The Wishing Stone #1 Read online

  The Wishing Stone #1

  Dangerous Dinosaur

  Lorana Hoopes

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  8. The Wishing Stone 2 Preview

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  References

  The Story Doesn’t End!

  About The Author

  Copyright © 2017 Lorana Hoopes

  * * *

  All rights reserved.

  Created with Vellum

  This book is dedicated first and foremost to my children who are the characters and inspiration for my stories and then to all the young readers out there looking for a good story. I hope you enjoy reading this book as much I enjoyed writing it.

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to the wonderful moms and kids who beta read this for me and let me know they enjoyed it. Thank you Kathy, Joann, Natalie, Misty, Amber, Kim, and everyone who read.

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  Be sure to visit Lorana’s YouTube channel to see her reading this first chapter.

  * * *

  Follow the journey with Book 2: Dragon Dilemma, Book 3: Mesmerizing Mermaids, Book 4: Pyramid Puzzle, The Wishing Stone Inspirations Book 1: Mary’s Miracle and Book 5: Superhero City (coming soon)

  1

  The Stranger

  Spenser kicked a stone as he exited the school building, his shoulders low beneath the weight of the teacher’s announcement. He had to read an entire book by Friday and do a book report on it. He had never read an entire book before, and he didn’t want to start now. He wanted to go home and play his new computer game. It had zombies and ninjas, every boy’s dream, but he knew his mother would never let him play when she found out about this homework. She would make him sit at the kitchen table and read, so she could watch him while she prepared dinner.

  His mother always made him sit at the table to do homework, and he hated it. The chair wasn’t comfortable, and under her watchful eye, he wasn’t allowed to rush through his assignments. Plus, he could usually hear the low hum of the television as his little sister, Kayleigh, and his brother, Jackson, watched Paw Patrol or Sofia the First. That only made his punishment feel worse. Sometimes he hated being the oldest.

  He kicked another rock, sending it shooting down the path. It landed in front of a pair of dark brown boots. Spenser raised his head to see a man dressed in a dark brown coat and boots standing a few feet in front of him. His skin was pale, making his dark garments look even more like night. On his head perched a brown cowboy hat. It hung low over his eyes, so Spenser couldn’t make out much of his face.

  Spenser looked to the left and right, clutching the straps of his backpack tighter. He had read about cowboys but never seen one in real life. There weren’t many in western Washington. His mother, who was from Texas, spoke of them occasionally, but even she said there weren’t as many as there used to be.

  “Why you looking so glum little pardner?” the man drawled. His accent was heavy, and his words were slow.

  Spenser wasn’t supposed to talk to strangers, but his curiosity got the best of him. “I have to read a book and do a report on it by Friday, and I don’t like reading.”

  “Well, that is a mighty big problem,” the man agreed, tipping his hat. “Maybe you just ain’t found the right book yet.”

  “What do you mean?” Spenser asked, narrowing his eyes at the man.

  “Books can be full of amazing stories. Once you find one you like, I’ll bet you’ll be hooked for life pardner. Here, I got something that might help.” He reached into the pocket of his brown duster and pulled something out. It was small enough to fit in his hand.

  Unable to help himself, Spenser took another step closer. His blue eyes widened as he waited for the man to open his hand.

  The man’s fingers uncurled one at a time to showcase . .

  “A rock?” Spenser’s nose wrinkled in disgust. He had been hoping for something cooler than a rock.

  “Not just any rock, son. This is a wishing stone. You jest hold it while you read and see what happens, but I must warn you to be careful of your thoughts. For sometimes, when you hold this stone, magical things happen.”

  Spenser looked again at the stone. Though nearly completely white, it still looked just like an ordinary rock to him. He took the rock, expecting nothing, but a cool sensation tickled up his arms. He glanced up quickly at the man, who merely smiled and nodded, as if they now shared a secret.

  “Jest remember to hold that while you read,” the man said. He tipped his hat one more time and then walked away.

  Spenser was left holding the rock and wondering about the man. He didn’t believe that anything special would happen when he held the rock, but the tingle that had gone up his arms was strange. It was fading now, but he could still feel a small remnant* of the chill. He supposed it couldn’t hurt to try. After tucking the rock in his front pocket, Spenser continued to his house.

  2

  The Book

  “Brudder,” Kayleigh said, running up to Spenser as he walked in the door. Kayleigh was not quite two, so her words were still not always clear, but her pixie blond hair and blue eyes made her irresistible all the same.

  “Hi, Kayleigh.” Spenser patted her head, which was his normal greeting and continued into the kitchen.

  Jackson, his four-year-old little brother, sat at the kid’s table eating a snack of goldfish.

  “Hey, honey, how was your day?” his mother asked as she looked up from the sink where she was washing dishes.

  “It was okay,” Spenser said, dropping his backpack on the table. “I have to read a book and do a report.”

  “Well, it will be good for you,” his mother said. “I used to love to read. Hopefully, you will find a book you enjoy too.”

  “Can you take me to the library?” he asked as the idea popped into his head. If he was going to have to read, he wanted something different than the baby books in the house.

  She looked at her watch. “Sure, we can do that.” His mother picked up Kayleigh, grabbed her keys, and motioned for Jackson to join them.

  After making sure everyone was buckled in, his mother started the car and a few minutes later, they were all tumbling out again into the parking lot of the local library.

  The library was a small brick building overlooking a duck pond. It didn’t seem large from the outside, but the inside appeared huge to Spenser. Rows and rows of shelves filled the room and each shelf held books from one end to the other.

  His mother led them to the kids’ book section, but Spenser wanted to try something else. He wanted to see if he could find a book about dinosaurs. At least those interested him.

  After explaining to his mom what he wanted, she stated they could probably find a dinosaur story in the kid section and she helped him look. A small chapter book with a caveman and a large green dinosaur caught his attention. Arco and the Dangerous Dinosaur read the cover.

  “This one, Mom, please?” he asked, holding it out to her.

  “That’s fine, son.”

  They spent a few more minutes looking for a book about trains for Jackson and one about princesses for Kayleigh. Then they joined the line at the front desk.

  Spenser got a new library card and checked out his first book on his own card, while his mother checked out the other two books on her card. Though he liked dinosaurs, he was more interested in seeing what the stone might do as he read.

  As they walked back to the car, Spenser could barely contain his excitement. He wanted to open the book and grab the stone to see what would happen, but he made hims
elf keep the book closed the entire ride home.

  His mother parked the car and began unbuckling his brother and sister from their car seats. “Spenser, go sit at the table as you read, so I can cook dinner,” his mother said as they entered the house.

  “But mom,” he whined.

  “No buts young man.”

  Sighing, Spenser sat at the table and opened his book. The book was about a boy named Arco who was being asked to defend his village from a terrible dinosaur. While the story seemed interesting, Spenser couldn’t focus because his finger itched to touch the stone.

  “If I promise to read, can I please read in my room?” Spenser asked.

  His mother opened her mouth as if to say no, but as Kayleigh was at her feet crying to be picked up and Jackson was running back and forth wanting to show off toys, she changed her mind and said yes.

  Delighted, Spenser closed the book and ran up the carpeted stairs. Once in his room, he climbed atop his bed and opened the book again. This time as he read, he fingered the smooth white stone. “I wish I could meet Arco,” he said softly, and the room around him began to change.

  * * *

  3

  The Adventure

  When the room finally stopped shaking, Spenser found himself outside a small mud hut. Several other mud huts created a large circle. People scurried back and forth wearing some sort of animal skins and furs. A large campfire was lit in the middle of the circle. Children sat in front of it warming themselves, and a few adults held sticks into the fire that contained some sort of meat on the end.

  “Whoa,” Spenser whispered softly. “This looks just like the picture of Arco’s village.” He pocketed the stone he still held in his hand and stepped forward from the shadows. A small boy saw him. His eyes grew wide and he pointed at Spenser.

  “Intruder,” he yelled.

  Immediately, Spenser was surrounded by grown men and women pointing spears in his direction.

  “Wait,” he yelled, holding his hands up. “I’m just looking for Arco. I’m here to help, I think.”

  Though the people looked at him warily*, they did not move any farther with their spears. Suddenly, a boy who looked just a few years older than Spenser appeared in the crowd. He had long brown hair and his skin was darker than Spenser’s. An animal skin tunic hung from his shoulders to just above his knees.

  “I am Arco. Who are you? Where did you come from?”

  “I am Spenser. I come from the future. At least I think it’s the future. I was reading of your problem, and I think I was sent here to help.”

  The boy’s eyebrows knitted together. “You? How can you help?”

  “I don’t know,” Spenser replied, “but I’m willing to try and find out.”

  Arco stared at him a moment longer. His mouth opened, but before he could speak the ground began to shake and a terrible roar filled the air.

  “Quick, to the huts,” Arco yelled. He grabbed Spenser’s arm and pulled him into the nearest hut.

  * * *

  Spenser held his hands over his ears, trying to stop the noise that was causing his teeth to chatter against his will. He could feel the roar in his head. “What is that?” he yelled to Arco.

  “That is our problem,” the boy yelled back.

  Suddenly a large leg covered in green filled the view of the small window. Spenser heard himself scream, but because the roaring was so loud, he doubted anyone else did. The people, Spenser included, bounced like rubber balls against the earthen floor with each step the creature took.

  After another few howls and a close call from the giant tail sweeping near the hut they stood in, the creature began to move away from the village. The hearing in Spenser’s ears slowly came back. He rubbed his backside which ached from the pounding it had taken falling on the ground so many times.

  “That was the dinosaur,” Arco continued as he surveyed the damage of the camp. “He comes every few days. Sometimes he just steps on our fire like now, but he has knocked over a few of our huts and people have been injured. We must find a way to stop him. Do you have any ideas?”

  Spenser racked his brain, but he was only a boy. He wished he had read more of the book before touching the stone so maybe he would have an idea of how to help. “Is there a way we can watch him the next time he comes?” Spenser asked.

  “Watch him? Why would we want to do that?” Arco asked.

  “Well creatures can’t talk with words, but sometimes they show us what they need by their actions,” Spenser said, remembering his cat at home who always pawed at his leg when she wanted his attention.

  Arco nodded in understanding. “You are saying that maybe he doesn’t come to destroy our village, but he comes seeking some help with something?”

  “I don’t know for sure,” Spenser replied, “but it’s worth a shot.”

  “What does worth a shot mean?” Arco asked, his forehead wrinkling in confusion.

  “A try,” Spenser explained, wondering how the people could speak as well as he did but not know some of his words.

  Arco nodded, and he and Spenser began to help pick up the destruction left behind by the dinosaur. A few people helped relight the campfire and Spenser joined Arco around the fire.

  Arco offered a piece of meat to Spenser, but though his stomach rumbled, he did not take it as he wasn’t sure what the food was and his adventurous spirit ended at trying new foods. He did, however, take some bread, which while heavier than his normal wheat bread at home, was very good.

  “This isn’t how I thought cave people lived at all,” Spenser said to Arco.

  “We no longer live in caves,” Arco said between bites. “It got too dark, and we enjoyed the light outside. So, we created these huts.”

  “How do you stay safe from dinosaurs? Don’t they attack often?” Spenser thought back to an old TV show he used to watch where a family lived in a cave to avoid dinosaur attacks.

  “There are only a few who come after us. Most around here are peaceful vegetable eaters. They are our friends. When the meat eaters come, we can usually hide in the huts, which mask our scent, but there are a few caves in the hillside we can return to if we must.”

  “How do you know so many words?” Spenser asked. “All the shows I watched of cavemen show them only knowing one or two words like ‘fire good.’”

  “I do not know how to answer your question,” Arco said. “We speak as we have always spoken.”

  Spenser nodded as he ate another bite of bread. He wondered what his family was doing right now. Had they even noticed he was gone or did time stand still while he was here?

  “Come, let us rest,” Arco said as he finished his meat. “Tomorrow we can go look for the dinosaur.”

  Spenser followed Arco back into the mud hut they had hidden in. Arco handed him two furs, one to lay on the floor and the other to cover up with. Spenser curled up with his furs, but sleep eluded* him. What if they couldn’t stop the dinosaur? Would he ever make it back home?

  4

  The Hunt

  The next morning Spenser woke to Arco nudging him. “Come on, the dinosaur is close. Let us go see if we can find out more information.”

  Spenser threw back the fur that was covering him and stood. His body was stiff from sleeping on the ground, and he had to stretch a few times before he could stand completely straight. Once his body would follow his commands, he trailed Arco out of the hut.

  Arco put a few pieces of dried meat, which looked a lot like beef jerky, in a sort of leather pouch, along with some bread and some round objects that resembled fruit, though not like any Spenser had seen before. A few other young men carrying spears joined them and they set out from the village.

  They entered a forest that looked a lot like the forests back home except that it seemed much greener and animals he had only seen in books hurried back and forth. A loud flapping noise pulled his attention upward and Spenser saw a large grey pterodactyl fly above their heads.

  The forest opened into a clearing and Spenser gas
ped.

  Huge four-legged dinosaurs grazed on trees, their long necks gracefully reaching to the top. Suddenly the ground began shaking again, followed by the same loud wail from the previous night. The grazing dinosaurs stopped munching and began moving away.

  * * *

  “Take cover,” Arco yelled, and dragged Spenser behind a large tree. The other few boys hid among the larger rocks. A minute later, the large green dinosaur stomped into view. Spenser was surprised to see feathers on the dinosaur. It didn’t look like any dinosaur he had ever seen. It looked like a cross between a bird and a dinosaur. He’d have to remember to ask Arco about it later.

  Spenser again covered his ears, though it didn’t lessen the sound much. The dinosaur shook his head back and forth. His tiny front hands fluttered as if trying to reach his head, but they were much too short. The dinosaur scraped his head against a tree before letting out another large wail. He turned his head to the left and right, then stomped out of the clearing

  “It looks like he’s in pain,” Spenser said when the noise was far enough away that he could remove his hands from his ears.