twenty yards away. When I moved towards the door, I bumped into a wall of glass. I turned around to go the other way and bumped into another glass wall. Whichever way I went, my nose hit glass. Glass was all around me, like a huge aquarium. Something was very, very wrong.
Maybe I hit my head when I fell. Did I have a concussion? I raised my hand to feel for a lump. I could see the Komodo’s reflection in the glass. It raised one of its front claws and touched its head. I put my hand down and kicked out a foot. The Komodo put down its front claw and stuck out a back one. I moved in closer, and so did the Komodo. We were eye to eye with the wall of glass between us.
Then I looked down at my hands. I couldn’t believe what I saw! They were gray and covered with scales, like a Komodo’s claws. I twisted to see the rest of my body. I had a tail! A huge, gray, scaly tail! I couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t looking at the Komodo—I was looking at my own reflection in the glass. I wasn’t a boy anymore. Somehow I’d turned into a Komodo dragon!
This couldn’t be real. I must have a serious head injury. Maybe I was in the hospital. Or maybe this was a nightmare. That was it. This was just a bad dream. Soon I’d wake up in my own bed. Austin would be in his bed, too. We’d get up and have breakfast. Then we’d go to school. Austin would go to the sixth-grade classroom and I’d go to the eighth-grade. I wouldn’t care if he got better grades than I did. I just wanted him to be safe.
I tried to wake up. I closed my eyes and opened them again. All I could see was concrete and a dead rabbit. Glass surrounded me. I squeezed my eyes as tight as I could. I opened them again and looked around. Nothing had changed. I was still a Komodo dragon, and everything around me was strange.
I stretched my legs and tried to move. Slowly, I started forward, scraping my belly on the concrete. Pushing up from my legs, I tried to move again. It was like dragging a mattress. I was much heavier now. My legs—all four of them—were short.
I tried to think. What happened to me? How had I become a Komodo dragon? I’d read about werewolves, people that became wolves when the moon was full. In Greek legends, people who were cursed sometimes turned into animals. Was that what happened to me? Was I dreaming? Was I injured and unconscious? That would be better than being a Komodo dragon.
Worst of all, I worried about Austin. The last time I saw him, he was hanging onto the rail in front of the bear cage. He was screaming and begging me for help. Where was he now? Was he hurt? Was he lying unconscious? Had he blown into a place with dangerous animals? I had to get out of here and find him, fast!
Chapter Two— DART
Out in the parking lot, the teachers were calling for their classes to board the buses. I could hear them as clearly as if they were next to me. One of the teachers asked if anyone had seen Megan Gifford. Someone said she might be with her uncle.
“We’re missing Austin Brockway, too,” said the teacher. “Has anyone seen him?”
“Luke Brockway isn’t on the bus either,” said one of the girls. “Maybe Austin is with him.”
“We’ve got to get these kids back to the school.” It was the bus driver’s voice. “They’re cold, wet and scared. Their parents will be waiting.”
“What about the missing kids?” asked the teacher. “We can’t just leave them here.”
I shivered, listening hard. Were they going to leave without us?
“Call zoo security,” said the bus driver. “They’ll find the lost kids. I’ll come back and pick them up after I take this group to the school.”
“Where’s Roy Gifford?” someone asked. “He’s the teacher for bus three.”
“Probably looking for his niece, Megan,” said the bus driver. “Add his name to the list of those missing and give it to the security guard. We need to get these kids home.”
I wanted to get on one of those buses and go home, but I couldn’t leave the zoo without Austin. Besides, I was pretty sure the bus driver wasn’t going to let a Komodo dragon crawl onto his bus. A bus full of kids was like a box of candy for a Komodo. So I settled down on the cold concrete floor and tried to think. I had to make a plan. How was I going to find my brother? How were we going to get out of here? Most important, how could I change back into a boy?
My stomach growled. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. I was really hungry. Poor Austin. He hadn’t even had breakfast. That was my fault. I hit him and gave him a bloody nose. I made him cry. He was so upset, he couldn’t eat.
Tears filled my eyes and fell on the cold concrete floor. More than anything, I wanted to find Austin and tell him I was sorry. I wanted to give him his lunch and maybe money for ice cream. I’d lost both our lunch bags during the storm, but I still had money with me. I could buy Austin a hamburger and a shake. Reaching down, I tried to find my pocket. There wasn’t one. I didn’t even have pants. All I had was a long, scaly body. It was the huge, heavy body of the world’s most dangerous lizard.
There must be a way to undo this. First, I had to get out of this glass pen. Then I had to get out of the Reptile House without being seen. Once I was out, I had to find my brother and get him some food. Then I had to find a way to get us both out of here.
Crawling to the corner of the enclosure, I settled down in the pile of hay to think. Komodo dragons could do a lot of things. They could stand on their hind legs. They could run up to twelve miles an hour, maybe faster. They could whip a lot of animals in a fight. They could detect odors a couple of miles away. Maybe I could use Komodo traits to find Austin.
I could run fast around the zoo, as long as no one saw me. I could eat anyone who got in my way, but then they’d have to shoot me. Besides, I might look like a Komodo dragon, but inside I was still human. I didn’t want to kill anyone. I didn’t even want to kill an animal. There had to be another way.
As soon as it was dark, I started to crawl toward the back door of the Komodo enclosure. It was hard to move. I kept trying, pushing up on my four short legs until my body rose above the concrete floor. Snakes bobbed up and down and peered at me from their aquariums. Snakes are nocturnal, active at night. Several pairs of beady snake eyes watched as I shoved myself along. I pushed the dead rabbit out of my way and kept moving. The back door of my enclosure was just ahead. Rising on my hind legs, I crawled up the wall until I was standing. I reached for the latch. It was hard to slide the bolt back with my claws, but I kept trying. Finally the door opened. I was in the back room of the Reptile House, where no visitors were allowed.
I crawled toward the door leading to the outside. It took a long time because my Komodo dragon body was ten feet long, and I wasn’t used to having a tail. It smacked against boxes and crates. Above my head was a counter that held the zookeeper’s books and papers. Aquariums were back here, too. Turtles, snakes and frogs peered out at me as I waddled past them. Bags of food stood against one wall, but it wasn’t food I wanted. The labels read, “Small reptile pellets.” I wasn’t a small reptile. I was a big, hungry reptile. My brother would be hungry too. I had to find food for both of us. Then I had to find a way to get us home.
Next to the food bags was a big white freezer. At home our freezer was filled with frozen chicken strips, vegetables and ice cream treats. Maybe there was something delicious in this freezer. I lifted the lid and peered
