JAKE AND THE DYNAMO

CHAPTER 6: GIRL WITH GUNS

FIRST
PREVIOUS
NEXT

 

Jake half climbed and half slid down the ladder. Because of the hole the dinosaur had made, it was ten feet between the bottommost rung and the pavement. He carefully lowered himself from the lowest rung and dangled for a few seconds before he dropped. Such a fall would have stung if he had been in his Oxfords, but, fortunately, he was in basketball shoes. Once he was on the ground, he helped Miss Percy down by letting her lower herself onto his shoulders.

After he got her to the pavement, she gazed unhappily at her pumps. “What a day to be in heels.”

“I wonder,” Jake muttered, half to himself, “if we should try to find some kind of weapon—”

“What good would that do?”

“I don’t think these are magical monsters.” He shaded his eyes and peered again into the sky. “It looks like the tower guns are doing real damage. That means these are just ordinary, run-of-the-mill dinosaur robots from space.” Continue reading “JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 6”

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO

CHAPTER 5: SPACESHIPS AND DINOSAURS

FIRST
PREVIOUS
NEXT

 

Strict rules governed physical contact between teachers and students, but in the heat of the moment, Miss Percy apparently forgot them.

She grabbed Jake by a belt loop and the back of his collar and hauled him away from Dana. He could have fought off the teacher as easily as he fought off the little girl, but he didn’t resist. Instead, slouching with his hands in his pockets, he stared at the floor while Miss Percy clutched his shoulders, shook him, and wept.

“How could you?” she cried. “How could you?” Continue reading “JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 5”

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO

CHAPTER 4: NO LOVE LOST

FIRST
PREVIOUS
NEXT

 

As the sun turned red and slowly set over the bay, it softened the scene of death and destruction with rich hues of rose and violet. With knees trembling, and with dried tears still on his cheeks, Jake slumped under a canopy that the emergency aid workers had erected. A thick, sharp smell like lead solder hung on the air, but every once in a while he caught the smell of blood, which made his stomach lurch. A low chatter surrounded him, and people frequently brushed past. First-responders and paramedics treated those with minor injuries. Ambulances, one after another, carried away the seriously harmed. Out in the street, in neat rows, the less fortunate lay with sheets over their faces. Continue reading “JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 4”

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO

CHAPTER 3: THE SECOND TEST

FIRST
PREVIOUS
NEXT

 

Magical Girl Pretty Dynamo ran to the mouth of the alley as Jake hunkered behind the rubbish bins. Around her waist, above her poufy skirt, she wore a utility belt. From it, she pulled a blue rectangle with rounded corners, a gadget Jake at first assumed was a cell phone. Throwing it, she shouted, “Circuit Board!”

The rectangle hovered an inch above the ground and split in half. The two halves shot apart, leaving between them a sheet of what looked like blue-tinted glass full of shimmering gold circuitry. The two ends curled up to form a sort of narrow, futuristic snowboard.

Dynamo leapt onto the board, kicked against the ground, and shot into the air, leaving a trail of blue glitter behind her. Continue reading “JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 3”

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO

CHAPTER 2: ENTER THE DYNAMO

FIRST
PREVIOUS
NEXT

 

When Jake got up in the morning, monsters and magical girls were in the news again.

He dressed in his brand new school uniform and checked himself out in the mirror. This was his first time in a suit. It couldn’t quite hide his gangly frame, but it looked sharp enough, if a little stuffy for his taste. He untucked his shirt, loosened his tie, opened his top button, and folded the French cuffs over the jacket sleeves—yes, that was better. He quickly ran his fingers through his mussed black hair before he slouched downstairs and landed in his seat at the breakfast bar. Leaning across the bar, he watched his mother, who, clad in a frilly apron, fried up breakfast. With a sweet smile, she slid a steaming plate of eggs and toast in front of him. Meanwhile, his father, coffee in one hand and a folded newspaper in the other, sat on the loveseat and hunched toward the television. The light of the TV played against his thick spectacles. Continue reading “JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 2”