By 5th Grade Students at Garden Gate Elementary
November 2015
A dragon guarded her cave. Queen Velina watched. She knew this dragon. Her name was Jack, short for Jackie. The queen knew that Jack guarded a very important potion that made you ten times stronger than a dragon.
Queen Velina was on a mission. She had to warn Jack that evil people were coming to steal her potion.
Jack was a very handsome dragon. She had presence. She had a red head, a skyblue body, and striped legs, alternating red and sky blue. She was twelve feet one inches, unlike the queen, who was only six foot two. The dragon had large wings, and two curved horns on the top of her head. Queen Velina knew that the dragon’s skin was super soft, however, those spikes down her back were crazy sharp. They really hurt. Once she had been skewered by a spike in her hand. Boy, had that hurt!
Queen Velina loved the dragon’s smell. She smelled just like Marinara Sauce. Yummy! It made Velina hungry. Her stomach rumbled.
The dragon was roaring very loudly. The queen wondered why? It couldn’t be her. They were friends. She hoped there wasn’t even more danger afoot. In between roars, the dragon ate chunks of milk chocolate. Oh my how Velina loved milk chocolate. It tasted so sweet and salty. And it was chunky. Yum. Yum. Yum.
Queen Velina stepped forward. “Dear Jack, I have come to warn you. There are bad people coming this way to steal your potion.”
“I know,” Jack roared. “I see them far in the distance and I smell them. They stink of evil.”
The dragon pointed with her talon. There were black dots on the horizon, growing bigger. They had to act quickly. First, Jack gave Velina the potion. She rushed home to her kingdom and hid the potion well. She took a false potion and raced back to the cave.
“Jack, this potion will cause the evil doers to grow dizzy, sleepy, and weak.”
“Nicely done, Queen Velina.”
The queen hid inside the cave, near the potion, behind a large rock. She heard loud, stomping feet. She knew that the dragon was going to put on a show of protecting the fake potion.
The dragon thundered, “Go away. I will not let you have the potion.”
Then another voice spoke, “We will not leave without it.” The voice was low and harsh. There were loud scuffles and roars and growls, and suddenly, a large, dangerous group entered the cave. Some were small trolls. Others were men hiding in robots. Queen Velina remained hidden and silent.
“Ah ha!” cried a troll. “It’s Queen Velina.”
Two creatures dragged her out from behind her rock. She had to think quickly.
“Kind Sirs,” she said. “I am here to give you aid. As you know, I have a long history with Jack. I used our friendship to convince her to let me into her cave. But my plan all along was to steal the potion for you in a sign of good faith. Let our kingdoms be friends.”
Jack showed up that very moment. Had she heard the queen’s lie? Velina turned so the creatures couldn’t see her face, and winked at Jack. Jack slowly winked back.
Suddenly, the leader of the bad guys had a change of heart. “You know, stealing is wrong. In fact, our plan to steal the potion has caused a rift between the queen and Jack. Perhaps we should not steal the potion, and instead, we should all be friends. We can have so much fun!”
The queen was so relieved. “Let’s go back to my castle for a party.”
They all followed her home. When they arrived, the leader of the now-good bad guys asked if he and his men could use the restroom. They went off.
The queen wanted to trust him, but despite his good words, she still had her suspicions. She followed to a secret spot, where she could overhear them.
“She bought it,” said the leader. “Now we can steal the real potion, because I know that she must have hidden it here!”
The queen gasped silently. She sprinted towards Jack. “It was a lie. They tricked us. They do NOT want to be friends.”
“Oh no,” said Jack. She rushed to grab the real potion from its hiding place. “I must leave immediately.”
But it was too late, the evil army rushed into the room, waving their swords. They startled Jack so much that she threw her arms in the air, and the potion flew sky high. When it landed, it landed in the dragon’s mouth. She swallowed it, container and all. As it seeped into her belly, she began to grow, grow ten times bigger than before.
Fortunately, they were in the grand ballroom, so she didn’t destroy the castle. Jack opened her mouth. Her new-found strength caused a huge, red fireball, which exploded out, and pushed everyone–except the queen, who hid behind her–out of the valley where the castle resided. The queen and the dragon stared at each other.
Velina asked, “I wonder if they are gone for good?”
Jack cocked her head, listening intently, “I can still hear them. They are far away, but still alive. The trolls especially are very short-tempered. They are gathering all their forces to attack again!”
“Uh oh,” said Velina. “The potion only lasts for around ten minutes.”
“I know,” said Jack. “We must prepare quickly.”
They decided to make a potion, a new one that would make everyone fall asleep. They threw it at the army, but a troll caught it. Then he bobbled it. It exploded on the army.
All the trolls fell to the mud, fast asleep!
The queen, the dragon and the kingdom were saved!
But then they saw that the robots were still upright and walking. They weren’t asleep!
And Jack, the dragon, would be normal soon. What would they do?
The “Cliffhanger” End.
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