(5) The Professor


The flowers made the air smell wonderful. They were having a good time. Even so, Grandma knew this was serious business.

She wasn’t sure what was going to happen when they met the Professor. She was trying to think of things she might say. Just then her thoughts were interrupted by Douglas. He was pointing, “Up ahead is the Professor’s House. We’re almost there.”

They had expected the Professor would have the most magnificent house of all.

To their surprise, in front of them, nestled in the tree was a log cabin.

It was beautiful but certainly not the castle type house they expected. A rope was hanging down from the branches. Douglas pulled it. As he did music filled the air, beautiful music.

Soon a small dragon came to the door. He wasn’t brightly colored like Douglas or Max or the ones that had been peeking out the windows and doors. He was brown with bright blue eyes. His wings were white, lots of little pure white feathers. As he stepped out on the porch it was evident that he had a dynamic and confident presence.

“Hi Douglas, what brings you here? Who is with you?” asked the Professor.

“Professor, I would like to introduce Grandma, Hope, Noah and Jake,” announced Douglas. As each was introduced they smiled and waved up to the Professor.

“It is a pleasure to meet you. What brings you here to Runaway Island?”

Grandma answered, “We have come to meet with you. We understand that Douglas has been searching for food in Texas. Unfortunately the people there have become frightened. They have never seen a dragon before. We are concerned that someone might hurt Douglas thinking they are acting to protect the community.”

“Please come up. We will sit and talk,” invited the Professor.

Before they could question how they would get up there, Douglas scooped them all up and flew them up to the deck.

Once inside they saw that the interior was similar to one they might find in their own neighborhood. The only difference was that everything was huge.

Douglas used his hand to gently lift Grandma, then Hope, then Noah and finally Jake and set them on a chair around the large wooden table. Then he sat down at one end and the Professor sat at the other.

The Professor spoke first, “Grandma, do you think we shouldn’t venture off Runaway Island in search of food?”

“No,” replied Grandma leaning forward. “I think we can find a way to help you get the variety of food you want in a safe way.”

“It was never our intent to frighten or harm anyone. We must find a way to insure everyone’s safety and well being.” said the Professor.

All of a sudden there was a loud crash and a ball came through the window.

The professor got up and picked up the ball. It had a hole ripped in the side and was now going flat fast. He went outside on the deck. Below him were a dozen dragons.

“Sorry Professor, we didn’t mean to break the window. We were just playing soccer. May we please have our ball back?”

“You can have the ball back but I’m afraid it’s gone flat. It must have gotten a hole in it when it went through the window,” said the Professor.

Hope got up from her chair, slid down to the floor and went to the Professor’s side. “I have a soccer ball they can use,” she said opening her backpack.

“That would be kind of you,” said the Professor.

Hope threw the ball to the dragons below. “Thank you,” they said. “Want to play with us?”

Hope looked over her shoulder at Grandma. “May I?” She asked.

Grandma smiled and said, “Yes.”

Hope turned back to the dragons, “May my brother, Noah and my cousin, Jake play too?”

“Sure, the more the merrier,” they yelled.

With that Hope, Noah and Jake climbed onto Douglas’ wings and he flew them down to the grass leaving Grandma and the Professor to discuss what to do.

“Would you like some orange juice? Asked the Professor, as he came back to the table.

“That would be lovely,” said Grandma.

The Professor got out 2 glasses. Dragon glasses are much bigger than people glasses. Noticing this, Grandma asked, “Do you have anything smaller? I doubt I can lift such a big glass.”

The Professor thought for a moment and then brought out what looked like a little silver metal glass, just the right size for her. “It is really a thimble. I use it when I sew patches on my sheets. It should serve our purpose.”

“Excellent,” said Grandma. “That is the kind of creative thinking we need to solve our dilemma. There must be a way Douglas can get food from McDonalds and not cause a commotion or scare anyone."

The Professor gave Grandma her thimble full of orange juice and sat down. “Yes, there must be a way,” he said.

“Thank you for the juice,” said Grandma. “It is delicious.”

With the sounds of children and dragons happily at play outside they began devising a plan.