Pat has no Talent

    Since he started school, Pat the Pig would get teased by his looks, and the way he acted. He could not do anything like his other classmates. Pat would be called “Fat Pat” or “Big Pig” on his way into school, since he was bigger than EVERYONE in his class.  Pat liked to be alone.  On the school bus, he would take up one whole seat so that no one could sit next to him (not like anyone would), and in class, he would scatter all his stuff around the table so that there would be no place for the other kids stuff.

One day at recess, Pat made a BIG mistake. He had cut out little pieces of paper that said, “Treat Pat the way he wants to be treated!” then spread them out on the playground. He got in trouble for “littering”, and it turns out Monika the Monkey was writing, “This is how you want to be treated” on the back of the papers.

“Hey, you stop that! Those are mine!” Pat yelled at her.

“Well, too bad!” She shouted back. Then stuck her tongue out.

Monika was part of the “Popular Group”. She wore a pink, bushy, skirt (everyday, day), smelled as if she just took a shower in perfume, smothered her face in makeup, and wore the BIGGEST bows in the world. Pat started to run after her. Monika looked back to see Pat chasing after her. She started to run, but eventually Pat the Pig caught up and pushed her, right into the mud.

“EWWW!!!” She said in her girliest voice. Then Pat started to kick mud on her as she sat there crying. The teacher saw Pat, stomped over, and took Pat to the office to be sent home. He waited for his mother in the office.

 

“What happened at school?” Pat’s mother asked calmly at dinner, trying not to make Pat even more frustrated than he already was.

    “I don’t wanna talk about it,’’ Pat responded.

    “I know. That’s why I’m here. To help.”

    “ I don’t need your help.”

    “But-”

    “I SAID I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP, MOM!”

    “Just listen to me!”

    “ARE YOU DEAF, I SAID, I DON’T NEED YOUR BAD SUGGESTIONS, AND I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP!”

    “Go to your room! You do NOT talk to your mother like that!” She yelled.

   

    Pat lay in bed wishing he hadn’t talked to his mother like that.  He was thinking why it was him with all this bad luck. But he never had the thought that it was him who made all those mistakes sometimes.

    “I wish I had talents,” he whispered to himself. And tears rolled down his little, chubby cheeks.

    The next day was a little better, but since his teacher, Mr. Mitch, kept his eye on Pat the Pig the whole day, he was a little uncomfortable.  

    When Pat got home, he told his mom he would go for a walk in his yard, and into the forest in the very back. Even though Pat was only in fourth grade, he was aloud to go into the forest alone.  

    “Humpty dumpty dum…..”  Pat hummed to himself.  As he was humming, he came to a sudden stop. There, right in front of him, was a big, blue, dragon.

    “Why, hello!” the dragon said, “My name is Deloney Dragon. Go ahead. Laugh. I know it’s a girl name.” Pat was shaking in fear by now.  Deloney was at least seven times bigger than Pat himself, smelled as if he just got out of the swimming pool, had a beard where you could make a million white sweaters, and had spiky spikes sticking out of his upper back and his tail.

    “What are you doing alone in the Linesty Forest, young one?” Deloney asked.

    “T-taking a wa-walk,” Pat stuttered his response.

    “Ah, okay.”

    Then a question came to Pat’s mind, and then kind of got over the fear of Deloney Dragon,“And what is a dragon doing in the middle of the forest?”

    “Oh, um, just taking a hike.” You could tell he was lying.

    “No, you’re not,” Pat said, “you’re doing something else, and I want to know what it is.”

    “No! You must never know!” Deloney started to run, then fly, shaking the ground as his big feet stomped on it. And surprisingly, Pat started chasing and caught up, just like he did with Monika Monkey, and grabbed his wing, which Pat used to be swung back and forth, holding on to his wing for dear life. Deloney landed, and then fell to the ground, exhausted.

    “Tell ME!” Pat was very brave, but he didn’t know that he was yelling at his own, personal, fire breathing, guardian dragon.

    “OK! I’ll tell you, but only if you let go of me, PLEASE!” Deloney yelled, as if he were desperate for food.

    “I live in this forest, but only because I am your personal, guardian dragon. I need a safe, close place to keep watch of you. Everyone has one, but only a few have figured out they do. I watch you during day and night, create your dreams during your sleep, and protect you from the bad things that may happen to you. But I see that you are being teased at school, and there is only one thing I can do about it.”

    “Tell me what it is,” Pat asked.

    “I can only do that if you wish for it.” There was a long pause.

    “Ok. I will do it. I wish for…….” Pat trailed off, eyeing Deloney for what he was wishing for.

    “Oh, a Popper Stopper Dinky Doodle Talent Hooper spell.”

    “A whatty what what?”

     “A Pop-”

    “Ok, ok, ok. I wish for a Popper Stopper….” Pat eyed him again.

    “Dinky Doodle….”

    “Dinky Doodle….”

    “Talent Hopper….”

    “Talent Hooper….”

    “Spell.”

    “Spell. Ok. That is what I wish for.”

    “Alright. I’m just warning you, be careful for this wish. This is your decision. I am warning you.”

    “And what does this spell give me, exactly?” Pat asked.

    “It gives you three unique talents.”

    Talents? Talents, talents, oh my dear talents!  Pat thought. But what talents?

    Delonny’s hands started to wave around and glow. The spikes on his back started getting longer. His wings lifted him up off the ground. He said his spell words. And in moments, Pat had his three, special, talents.

    “Look at me! I actually have talents! Thank you so much, Deloney Dragon! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!” Pat said.

    “Just remember,” Deloney warned, “these talents are very special, so be careful.”

    “I will. I promise.”

    “Very well. And you must also remember this, you mustn't tell ANYONE that you saw a magical dragon that gave you talents in the Linesty Forest.” And Deloney flew away. Pat had talents. Real ones!

“Let’s go see what I can do,” Pat said to himself, skipping out of the forest.

 

    When Pat reached his house, he yelled for his mother, but instead of her, his dog, Lucky, came.

    “Hey girl!” Pat rubbed her behind the ears. “Guess what? I have ta-”

    “My Love!” Pat’s mother came running to Lucky and Pat, ignoring what Pat was about to say. “There you are, sweetie! Are you hurt? Tell me, it’s alright. Your father and I will protect you.”

    “Mom, I told you I would be in the Linesty Forest. And protect me from what?”

    “Yes, I know, but I went to the forest, looking for you so we could go shopping, and then I saw you flying with that dragon!     “Why yes, indeed! He gave me-” Pat stopped, remembering what Deloney had told him. “Let’s just say, I did something, and now I have TALENTS!”

    “Oh, that’s great, honey! What can you do?” She smiled a gentle smile.

    “I’m not so sure.”

 

    The next day, Pat found out what his special talents were! Pat could baton twirl, play the tuba, and was really good at soccer. At school, the faces Monika Monkey, Hailey Hare, and Dia Dog (the popular group animals) made were hilarious, but also a warning to stay away from them (since Pat took all their spotlight). And the faces the “ Beating Boys” made ( the group with all the tough, handsome, animals ), Manny Monkey, Howie Hare, and Danny Dog were very happy. Pounding their chests, and yelling, “THAT’S MY MAN, PATTY BOY!”(The Beating Boys and the Popular Girls group all had a thing for eachother.)

    My name is Pat, not Patty Boy. Pat had thought.

 

The talent show was coming up, and Pat decided to combine two of his talents together to make one. He chose baton twirling and tuba playing. He practiced all night the night before the talent show. His poor mother hid in her room, trying to finish the last book of this weird series called Trying to Escape Lalaland.

   

The talent show was today! Pat was very prepared, but since he was playing the tuba with one hand which didn’t work, he had to change at the last minute, which wasn’t good. He should’ve noticed it last night, but he practiced them separately.

    Well then, if I can’t do tuba playing and baton twirling, then I’ll just do baton twirling and kicking a soccer ball!  Pat thought. When he got to school, everyone asked, “Where’s your tuba?”

    Pat said, “ I couldn’t hold the tuba with one hand. So, I changed it to kicking a soccer ball and twirling a baton instead.”

    “I bet you can’t even kick a ball right and properly,” Talia Turtle said.

    “I bet your face can’t kick a ball right!” Pat thought his comeback was good because everyone started to ‘ooing’ at her.

    “Now, now, little ones, stop that.” Mr. Mitch said.

 

    Pat was on stage now with his baton and his favorite soccer ball he got about two days ago. Pat started his performance. It was going well! He was happy on stage with his talents. But then, it came to an end. But there was a small feeling he got. Everyone was watching. Pat couldn’t stop.

    “Pat, shows over kid!” Someone yelled from the audience.

    “I know, but I can’t stop!”  Some teachers came on stage to help Pat stop his talents.

    “He’s right! He can’t stop!” They yelled.

    Suddenly, the ball got out of control. Hitting everything off stage, bouncing off the walls, breaking wooden tables and structures, and causing people and kids to duck under the safe, metal structures available in the room, or run out of the room.  Then it came back to Pat and he had to kick the ball out of his way. Then, his baton started to twirl so fast, it lifted him off the ground and his hand couldn’t stop.

    “Help me, PLEASE!” He yelled, high up in the air. His mother ran up to the stage to try to get the objects to stop.

    Once they were home, Pat’s mother yelled for his father.

    “Honey, HELP!!!” She yelled. He came running down the stairs.

    “Holy guacamole! What’s going on!?”

    “Pat can’t stop!”

    Then Pat blurted out, “I know what to do!” And ran back into the forest.

“Deloney! Deloney! Help!” Pat yelped.

“Ahh, yes. I see you have come back for me. What do you need from me?” He said coming out from behind a bush.

“All I need is for you to take these talents back. Look at me! I can’t stop!” Pat was getting tired, but he couldn’t stop, not at all.

“I warned you.” He did the exactly the same spell, just the reverse version.

 

And in no time, Pat was back to normal!

    “Oh, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!”

    “No problem. But I am just saying, I warned you about this spell, didn’t I?”

    “Yes, Deloney.”

    “Well then. I am going to go and mind my own business, now. Good b-”

    “Wait! I know you said not to tell anyone about you, but what do I say to my parents when they find out that my talents are gone?”

    “Here. If this helps, I will put a forgetting spell on them so everything will be normal again.” He took his hands and swung them in circles, his wings lifting him off the ground, and the whole world turned bright blue. Poof!  

Everything looks normal to me. Sounds the same and everything!  Pat thought.

“Did it work?” Pat asked.

“Why yes indeed. Oh look, here comes your mother.”

“Pat sweety, there you are! Where were you?” His mother looked terribly upset and reliefed at the same time.

“Just looking at the scene.” He responded.

“Ok, baby.”

“Do you remember me having any out-of-control talents, by any chance?”

“What?”

“Never mind.” So after that little conversation, they walked back to the house together, and Deloney had told Pat that those spells and reverse spells were only for emergencies (even though that situation wasn’t exactly an emergency). Yes, kids went back to teasing Pat the Pig, but he was happy the way he was with no talents at all.

“You can’t do anything!” They all yelled at him.

“That’s ok. I’m better off just the way I am.” Pat responded.