Jacinda Adern Answers Dragon Plea & Cameos in Riders of Fire

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern makes a cameo appearance in Riders of Fire, Eileen Mueller's award-winning series.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern makes a cameo appearance in Riders of Fire, Eileen Mueller's award-winning series.

Jacinda Ardern

Our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has received a plea from a young New Zealander to research psychics and dragons. She responded, returning the $5  the child had enclosed, and asked whether those fire-breathing mind-reading dragons actually wore suits!

Jacinda’ s cameo in Ezaara

Jacinda Ardern has a cameo in Ezaara, Riders of Fire, book 1. First, I have to explain that New Zealand is a tiny country. We all joke that we know each other, live in each other’s pockets and that there are only 3 degrees of separation here in our country.

When I lived in Switzerland, we played a game whenever I ran into a kiwi over there. We’d ask those around us to set their stopwatches and I’d ask rapid-fire questions about the new person until we found someone that we both knew. We usually managed to do that within a minute. Under 60 seconds most times. The longest it ever took was 90 seconds. The Swiss were astounded. Yeah, I can talk fast — and used to be able to think faster than I spoke! Anyway, the point is that I know Jacinda Ardern and met her and her sister Louise years ago. The last time I saw her was a few years ago for afternoon tea at parliament.

When she was appointed leader of the Labour Party, shortly before she was elected Prime Minister, I was working on Ezaara, so I named a character after her. Jacinda has a small role in Ezaara, but who knows…? Maybe in Dragon Strike it’ll be time for her to become a hero in her corner of the world, the way Jacinda Ardren is for many New Zealanders today… I’ll have to see where the plot takes me.

I’ve been meaning to send Jacinda the books, and Louise has given me a nudge, so it’s probably time to pack them up and ship them across the city to her office. I doubt she’ll have time to read them yet (so many parliamentary reports to get through), but why not?

Articles about Jacinda’s dragon fan are here.

Why Dragons?

The telepathic bond between dragons and humans is a fantasy trope that readers enjoy. Imagine having someone who understands your every thought and dream. Who can feel your emotions and desires instantly. Who can carry through the skies on their back, traversing lake-studded meadows, and soaring over snowy peaks and arid deserts.

Someone powerful enough to destroy enemies with fire. Or to toast your marshmallows on a wintry night, their scales glinting in the firelight. Someone fierce and loyal and brave and true.

Someone who loves you with devotion, but understands your weaknesses and your good intentions, even when you mess up. Someone stronger than monsters, wiser than humans, and older than the hills, yet with a strength and majesty that defies age.

Someone whose wingspan dwarfs houses.  Someone who can shelter and protect you better than any house.

That’s the fascination of dragons. Perhaps, if Victoria finds a benefactor for her dragon research, Jacinda Ardern’s next international trip could be on dragonback.

What do you think? And why do you like dragons?

Name a Spider – Winner Sue Minot

Name a Spider

I’d like to announce the  winner of the Name a Spider contest that I ran on Facebook back in March! I had meant to announce the results along time ago, but was neck-deep in edits for Dragon Rift, my latest book. Then I launched Dragon Rift at Armageddon, and life went crazy with Easter and visitors and running my writing business and publishing the NZ Youth Laureate Award winners, and suddenly… its’ May!

I mean, May? How did that happen?

The Challenge was:

I need a cool fantasy name for a venomous spider as big as a dinner plate. Any ideas?

What I’m looking for is a fantasy species name, so a fantasy name that shows it’s a huge, dangerous spider. i.e.: a species name – bitten by a/an xxx spider. This is for Dragon Rift, the 3rd book in Riders of Fire, a dragon rider medieval fantasy series… go for it! I’ll name you and call out your genius in my acknowledgements!!

The Results

You all came up with such fantastic names! Now I’ll have to write another novel full of awesome spider characters. That’s the problem with being a writer: thousands of book ideas and not enough time to write them all!

There were over 80 entries, so I had a lot of clever names to choose from.

The Winner :

Susan Minot: Gargantula ?

Sue’s name is in the acknowledgements of Dragon Rift. As a bonus, I’ll send her a copy of the paperback. And although gargantulas are only mentioned once in Dragon Rift, I’m sure they’ll skitter across the pages of Dragon Strike, Riders of Fire book 4, due out later this year.

My favourites:

I loved everyone’s ideas. I was torn in a few different directions, but ultimately I wanted the species to sound big and venomous. Here are some of my favourite suggestions. Some made me laugh, some gave me the creeps, some were fascinating. See what you think:

  • Zelda Tufue Dahya & Hail Dahya: Aracknidus Giganticus
  • Simon Voysey: Skitters
  • Kevin Maclean: Tarantula morbidius
  • Adam Roberts: Terran Chulla.
  • JoAnne Carlson: venenum diaboli
  • Mirren Hogan: Spidey McBiteyface
  • John Irvine: Coconut Joe or Freddie Fangster
  • Mary Edwards: Plateous hugemont
  • Linnie Osborne Jones: Fangipotomus
  • Daniel Potter: Bigus leggius
  • Susan Darlene Faw: Frisbee
  • Ryan Mcfadden: a Ceramihumngi (large as a dinner plate:  humungous ceramics)

All the Entries:

Below are your entries, in no particular order. If you make your way to the bottom, you’ll get a fun surprise.

  1. Linda Tepley-Kean: Baba del diablo, which translates as ‘slime of the devil’.
  2. Juanita Dickens May: gargantuanarachnid
  3. Charlie Thorman: Jätte spindeln. Swedish för the giant spider.
  4. Or spindlarna (the spiders)
  5. Stefanie Murray: Magna aranea, Latin for large spider. Or
  6. Arachne (aráchni).Or
  7. Monstrum texente tela; monster web weaver.
  8. Mary Ann: Lilith
  9. Ian Israel: Araneae Leviathan
  10. William Shane Blalock: Bloodmare
  11. JoAnne Carlson: venenum diaboli, Latin for venom devil.
  12. Josh Lanterman Hammer Back
  13. Angelica Honeycutt: How about Mors Aranea? Latin for Death Spider
  14. Eva Seyler: Platus mortis
  15. Gil De Marco: How about “Rancorous-copious” Rancorous means bitter; unforgiving. Copious means vast; taking place on a large scale.
  16. Michael F. Renegar: Gigantula
  17. Elizabeth Townsend: How about Spinne? It’s German for spider.
  18. Julian Adorney: A species, or an individual spider? If it’s the latter, call him Dave
  19. Lisa Mettler: Anansesem. . It has really cool lore behind it.
  20. Justin Murray: Nightmare
  21. Serena Dawson: Horse spider? Lol. Exaggeration is always fun.
  22. Mirren Hogan: I’m guessing Spidey McBiteyface is out?  Although I’m now using that in my WiP.
  23. John Irvine: Coconut Joe, or
  24. Freddie Fangster or do you want a sensible name?!
  25. Shirley Wine: Avondale spiders are as big as bread plates – real domicile Avondale Auckland. NZ. Or
  26. Those wacky big one on Norfolk Island that trap birds.
  27. Mirren Hogan: Arachnia? or
  28. Arachnis? or
  29. Huntsman? or
  30. Funnelweb?
  31. Daniel Potter: Bigus leggius. I’ve got a pet spider who’s as big as a dog. He’s named Blinky. (In my Dragon’s Price series).
  32. John Irvine: Loxosceles reclusa… very deadly but small
  33. Robbie Lane: Cressida or
  34. Spindel ( the later is the Swedish word for spider)
  35. Susan Darlene Faw: Frisbee?
  36. Linnie Osborne Jones: Fangipotomus. or
  37. Fangaraurus
  38. Shane Hayes: Tarantino if it’s a bloke. or
  39. Tarantina for female
  40. Ebony Jean: I beg you to call her Ebony. Please. I love spiders!
  41. Aaron Compton: Nick Cave has you covered The Atra Virago, or
  42. the Vargus Barking Spider
  43. Hayley Smith: Trencherous Arachnis (a trencher is a medieval dinner plate) ?
  44. Aaron Compton: Araneae Somnumexterreri – nightmare Spider
  45. Alison Stuart: Fluffy
  46. Angela Oliver: One of my characters had a pet spider called Fluffy.
  47. Mary Edwards: Plateous hugemont
  48. Melinda Szymanik: Huntsman is big and scary so some variation on that?
  49. Annemarie Mead: Dobelix from Lachlan
  50. Denika Mead: Sounds like a cool character, I can’t wait to read it! What about ‘mortiferun’?
  51. Wendy Vella: Spidersaurusrex
  52. Renee Jaye Lyons: Ansidium mortius
  53. Alicia Ponder:  Depends on what you want the spider to do – trapdoor – webs – etc I reckon choose one the family names: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_taxonomy then go for a species name like armida or morteus. Or a species name of …ebenum – for Ebony 🙂 Spider taxonomy – Wikipedia (Ebony Jean’s comment: awwww yeah! #TeamSpider)
  54. Susan Minot: Gargantula ?
  55. Ava Fairhall: Mix and match with these: Shield crawler, or
  56. colossal harvestman, or
  57. disc spinner, or
  58. orb weaver
  59. Virginia Taylor: Michael
  60. Bronwyn Norman: Venomous maxima, but people call it ‘Carol’
  61. Natasha Kenyon: TEmperor
  62. Zelda Tufue Dahya: Aracknidus Giganticus (Hail came up with that! He has been a Spiderman fan since he was 2yrs old)
  63. Eric Corrington: Peteroid Parkernid
  64. Ryan Mcfadden: a Ceramihumngi. I took the word for large and the start of the word Ceramic seen as as large as a dinner plate…
  65. Tania Torea: Ingensaranea Literally two Latin words meaning huge spider Or Ragnoenorme
  66. Peter Friend: Troll Hands – named after their supposed resemblance to those of mythical (or are they?) eight-fingered trolls, or so parents tell their children…
  67. Nicky Curran: Zorboct.
  68. Silvia Brown: Plato, means plate in Spanish and is the first thing that came to mind so I am sticking with it. Plus wasnt that the name of an Ancient Greek philosopher as well? A philosophical ceramic spider!!!
  69. Martin Riesen: What kind of a name are you looking for? A pet? (Fred), More funny? (Spidermax). Medieval? Arachnia Tantus
  70. Simon Voysey: Skitters
  71. Meg Jolly: Empress Widow?
  72. Jean E. Lane: The “Freakindead” spider.
  73. Matt Whitaker Jeff. Or Dave.
  74. Kevin Maclean: Tarantula morbidius…
  75.  Moya Bawden: Tantunab – Sanskrit
  76. Gary Freedman: Puppy
  77.  Adam Roberts: Arachadonis. Spider with a six pack…
  78. Adam Roberts: Arachadonis Rex. Front legs are too small to do anything useful…
  79. Adam Roberts: Terran Chulla.
  80. Eric Corrington: Aralob.
  81. Deryn Pittar: Archnia gigantus

Wow, you made it to the end of that humongous list of scary spiders. Just for being brave, here’s a reward. Enjoy this fascinating video.

If the venomous spiders haven;t put you off Riders of Fire, feel free to pick up  a copy here. Your next wild adventure is waiting.

Happy New Year

Christmas flew past on cute dragon’s wings!

Cute Dragon My kids got me a cute dragon for Christmas. (Those of you who’ve been around my site since 2013, will recognize my old web banner in the background. Yep, I need to update my screen saver!) They deliberately chose a multi-coloured cute dragon so it would look like Zaarusha! Although I do think she’s a bit more fierce.

The end of 2018 was especially frantic, with mad a race to meet deadlines for several stories. It’s been a great year. The Riders of Fire series has been racing off the shelves in our local bookstores and also off the Amazon shelves worldwide. The page reads on Kindle Unlimited have been soaring.

Thank you for your support. It’s fabulous to hear feedback from readers around the world who have read Ezaara and Dragon Hero and are keen to read book 3, Dragon Rift !

Happy New Year

Swiss-Germans have an expression called ‘sliding into the New Year’, which refers to whatever you did on New Year’s Eve. During the first week of January, they often ask, “How was your slide?” and, “Did you have a good slide?”

Well, I had a great slide, with a few good friends, singing karaoke until 3am! As well as writing, I’m passionate about singing and about my friendships. I’m lucky to have strong network of friends who have helped me get through many crises and difficult times.  I’m a bit of a workaholic (many writers are), but this year, I hope to spend some time with my friends and family, having fun — when I’m not locked in my office, writing my heart out.

And yes, this was a hazardous evening. Just getting this photo taken, I was nearly impaled in the nostril by a unicorn horn several times!

What will 2019 bring?

I’ve committed to writing many Riders of Fire books this year.

Dragon Rift and Dragon Strike will both be full-length epic novels. Then I’ll be writing  some shorter works about characters my readers love:

  • Dragon Healer (Marlies & Hans)
  • Dragon Mage (Master Mage Giddi)
  • Sea Dragon  (Ithsar, of the Robandi Desert)

I’ve also had many other ideas — if only I could type as fast as I can think.If you haven’t read Riders of Fire yet, you can start with my free books: Bronze Dragon and Silver Dragon. Bronze Dragon is available on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble or Smashwords. Silver Dragon is only available on my website, here and will be ready in a few days! So sign up to get this exclusive prequel novelette.

I hope you have a great 2019 with lots of adventures and happiness.

Check Out the Photos – NZ Launch – Riders of Fire

Riders of Fire Launch Photos

We had a great Riders of Fire launch today, with archery, sword fighting, dragon crafts, a treasure hunt and medieval costumes. It was wonderful to see everyone having fun and really cool to share Dragons’ Realm with them.

Giant John led us in archery.The target?

Well, here he is. I don’t know what he did to deserve that role…But he performed admirably! Even though archers big…

… and archers small, took shots at him.
Luckily his body armour didn’t get pierced!
And the winner of the archery contest?

Well, here’s why Isaac did so well. Arrow nocked, sighted… and fired…… with great trajectory and even better facial expression!Our local journalist came long to interview the teens who’d read the book!

There were dragonets……and a definite cosplay winner!
Company of the Dragons sent Tara and ‘Fluffy’ to fight the people…
Giant John just couldn’t resist the challenge.
The sword fighting was intense … So was the book signing!
The treasure hunt was made possible courtesy of Ava Fairhall……who created an oversized map of Dragons’ Realm in brilliant colour……which even teens wanted for their bedroom walls! (I’ll post about the map-making journey soon!) Ava hid 5 tiny, -well-disguised treasure chests on the map… which kept everyone busy. The winner had a keen eye and a fast pen, skills needed by every dragon rider!More winners…Kids made their own dragon wings and flappable dragons……even big kids! I mean, who doesn’t want to be a dragon, right?
We had a blast. The whole community pulled together to make this happen—from my fantastic cover artist, Christian, in the Philippines, to my family, the archers and human target, our sword fighters,  map maker, editors, critique partners and caterer! A big THANK YOU to everyone who made this launch possible. A special thank you to my business partner, A.J. Ponder, my teen beta readers Ash, Lisa and Denika, and all of my readers and reviewers! Without you, none of this would be possible.

To all of my readers: enjoy your adventures with Riders of Fire!

Ezaara & Dragon Hero, with Dragon Rift & Dragon Strike in 2019.

Don’t miss out. Join my reader’s group here, for my free Riders of Fire stories, Silver Dragon & Bronze Dragon, coming soon.  Thanks again for being part of this wonderful, supportive community.

1 More Sleep to Go until Riders of Fire Launch!

1? Only 1 sleep? Wow! I’m so excited! Saturday is the launch of Ezaara & Dragon Hero here in NZ

Both books start in Lush Valley, where it’s a crime to even talk about dragons…

When Ezaara imprints with Zaarusha, Queen of the dragons, she’s whisked off to Dragon’s Hold. Read more about her adventures & Dragons’ Hold here.

About Dragon Hero

Tomaaz doesn’t believe in dragons, until the dragon queen abducts his twin sister, Ezaara. When she goes missing, his parents reveal dangerous family secrets. That night, his father is wrongly imprisoned while his mother heads deep into Death Valley to atone for a dreadful crime.

To make things worse, an army of bestial tharuks attacks his village. No one is prepared. Tomaaz doesn’t know who to save. Should he rescue Pa from prison, help the villagers, or follow Ma into enemy territory? Or should he save Lovina, the abused daughter of a traveling merchant?

Tomaaz has to act fast, because Commander Zens and his clone armies are marching through Dragon’s Realm.

 

And what about Last Stop? Why is it called Last Stop? And who lives there?

Come and find out, at the launch of Riders of Fire tomorrow in Wellington! Archery, sword fighting, cosplay, dragon crafts, the treasure hunt and more!

Riders of Fire Book Launch

Ezaara and Dragon hero are available on Amazon for the next week for 99 cents only!

4 More Sleeps to Go! Riders of Fire Launch!

The books! The books are here! So exciting!

Riders of Fire have landed!

Imagine my surprise when I got home from work and found nine boxes and  a poster roll sitting in my porch among the muddy gardening gumboots!

So I opened a box and Dragon Hero leapt out, roaring! Well, okay Maazini wasn’t roaring, but maybe I was! By the way, this blog post is brought you courtesy of the exclamation mark! Oops, there goes another one!

Not one to let her twin brother have all the fun, Ezaara thought she’d get in the action, too!

Yes! they’re home at last! So, why all the raving and exclamation marks?

It’s been nine and a half years since I started this series. Years of plotting planning and scheming to bring these babies into the world. Don’t panic, you won’t have to wait years for Dragon Rift, book 3 in the Riders of Fire series. It should be out in the first quarter of 2019.

Ezaara and Dragon Hero will be the guests of honour at the Riders of Fire book launch in Wellington, New Zealand (yes, that’s Middle Earth) this Saturday. We’ve hired a bowling green to host you (yes, you’re really the guests of honour, not the books) so everyone can have a turn at archery and sword fighting. Hopefully, no foam swords will be harmed in the launching of these books!

Here’s the bowling green, just waiting for us! Come and brighten up the green with your favourite costumes, archery and sword fighting skills. We will have a few extra costumes for people to try.

With only 4 more sleeps to go, I thought I’d share an article from the Brooklyn Tattler, our local magazine. (It’s actually 3 sleeps here in NZ, but 4 in the USA—I missed posting this yesterday).

For those keen on seeing the map snippets, I’ll be posting one later today in the ‘3 sleeps to go’ post.

Brooklyn Tattler Eileen Mueller

Have fun and see you on Saturday, if not in person, then afterwards, online!

5 More Sleeps Until Riders of Fire Launch

Dragons Realm - Dragons' Hold from Ezaara, Riders of Fire

Yes, there are only 5 more sleeps to go!

Riders of Fire Launch: Saturday, November 17, 1:30pm-3pm

Join the Facebook event here

The Wellington launch for Riders of Fire, is this Saturday 17 November. The New Zealand paperback editions of Ezaara and Dragon Hero will be winging their way home with happy readers!

But that’s not all. The Riders of Fire launch is going to be great fun.

Kicking off with archery with John Turner, the afternoon includes prizes for best archer and swordsperson, sword fighting demonstrations from Company of the Dragons, a costume parade, and readings from Ezaara and Dragon Hero, the first two books in the Riders of Fire series.

It’s cosplay time! So, come as a dragon, a fighter, or anything you like! You’ll also get a chance to duel with the pros! (Foam swords provided). There might even be real swords (blunted) on display.

There will also be crafts for those who’d like to create their own dragon. A variety of costumes will be available for use on the day, as well books for children and young adults. You can even take selfies in front of a castle with a dragon!

Riders of Fire Book LaunchIn the lead up to the launch over the next 5 days, I’ll be showcasing Dragons’ Realm, the world of the Riders of Fire Series. So, I’m sharing snippets of the map created by talented Ava Fairhall, who will also be there on the day, should you have any questions about creating your own fantasy world.

Here are some of the snippets I’ve posted on Facebook already.  Dragons Realm - Dragons' Hold from Ezaara, Riders of Fire When Ezaara imprints with Zaarusha, the Dragon Queen of Dragon’s Realm, she’s swept up in a blaze of emotion, and must  abandon her home, family and everything she knows.

Zaarusha sweeps her off to Dragons’ Hold, the home of tough dragon masters and riders, where she’s tested as the new Queens’ Rider. Luckily, she’s assigned a  dragon master to help her. Although rumors say she’d be better off with the enemy than Master Roberto.

Roberto grew up in the deep South in Naobia, where his father, Amato was captain of the green guards, the dragons who protect the southern borders of Dragons’ Realm. But Amato hid the darkest of secrets.

Broken by his father, Roberto flees to Dragons’ Hold with his sister Adelina. He works hard and becomes a dragon master, using the strange talents gained through his father’s treachery, but his legacy haunts him every day.

One night, Ezaara, an untried, untrained and ignorant girl from Lush Valley, of all places, turns up, claiming to be the new Queen’s Rider. Not if Roberto can help it. He’s determined to find her weaknesses and cast her out to die in The Wastelands. But to do so, he has to use the very talents he hates.

See you on Saturday!  If you’d like an ebook as well, both ebooks, Ezaara and Dragon Hero,  are still 99 cents until after the launch.

Chatting with Sherri – dragons!

Sherri Rabinowitz & Eileen Mueller talk dragonsToday, Sunday, at 3pm New Zealand time, or Saturday 7pm Californian time yesterday, I’ll be on air with Sherri Rabinowitz on her show on Chatting with Sherri, hosted at BlogTalk Radio.

It like being a time-traveller, speaking on radio today and knowing that people in America will be hearing us yesterday! Yeah, we kiwis always laugh at the confusion that our timezone creates in the rest of the world! Luckily, when you visit Sherri’s site, your local time shows so you’ll know when to tune in. Pop over and try it!

Sherri and I haven’t caught up for while, so we’ll be discussing all things dragons, including Ezaara and Dragon Hero, the new books in my young adult Riders of Fire Series, and why people like dragons.

You may even discover the crazy hobby I had that inspired me to write about dragons, a hobby that took me to Switzerland, where I met Kurt.

Enjoy the show and I’ll enjoy chatting with Sherri!

Ezaara and Dragon Hero, books 1 & 2 in Riders of Fire, a young adult dragon rider series by Eileen Mueller

99c Adventures for a few days only – Dragon Hero & Ezaara

Riders of Fire, Young Adult dragon adventures, a wild ride of thrills and danger, Ezaara Book 1, Dragon Hero book 2 by Eileen Mueller

 

99c – only for  a couple more days

Get in quick! Not 99c for long!

No 1 & 2 on an Amazon Hot New Release list

Riders of Fire - cool dragon series Amazon hot new release

Dragon Hero is here! Book 2 in the Riders of Fire series is on pre-sales, going live on Nov 8. For the next few days, copies are only 99 cents.

Ezaara is also on sale at 99c, but not for long.

If you love dragon adventures…

If you’ve always wanted to read one of my books…

If you need a good read…

In Lush Valley it’s crime to even talk about dragons… read more about Ezaara

Tomaaz never wanted to be a hero, but when his sister disappears with a dragon, dark family secrets thrust him and his entire village into danger…  read more about Dragon Hero here.

Have fun in Dragons’ Realm!

Summer Blog Hop July 2018 – Free Story

Suds and Scales

This story is brought to you compliments of the Summer Blog Hop. Feel free to visit the links at the bottom of this page and enjoy stories from many other authors.

If you like Suds and Scales, there are more of my fun dragon stories for kids in Dragon Tales.

Summer Blog Hop

Suds and Scales

“Get in that bath,” Mom insisted. “You’re dirtier than a worm in a mud puddle and smellier than dad’s gym shoes.”

I stomped into the bathroom and slammed the door. What was wrong with a bit of dirt? It was all natural, no additives and definitely no refined sugar – another thing Mom was always going on about. I was only going to get dirty again tomorrow.

Peeling off my sweaty socks, I tucked them in the cabinet behind the shampoo, instead of in the hamper. Hopefully Mom wouldn’t sniff them out – I only had one pair of socks in my team’s color and I needed them for my football game tomorrow.

Mom rapped on the door. “I can’t hear the water running.”

Sighing, I turned on the faucet.

“Use soap,” she called. “No cheating.”

I tipped some liquid soap into the bath. Soap was evil, but if I had to use it, I might as well have bubbles. When the water was deep and sudsy, I dumped my clothes on the floor and got in. Wrinkling my nose at the floral stench, I looked down. There were so many bubbles, I looked like a corpse-less ghost, or an alien with froth for a body.

“It’s not fair,” I moaned. “Why should I have to wash every day?”

The toilet seat clunked.

I turned so fast, a mini tsunami sloshed onto the floor.

Nothing was there – except the clothes I’d dropped and the water I’d spilt. Nothing that could’ve made the toilet clunk. And now my underpants were swimming happily in the aftermath of my tidal wave.

I lifted my right knee above the water and scrubbed it with the washcloth.

Clunk!

I whirled back. Oops, another flood.

Before my eyes, a long claw slid between the toilet seat and lid.

My heart thudded, like I was running for goal.

Two more claws reached over the edge. A scaly limb slithered out and flung the lid open with a crash. Another taloned limb grasped the seat. With a grunt, a dripping head emerged from the toilet!

“Whoa!” I yelled, as a little dragon clambered out and perched on the seat. It was green with baby-blue eyes and had an odd crest sticking up on its head. Luckily I had lots of bubbles or that dragon would have seen too much.

“I heard you yell,” called Mom. “What’s going on in there?”

Mom would really flip out if she saw this little guy. “Ah… I dropped the soap. That’s all.”

The dragon shook itself like a dog, spraying droplets everywhere. Dribbles splattered the mirror, ran down the walls, and landed on the towels. Yuck! Germy toilet water was all over the place. I eyed my towel on the rail. I’d have to remember to get myself a fresh one.

“What are you doing?” the dragon’s voice was tiny.

Had I heard right? Had it really spoken? “W-what did you say?”

“What are you doing? Is it fun?”

“Well, I’m getting clean, and no, it’s not fun. I hate it.”

“What’s that foamy white stuff? Does it taste good?”

“Depends if you like roses.” I picked up a handful of bubbles and blew them over the floor.

“I don’t know if I like roses.” The dragon leapt off the toilet, pouncing on the foam, its talons slithering across the slippery tiles. Its feet got tangled in my clothes, sending it tumbling. My undies flew up in the air and, as the little critter sat up, landed on its head. What a sight: baby-blue eyes peeping through the leg-hole of my dripping undies, its wee dragon body covered in soap suds.

“That was fun,” the dragon said, and leapt into my bath, the undies floating away.

“Aagh!” I jumped out, skidding on the floor, and landed in the mess. “No way, little guy. You’re dirty! You’ve been swimming in the grubby toilet.” I snatched my towel to cover my private parts, then realized, too late, that my towel was damp – with toilet water!

Rummaging in the cupboard, I dropped the filthy towel and tugged a fresh one around me.

The dragon was diving in the bath and thrashing among the soap suds, flinging bubbles around the room with its tail. “Can we play together? Are you coming back in?”

“But you’ve been in the toilet.”

It cocked its head. “Did you want to swim in the toilet too? There’s no foam, you won’t fit very well and the water’s colder. I like this warm water much better.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. The toilet is germy, so you’re dirty. You really need to wash.”

“Dirty? What’s that?”

“It means… never mind. You have fun in there for a few minutes.” I had to get the smelly toilet germs off me. I couldn’t get sick and let my team down tomorrow. Turning on the shower, I got in. Luckily the glass was frosted, so the dragon didn’t have a million-dollar view of me. I grabbed the soap and lathered it all over my body, scrubbing hard with a washcloth to make sure those germs were gone.

A small voice piped up, in the air above me. “Why is it raining inside?” The flying dragon tilted its head to stare at the ceiling. “There are no clouds in here.”

Except the thunder cloud over my head. How dare that pesky dragon peep while I was showering? The lathered soap protected me from view, but I used the washcloth too, just in case.

The dragon spied the shampoo bottle and bit it, squirting shampoo all over the shower walls.

“Hey!” I squealed.

“Sorry,” it yelped, and flew out of the shower, diving into the bath . A huge plume of water shot up, splashing the floor. Not again. There was enough water out there for an Olympic swimming event. Even enough to wash a dirty football team.

I scraped dribbles of pearly shampoo off the glass, collecting them in my palm. What a waste! Might as well use it. Mom would go nuts if all the shampoo was gone and I still had dirty hair.

In the middle of working the shampoo into my hair, those baby-blue eyes peeped over the top of the glass again.

“Would you wash my crest too?”

“Sure, in a minute.” That little dragon needed a thorough scrub all over to get rid of those poo-ey germs.

Mom knocked at the door. “Are you going to be much longer?”

The dragon dive-bombed the bath, splashing the walls and soaking the other towels on the rail.

“Are you using the shower and the bath at the same time?” Mom sounded way too curious.

I had to think fast. “I was so dirty, I need to shower and bath today.”

“At the same time?”

“Um… yeah. I’m scrubbing myself in the bath then rinsing in the shower.”

“Okay.” She sounded doubtful. “Remember to wash your hair.”

“Already done,” I called.

“Fantastic!” She sounded surprised. “But not too much longer, I still need some hot water for my shower.”

I breathed a sigh of relief as Mom’s footsteps went back down the hall. Drying myself, I pulled on clean underwear, shorts and a T-shirt from a hook on the back of the bathroom door. Luckily they were still dry.

But not for long. The dragon’s next splash soaked me from head to foot – with its filthy bathwater.

The dragon sat on the edge of the bath, its tail trailing in the water. “Will you wash my crest now?”

“Only if you stay there and don’t move while I get everything ready.”

The baby dragon bared its fangs and tugged its lips up. It was smiling – the weirdest but cutest smile I’d ever seen.

I pulled the plug out of the bath. The water – now an odd shade of brown – went down the drain with a huge slurp.

The dragon twitched, its eyes round. “Will it swallow me?”

A long exaggerated sigh hissed from my lips as I eyed dripping walls, shampoo smears, soaking towels and the ocean I was standing in. “Stay right where you are and you’ll be fine.”

The dragon froze on the edge of the bath, looking more like an ornate dragon fountain than an animal. I could imagine water spouting from its mouth at any moment.

I ran more warm water into the bath. When I turned around, the dragon was balanced on the toilet seat, drinking water from the bowl.

“No. Don’t! It’s dirty!”

“There’s that word again. What does dirty mean?”

“It means that water may make you sick.”

The dragon’s eyes widened in alarm. “I don’t want to get sick.”

“Here, I’ll help you.” I grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste and cleaned the dragon’s fangs. “You have to take care of your health,” I said. “You can’t just drink any old water.” I rolled my eyes – I sounded just like Mom.

I turned off the bath faucet and, when I looked again, the dragon’s tail was curled around my toothbrush. It stamped on the toothpaste tube to squeeze out some more.

I laughed, until it flew towards me, toothbrush still in its tail.

Clamping my mouth shut, I turned my head away, so the dragon couldn’t brush my teeth with the grubby brush it had just used for its toilet-water-drinking teeth.

“I’m fine, thanks. You can keep that brush. It’s a gift, just for you.” I grabbed a new brush out of the cabinet, hurriedly smeared it with what was left of the toothpaste, and brushed my teeth.

The dragon brushed its fangs. Afterwards, I put my new brush safely in the cabinet, so it wouldn’t end up in the dragon’s clutches.

Then I popped the dragon in the bath and soaped it well. I even shampooed its crest. I scrubbed the creature’s hide with a soft nail brush. It purred happily, turning a lighter shade of green. The water turned dark gray, not clean enough for rinsing.

Pointing to the shower, I said, “Fly around in the rain for a while, while I clean up.”

I used the wet towels to mop up the floor and walls, and rinsed the shampoo off the shower walls. Then I gathered all the sopping gear and dropped it into the bath with a satisfying squelch.

The dragon flew out of the shower, rubbing its body against a freshly-hung towel, then flitted around the room. I tossed its towel into the bath, too. I was still damp, but the bathroom was cleaner than before.

A deep rumble issued from the toilet.

The dragon’s eyes shot wide open. “Ooh! That’s Mom calling me for dinner!” It perched on my shoulder and gave me a minty-toothpaste kiss! “I’ll be back tomorrow, so we can play again.” It grabbed my old toothbrush in its talons and dived into the toilet with a splash.

I dashed over and peered into the bowl. There was nothing there.

Mom knocked on the door. “Did you hear that thunder? I think there’s a storm brewing.”

“I’m done. You can come in.”

She opened the door and her jaw fell open. “Oh! You’re clean! And you’ve cleaned up after yourself. You’ve done such a good job, I’ll make you a hot chocolate.”

“Um, I’ve already brushed my teeth.”

Mom was speechless, except for a quiet, “Wow.” She swept the towels and dirty laundry out of the bathtub.

“Oh, Mom, I think you forgot these.” I reached into the cabinet and took out my smelly socks. “I’ll need them for my game tomorrow.”

“Thanks,” she said, her eyebrows raised, as if she couldn’t believe her luck. “I’ll do the laundry right away.” She marched out, leaving a trail of drips behind her.

Outside, thunder rumbled through the sky. Was that what I’d heard? Or had there really been a dragon growling in the toilet, a moment ago? Maybe I’d imagined it. Mom was always telling me I had an over-active imagination.

As I left the bathroom, I picked up a washcloth Mom must’ve dropped. Something wet glinted against the fabric. I looked closer.

It was a green scale.

***

See Dragon Tales here. 

Dragon Tales by Eileen Mueller
Dragon Tales – short stories for kids

Summer Blog Hop stories:

Team Building Exercise, by Samantha Bryant
Another Time, by J. Q. Rose
Beginning Again, by Karen Lynn
Under The Bridge, by Katharina Gerlach
Black and White, by Bill Bush
Summer Siren, by Elizabeth McCleary
The Birch Tree, by Juneta Key
The Zoning Zone, by Vanessa Wells
Secrets, by Elizabeth Winfield