Jesse James and the Dragon's Egg

Evil Goes to the Lake

Jesse and the gang spend the rest of the week in hiding. Travel back and forth to each other's homes was the extent of their outdoor activity. By the time the weekend came around, the kids were completely beside themselves with boredom. Even Al was going a little stir crazy, and Jesse was afraid that his mother was becoming suspicious of the constant banging and bumping coming from his room. There was also the fact that Al was growing.

"Jesse! What did you do to him?"

"I don't know. He just won't stop eating. I swear he's hungry all the time." When he hatched, Al was almost two feet long and weighed a little over two pounds. He had grown little in the ensuing weeks and had been content to eat whatever Jesse could spirit away from the table or the fridge. In the days since the encounter with Nam and Jib, however, the little dragon was hungry all the time. He was constantly pushing his nose at the door and whining for more food. So much so that Jesse was forced to supplement Al's ever-increasing diet with an old bag of Bear's dog food. Despite his growth, the dragon remained incredibly light. Even though he was now just over three feet long, he still weighed no more than the average house cat.

So, an adventure seemed in order. Waiting until Jesse's mom left for work, the friends gathered at Jesse's house, packed a little gear, and headed off for the lake.

They hiked a little farther around the lake than usual, but in the end it is worth it. They found a small, very private inlet. Surrounded by shade trees and brush, it had a lush open area of grass that lead down to the muddy shoreline.

Al rode the entire way in Jesse's new, much larger duffel bag. During the ride and the ensuing walk, he occasionally stuck his head out of the bag and rested it on Jesse's shoulder. From there he casually took in the passing sites, sampling the air and then ducking back into the pack.

Brad's phone had rung, and he had slipped away from the group while the others dipped into the water.

"That boy sure spends a lot of time on that phone." Kate watched Brad pace and talk at the edge of the trees.

"His sister's pretty sick. His mom likes to keep track of him in case they need to bolt to the hospital or anything." Jesse had taken a seat in the grass, pulling his off shoes. Al loped off toward the water. He stopped right at its edge, sitting there, and waiting for his boy's command.

"Oh, wow. Like, really sick?"

"Yeah. They're not really sure what she's got, but she's had it since she was born. They spend a lot of time at Shands."

Shoving his phone into his pocket, Brad walked back to the group.

"Everything okay?" Jesse flung a shoe at his friend.

"Yeah, I guess so." Brad neatly caught it and flung it back. "This place is awesome!" The boy was quickly down to his trunks and splashing into the muddy water.

"I know!" Lamar said with a big grin and splashed in after him. "Perfect place, perfect weather, perfect summer day, my friends!"

Al agreed. As soon as Jesse gave him the go-ahead, he lept from the bank. He sailed a good fifteen or twenty feet through the air and barely disturbed the surface of the water as he disappeared into it. He reappeared seconds later, launching like a missile up into the air, leaving a contrail a water streaming out behind him, then he crashed right back down again.

They played, splashed, and laughed throughout the day and as the afternoon waned, exhaustion and hunger set in.

"I am freaking starving." Brad said into his towel, lying face down in the late afternoon sun.