Dragons in a Bag: Chapters 6–8

Instead, we stand before the tall stone gate while Ma examines the tumultuous sky.

Ambrose tilts his head to the side, which makes the fedora on top start to slide off.

Finally, Ma looks at me through the drizzle and says, “Here’s the deal, Jax. The real deal. The creatures L. Roy sent me aren’t lizards—they’re dragons. There’s not enough magic here to sustain these creatures. That’s why they can’t stay in Brooklyn.”

“Hold on!” Ma shouts seconds before we plummet to the ground with a shuddering thud.

“Sure. Parallel realms exist in different dimensions. Time travel is like whizzing down a slide. Crossing dimensions is more like skipping double Dutch. You got to wait for the right moment and slip in between the ropes.”

She uses her cane to beat back the dense undergrowth.

She uses her cane to beat back the dense undergrowth.

Ma glances at the lush tropical landscape and concludes, “This must be the Mesozoic era. Jurassic or Cretaceous period, I’d say, judging from the flora and fauna. What do you think, Jax?”

Ma glances at the lush tropical landscape and concludes, “This must be the Mesozoic era. Jurassic or Cretaceous period, I’d say, judging from the flora and fauna. What do you think, Jax?”

Ma glances at the lush tropical landscape and concludes, “This must be the Mesozoic era. Jurassic or Cretaceous period, I’d say, judging from the flora and fauna. What do you think, Jax?”

Last year, Vik and I got to try rock-climbing at our school. We wore harnesses in case we fell, and there were mats on the floor of the gym.

There are tufts of vegetation sprouting out of the cliff.

I grab hold of a clump of grass with one hand, and with the other I reach for the sparkling shard.

Ma pries her arm free and hands me her purse. “Hold this and be ready to go when I give the signal, okay?”

“We’ll talk about your qualifications later. Right now we need to get the transporter up and running,” Ma says.

Whatever’s lurking in the bushes behind us starts to growl.

When pedestrians walk by, Ambrose ducks his head so that the airy space where his face should be disappears from view.

My voice dwindles to a whisper, and Ambrose has to lean in to hear me confess, “I left Ma behind.”

I nod and glance at the harmless pigeons strutting along the sidewalk. It’s hard to believe that today’s birds are the last of the dinosaurs.

Ambrose sifts through his many pockets before producing two sleek silver phones.

He holds the phone to his ear even though it’s covered by the red toque pulled over his invisible head.

“But...I was supposed to help her,” I say meekly.

“Right. Well, a few months ago, they were fixing up the backyard of this run-down house on Barkley Street and they found...a phoenix!”

I make sure Kavita is still engrossed in her book.

I’ve never heard of peda, but the dragons can’t get enough of it. Kavita laughs as they nip at her fingers and jostle for more.

“Dragons don’t cry,” Vik says irritably.

“But you meddled with her dragons, and now they think you are their mother,” Vik tells her.

The two winged dragons get jealous and clamor for her attention, rubbing against her arm like cats.

But as soon as they start eating the crumbs sticking to the bottom of the bag, their scaly, writhing bodies start to grow some more.

I unzip the bag and a wisp of smoke rises from the mouth of the wingless dragon.