The Dragon Who Hid Her Sneezes

Isabella found a puff of purple smoke in her backyard, curling up from behind the compost bin.

"Achoo!" said the smoke.

Isabella peeked behind the bin. A small green dragon sat there, holding her nose with both claws.

"Please don't tell," whispered the dragon. "My name is Pip. Dragons are supposed to breathe fire. But when I sneeze, I make bubbles."

"Bubbles?" said Isabella. "I love bubbles!"

"Shh!" said Pip. "The big dragons are coming to the hill today for the Fire Fair. If I sneeze, they'll all laugh."

Isabella wanted to help. She wanted Pip to have a good day at the fair, too.

First, she tried a pinch of pepper. "That makes fire sneezes, I think," she said. But Pip sneezed, and out floated three wobbly bubbles. Pop, pop, pop.

Next, she tried hiding Pip under a bucket. "Achoo!" The bucket filled with bubbles and rolled across the grass, bubbling and bumping, all the way to the fence.

Pip put her head in her claws. "See? It's no use."

Isabella sat down beside her and watched the bubbles drift up. They were round and shiny. They looked like tiny moons. Each one carried a little bit of purple.

"Pip," she said slowly. "Look how pretty they are."

"They're not fire," said Pip.

"No," said Isabella. "But what if you sneezed on purpose? Up high, where everybody can see?"

Pip blinked. Then she scrunched her nose, took a big breath, and went, "Ah... ah... ACHOO!"

A whole cloud of bubbles rose over the fence and sailed toward the hill. Far away, the big dragons stopped roaring. Then came a happy rumble. It was a lot of dragons, all saying, "Ooooh!"

Pip's tail wiggled. She tickled her nose again.

"Ah... ah..."

Isabella held out her hands.

"Achoo!"

And the bubbles drifted down around them both, soft as snow, popping gently on their heads.