How to Catch a Red Dragon

my acting class and wanted to continue acting but also wanted to teach. I was nervous to start and didn’t want to say goodbye to the kids that practically felt like mine. It was a crazy thought to turn an idea into reality, but in truth, it only made saying goodbye harder. Of course I wasn’t under the impression you cared, and honestly, I doubt until middle school you noticed. Even then, it was just a fun coincidence.” “OK, so that answers one of our questions. We honestly thought it would be cooler if we were part of a government experiment to overthrow the world.” “Viv,” Zola said with an annoyed look and warning note in her tone. Viv went quiet quick. “One more question,” Pat said, “and then you can continue with your Friday. Did you do this with any other students?” His answer was surprising. “Yes. In fact, all my groups went until middle school. I love it. Even though it’s hard to say goodbye, you were my first, and I hoped not the last. I got lucky. I didn’t have to keep switching identities. That was fun but exhausting.” They all stared at him. Finally, Curt got up. “Thanks for talking. It answered a lot of my questions, and honestly, the ones I didn’t ask I think will be more fun to keep a mystery.” He smiled. Then the rest of the friends got up, said their various goodbyes, and left. The metal door shut quietly behind them. Jake could have swore he heard Mister Winner’s soft, familiar laugh through the metal door. What he was laughing about, Jake didn’t know. They smiled, shrugged, and started toward the car.

Chapter 7: The Kids The epic battle of the mysterious ‘would you rather’ between Alea and Jake never happened. Before they knew it, school snuck up on them, leaving them with a bit of whiplash. The kids walked to school together, laughing about which teacher they got. Between Alea and Adin, Coco smiled. “I guess we’re going to have to finish this next summer.” Willow laughed, “Definitely! Also don’t think I will forget that you didn’t go.” “We’ll see. They turned around the corner of the block, already making plans for the next ‘would you rather’ contest.

Hillary Hiraga, Age 11

Hillary, age 11, lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She likes to write because it helps pass time. In addition to writing, she enjoys ice skating and gardening. Nobody else inspires Hillary’s writing. She would like to live in a world where nobody argues over useless things.

How to Catch a Red Dragon

Coco walked past a crate filled with crabs. She was looking around a bit while her parents were buying some trout. CRASH! She jumped. Had a cart ran into something? Then, she turned around, just in time to see a dragon crash into a second tower of crates filled with fish. After bringing down a few more, it looked satisfied, and landed on the pile of fish and empty crates, and started sucking them up like a vacuum cleaner. It looked like a small dog, except with red and gold scales, and fur in a mane around its neck. There were also two sharp antlers, like deer’s, sprouting from its head. A very startled fisherman was yelling at it, trying to scare it away. The dragon paid no attention. In under ten seconds, all the fish were gone. Then, it flew away to find more fish to eat. Coco ran after it. After all, she couldn’t let it cause more trouble. “Hey!” she yelled, to get its attention. It turned and looked at her, and then kept going. Apparently, it thought she was boring. She looked around for

any ideas, just as the dragon flew straight into another tower of crates, this one filled with daikon radishes. The radishes fell right in front of her, and she ran right into the pile of crates and radishes. The dragon kept going, unfazed, and disappeared in the crowd. There was no way she could find it again. “Coco!” yelled someone behind her. She turned around to find her parents. Apparently, they were done shopping. Then, they saw the pile of radishes on the ground. “What happened?” asked dad. “A cart ran into it.” she answered. They didn’t seem concerned, maybe this was a common occurrence here. “Let’s go home,” said Mom. “It’s time to cook dinner. “ Coco took one last look at where the dragon had disappeared, and turned around to leave. The next few days went perfectly normally, until one day her parents decided to go to the sushi restaurant for lunch. She was enjoying her food when she heard a scream from the kitchen. Five seconds later, several staff ran from the door, screaming about stray dogs in the kitchen. Everyone panicked and ran for their lives. In the chaos, Coco slipped into the kitchen, just to make sure it was what she thought it was. And sure enough, the dragon was in there, finishing off a large tuna fish. Before it could see her, she fled. She knew she couldn’t try and stop it without a plan. So, she ran home. When she arrived, the first thing she noticed was the news headline on the TV. It was about a raccoon infestation in town eating the town’s fish supply. In addition to the incident at the market, the “raccoons” had apparently also appeared at the harbor, where the boatloads of fish were shipped off, several other restaurants, and the seafood section of a supermarket. Coco sat down on the sofa to think. She couldn’t set a trap, because she had no Idea where it would appear next. Unless she could carry it around with her, like a net . . . she ran out the door, heading for the nearest fishing supply store. She left with a large net, meant for catching tunas. And maybe small dragons. Now, all she had to do was carry it around, and wait for the dragon to show up again. As she walked home, she spotted a bookstore. She was bored, and thought she might find something to read at home. She found some books that she liked, along with a vegetarian cookbook, for a vegetarian friend who liked cooking. As she headed home, she remembered that her parents had asked her to buy some tofu at the grocery store, so she stopped by. As soon as she did, she was met by chaos. The dragon had decided to make a second appearance that day, maybe because it hadn’t gotten its fill at the restaurant. It had already emptied several freezers filled with fish. The dragon charged at the fifth freezer. As its antlers hit the glass, it broke like tissue paper and fish poured out. Then, it started eating it up. Coco snuck up behind it, holding the net. The dragon suddenly tensed and sniffed the air. She hadn’t known they had a good sense of smell. she threw the net. The dragon turned, opened its mouth, and blowtorched it into ashes in midair. “Why did you throw that thing at me?” She realised that she hadn’t heard anything, but the words just popped up in her head. “Ummm, to stop you from eating everything?” “It’s bad enough that I have to eat this stuff, but now you are trying to make me stop?” “You don’t like fish?” “Why would I like fish? But mom said I need the protein. So I have to eat it.” “You don’t have to eat fish to get protein. Here! This might help!” She handed him the book on vegetarian cooking. “Vegetarian cooking?” It opened the book to a recipe on stir-fried tofu cubes. “This looks so much better than fish!” it exclaimed. “Are you sure it has enough protein?” “Absolutely,” said Coco. “And here is something else! She grabbed a pack of tofu from a nearby shelf. The dragon ripped open a pouch and sucked up the contents. ”This is soooo much more delicious than fish!” “What’s your name, by the way?” “Why do you want to know?” “Well . . . it’s your name.”