The Deep Dark Ocean (The Dragon In The Library Book 2) - I.P. Mizzaz

The Deep Dark Ocean (The Dragon In The Library Book 2) by I.P. Mizzaz

Book excerpt

“Land Ho!” shouted Amelia as she looked through the end of an empty paper towel roll. She leaned out of the blanket fort, gripping the couch to keep from falling. “How fast are we moving, Captain?” asked Amelia.

“About four knots!” yelled Oliver. “I think.” He didn’t know what that meant. But he knew it was something someone on a ship would say.

“Swab the poop deck, Max,” said Oliver. Max wagged his tail, then ran out of the blanket fort towards the stairs. Oliver glanced over his shoulder. Oliver and Amelia’s mother was coming down the stairs.

“Ahoy!” shouted Oliver, “Something approaches from the starboard!” He saw his mom smile.

“Oh!” their mom said, “and what do we have here? A couple of pirates, I see!”

“Yeah!” said Oliver. Oliver thought that pirates were cool.

“Be the sea monster, mommy!” said Amelia, “Like this!” Amelia held up a book. The cover of the book had a picture of a ship on it. There was a giant tentacle coming out of the water next to the ship.

“Oh, like that?” said their mother. She made a scary face. She stuck her hands out in front of her. “I’m gonna get you!” said their mom.

Oliver laughed. “Sea monsters don’t talk, Mom!”

“How do you know?” she said, “Have you ever met one?” she said, smiling.

Oliver thought about that. “No,” he admitted. His mom smiled again, then made a scary face.

“Here I come!” She ripped the blanket off the top of the fort.

“Ahhhh!” the children screamed in make-believe terror.

“The ship is sinking!” yelled Amelia.

“We have to repair it!” Oliver yelled back.

Max barked. His tail wagged. He was getting excited.

“I think that’s enough for now,” said their mom, “You two have school in half an hour. Let’s go make some breakfast.”

“Aww, man,” said Amelia. Oliver ran to help his mother make breakfast.

Oliver and Amelia spent the entire school day thinking about Mizzaz the dragon. They couldn’t wait to go to the library after school.

During recess, Oliver tried explaining the Big Bang theory to his friends from science class. It was tricky without being able to show them. He decided he would ask the librarian if he could bring his book to school. He wanted to share what he learned with the other kids.

Amelia spent her recess talking about sea monsters. “I’m going to see a sea monster later,” Amelia told anyone who would listen. She was very excited to meet with the dragon again.

The children were so excited when the school day ended. They decided they would run all the way to the library.

“Ready?” asked Oliver

“Set!” said Amelia. She crouched like the runners on TV.

“Go!” they both said together.

They took off running. They ran. They pumped their fists. The library was getting closer. Still they ran. Oliver started to slow down.

“We’re almost there,” Amelia said happily.

“Almost there,” he repeated, breathing hard. He felt his legs getting tired. Why was he doing this? He could just walk the rest of the way. He slowed to a walk.

Amelia kept running. She was breathing hard. Her legs felt tired. She ran anyway. Finally she made it to the library. She leaned on the building. She started to catch her breath. She saw Oliver walking up.

“I did it!” she cheered.

“Yeah. So what?” said Oliver, frowning. He was upset that he hadn’t tried harder.

Amelia laughed. “Don’t be like that! I did it is all!” said Amelia. She was proud of herself for trying so hard.

“You’re right, Amelia. I’m sorry.” said Oliver, frowning.

“It’s okay,” she said happily, “Let’s go see Mizzaz!”

Oliver smiled. “Yeah!” he said.

Oliver opened the door for his little sister.

The librarian was at his desk reading a book. He finished the paragraph he was reading, then marked his place with a bookmark. He looked up. “Hello there, little ones,” said the librarian.

“Hi!” they both said in unison.

“We’re gonna read about pirates and sea monsters!” said Amelia.

“Oh my!” said the librarian, smiling.

“Do you have any books on pirates?” asked Oliver.

“Indeed I do,” said the librarian. “Are you familiar with the Dewey Decimal System?”

“No,” Oliver admitted.

“Nuh uh” said Amelia, shaking her head.

“As I am your librarian, it is my duty to explain it to you,” said the librarian, cheerfully. “The Dewey Decimal Classification, or simply, the Dewey Decimal System,” he explained, “is a system for organizing books within libraries. Most of the libraries in the country use this system. It’s not perfect, by any means, but it is helpful for finding books.”

“The nine hundreds are Geography and History. I believe pirates are under nine-ten point four,” said the librarian.

“Wow!” said Oliver, “How did you know that?”

The librarian ran his fingers through his long gray beard, “I’ve been a librarian for quite some time,” he laughed.

“Where’s nine-ten point four?” asked Amelia.

The librarian smiled. “You have everything you need to find it.” Then he opened his book. He continued reading from where he left off.

Amelia looked at her big brother. “We got this!” said Oliver.

“Yeah!” said Amelia.

Amelia and Oliver walked through the rows of bookshelves. Oliver scanned the labels on each row as they went by.

“Six hundred, seven hundred, eight hundred. There!” said Oliver, pointing “nine hundred!” The row was labeled nine hundred. Below that, was written Geography and History.

“Look,” said Amelia, “Pirates!” The shelf had many books on pirates. There were also books on sunken treasure, shipwrecks, and the Titanic. Amelia grabbed the book titled Pirates. “Let’s see if Mizzaz will take us there!” said Amelia. She pointed at the pirate ship on the cover of the book.

“I don’t know,” said Oliver nervously. He was afraid of pirates. “I don’t think I want to meet a pirate!” said Oliver.

Amelia laughed. “Don’t worry. Mizzaz will protect us!” she said. They walked to the reading nook. The statue of the dragon stood proudly between two seats. Oliver sat in one, Amelia sat in the other. She extended her hand and touched the statue. It was cold.

“Will you please teach us about pirates and sea monsters and stuff?” she asked sweetly. Nothing happened. They waited a moment. Still, nothing happened.

“Maybe you have to say it as a wish,” Oliver wondered.

“I wish you would teach us about pirates and sea monsters and stuff,” said Amelia. The dragon statue stirred. His head turned towards them.

“Mizzaz?” asked Amelia.

“Be careful what you wish for, little ones,” said the dragon statue.

Suddenly, the dragon was growing bigger. The room around them started to fill with water.

“What’s happening?” cried Oliver. He looked towards the librarian, but that part of the library was gone. Water surrounded the library nook on all sides. The room was dark. Oliver looked up. Light blue water was above him. He looked down. Dark blue-black water was below him. Was he under water?

“Where are we?” Oliver cried. He was starting to panic.

“We are in the sea,” said the dragon, “Where else will we find pirates and sea monsters?” he laughed.

“I’m scared,” said Oliver.

Amelia laughed. “Why?” she said. “We’re with a dragon!” She looked around at all the water with wonder and awe.

The water was splashing above Oliver’s knees. Amelia was almost up to her waist in water.

“What do we do?” Oliver asked, trying to sound calm.

“I could give you gills,” said the dragon, “and perhaps fins.”

“What?” asked Oliver. “I don’t want to be a fish!”

“Can I be a mermaid?” asked Amelia.

The dragon laughed, “What a marvelous idea!” he said. As he said that, Oliver felt something unusual happen on the sides of his neck. He reached for the spot. He felt strange slits on each side of his neck. He looked at Amelia. She had strange slits on her neck too. He realized they were gills!

He saw Amelia’s legs buckle together. At the same time he felt his legs forced together, as if by magic. Scales began to grow on his legs. The scales spread out over his legs, spreading over his pants. Soon his legs were covered in scales, and his feet had become a flipper. It looked as if he had a mermaid’s tail! He fell over into the water. He saw Amelia fall too. Her legs had also become a tail. Oliver held his breath.