The Dragon of Nottingham - The Beach Recordings - Part One

Day three at the cabana. Recording from my room.

This morning a girl at the beach poured a shovelful of sand down the back of my swimsuit. She stretched it out as far as it would go and poured it all in. Then she ran off.

My dad says it's because she likes me. Well, thank you very kindly, but don't be liking me so much. I don't know what she was thinking. There are all sorts of foul things buried in the sand. Crabs, for instance. Itty bitty creatures with itty bitty snapping claws and itty bitty sharp teeth. The last place I want to find something like that is down the back of my swimsuit.

The girl's name is Celia Sampson. She's staying in the cabana next to ours, with her mom, dad and her older brother George. George is always looking at me like he wants to pound me into the sand with his boogie board. He told me I'd better not bother his sister, or I would get it. Get what? He didn't say. But what ever it is, I don't want it.

They've been here three days and the first time I met his sister was this morning when she introduced herself with that shovelful of sand. If anyone should get it, it's her!

My mom says that Celia's in the third grade just like me. That I should have her over for a play-date.
Really? A play-date with a girl? Why don't they just tie me to a shark's fin and send me out to sea! Those girl people scare me. All, 'catch me if you can!' one minute. Then all, 'what are you looking at, fart face!' the next. No, thank you. Give me a pail and shovel and a few cubic feet of space, and I'm a happy kid.

Excuse me a moment.

Dad just knocked at the door and told me to get ready. We're going out to dinner tonight. Good thing, too. Because everything in this cabana has got sand in it, or on it. Including the food. And my dragon doesn't help the situation any. He's decided that sand makes a better mattress than the shoe box full of old socks that he's been sleeping in. So he's been bringing clumps of it into my room and dumping it into his sock-bed. I only hope it helps him to stop snoring.

I really have to go now. Mom and Dad are threatening to leave without me. They never will, though. They know that, and I know that. So why they insist on making these bogus threats is beyond me. But I'm really hungry now and will play along. Will report back tomorrow night.

"I'm ready," said Isaac.

"It's about time," said his dad. "What were you doing in there?"

"He was getting himself all prettied up for his new girlfriend, I'll bet."

"Girlfriend?" said Isaac.

"Your mom means Celia, buddy. Didn't she tell you? We're going out to dinner with the Sampson's from next door."

"Dottie, Fred and their adorable children Celia and George."

It was the 'and George' part that made Isaac cringe.

"What's the matter, son? You look a little green."

“Adorable children?” said Isaac. “One just poured sand down my shorts! And other wants to feed my head to the sharks if I even look at his little sister! Adorable is not the word I’d be using, Mom!”

“Oh, George is just being an over-protective big brother,” said Dad. “He’s probably just a fun-loving ten-year old. You two will be best buds by the time this vacation is over. I’m sure of it.”

If I live through dinner, thought Isaac.  This is going to be the longest night of my life!