Chapter 3

The time had arrived for Fun and I to show off our new little creatures. This was going to be just a local broadcast but it was guaranteed to catch on in the bigger markets then become national.

A new creature is of interest to just about anyone. Make that creature cute cuddly and funny and the interest level skyrockets.

Fun didn't have a car so Fun and I dressed in what was our better clothes and drove to downtown Corpus Christi in my beat up fifteen year old pickup truck. The truck had some good points. It ran really good. It had good tires. It had an air conditioner that could throw out ice cubes on a humid day. And the best part it was very clean. I took care of the old truck meticulously because this was my date car when I had an excuse to take Fun somewhere.

Pink and Flower were very interested in the truck put kept sticking their heads out the window like dogs. Franny suggested we let them ride in the back but I didn't want people having an accident because of the antics of mini-dragons.

We found a place to park by seven and walked a couple of blocks to the television studio with our curious critters wearing collars and on leashes. When we walked into the building a girl and security guard met us at a desk just inside the door.

I gave the receptionist our names and then the security guard guided us through some doors and down a long hallway. We went into a door marked "Make up and Green Room" which I understood half of.

An ancient lady with more wrinkles than a pug said, "Come sit down sweeties and let me fix you up for the cameras. I'm supposed to tell you that Bob doesn't get up from behind his desk to greet guests. He's self-conscious about his height so after he has his intro and sits down, he stays there. Since you two are going on first, you'll be on the set throughout the whole show, about ninety minutes. There will be water and coffee for you and if you have to get up to use the restroom during commercial breaks, the director will give you the cues."

She introduced herself as Agnes and began on me. She put some kind of dark tan makeup on all the skin that's exposed. Agnes explained that the lights and cameras had a tendency to wash out any natural color a person has. She looked at my hair then just ran her hand across the top of my crew cut. Not much to do there.

While I was being worked on, Pink and Flower were blasting my head with questions about what was she doing to me and was she hurting me. They didn't understand what she said about cameras and lights and would that hurt. I had to keep telling them that everything was going to be fine.

Fun was another story. Agnes worked her over really good complete with some exotic eye makeup. The lady even had to put the tan makeup on the front of Fun right down her cleavage. She was careful not to get any on Fun's nice white blouse. The lady did ask Fun if she would mind putting on a blue blouse as the white one doesn't show well on TV but the blue one looks white on the camera.

Some men came in with a portable camera, lights and a monitor. They had Pink and Flower sit up on a table while they used meters on them to check their color. Our critters were perfect angels to let the men almost crawl over them while they kept checking colors. They were finally satisfied saying they had the right filters to focus on the two so we were ready. Agnes said, "It's a good thing too as I can hear the intro music right now."

We looked up at the monitor in the room and saw Bob walking on stage doing his beginning monologue. Just as he was getting ready to sit, a local famous lady came into the room. She was so easily recognized that Fun and I were awestruck.

"Oh look at those darling little creatures. Are they dogs? I think not. They look more like little dragons. Can I pet them, please?"

Agnes was saying, "Hurry now, Miss, I have to fix you up. You're going to be on soon and we don't have a lot of time."

June and Millie came in the door with June saying, "Come along now, it's time for you all to be back stage for when you're introduced. We need to show you where to walk."

We walked back out into the hall then into some other doors that had cameras and lights everywhere with people pointing and waving as Bob was still giving his monologue. There was even a small gallery that was full of what looked like the local retirement village and on the other end of the scale a local kindergarten group was seated in the audience.

We went back behind some curtains then June pointed out to where Bob was standing and whispered, "You go out from here, walk to the mark on the floor where Bob is standing then to his desk. He's not going to stand so you two must lean over the desk and shake his hand. Since there is two of you and your dragons, Fun or Franny whichever you want to be called, you sit in the chair next to the desk and you Chuck, sit on the couch next to Fun."

June looked at the two critters and said, "It's probably best they stay on the floor if that's all right."

Bob went back to his desk and right away he said, "Two of my cohorts and I were out on the South Island yesterday getting some sun when we met two fascinating people with two even more fascinating pets. I think this is a scoop ladies and gentlemen. Let me introduce to you Fun and Chuck with their pets Pink and Flower."

We walked out from the curtain to the spot on the floor then over to Bob. Fun shook his hand then I leaned over the desk and shook his too. The audience applauded plus some canned applause was added to make the crowd sound larger. There were many oohs and aahs from the audience as our little friends did their strange walk across the stage.

Fun sat in the chair next to Bob's desk and I sat on the couch next to Franny. She had Pinks leash and I had Flowers. They looked at me and asked in my mind where they should be and I said aloud, "Why don't you two sit right in front of us so people can see you."

They sat very still and straight looking regal even though their bright colors were festive.

Bob said, "I guess that there isn't much trouble figuring out which one is Pink and which one is Flower." The audience was laughing and tittering along with some canned laughter.

"So tell me, just what kind of animals are these and where did they come from?"

Fun began, "These are actually very small dragons. As you can see they have the ridges on their backs, down their tales like big dragons but the ridges are not as pronounced. Their tail is a balancing point for them as they sometimes lean back on it and wave their feet in the air when they are excited."

Fun looked at me so I would continue. "We found these guys and many like them on a small island off the coast of southern Mexico. They mostly live in the water and their diet is seaweed or greens such as dark green lettuce or mustard greens."

Bob said, "Yesterday when I saw them they were playing in the water and I saw them do what looked like flying. Were they really flying?"

Fun looked at me so I said, "If you look right here on their backs, they have small wings that are very powerful. Let me show you, 'Pink' fly up here and sit on Bob's desk."

Pink began hovering and rose from the floor to sit right on the desk next to Fun.

Fun said, "They love to have you trace their ridges gently with your finger. Let me show you."

Franny traced her finger down Pink's ridges all the way to the tale. This made Pink giggle. It was so cute it received a collective "Ahhhh" from the audience.

Fun said, "Flower, come up here too so Bob can pet you."

The yellow dragon leaped from the floor did a little circle and landed right in the middle of the desk. Flower's face was smiling and she was anxious to be petted.

Bob gently ran his finger down the more pronounced ridges and had not reached the middle of Flower's back before she was giggling and shivering.

"Isn't that something," said Bob as he looked closely at Flower. "They have very smooth skin but it feels tough. Chuck says it's very sensitive and I have to be gentle." He asked then, "Are they easy to train?"

Fun said, "Very easy. They understand quickly when you direct them to do things and obey very well. They do get into mischief often and try to imitate silly things that people do."

Bob asked, "Are they difficult to take care of?"

I said, "Not at all. We cut up their greens for them in smaller bites so its easier for them to eat. But other than that, that's all you have to do. They do need exercise so they need to go outside to walk, fly and most of all swim."

Bob then asked the question that Mom had given us an answer to, "Where can people see these guys and where can they get a pet like this of their own?"

"We don't have a store yet but we will have a store soon," I repeated what Mom had told me to say. "We have to bring some more here first. We will advertise and hopefully many people will enjoy having them as pets."

Bob said, "If you don't mind, can a couple of the little kids come down to the stage and play with the two little dragons?"

Fun said, "Sure, Pink, Flower, get on the floor so the little kids can play with you."

Both dragons floated to the floor and were obviously excited as they both leaned back on their tails waving their feet in the air. This caused the audience to laugh and applaud mixed with the canned laughter.

Four little girls came down to the set and sat on the floor in front of the dragons. Fun showed them how to touch them and how to run their finger down their backs. In seconds, the dragons were giggling and the little girls were laughing.

Bob said, "We'll be back in a minute, stay tuned for the most famous lady in Corpus Christi and more of these darling little creatures."

Suddenly there was a frenzy of activity. Stage hands grabbed the little girls and carried them back to the audience much to the objection of the little girls. Flower was concerned and smoke began coming from her nostrils. Fun and I heard Pink say quickly, "Stop that. No smoke, no fire. You have to be good. That's what these people do."

The two dragons came over and sat between Fun and my feet. They weren't very happy with the way the little kids were treated.

Fun and I each had a hand on them as Agnes came running out and touched up our makeup. It didn't feel like we needed it but I guess they thought so.

Millie asked Fun to move down onto the couch with me as the next guest would use the chair by Bob's desk.

Suddenly all the extra people vanished or stepped back to the other side of the big cameras.

Bob said, "We're back with Chuck Johnson and Franny or Fun Nardelli. Before we have our next guest out, I have to ask how you came to be known as Fun. Your identification said your name was Susan Francis Unice, kind of an unusual spelling without the E, Nardelli. I don't get it. Where does Fun come from?"

Fun blushed and said "Chuck started that, mom calls me Susan, a lot of my friends call me Fran or Franny but Chuck used the initials of Fran Unice Nardelli and has called me Fun for many, many years."

"Well that's an unusual nickname," Bob said. "I'll bet you are a lot of fun to be around."

Bob swiveled in his chair and said, "Now a treat ladies and gentlemen, we have the most famous lady in all of Corpus Christi with us this morning. She is the lady with the new platinum album out right now and has headlined at the Grand Ole Oprey many times. Let us welcome, Sally Forth."

The lady from the make up room came strutting out from the curtains but this time she was dressed in some glittery western gear with a guitar around her neck. She went past the spot on the floor, shook hands with Bob then went back to the spot.

Music began coming from some speaker right in front of the stage with Sally strumming on her guitar. She sang one of her popular ballads for the audience. I think she was supposed to be lip syncing but she sang with a beautiful strong voice. The music was soothing to our critters and they leaned back on our legs smiling.

When the song was over, Sally bowed a couple of times to the real and canned applause. Of course Fun and I were applauding and I was whistling loudly in appreciation.

Sally came back and shook our hands saying, "Thank you for your loud appreciation of that song. If I had known you would like it so much, I would have done another."

Bob said, "That would be wonderful Sally but one is enough this morning."

As soon as Sally sat down, she was reaching over to pet Flower who was sitting closest. While she petted Flower, Pink did his hop over to be in front of Sally to get her other hand.

Bob said, "Well I guess we know where Sally's interest is. They are cute aren't they Sally."

"Oh Bob, I just have to have one of these little creatures. They are so cute, so darling. I just love them."

Sally looked at Pink and said, "Come up on my lap." Sally patted her lap.

Pink looked back at Fun and I. We nodded and Pink's little wings went into action and she floated right up to be at eye level with Sally. Flower didn't want to get left out and apparently wanted to show off so she floated up, flipped over and was flying in front of Sally inverted.

This caused the audience to laugh loud enough that no canned laughter was needed.

Fun said to them, "Settle down you two. Flower sit on the chair arm and Pink settle on Sally's lap. Be good okay?"

The two creatures acted as if they understood perfectly and sat immediately. While Bob carried on his interview with Sally, she petted and caressed the two critters.

When Bob said, "I know you have to leave Sally so say goodbye to your fans and come back to see us when you're in town. Give it up for Sally Forth everyone."

As the audience applauded and the stage obvious assumed the commercial break mode, Sally said, "I ain't goin' anywhere but sitting right here next to Fun and Chuck with these darlin' little critters. You don't mind do you Bob?"

"Not at all Sally. Your contracts always say you'll only be on for fourteen minutes and then leave. I was just trying to do what I'm supposed to do."

"I won't charge you extra. I just want to play with these two adorable dragons." Sally got down on the floor sitting cross-legged with the dragons in front of her. She looked back up at Fun and patted the floor next to her and Fun moved down next to her. The two ladies were making the dragons giggle and whistle.

Make up was touched up but Sally waved Agnes off saying she was fine. Then all the stagehands vanished and Bob began again. This time he had some guy that was a local author who had written a history of local folklore. If the guy had been anymore boring he would have beat out growing grass.

When he was done, instead of him moving to the couch, the director hustled him off the set. Fun and Sally were still playing with the critters on the floor.

The last guest or in this case guests, were the little kids that were in the audience. They came down to the set all together so they could sing a special song for Bob and give him some commemorative pictures. The little kids wanted to play with Pink and Flower but the director finally was able to assemble the little ones.

When they began singing a familiar song, Sally got up and sat down with the kids and sang with them. It was very sweet. The best part was that while they were singing, Flower and Pink floated over to sit in front of Sally cocking their heads as if they enjoyed her singing.

Thank goodness the last song ended the show and Bob gave a quick close with mention of who was going to be on tomorrow. The set relaxed. The song ended and the little kids crowded around the dragons with Sally.

Soon the teacher/director, parents and grand parents were trying to move the kids away from the captivating pets. Pink and Flower loved the attention but understood the kids had to leave.

Agnes came out and began taking the makeup off my face and neck. Next she did Fun then Sally. Sally said, "You almost have to take a shower to get everything off. There's just too much of it."

We were getting ready to leave when Sally said, "I have to have your phone number. I want one of those things for a pet, maybe one of each. Are they all pink and yellow like that?"

I volunteered, "There are orange ones that are about five to six feet tall and then there is purple Barney ones that are nine to ten feet tall. The big ones can be taught to do things and can be like helper pets."

"Oh my, that does sound interesting. Here, take this card." I wrote my private number and cell number on the back.

"When you have one to sell, call me. I think I would like a yellow one too. I think if they both came to live with me at the same time it would be better. Do they get along with other animals?"

"We know they tease cats but so far we haven't seen how they interact with dogs."

Sally said, "Okay then. Get me one each and call me. I live out on the Island so I have a whole Gulf for them to play in. I might have to let them in the swimming pools too when I travel. I don't think I could leave them at home when I'm on tour. They are just so sweet."

Millie came out with two checks for us. "You two get paid for today. You each get a hundred and fifty dollars. We'll send you guys a 1099 so be sure to report it on your taxes."

June came out too and asked, "Can we call you guys again. I think you'll make great repeat guests. I heard you say something about orange and purple dragons that were bigger so be sure to let us know. We will probably call you soon anyway. You've lit up the switchboard with questions."

Fun and I put the collars on Pink and Flower and headed out. The two critters decided that they would just float along instead of their leap crawl walk. Instead of floating in the sitting position, the two looked as if they were walking as they floated along with their feet just off the floor and their heads held high. Their big thick tails were curled up most of the time but sometimes straight back.

The sidewalks were busier now and people kept stopping or pointing at the strange pets as we headed for the truck. Once in the truck, Fun and I let out a breath of relief. The TV interview had gone well and now our little dragons were on the way to becoming famous. We also had a couple of extra dollars in our pockets too. That will help with the groceries and gas.

Once back at Fun's house, Franny said, "Let's go out and talk to Mom about the show. I'll bet she knows all about it. But let's go talk to her anyway."

A large voice said, "You don't have to go out there unless you want to. I'm right here with you. Let's talk in our heads because I'm so loud."

Fun said, "I think that went very well don't you Mom?"

"Very well Fun, your little pets won over the crowd and that lady very well. I guess our next step will be for the two of you to take a trip and come back with some more pink and yellow dragons. You'll need to get a place to sell them too. You will probably need a couple of orange dragons to help you keep up the shop and if there's any heavy lifting you could use a Purple one."

I said thinking of the logistics, "That's a lot of seaweed or mustard greens. I'll bet those big guys eat a lot."

Mom said, "Not much more than the little ones. Once they're grown, they don't require a whole lot of food. They are good about not over eating but sometimes one will be a pig and get fat on you. You have to send them back to the water so he can swim it off."

Sue and I began counting our money to see how much we had in order to rent a storefront. Since it was the off season, we might be able to rent some place like the art store to sell our pets. Fun and I both thought it would be a good idea to have the store close to the house. If people wanted one of our pets, they would drive out here to get one.

We took our pets and walked into the shopping area. On a side street behind a T-shirt shop, there was an empty shop with a for rent sign. It said to see the manager of the T-shirt shop so we went to see him.

"You can't bring pets in here," the man said as we walked in.

A lady that was with him said, "Oh Henry, those are the little critters I was telling you about that I saw on TV this morning. Aren't they cute? They are just adorable."

"What can I do for you? Don't let them piss on the floor, okay?"

"They are very good about where they go, completely housebroken." I paused for a second, "We're interested in renting the store behind you. We need a place to sell these."

"I don't know about a pet store. Dogs and Cats are so smelly and you have to have fish and lizards and snakes. I don't know about a pet store."

"Henry," I said, "we're only going to sell our miniature dragons, no other type of pets. These guys don't make a mess and I promise they won't do their duty on the floor."

"The rent is not that much this time of year. Why don't I rent you the place for three months at two hundred a month? I'll throw in the electricity during this time. If you're still here when the season starts, the rent is six hundred a month plus electricity. The longer you stay, the less the whole rent will be. We'll work something out if you're still in business. Now make sure they don't make the place smell as your place is just through that wall."

Fun and I looked at each other and I dug out two hundred from my wallet. Henry said, "You two are island people so I won't charge you a deposit. Just take care of the building for me. There's good ventilation if you open the top of the doors on the front and back doors but I wouldn't leave them open when you go home. You might need to let the air conditioning run at night when it's warm."

Henry gave us some keys and we walked next door with him to look at the building. It wasn't very big but it looked perfect for what we were going to do. I asked Henry if I needed a business license and he said the only thing I really needed was a tax I.D. number and a state sales tax number. When I looked at Fun about it she just said, "We'll take care of it this afternoon."

We shook hands on the deal then went back next door to sign an agreement and give Henry the money. This is a great deal even if it was a tiny place on a side street. I didn't think we needed a fancy place with a big sign. When people found out how neat our pets were, they would beat a path to our door.

The happiness Fun and I displayed caused our two little playmates to be funny. They floated all the way home, sometimes upside down, sometimes sideways and once they did a synchronized frog leap lizard crawl while four feet in the air.

At the house I said, "No time like the present. Let's take a trip across the Gulf down to those small islands off Mexico. You know the ones that are always being washed away when Hurricanes hit, the uninhabited ones.

It was settled, Fun packed up some clothes and we packed a bunch of food then went down to the boat. After filling the fuel tanks we were off.

About fifty miles out, Mom appeared. "Why are you going all the way to Mexico?" She asked.

"If we don't go down there people will know that we didn't get our pets from there," I said defending our trip.

"True," Mom said, "but you don't have to waste fuel going down there and back. You said you don't have a lot of money right now so don't spend it."

Fun interrupted, "If we just hang around our here, someone may see us and again discover our secret."

Mom said, "I'll take care of that, if some one comes along, I'll just make you invisible like we are. It's easy you know, I just think us into another space in time. It's like we see everything that's happening but we're in a place no one else can see us. Want to see?"

Fun looked at me nervously, "Does it hurt?"

Mom laughed, "I would never hurt you two."

'Poof'

"Nothing looks any different to me," Fun said.

"Where did you go Fun? I can't see you," I said surprised that she just vanished.

"You can't see me, you really can't?"

'Poof'

"There you are. That's eerie, you just disappeared but I could still hear you. Strange."

'Poof'

"Chuck, Chuck, what happened, where did you go?" Fun asked panicked.

"I'm right here Franny, right where I was," moving to wrap my arms around her.

Strange, my arms just passed right through her. Hmmm, now I'm the one that's invisible.

'Poof'

Suddenly I was holding Fun in my arms. "There you are Chuck. That was scary, you just vanished but I could still hear you."

"I tried to hold you to make you feel better but my arms just passed right through you. I couldn't get hold of you."

We both turned to Mom, "Okay, so how do we make the boat disappear too?"

"Easy," said Mom, "If you think of the whole object to disappear, it will. To get it back, you picture the object in your mind and think materialize."

"If we think that we are invisible and we make the boat invisible will we still be on the boat?"

Mom thought for a second. "Probably, try it to see. One of you think of yourself as invisible as well as the boat, the other just watch."

Fun said, "Let me do it."

'Poof'

'Splash'

I no sooner hit the water than two large purple dragons were tugging me out of the water but almost pulling me apart trying to take me from the other.

Mom whistled loudly and they both let go sending me right back into the water.

This time Pink and Fun had me scooped out of the water and were holding me.

One of the large purple dragons came over to me and looked expressively at me moving his mouth. Then the other one who had been pulling me apart joined the first and moved his mouth as well. Pink was squeaking just before my mind was flooded with, "I'm sorry, I wanted to be the first to help you."

Another voice in my head went, "I'm sorry too. I wanted to be first."

Mom said to me, "Well now you know that if the boat is invisible you won't be on it if you're not invisible with it."

I called to Fun, "Can you hear me when you're invisible?"

Fun's voice came into my head, "I can hear you but the only way I can talk to you right now is in my head."

I asked, "Are you still on the boat?"

"I'm on the boat just as if I were visible. Sorry about dumping you into the water, I didn't know that would happen."

Fun stated, "I see you have two new Purple friends. It was funny the way they almost pulled you apart. I'm surprised our two little friends are able to carry you. They must be really strong. There's a lot to learn about our little and not so little friends."

Flower who was holding me up while Pink was underneath me as I sat on his head suddenly lifted me high into the air then sat me on Mom's back. I was sitting on the bottom of one of her broad pointed ridges that went from her head to the tip of her tail.

"Is this more comfortable Chuck?" Mom asked.

"Comfortable but scary Mom, you're so big that you can easily scare someone. If you're mad, I'll bet you shoot huge flames from your mouth."

Mom laughed then raised her head pointing straight up, "Whoosh" I huge tentacle of flame shot from her mouth hundreds of feet into the air."

That must have been some form of permission signal as just about every dragon present, raised their head and fire shot from their mouths. There was so much flame; the air around us became noticeably warmer. The sight was enough to make me shiver.

'Poof' the boat and Fun reappeared. "Wow, that is impressive," Fun said.

Mom squeaked and one of the Purple dragons scooped me from Mom's back and set me down gently onto the boat. Mom looked around and said, "You must become invisible now. A boat is coming and will be in sight soon."

Fun and I thought invisible but didn't know whether we were invisible. I asked Mom, "How do we know when the boat is invisible?"

"When you are invisible and the boat isn't, it will have a little different color to it than it usually does," Mom said. "If you can touch the boat while you are invisible, then it is too. If your hand passes through it, it's not."

This was pretty straight forward but still pretty confusing. We looked at the horizon to see one of those fast cigarette boats heading out into the Gulf the way we were going to have been going. The Gulf was pretty calm so the boat was planing up on top of the water probably going fifty to sixty miles an hour.

Franny said, "I wonder where they're going in such a hurry?"

I answered, "Probably dopers making a run. There must be a boat making a drop out here."

Mom said, "Do you want to find out?"

Fun said, "Yeah but if those guys are dope runners, they are pretty mean."

"They can't hurt you if they can't see you," Mom said.

"Yeah but my boat can't keep up with them."

Mom said with a happy giggle, "We can keep up easily and you can ride on my back. All of us are invisible so let's have an adventure while no one can see you."

"Let me throw out an anchor so the boat won't drift."

Mom said, "I'll have one of my Orange dragons stay with the boat. It will keep the boat right where it is."