you both.”
“No, you won’t,” I say.
“Yes, I will. And you can’t stop me. I’m going to prove I’d make a responsible pet owner whether you act like a good pet or a bad one.”
Alison looks at me. “Is everyone in your family this . . . uh . . . interesting?”
I think about it for a moment.
“Yes,” I say.
Alison leans back down and looks into Chewy’s cage. “It’s a good things I’m here,” she tells him.
9
Chute of Doom
I decide to ignore Ellie. “Come on,” I say to Michael. “Let’s get started.”
“Can I come?” Alison asks. “I’ve never seen anything secret being made before.”
I raise my eyebrows at her. Alison tagging along in addition to Ellie is the worst idea.
“I can help watch Chewy,” Alison says, and lifts up his cage. “As long as Chewy’s cage is on a flat surface in the shade, he’ll be okay.”
I change my mind. Alison tagging along is the best idea. With Alison watching Chewy, and Dragon writing my report, Michael and I might actually build the ramp today.
“Just don’t slow us down,” I tell Alison.
She nods and follows me and Michael. We walk over to the side of Michael’s house where his bedroom window faces mine from the second floor. Ellie follows us, too, but stands a little behind.
Dragon talks aloud as he writes notes on his pad. “While unaccustomed to traveling to the great outdoors, Chewy craves adventure. Still trapped inside his tiny cage, Chewy looks around for objects that will help him with his daring escape. The tall, red curly-haired lass is standing guard. He will have to use all his abilities to get past her watchful gaze.”
“Do you have any supplies?” Michael asks as he places the notepad, pen, measuring tape, duct tape, and jump rope on the ground.
“Um . . . not really,” I admit sheepishly. “I meant to start planning yesterday, but things got a little crazy.” I give Dragon a look but he’s not paying attention.
Dragon’s writing more on the notepad. “Chewy’s reason
s for escape are numerous. One, he longs to be as free as a dragon. Two, he desires to eat more than boring hamster food. Like marshmallows, and chocolate-covered bananas. Maybe both at the same time. Three, he lives in a tiny hamster cage. Who wants to live in a tiny hamster cage? Nobody, that’s who. Not even a tiny hamster like Chewy.”
“That’s okay,” Michael says, and points to some boxes stacked near the end of his driveway. “We should figure out what kind of ramp we want to build.”
“Right,” I say. I do not say I did not think there was more than one kind of ramp.
“What’s the ramp for?” Alison asks.
“To trade snacks at night when we’re supposed to be sleeping,” Michael replies, then immediately covers his mouth. “But that’s a secret!” He adds, “So . . . don’t tell anyone, okay?”
“You’re going to build a ramp between your houses?” Alison asks.
“Yeah,” I say.
“And it’s going to be a secret?”
“Yeah,” Michael says.
“This should be interesting,” Alison says, and sits on the ground next to Chewy’s cage.
“So, what kind of ramp are we gonna build?” Michael asks me.
“A good one?” I answer.
“I watched a lot of house-improvement shows on TV yesterday after school so I’ve got some great ideas!” Michael says. “First, there’s the basic, lightweight ramp that’ll only be used for exchanging snacks. Or we could do a bigger, kid-size ramp. We can use that one to slide over into each other’s rooms. That’ll be super useful for whenever we get grounded.”
“You’re gonna get grounded for building a ramp,” Ellie interrupts, and shakes her head. “Some pets are really crazy. . . .”
“We’re not pets!” I shout at her before turning back to Michael. “What other ramp options are there?”
“There’s the environmentally friendly ramp that uses solar panels. But I don’t know where to get a solar panel or how they work. I’m not even really sure what a solar panel is,” Michael admits. “So maybe that’s not an option. Finally, and I saved the best for last, there’s the chute-of-doom ramp.”
“That one!” Dragon cries out. “Make the chute-of-doom ramp!” He returns to scribbling on the notepad. “Chewy vastly prefers the chute-of-doom ramp.”
“Maybe we can grease it with butter so everything slides on it super fast,” Michael says excitedly. “Also, we can make the ramp all rickety like it might fall at any moment.”
“That’s a terrible idea,” Alison says. “Why would you want to make a ramp that looks like it could fall at any moment?”
“For fun!” Michael and I say at the same time. We look at each other.
“Chute-of-doom ramp?” Michael says with a smile.
“Chute-of-doom ramp,” I agree.
10
Building the Ramp
Michael and I start collecting anything we can find in our backyards that could help us make the ramp. I bring over a couple of deck chairs to stand on so we can reach our windows. Michael brings over some empty cardboard boxes from the recycling pile. We also gather a ton of sticks, leaves, and pebbles.
We work all morning on the ramp. Ellie reminds us a couple of times to take bathroom and snack breaks. I don’t like it when she tells us to do stuff, although the snack breaks are always a good idea.
Dragon spends his time writing more on the notepad, but I don’t see what he’s writing. I’m too busy taping the pieces of cardboard together and applying sticks, pebbles, and leaves all over. Chewy seems to be okay with Alison, so I don’t check on him much.
It’s finally time to connect the ramp to both of our window ledges. I stand on one chair near my house while Michael props up one end of the ramp. He’s having trouble lifting it up to me.
“A little higher over there,” Alison says.
“No, over there,” Ellie says.
“Where?” Michael asks. One edge of the cardboard is covering his vision and he can’t see anything.
“A little help?” I call out to Alison and Ellie.
“I’m not helping you get into trouble,” Ellie says, and crosses her arms.
“This is too sad to watch,” Alison declares, and stands up. “I’ll help you.”
Alison takes an end of the ramp and lifts it up with Michael. I secure the end to the ledge with duct tape. We try to repeat the process at the other end near Michael’s window ledge. The ramp is almost long enough, but not quite.
“Oh no,” Michael says. “We didn’t measure right. We have to start from the beginning. I don’t think we have enough cardboard boxes to make another ramp right now.”
“You don’t have to completely rebuild it,” Alison says. “Just measure the length you’re missing and add on more cardboard to the end.”
“Good idea!” Michael says.
“Yeah, thanks,” I add. Alison smiles.
With Alison’s help, we measure the remaining length needed, cut out the right amount of cardboard, and add it to the ramp.
Alison and Michael lift the updated ramp to me while I’m standing on the chair. I’m able to attach it to the ledge in front of Michael’s window.
“Yes!” Michael exclaims.
“It worked!” I say. “Let’s test it out. What snack should we try out first?”
“Marshmallows,” Dragon says.
“Bubble gum,” Michael says.
“Banana bread,” Alison says.
“What kind of food does a pet need after bedtime?” Ellie says. “What kind of pet food does Chewy . . . Um . . . Warren?”
“Yeah?” I say.
“Where’s Chewy?”
We all look down at Chewy’s cage. The door is open and Chewy is nowhere to be seen.
11
The Hero
“Where’d he go?” I cry out, looking around frantically. “I don’t see Chewy anywhere.”
“Poor Chewy!” Alison says. “He’s probably hungry and scared. We have to find him!”
“I can’t believe you lost Chewy,” Ellie says, and shakes her head. “You’d better find him or you’re gonna get in trouble.”
“Oh yeah,” I say, walking up to Ellie in a huff. “Well, you’re supposed to be watching me. And you didn’t make sure I was watching Chewy. So this is all your fault.”
“It’s not all my fault!” Ellie argues.
“It’s a little bit your fault,” I say.
Ellie frowns as she looks around the side of the house. “I guess I didn’t do a great job watching you,” she says. “Poor Chewy. I’ll check the patio.”
“I’ll check our backyards,” Michael says.
“I’ll help Michael,” Alison declares, and follows him.
“Here, Chewy,” Ellie calls out as she begins walking around our house. “Here, Chewy.”
I am looking under the chair I was standing on when I see Dragon writing on the notepad.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“This report has suddenly become an epic tale of adventure, daring, escape, action!” Dragon says, and scribbles with a flourish.
I take the notepad and pen out of Dragon’s claws and put them behind my back. He looks at me in suprise.
“Did you open Chewy’s cage?” I ask.
“That depends,” Dragon replies. “Do you mean ‘open’ as in, did I open the cage door and set Chewy free?”
I raise my eyebrow.
“Then yes, I opened the cage.”
“You’re crazy!” I exclaim.
Dragon looks to either side of him before looking back at me. “You’re just realizing this?”
“Listen,” I say, and poke Dragon on his snout. “If we don’t find Chewy, I’m going to get in a lot of trouble. With my parents and my teacher and probably the whole class. So we need to find Chewy or no more marshmallo
ws.”
Dragon gasps. “Ever?” he says.
“Ever,” I reply.
“This report has gotten very dark,” Dragon says. “Luckily, every report needs a hero!” Before I can react, Dragon reaches behind me and grabs the notepad and pen. He runs off and I quickly follow.
Dragon runs up trees and under bushes. No sign of Chewy. He crawls through the gutter and comes out with leaves all over. I help Dragon as he shakes them off. Still no sign of Chewy.
Dragon takes the notepad and writes a few lines. “The hero’s quest is thus far thwarted. Maybe if he had some marshmallows to renew his energy, he’d be successful.” Dragon looks up at me and blinks his eyes a few times.
“No marshmallows until we find Chewy,” I say. Dragon huffs.
Michael, Alison, and Ellie come running to meet us in the front yard.
“We checked the swing set, my tree house, the recycling bins, everywhere,” Michael says, and throws his hands up in the air.
“I checked all over the patio and in the flower patch,” Ellie says. “He wasn’t there. Having a pet who has a pet is so hard.”
“I don’t know where Chewy could be,” Alison says, her eyes becoming teary. “He’s not outside anywhere.”
“Uh, guys? Maybe he’s not outside,” Michael says, and points to the front door. It’s open.
“Who left the front door open after the last snack break?” Ellie demands.
“It doesn’t matter,” I say. I do not say it might have been me who forgot to close the door after the last snack break. “Let’s go find Chewy!”
12
A New Secret
We all rush into the house together and run straight into my dad.
“What’s going on, guys?” he asks as he puts his hands in front of him to slow us down.
“It’s a secret,” Michael says.
“Is this a new secret or the one from this morning?” my dad muses.
Warren & Dragon Weekend With Chewy Page 3
