(3) Runaway Island


They waited, hiding in the clouds without a sound until they were sure the jets had gone by and given up their search. Grandma broke the silence, "How far is Runaway Island?"

"It doesn't take me long," said Douglas.

"But you are so big and fly so fast, faster than we can travel," said Hope. "I don't think we can keep up."

"I have an idea," said Noah. "You can pull us. We can use the rope from my backpack."

"It is a great idea Noah," Grandma said. "Unfortunately, if we use your rope to tie our balloon to Douglas we will be too close. When he flaps his wings it will stir up the air and we will tip. We need to follow farther behind."

Jake had stopped blowing bubbles while they were hovering, hidden in the clouds. He opened his backpack and took out his rope and the duct tape. "What if we use all our ropes, tape them all together? Then we could tape one end of the new long piece to Douglas and the other to the basket."

"That just might work," said Grandma.

Everyone opened their packs and took out their ropes and tape and got to work. Within a few minutes everything was all set. The ropes were taped together. One end was taped to the basket the other to Douglas the Dragon.

"That was a terrific idea," Grandma said with a smile. "Please fly slowly Douglas. Don't flap your wings hard or we might tip."

"Okay," said Douglas and away he flew out of the clouds and across the bright blue sky.

Everyone got out their binoculars and looked down and all around as the land disappeared and the ocean appeared below. Everyone was getting excited with anticipation of visiting Runaway Island.

Douglas flew fast, yet he always made sure his wings made smooth motions through the air so they wouldn't shake or tip.

Nearly two hours had passed when they spotted a large beautiful island. Douglas looked over his shoulder and told us, "Runaway Island is just ahead. We will be landing soon."

The island was big. It looked huge even from high in the air.

The island was edged with about 1,000 feet of sugar white sand beach. Then there was lush green grass and lots of assorted beautiful flowers. There were trees, tremendous trees. They reached high into the sky.

They slowly landed on the beach. On closer inspection the trunks of the trees looked like red woods. They had large arm like branches reaching out in each direction. The leaves were dark green and hung down like weeping willows. Nestled in the branches were large beautiful tree houses. They were awesome.

Plop. We were safely on the beach. "Lets tie up the balloon and unhook the rope from Douglas. Everyone put on your jackets. It is a little chilly and grab your backpacks. We all have to stay close together, " Grandma said.

"Okay," chimed Noah, Hope and Jake.

"Follow me," said Douglas smiling. "I will take you to see the Professor. He is the wisest of all Dragons."

Grandma took hold of Noah and Jake's hands and Hope held on to Noah. They weren't scared. They were excited. They knew they were ready for anything because they had each other. They were an unbeatable team.

Off they went with their packs, wearing happy smiles as they followed Douglas the dragon to meet the Professor.