(4) Max


Grandma had lived in Florida for several years and visited many beaches there and throughout the Caribbean. Never had she seen such sparkling, pure white sand before.

When they reached the grass it was spectacular too. It was tall, dark emerald green without a trace of any weeds. The only accent on this beautiful carpet of green grass were flowers, a rainbow of big gorgeous flowers.

As they neared the trees the houses nestled in the branches became more visible. Each was unique. Each made of wood and painted in pretty pastel colors with lots of lattice and gingerbread trim.

Hope was the first to notice dragons peeking out of windows and slightly opened doors. "Hi," she said and waved.

All but one quickly disappeared.

Douglas realized what happened and explained, "Most dragons are frightened by the unknown. We have never seen the likes of you before. Don't worry when we get to the Professor he will tell them everything is okay."

"What about that one?" said Noah pointing at the window where the one dragon remained watching. "That's my friend Max. He is an explorer like me." With that Douglas motioned to Max.

Grandma, Hope, Noah and Jake stopped in their tracks as the door to the pretty purple house with yellow trim opened and a giant red and orange dragon with gold and lilac colored wings stepped out.

"Hey Douglas, what you got there?" He questioned.

"This is Grandma and this is Jake. These are his cousins Noah and Hope," replied Douglas.

"Hi there, I'm Max, pleased to meet you."

"Hi Max," Grandma, Jake, Hope and Noah responded.

"You have a very pretty house," said Hope. "I like the colors purple and yellow very much."

"Thank you," said Max. "If you don't mind my asking, what are you doing here?"

Douglas explained, "They want to help us. Seems my getting food has stirred things up. We are on our way to see the Professor."

"Well if anyone will know what to do it is the Professor. Stop back by when you're done and I'll fix you something to eat."

"I'm getting hungry," said Jake and Hope at the same time. "Me too," said Noah.

"We appreciate your generous hospitality," Grandma said "but I don't know if dragon food is edible for us."

" I have some apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries and a beautiful salad of flowers. Is that what you call edible?" Max asked.

Grandma laughed, "Yes, that is edible. It sounds delicious but no salad for us. We would very much enjoy the fruits but please no flowers."

"No problem," said Max. "We're tired of our diet of fruits and flowers too. That is why we sent Douglas out to find something else. You should have been here the other day, he brought back something called McDonalds. It was delicious. Come back when you're through with the professor and I'll have everything ready."

"Thank you Max," they all said in unison and continued to follow Douglas as he led them to the professor.