"Wake up, wake up," multiple voices were sounding off in my head.
Rising up to look at the clock, I was surprised to see it was already a little after seven. I groaned and sat up patting my sleeping beauty next to me on the butt to get her going.
Once I was halfway coherent I looked at where the voices were coming from. Pink and Flower were joined by two orange and two big purple dragons hovering in the air at the end of the bed. This wouldn't be that big of a deal but Fun's bedroom isn't that big. Our two little dragons don't take up a lot of room but the Purple ones are really big.
I projected my thoughts to them, "Okay, okay guys, I'm awake. Go eat and play in the gulf a few minutes while Fun and I get going."
'Poof' they were gone, hopefully invisible, to play in the water and feast on some of the sea grasses.
Fun began stirring as I got up to use the bathroom and get a quick shower. I finished in the tub about the time Fun stepped in with me. After a quick hug and kiss she said, "Wait till you see the living room and kitchen. You're not going to believe it."
Her comment was confusing but I was still too sleepy to think about what she said. I dressed then walked into the kitchen. "Hmmm, what's that smell?"
"Oh shit, that's nice. I guess we didn't say not to do it but they still had a lot to do out in the trailer."
I opened the back door and was shocked to see the trailer completely painted plus there were cute little decorative shutters on each window in a different color. I suppose a white trailer with pink shutters and door goes okay. There is the question of where did they get the pink paint.
Inside the trailer, every room was painted and there was new carpet on the floor. The place was really nice looking inside. All we needed was some furniture and it would be a great place to live.
Back in the kitchen Fun was touching the newly painted cabinets and looking at the new linoleum on the floor. "Where did they get this stuff? How did they get this stuff?"
In the living room the walls and ceiling were painted the same color as before, white. Since there was no change in appearance, there wasn't any real objection to a fresh paint job.
Fun said, "When did they have time to do all of this? When we went to bed last night the six of them were all watching one of those Mr. Fixit videos."
Mom's voice boomed in our heads, "You're little and big friends decided you needed some work done in the house. After they finished the trailer, they went to work in the house. You're lucky they didn't move you out of the bedroom and paint that too."
"Where did they get the pink paint for the trim on the trailer? Where did the carpet and linoleum come from?"
Mom didn't respond so I vocalized a little louder, "Mom, where did the carpet and linoleum come from?"
Mom's normally booming voice came in a near whisper, "I didn't know it but they went to the Home Depot you went to yesterday and did some shopping."
Fun was standing in the kitchen with her fists on her hips, "They can't do that. That's stealing. We can't have dragons spiriting away merchandise from stores in the middle of the night."
"I've already told them that it was wrong to do that but it was already done. I was watching your boat when they were shopping."
I was curious, "Is there something wrong with the boat?"
"No, everything is fine. We forgot to fill the tanks with fuel and they ran out last night. We had to fill the boat up from some tanks that were down in Mexico."
"How did you pay for the fuel, Mom?"
"Umm, we didn't. These tanks were from the place where that trawler came from. Lots of men with guns are all around the place."
I had to ask, "So then, how did you get the fuel?"
You could hear the smile in Mom's voice, "I made the tank invisible then just took it. When I finished filling up the boat I put the tank back on shore."
Fun and I looked at each other with Fun rolling her eyes. "Okay, I guess there's no harm done for that but you have to tell all of your critters that they can't just go get whatever they want. We have to pay for it."
Mom was still talking quietly said, "I'll fix it with the store. It'll be okay. They won't lose money."
Fun said, "Thank you Mom but I don't want to know how, just do it."
We ate our cereal and were ready to go to the store but we were concerned that our six friends had not returned yet. I went out to the trailer to lock the door but opened the door first to see how nice it looked one more time. The six dragons were sitting in a row, all looking a little sheepish.
"What's up guys," I thought in my head.
Flower answered, "We're sorry, we didn't mean to do wrong. We just wanted to do a little more, a little faster last night."
"It's okay guys, Mom is taking care of it. I guess I just need to teach you some of the rules we live by. Did you guys eat?"
They all were smiling now and were nodding their heads up and down. "Then let's go down to the store and get the day started."
Jill and Mindy were already at the store looking at how neat everything was. Mindy couldn't get over the fact that the dragons could do so much.
Mindy isn't a very big girl but was instantly in love with the giant purple dragons. She was running her hands down the large ridges on the store's purple dragon listening to it giggle.
Fun and Jill went over what to say to prospective dragon owners and how much they cost. Fun had me take the receipts that were in the freezer to the bank to deposit. It was some real cold cash.
At the bank, I asked about us taking credit cards and was totally confused by the time they had tried to explain everything. The bank branch manager said he would have a credit card agent come to the store this morning to explain it.
On the way back to the store, I stopped into the grocery for a big basket of greens and dark green lettuce. They were ready for me and had it at the counter waiting. Mary, the grocer's wife and cashier said they were doing a lot of extra business in snacks and things because of the extra people coming to our store.
At the store there was a telephone man there doing something on the wall where our counter is. Fun said, "I ordered a phone. If we get a credit card machine, we have to have a phone line. Besides, we need a phone for inquiries. I thought to myself, 'Guess I didn't need the cell phone after all.'
Fun handed me the piece of paper that had the information about the Jay Leno show and said, call them, see what's up. Give me your cell phone so I can call Millie to ask about an agent.
I was still trying to figure out what to say when Fun said, "Don't worry about it, Bob's agent is going to take care of everything. We only pay him ten percent of what we're paid so it'll be worth it. He says he wants to have a photographer come out to take some publicity photos of us so he can market us. We'll be like a can of peas, on display in his store."
A lady came into the store carrying some boxes. She said she had the credit card machine and would teach us how to use it. When she said she would need a phone jack at the counter, all I could think of was, "One answer creates another problem."
The phone guy was playing with Pink and Flower. When he heard what we would need, he said he would have it installed in a jiffy.
Jill, Mindy, Fun and I listened carefully to the bank lady then we all practiced doing a transaction. Not difficult but different from watching someone else do it. She taught us how to close out each day then had Fun and I sign all the papers.
The landlord, Henry came into the store carrying a book and a large folder. "Here's your corporation papers and your federal I.D. number. I'll have the bookkeeper come by to talk to you guys. Between now and then, just make sure you keep a record of every sale and all of your expenses."
Henry even went over to play with Pink and Flower a minute before he left.
By nine, the store was packed with people who had come from Corpus and the surrounding area to see and possibly buy a pet dragon. Mindy was excited because she sold two pink dragons and said, "Wow, seventy dollars commission already. That's better than trying to find people to sell my specialty to. And it's a heck of lot nicer than taking care of that fat cop almost every day."
The store phone rang and Fun answered, "Fun Dragons." She spoke for a few minutes writing furiously then hung up. "That was the agent, we have to go home and get packed. We're going to be on Jay Leno tonight. We have to put Pink and Flower in pet carriers but we will be on the show tonight. Actually the show is taped about nine here, seven o'clock out there."
We gave some last minute instructions to Jill and Mindy then hurried home with Pink and Flower happily floating along with us. What extra clothes I had was still on my boat so I called to Mom, "Can you bring me the two pair of nice pants and two shirts from the closet on the boat?"
In just a couple of minutes, an orange dragon appeared carrying my clothes. Invisibility has it's benefits. Fun packed a suitcase for us then we headed toward the city. First though we had to stop at Wal-Mart for the two carriers. Pink and Flower were not happy about them but understood. We made them promise they wouldn't cause any trouble with the airport people.
The airport traffic and parking were really confusing. The Corpus Christi airport isn't that big but all those roads with arrows pointing every which way really mess me up. We made it to the ticket counter with the dragons in the carriers with only forty minutes till flight time. Everything had already been paid for so all we had to do was go to where the plane loaded. We said goodbye to our two friends and told them in our minds to talk to us if they became lonely.
Neither Fun nor I had ever flown before so we were both very nervous. When we boarded the hostess looked at our tickets and ushered us into the front part of the plane that had big wide seats. She said it was first class. Even before we took off, the lady served us some coffee. Fun said we should probably have a drink or a beer but we settled for coffee.
A couple of hours later we were standing in the Los Angeles terminal with our pet carriers trying to figure out what to do now. There was a man standing near the door holding up a sign that said, "Dragon people." I asked him about the sign and he asked if we were Charles and Francis. Fun almost hit him and told him to call her Fran or Fun only.
The man had a big limousine and put us in the back. There we were able to let Pink and Flower out of the carriers. It was a long drive before we arrived at the studios where the Jay Leno show was being taped. We went through the same stuff we had gone through before Bob's morning show. People were putting make up on Fun and me plus they gave me a sport coat to wear saying it would make me look nicer.
My thought was who cares what I look like, this is all about the dragons. The four of us were sitting in what was called the Green room watching Jay's monologue then a girl with a headset came bustling into the room to lead us to a curtain. She told us the direction to walk out and the spots we were to stop at to wave at the audience then to go over and shake Jay's hand.
Fun got down on a knee and told the dragons, "Be on your good behavior out there. Mom is depending on us to find homes for lots and lots of dragons. Have fun but don't be too wild."
Both Pink and Flower were grinning and nodding their heads in understanding.
Jay announced us while still standing and the lady with the headset pushed us through the curtain. As we walked up to Jay, our two dragons were doing there funny walk but about two feet off the floor. Their little wings were buzzing away.
Jay Leno, made the surprise gesture by taking a step back raising his hands saying, "Wow, what kind of pets are these."
Fun said pointing to Pink, "This is Pink." Pink floated up to be face to face with Jay. "And this is Flower." Flower floated up next to Pink staring at Jay Leno.
Jay tentatively put his hand out and Pink ducked down and came up under his hand so Jay was touching her. "My goodness, this is a friendly little creature." He reached out to Flower who did the same maneuver to get under Jay's other hand.
"Let's sit and talk about these fascinating pets," Jay said taking hold of the two dragons hand and going toward his desk. While Fun sat in the chair next to Jay, the two dragons settled onto Jay's desk looking at him. Jay Leno is a very professional interviewer and asked all of the questions that would be on viewer's minds. Like, "Where do they come from?" "What do they eat?" "Are they difficult to care for?"
When he asked, "How long do they live?" Fun and I were stumped. We both answered that we had no idea but they probably had a long life span.
The next question had us stumped too. "Are you going to open up pet stores all over the United States?"
I said, "Right now we only have the one little store. Since we can only get just so many dragons, that's probably the only store we will have for a while."
Jay said, "You'll have to find enough to stock stores all over the major cities. These little guys sure are cute and I'll bet they are good companions."
When the interview was over, a commercial break came on but Jay said, "Stay back in the Green room. I may bring you out again but I want to talk to you after the show."
In the green room we visited with a movie director before he went on with Jay Leno but were able to watch the show on the monitors. They had a lady attendant that was like a waitress or bartender. She got both of us a beer plus she brought a bowl of pretzels. Pink and Flower were acting silly so the girl was laughing at them and generally being entertained.
After the show, Jay Leno came back into the Green room. Once inside he said he couldn't play with the little dragons on the set but he wanted to now. He played with them for about a half-hour before finally saying, "You better get them out of here before I steal them. Are they very expensive?"
Fun said, "The little pink guys are only three fifty and the yellow ones like Flower are only four hundred. We have two larger sizes an orange one about six foot and purple ones about ten foot tall."
"Wow, ten foot tall? That's a big pet. Aren't you afraid they might hurt you?"
I said, "Not hardly. They become very protective and when they are around, you are very safe. You would be surprised at how protective even these little guys are."
Jay smiled, "I have to get my wife to see these guys. If we had kids, I would have one right now but Mavis rules the home. She decides about pets. I'll let you know if you can send me one."
We were getting ready to leave the studio when a short guy in an ugly sport coat wearing a hat cocked on the side of his head, chewing on a long unlit cigar came up to us with his hand out, "Fran, Chuck, I'm Benny Sleezeman, Bob's and your agent. We need to talk. Let me ride with you back to the hotel so I can tell you what I have arranged."
In the limo Benny began his rapid delivery, "I've got you booked for short local interview at the hotel then Fox is flying you to New York tomorrow to be on their morning show day after tomorrow. Tomorrow evening we have you doing an interview with the curator of the Bronx zoo. All of the interviews are paid for deals. I'm trying to line up some sponsors and commercial deals for you but nothing yet. I'm just getting started."
Pink and Flower were sitting on the set just staring at Benny. Besides being funny looking, he talked so fast you had to stop to listen to him or you wouldn't miss what he said.
Fun and I looked at each other, Fun said, "I don't think we want to do too much of this. We shouldn't be away from the store for too long. The two girls there are going to be so tired of customers, they may quit if we don't get back to help them."
Benny frowned, "Well call them to make sure they can cover you for at least these next two days and we'll get you home then. You have to make money while you can. When you're hot, you're hot."
Back at the hotel Fun and I were talking when Pink's voice came into our heads, "Ask Mom what she thinks. She'll know what's right."
Fun answered, "But Mom is way down in Texas and we are way out in California about to be on our way to New York City."
Flower said, "Call her in you mind, she'll hear you."
I thought real hard, "Mom, should we go to New York? Should we be doing all these things?"
Mom's voice boomed in our heads, "You're doing everything just right. Do the interviews then go back home. I'm sure other shows will call you to be on with them soon. We're going to be able to spread dragons throughout the country very fast. Just keep doing what you're doing. Oh, you better get ready, you have the local interview in just a few minutes."
Benny knocked on our door to take us downstairs to one of the hotel's meeting rooms for the interview. A surprise in the room was Sally Forth. She came up and hugged Fun and I then said, "I didn't bring my little guys with me tonight. They are in the hotel. We should get together so they can play with each other."
When the interview began, Sally was sitting with us with Pink on her lap and Flower on mine. About every minute the two would switch laps between Fun, Sally and me. The last question the newsman asked, "How soon will you have a store out here?"
I told him, "As soon as we can figure a way to transport enough dragons all around the country. You know there isn't an infinite supply of these guys. We might have to wait a while till our supply fills up."
Sally was staying at the same hotel we were so we did get together to let the dragons all play together. Sally was in town to sing on a country and western awards banquet being held that weekend. She said she would see us back on the island soon as she wanted to get some of the bigger dragons to help out on her estate.
Fun and I, along with our two dragons spent the next three days flying to New York, doing continuous interviews then flying back home. We were so happy to drive back onto the island that we thought we never wanted to leave again.
We drove by the store thinking it would be locked up tight but the lights were still on and a crowd was still inside. We found a place to park then as we approached the door we saw a piece of paper over the five pm closing time with a big nine written in.
Mindy and Jill were happily talking to customers, taking credit cards for pink and yellow dragons then watching happy customers leave. When the two girls saw us they squealed and ran to hug us. Mindy said breathlessly, "You won't believe it. We've been selling out and then turning around and there are a dozen more little pink guys and a dozen more of the yellow ones. We keep selling and they keep appearing. Don't know how you are doing it but Jill and I are making so much money we'll probably have to retire to spend any of it. Since we have a continuous supply, we decided to stay open the last two nights."
Fun said, "It's already nine thirty, don't you think you should close soon? My goodness you two must be really tired."
Jill said with a smile, "Sure we're tired but we've taken care of the store for you guys and we're doing ourselves a favor too with all the commission we're making. Let's close and you can buy us a beer."
We closed the store and walked to the Island bar to have a beer. The bartender came over to us and said, "You two girls are being good. I told all the guys that you were not in business any more so to let you two alone. I'm happy to serve you now that you're regular customers. Franny, you and Chuck are doing good for us out here on the island. You've brought us business and you've given us our two sweet girls back to us. Thanks, the beers are me tonight."
The four of us saluted the bartender with our beers then clanked our bottles together in a toast. We sent the girls home and we took our two dragons home. Once inside the house, we all sat on the couch together. Even Pink and Flower let out a big sigh.
I suddenly had a thought and went out back to the trailer house. The lights were on and a TV was playing in the living room. In front of the TV was a dozen pink and yellow dragons with a couple of orange guys in the back. I didn't see any purple ones but that didn't mean one wasn't in a bedroom.
All of them jabbered at me talking at once. I smiled at them and said goodnight then went inside the house. As I entered the kitchen I came face to face with a ten foot purple dragon sitting in the kitchen with a big smile on his face. I said, "You're a little big for the house don't you think?"
The purple dragon got a sad look on his face and looked at the back door. "Okay, you can stay but be careful. You don't fit very well. The house just isn't big enough."
In my head I heard, "Do you want us to build you a bigger house, we can you know. We know how to build all kinds of things."
"We better not do that right away. Perhaps later when we can get a place away from people."
The big dragon smiled and nuzzled me with his big head. I had to ask, "How did you get in, the door isn't big enough for you to get in here?"
"Poof" he vanished and there was a tapping on the back door. I opened it and he said in my head, "I just get invisible and go where I want." I nodded then he did his vanishing act again but appeared in the doorway to the living room.
Fun and I left the big purple dragon and our two dragon friends in the living room watching television while we went to bed. This traveling stuff wears us out.
Editing by BarneyR