Operation G.O.P.B

Operation: G.O.P.B : Get Out of Parents’ Bed

         

There will come a time in every child’s life where he or she will use their imagination to do the simplest of tasks. Although simple and easy it might be, to them it is a very serious situation made epic. That is the story of my childhood.  This adventure was not fun, however it was indeed considered back then a life or death situation. The story brings us to my first apartment here in Chicago…





Should I wake up now? No. I probably should sleep for a little bit more…

“ Snooooorrrrreee!”

What the noodles was that?  It sounds strangely familiar somehow…

         “ Snoooorrrrreeee!”

I tiredly opened my eyes to see what was the sound was. It was coming from right next to me.

         “Snooorrreeee!”

Is it Barney? No, last time I saw him he disappeared in front of the tree house. So who is it then?!

         I slowly turned my head to see what was making that loud snoring sound. What I saw sleeping right next to me was worse than that T- Rex dinosaur from the Jurassic Park movie. Abesan the Dragon was snoring away right next to me, on the other side of the lair.

I quickly sat scrambled away from the enormous beast. It was gigantic, green, and most of all, fat. What was I doing next to him?! I looked around the room. This wasn’t where I remembered sleeping before!

I started to panic and listing off all of the possible things that could have happened last night. I could have mysteriously transported myself here in my sleep. Or Cylllia of the Morses could have trapped me here out of revenge after I accidently ate her favorite lamb yesterday. Or maybe…

“Wait!” I told myself. “Wondering what happened isn’t important. What matters now is how I can get out of here!”

The plan seemed simple by then, slowly crawl past the creature, get to the door of the cavern, and quickly get out of its territory. But by looking at the Handy- Dandy Map I had with me, the journey seemed too long and treacherous for me. I don’t know where to go! I couldn’t do this alone! I had no choice but to call upon reinforcements.

         “Pssst. Psst. Calling on Barbie. Calling on Barbie.” I whispered into my pink walk-talkie. “This is Nikki requesting for assistance.” I wait for two long moments which seem like five minutes in kid time.

         “This is Barbie speaking. What is your situation Nikki?” said a squeaky, high pitched voice. Barbie was the head of the Horiya Ops., which I was secret agent for.  The Handy- Dandy Manual that all agents were required to have, states that if an agent was in situation like mine, they were to call Barbie. Calling her meant emergency!

I sighed in relief and answered. “Um. I’m stuck next to Abesan in his lair!”

There a long pause before Barbie answered. It seemed that she somehow knew how I felt.    “Um. Where is the Lady Enchantress? Is she there?”

I looked out of a cut out window that was on the opposite wall from where the dragon and I were. The bright autumn sunlight was shining into the rock room. Usually in the mornings, the Enchantress would be out in the Great Library studying for her board exams in order to become a healer. Lady Enchantress was an old buddy of mine. She was the one who exiled Abesan the Dragon into this isolated land after the Great Night. 

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Okay.  I’ll walk you through the process but you need to be careful. The

beast absolutely cannot wake up, unless you feel like being breakfast today.”

The thought of being breakfast sent chills throughout my body. “Right!”  I answered and got ready for my orders.

“See if you can crawl past the dragon and get to the door.”

         I frowned at her “directions”. It wasn’t like I hadn’t thought of that before! The problem was that the dragon was on the side of the cavern that was closest to the opening. Getting there meant approaching the creature. One move could wake him up!

         I took a deep breath and started to crawl my way around Abesan. With each step, I stopped for two seconds.

         “ Snoorrreee! Snnnooorrree!”

         At some moments, his snoring got so high pitched that it seemed like he was going to wake up. Dragons had sensitive hearing so I had to be as quiet as a mouse. One sound might be able to get him out of his beauty sleep as I mentioned before.

         I was down at five minutes and was by his tail. Slowly, I came to a stop and kneeled. About 10 feet was covered in 10 minutes!

         “That’s got to be a record!” I whispered. “Wait till the guys hear this!”

         “Snoorrrreee!” The great dragon snored on and I quickly got back to work. 3 minutes later I was a foot away from the Abesan. My heart leaped for joy!

          I got up to my feet and turned to look at Abesan. He had a prominent mouth, like any dragon you see in movies, and teeth that were size of daggers. Suddenly the thought of being the next meal came flooding back into my mind. I started to quiver in fear. 

         “ Nikki!” Barbie’s voice filled the cavern. “What is your status?”

         I quickly switched off the communication device and glanced up for a second. What I saw almost made me pee my pants. Two hungry, bloodshot eyes were staring at me. For two minutes we stared at each other. He had eyes full with not only hunger, but hatred, with a hint of annoyance. Seeing that, I turned and fled the cave.

Behind me, there was a loud roar and thumping of wings. Hurriedly, I slid down the small mountainside that the dragon’s lair was in. Debris flew all around me as I flew by. Once my feet touched the grassy land, I took off running into the thick forest that laid in front of the mountain.

I sprinted through the forest, dodging trees and small critters. I could see and hear Abesan fly around. He was definitely searching for me and by the way he was scanning the trees, I could tell that he was not going to give up easily.

“This is not good!” I said and stopped running. I backed against a tree and took out my walkie-talkie.

“Barbie! Barbie!” I called after I switched it on.

“Thanks for cutting me off!” Barbie yelled at me. I had broken the biggest rule in the lair by switching off the walkie-talkie. I would in big trouble when I got back.

“Sorry, but I got bigger problems right now. Abesan is on my tail and I have no way to get out of here!”

There was a moment of chatter on Barbie’s side before she answered. “I sent a yewer to your location. It is waiting by the Batsti River for you. Hurry!”

I shook my head. Barbie always says the most obvious things ever! I fumbled for my Handy- Dandy Map and found the Batsti River. According to my calculations, I wasn’t much far from it! Grinning, I folded the map with a new sense of hope and I started sprinting again.

About three minutes later, I stopped at a clearing. The Basti River and the yewer were waiting there peacefully, like the finish line of a race. The yewer is a smaller version of a dragon but they are more friendly and humbler than the dragons. 

I scanned the sky, Abesan was not far away but far enough where he won’t notice if I sprinted across to the yewer. Yes, that could work!

With no other choice left, I ran across the grassy plain. There was a loud roar from the flying beast. I pick up my pace and leaped onto the yewer. It didn’t like the fact that I almost broke its spine doing that but before it could protest, I spurred its sides.

We set off flying away from the clearing, the river, the mountain, and the lair. I twisted around to see if Abesan was still after us. There was only the peaceful wind and the clouds. I turned back around and sighed in relief. It was finally over! I patted the yewer on the neck.

“ Let’s go home.” I said to it but for some reason it still looked tense. “What’s wrong?”  I asked and look around us.

Off in the distance to the left of us, a black figure was soaring towards us and it was coming in fast. Taking no chances, I made the yewer go fast. No matter how fast it flapped its wings, Abesan was closing in fast.

Soon, it was only four feet off with its mouth wide open. It blew a ball of fire at us. The flames caught the yewer’s wings and we went tumbling through the sky, down to the depths below us. I fought and fought for control but I couldn’t get it. I couldn’t get. I closed my eyes for the last time and screamed on the top of my lungs…

“ Nikki beta, what are you doing with my nightie?”

I opened my eyes and looked around. I was holding onto my mom’s pajamas that were hanging from her closet. I blinked at her.

“Flying mommy.” I answered.

“Flying?” she stared at me in bewilderment. She debated on whether to take to a physiatrist or just let it go. She decided it was too early in the morning to decide. She scooped down to pick me up.

“Is that why you were screaming?” she asked.  I didn’t bother answering.

She walked out of the room with me in her arms. Halfway through , I saw my dad snoring away in the bed against the wall and a glimpse of a pink walkie- talkie.