The Adventures of Keiko Haubjed

Starring Keiko in

Komodo Dragons

By Tsunami_Holmes

12-year-old Keiko raced down the hotel's front door steps. She was in Indonesia with a field trip of Homeschoolers. The sun shined sparkles of smiles as the group of kids crowded into the small bus. Keiko spotted Olivia, a friend of hers, and sat right down next to her on the bus.

"Hi," Keiko greeted.

"Hey," Olivia plainly mumbled.

"Something wrong?" Keiko asked.

"No," Olivia lied.

"Oh, come on, something's wrong. You can talk to me! I'm a friend!" Keiko urged.

Olivia turned away to face the window.

"Alright," Keiko gave up, peering out into the crowded bus, away from her friend.

"Fine," Olivia turned back, willing to speak, "I have to move out of my hometown back in America.

"What?! Oh Olivia!" Keiko reached out to hug her, they held the embrace silently until they arrived at the trailhead where they were going to hike. Keiko gave a loving smile as they let go of each other. Back outside, Keiko sniffed the humid air, it smelled of vegetation alright. She met up with Olivia after they had started the hike, she was still sad, but definitely feeling better.

Keiko thought she spotted something in the bushes, "what was that?!"

"What?" Olivia glanced around, then she saw it too. There, in the bushes, was a Komodo Dragon. It stared at them with it's killing eyes, tongue flickering in and out. Keiko knew about how they used that evil tongue to smell. Keiko backed up, hitting her back against a tree.

"The rest of the group has gone! What are we going to do?!" Olivia asked, panicked.

"I don't kn-" Keiko stopped talking as soon as a girl about their age came jumping down from the tree above them. The two city girls had a look of fright on their face, and so the jungle girl put her finger to her lips as she brought out a vial containing purple liquid. Then, she threw it at Keiko and Olivia and as it soaked them, everything went black.

Keiko woke up to find herself laying on the jungle floor, the mysterious girl gone. She tried to stand, but fell. Then she spotted the Komodo Dragon. Keiko crawled away from it quickly, the dragon seemed to be sleeping.

"Whoa, are you okay?" Keiko turned toward the voice, only to find a second Komodo Dragon.

"Ah!" Keiko shrieked, then tumbled backwards and saw her own hand, a Komodo Dragon claw. This made her scream even louder, she had a tail, a long tongue, and claws! Then the other dragon woke, this one went through the same stage as Keiko, screaming and such. The talking Komodo Dragon just watched.

"I'm guessing that you're not okay," The Komodo Dragon assumed. Both Keiko and the other Komodo Dragon nodded.

"Well, I know how it is to turn into a dragon, I was human myself once, before she came. I have an antidote, but it doesn't work on me, I have been a Komodo for too long. Oh, I'm Lezar by the way."

Both Keiko and the other dragon stared.

Then Keiko turned to the other dragon who hadn't said a word, "who are you?"

"Me? Uh, Olivia," Olivia communicated.

"Olivia?! Is that really you? I'm Keiko!" Keiko and Olivia exchanged words and feelings while Lezar waited.

Then he cut in, "Hurry, we can't let you be Komodo Dragons forever. We must get the antidote, follow me to my burrow!" He took off, running fast on his short, stubby legs. The two girls took one glance at each other, then took off. Keiko was in the lead, but Olivia caught up soon after.

"Did you know that we can run up to 13 mph? We can also swim fast!" Lezar called back, "And did you know that we are the heaviest lizards on Earth? We weigh about 300 pounds!"

"Really?" Keiko asked as she caught up with him, Olivia and her slowed down a bit to keep in line with Lezar.

"Yes, we can grow up to 10 feet long from head to tail too! Oh, and here's something cool, our spit is toxic!" Olivia spat on the ground, "yes, in 24 hours, it will kill animals who have it in their bloodstream because of the 50 types of bacteria living in it. Luckily, we are immune to it, because it's our own spit!"

"Bacteria? Ick!" Olivia exclaimed.

"Yes, I know. But it's how we live. Well, hopefully we live, we're endangered!" gasps came from both girls, "sad right? We are such cool creatures too! We can eat 80% of our body weight in one serving!"

"Wow!" Keiko exclaimed.

"Yeah! And we can smell with our tongue up to 4 miles away! The sad thing is that we are cannibals, 10% of our own diet is baby Komodos. I have never eaten one due to my human feelings, but I have seen other dragons eat them. Speaking of babies, our species has asexual reproduction! That means that a female dragon can have babies with or without a male!"

Olivia's face turned sour, "Ugh."

"I know right? All these amazing and bizarre things about us and humans didn't even know we existed till about 100 years ago!"

"Really?" Keiko asked once more, amazed at everything Lezar was speaking.

"Yes, ah here we are, my burrow!" Lezar made a grand gesture to a hole in the ground, "come on in! Feel free to look around while I prepare the antidote." He jumped into the hole, the girls following after. Inside, there were picture on the wall, statues on shelves, and a fireplace! It reminded Keiko of Mr. Tumnus' house in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Lezar popped into a hole to the left of the entrance, it led to some other room that the girls didn't know about. He came out a few minutes later with a vile (this time with golden liquid) and two small teeth in his mouth.

"Here," he handed each girl a tooth, "these are some of my teeth I lost, please keep them to remember me. And here," he gestured to the vile, "is the antidote. Come, drink it outside so you don't wreck my burrow."

They all climbed outside where there were faint voices in the distance, "Olivia! Keiko! Where are you!?"

"Hurry! Oh, and don't be alarmed, you will be able to turn into and speak to Komodo dragons now and forevermore. Quickly, take the drink!" Olivia and Keiko stuck their long tongues into the vile and took a sip. They began to grow, and soon they were human again, with clothes thankfully. They examined the teeth that Lezar gave them, but when Keiko turned to thank him, he was gone. A few minutes later, their classmates ran up to them with words of worry and praise. Keiko and Olivia would live long to tell the tale of Lezar, the mysterious girl, and Komodo Dragons.