BREAKFAST TIME by Rose Miller (look for me on Introduceyourself which I posted earlier today)

Eight-year old Alex Jones sat down at the kitchen table waiting for his mother to bring him his breakfast. Alex hated breakfast time because it meant less time for playing football with his friends. Breakfast time was a waste of time according to Alex!

His mother, naturally, was the best mother in all the world - except for when it came to breakfast time. She always insisted on making him eat his breakfast, even when he didn’t feel hungry, and told him that if he didn’t eat it he couldn’t leave the table. He just hoped it wouldn’t be another boiled egg today like yesterday as he hated boiled eggs.

She came to the table with, guess what, another boiled egg with a slice of toast! Yuk! She could see by his face that he was going to be awkward as usual, but decided not to argue with him today as she had an early appointment with the dentist. If he didn’t eat it then she’d let his father handle it.

‘Mum’, he begged, ‘can’t I just eat the toast without the egg please?’

‘No!’ she replied firmly. ‘I want you to eat everything in front of you and drink all your juice before leaving the table. When your dad comes downstairs he’ll expect to see it finished or else .............’

‘I know’, he interrupted. ‘He won’t let me go outside.’

‘Exactly, so get it all eaten quickly then there won’t be any problems. Now I must go or I’ll be late! Be good and goodbye! He heard the door slam behind her as she left.

Alex felt a bit sorry for his mum having to go to the dentist because he also hated going to the dentist. In fact, he hated going to the dentist more than he hated eating boiled eggs! After she’d gone he sat there staring at the boring, brown egg in the special egg cup his mum had given to him for his birthday. He liked his egg cup because it was different from the others he had. This egg cup happened to be a large, green, scaly dragon with two arms and two feet, and was made from silicone. Its tail was long and spiky and its jagged wings lay flat against its body. Its head was turned towards him and the eyes were closed as though it were asleep. Alex thought it was a great looking dragon except for the moulded egg cup holding the hot, brown egg on top of its back, which he thought spoiled the look of it somehow. He looked at the egg and stuck out his tongue wishing it would disappear.

‘Hey you up there with the fair, curly hair!’ shouted a gravelly voice that seemed to come from the mouth of the dragon. Alex looked down at the dragon in shock. ‘Yes, I mean you!’ repeated the dragon.

‘Me? Are you talking to me?’ asked Alex looking around the kitchen nervously

‘Well I don’t see anyone else in the kitchen’ replied the dragon drily as he slowly opened his big, black eyes. ‘Did I just hear you wish that your egg would disappear?’

‘Yes I did actually,’ stammered Alex.

‘I see!’ remarked the dragon thoughtfully. ‘Well just remember this, Curly Locks, somewhere not too far away a nice brown hen laid that egg especially for you!’ Alex was too nervous to answer him back. The dragon’s big, black eyes were wide open now and staring at him. It moved its heavy body around to face him and said, in a more friendlier tone, ‘Tell me, Curly Locks, why do you hate your egg so much. Is it the colour, the size or the shape?’

‘No, it’s none of those things, replied Alex, beginning to feel a little more relaxed. ‘It’s just that I hate boiled eggs. I’ve always hated boiled eggs and I always will hate boiled eggs!’

‘I understand,’ said the dragon quite pleasantly. ‘Now think about this, Curly Locks. If you had a choice, what would you like your egg to taste of?’

‘Chocolate’, replied Alex without hesitation, and by the way, my name’s Alex not Curly Locks.’

‘I knew that already,’ laughed the dragon, showing off his sharp teeth. ‘I was just joking with you. By the way, my name’s Flicker!’

‘That’s an unusual name for a dragon,’ said Alex.

‘That’s because I’m a very unusual dragon, as you will soon find out. Now my job as an egg cup is to be your friend and encourage you to eat your boiled eggs, but as you don’t seem to like them very much then might I suggest that, on this occasion, we change your ordinary chicken’s egg into chocolate one.’

‘A chocolate one? Can you really do that?’ asked Alex excitedly.

‘Believe me, I can do anything I want,’ replied Flicker puffing out his chest with pride.

‘Well in that case please change it!’ said Alex.

‘As you wish,’ said Flicker, and without another word he wiggled his scaly tail a few times until, suddenly, an array of colourful, magic sparks flew out of his tail and danced in a circle around Flicker and the egg. Flicker closed his eyes and began to sing out loud the boiled egg spell.

‘You’re a nice brown egg, but I’m sorry to say
You’re not wanted here, at least not today!
We’ve got something far more appetising in mind,
So, a large, chocolate egg please, if you’d be so kind.’

As soon as Flicker had recited his spell, the magic sparks immediately stopped dancing and disappeared into thin air. Alex enjoyed listening to the boiled egg spell and hoped he could remember it the next time his mother gave him a boiled egg for breakfast. This was the answer to all his problems!

‘Now try tasting your new chocolate egg,’ said Flicker.

Alex was so excited he could hardly wait to cut the top off the egg with his spoon. He picked up the egg and, to his delight, found that it was indeed full of milk chocolate. Yummy yummy, he thought to himself as he dipped his spoon into the soft chocolate and put it into his mouth. Suddenly his face turned green and he spat it out in disgust. He thrust the egg back into its cup, grabbed his juice and swallowed most of it.

‘What’s the matter?’ asked Flicker innocently,

‘This chocolate tastes of salt’ gasped Alex. ‘I feel sick!’

‘Oh dear, I do apologise,’ said Flicker looking most concerned. ‘I can’t imagine what went wrong unless I sang the spell incorrectly, but I can’t remember the words now. Look, let’s forget about the chocolate egg. How would you like to try something else instead?’

‘Well, alright’, replied Alex uncertainly, ‘as long as there’s no salt in it! Can you please perform your magic again as I want to see the sparks coming out of your tail again?

‘Of course,’ replied Flicker. ‘What would you like?’

‘I’d like a beef burger and chips, please,’ said Alex, ‘with added cheese, bacon, onion, lettuce, tomatoes and pickled cucumber!’

‘What! All of that?’ laughed Flicker. He wiggled his tail once again and created even more colourful sparks. They danced in a circle around Flicker and the salty egg until it went ‘pop’ and disappeared. ‘One beef burger and chips coming up!’ shouted Flicker, and instantly a plate appeared in front of Alex filled with a juicy-looking beef burger with all the toppings, accompanied by delicious-looking French fries. The meal looked so scrumptious that Alex couldn’t wait to eat it. He cut up the burger with his knife and fork then dug the fork into a small piece of meat. He was just about to put it into his mouth when a long, green grub popped its head out of the meat and said ‘Hello there, my name’s George, what’s yours?’

Alex let out a shriek and dropped his fork on to the plate in disgust. He watched in horror as George waved goodbye and popped back inside the meat. He felt sick again thinking of what he had nearly eaten.

‘What’s wrong now?’ asked Flicker beginning to lose his patience.

‘Ugh! There was a long green grub inside the meat that called itself George,’ cried Alex. ‘I hate finding grubs in my food!’

‘Really?’ drawled Flicker. ‘Well I must say I’m most surprised. Hasn’t anyone ever told you that green grubs are full of goodness? It’s the red grubs you want to watch out for because if you swallow one of those your eyes will turn into beetroots! Try choosing something else instead of a burger.’

‘Alright,’ said Alex. This time he decided to choose something completely different that wouldn’t have any salt or bugs in it. ‘May I have a large bowl of strawberry jelly and ice cream please?’

‘Certainly,’ replied Flicker. He wiggled his tail again causing more sparks to fly out and encircle the food. Immediately the burger and chips were replaced by a large bowl of strawberry jelly and chocolate ice cream, but the bowl was so big that it covered the whole table!

‘Oh no! You’ve made it too big!’ cried Alex. ‘I can’t eat all that.’

‘Well you did ask for a large bowl, replied Flicker indignantly, ‘so that’s what you’ve got!’
‘I didn’t mean that large!’ cried Alex.

‘My goodness,’ exclaimed Flicker. ‘You’re a hard one to please, aren’t you? Oh very well then, do you want me to make it smaller or would you rather choose something else?’

‘Wait a minute,’ replied Alex, feeling somewhat confused. ‘I need some time to think’.

‘You don’t have much time left to think’ said Flicker looking towards the stairs. ‘Your dad will be coming down any time now and he’ll want to see that you’ve eaten all your breakfast. Look, let me decide for you this time!’ He wiggled his tail again creating more magic sparks, and the huge bowl of strawberry jelly and ice cream disappeared from the table. It was immediately replaced by assorted plates of hot food.

There was fish and chips; cheese and onion pie; lamb chops, fillet steak; fish fingers; mashed potatoes, peas; carrots and a bowl of salad. For dessert there was a bowl of bananas, oranges and grapes, as well as a bowl of strawberry jelly and fresh cream. Surely Alex would be pleased at the assorted food he had conjured up. ‘Now Alex, you’ve got plenty of food to choose from so what would you like to eat?’

Alex looked at the full table of food and groaned. ‘Oh no, Flicker, I couldn’t eat anything as heavy as that for breakfast!’
‘You couldn’t?’ asked Flicker in surprise, ‘and I was so sure that one of these dishes would appeal to you, but never mind. I think what you really need is something lighter, something that won’t be too heavy on your stomach when you go out to play football.’ He banged his tail on the table and said, ‘I’ve got it! How would you like a nice soft, boiled egg, a slice of buttered toast and honey and a glass of fresh orange juice with ice?’

Alex thought about it for a moment and decided that it sounded too tempting to refuse. ‘Please hurry up though, Flicker, as I must get it eaten before my dad comes downstairs.’

With a final wiggle of Flicker’s tail all the unwanted food sparkled brightly before disappearing from the table. Suddenly a large, brown, newly boiled egg popped into the oval cup on Flicker’s back, followed by a slice of hot toast on a plate covered with melted butter and accompanied by a glass of fresh orange juice with ice. ‘Enjoy!’ said Flicker.

Alex quickly cut off the top of the egg and took a careful look at it to make sure that George wasn’t going to make another appearance. Thankfully he didn’t. He dipped his spoon into the yellow yolk and tried a small taste. To his delight it was very nice and tasty, and not at all salty. Satisfied, he began to eat his breakfast whilst Flicker looked on with a knowing smile.

Alex had just about finished his breakfast when Mr. Jones came downstairs.

‘Good morning Alex. I was going to join you for breakfast, but it seems you’ve already finished, so you can go out and play if you like.

‘Thanks Dad!’ replied Alex giving him a quick hug. He jumped off the chair, grabbed his jacket and football and shot out of the back door in a flash. He vowed he would never argue with his mother again over boiled eggs for breakfast, especially now that he had Flicker for a friend. They were going to have some good times together.

THE END