Chapter 17

Of course all of you know this is just a story, right? Right? You all know you’re not supposed to run away from home, spend the night in the woods, or accept rides from strangers even if the stranger does have a motorcycle with a cool hot dog sidecar, right? In this story Scottie does a lot of things you should never do, but then Scottie has a magic duck named Merlin who watches out for him and keeps him safe. When you finally get a magic duck who watches out for you then you can do anything you like but until then you’ll have to listen to your parents and teachers just like everyone else. Remember: Before you do anything you see Scottie and Merlin doing you’d better ask an adult (preferably your mother, father, or teacher) if it’s okay for you to do it.

Let’s see, where were we? Oh yeah, I remember...

Scottie, Merlin, and the hopping box had the best time watching Donald Duck at the theater. They ate hot buttered movie popcorn, Bonbons, drank sodas, and burped. Then they giggled until they had to burp again.

When they walked out of the theater Merlin said, “Quack.”

“Me too,” Scottie agreed, so the two of them walked to a grassy field where they could both lie down and take a nap as their bellies were full from all the movie food they had been eating.

As Scottie laid on the ground dreaming of lollipops growing on roots made of hot dogs and chocolate biscuits he felt Merlin tugging at his ear and whispering, “Quack.”

“But I’m still sleepy,” Scottie replied.

“Quack, quack,” Merlin whispered again.

“What?” Scottie asked rubbing his eyes, “Why are you whispering?”

“Quack, quack, quack,” Merlin continued to whisper.

“A bear,” Scottie said, “what do you mean, a bear?”

“QUACK!” Merlin shouted, but by then the bear-- a huge red and white striped bear-- was standing right in front of them.

“Are, ah, are you a bear?” Scottie asked, his voice trembling as he looked up at the bear standing right above them.

“Name’s Peppermint,” the bear answered in a low growl of a voice, “Peppermint T. Bear. What’s your name, Kid?”

“Are you going to eat me?” Scottie asked, his voice still shaky. Merlin was so scared he couldn’t manage to make the tiniest peep of a quack.

“Are you going to eat me,” the bear replied somewhat confused, “What kind of a name is that? What’s your real name, Kid?”

“Are you going to eat me?” Scottie asked again.

“Look Kid,” the bear replied, “the only time I eat little kids is when they don’t answer my questions. It’s a pet peeve of mine when I ask a question I expect an answer and not another question, understand?”

“Yes,” Scottie answered swallowing hard, “I understand.”

“Good, then what’s your name?”

“Scottie.”

“Okay,” the bear replied, “that’s better, so far so good, now does your duck have a name?”

“Yes,” Scottie replied.

“And why pray tell might be your duck’s name?”

“Merlin,” Scottie answered, “my duck’s name is Merlin.”

“Hello Merlin,” Peppermint T. Bear laughed, “how are you today?”

“Q-q-q-qua-c-ck,” Merlin studdered still fearing the bear might eat him even if it didn’t eat Scottie.

“Don’t worry,” the bear said, ‘duck feathers get stuck in my throat and make me cough for a month or more, I swore off ducks years ago. Besides, I don’t think ducks taste very good anyways.”

A look of relief washed across Merlin’s bill and Scottie reached over to stroke his feathers. “Merlin,” Scottie said, “I think we’re safe.”

“Of course you’re safe,” Peppermint T. Bear stated. “Nothing’s going to happen to you as long as I’m in charge and it just so happens that around this neck of the woods, I’m in charge.”

Next Page