The Trinket Box - Chapter 1
A Fantasy Chapter Book for ages 9-12
The Trinket Box
Chapter 1 - The Trinket Box
Maria sat on the window seat in her room, turning the dark green trinket box over in her hands. It felt heavier than it looked, solid and cool.
Her friend Sam leaned closer. “It looks really old.”
It did. Gold traced the edges, worn smooth with age, and small gemstones were set into each side. They didn’t sparkle so much as glow softly when the light hit them.
“Where did you get it?” Sam asked.
“My mom found it at an estate sale, I think,” Maria said.
She turned the box around in her hands, looking for a way to open it. She pressed and twisted different parts of the box this way and that without success. Maria ran her fingers along the box, searching for a seam or latch. She pressed gently at the edges, twisted one corner, then another. Nothing happened.
Suddenly a chime issued from the box. The sound was clear and light and carried on the air. The lid sprang open.
She and Sam jumped and then leaned forward together and looked into the box, expecting to see an old piece of jewelry or an aged document. Instead, a pale green mist rolled out of the box like a translucent fog. Tiny specks of glitter drifted inside it, catching the light as the mist spread into the room.
“What is that?” Sam whispered.
“I don’t know,” Maria whispered back. “But it’s not stopping.”
The mist moved the way air moved—circling, rising, settling. Maria leaned closer, squinting.
“Do you see that?” she asked.
“See what? All I see is green glitter mist stuff.” Sam waved his hand around in the mist, stirring the air and making it swirl around like a dust devil. Suddenly, a tiny green dragon came out of the mist with a pop of glitter. It flew around, circling above the trinket box before perching on the edge. They stared at it, startled.
The little dragon looked at Maria and fluttered its wings. Glitter stirred. Maria stared back at the dragon. Its scales shimmered faintly, and as Maria looked at it, a picture formed in her mind—tall green mountains. Sharp peaks. Valleys filled with drifting mist.
She spoke without thinking. “Is that where you’re from?”
Another image answered her—this time of the dragon flying between the mountains, riding warm currents of air.
Sam swallowed. “You’re seeing that too, right?”
Maria nodded slowly. “I think it’s showing us.” She looked back at the trinket box and into the mist, trying to see the mountains. The dragon hopped a little on the edge of the box and flew, again circling above it. Maria held out her hand, and it landed in her palm. Sam reached out tentatively to touch one tiny claw. The dragon hopped onto his finger instead.
“He’s friendly,” Sam said, smiling. “I wonder if he has a name?”
The dragon tilted its head and looked between Maria and Sam as if waiting for an introduction.
“I’m Maria,” she said softly, pointing to herself. “And this is Sam.”
“Do you breathe fire?” Sam asked.
The dragon opened its mouth and puffed out a tiny plume of smoke and fire. It coughed, flew in a small circle, and landed back on Maria’s hand.
“Cool,” Sam said. “Maybe we can call him Val. Like for the valleys?”
Maria looked at the dragon. “Can we call you Val?”
Val fluttered his wings and let out a pleased little chirr. Then he dived back toward the trinket box. He landed on the edge again, tipping it sideways. The box toppled off Maria’s hand and hit the floor with a loud thud.
“Sam,” Maria said slowly, “I think Val is getting bigger.”
Val had grown to the size of a mouse—and he was still growing. Moments later, he darted under the bed.
“Oh no! I can’t have a dragon under my bed!” she exclaimed. “What if he keeps growing? What does he eat? Nope, my mom will never let me keep him.”
“You really wanna tell your mom about this?” he asked, gesturing around the room with a sweep of his arm.
Sam got down and looked under the bed, holding his hair back out of his eyes. A pair of shiny green eyes stared back at him. The dragon was continuing to grow. “He keeps getting bigger,” Sam said, looking around at Maria from his prone position on the floor. As he turned to look under the bed again, a plume of fire bellowed toward his face with a small roar.
“Gah!” shouted Sam, scrambling backward.
“Sam, are you okay?”
Sam sat up, patting his face and hair to make sure he wasn’t on fire. The smell of brimstone wafted through the room. He continued to pat around his head and shoulders. Maria held her hand over her mouth, trying not to smile. “Sam?”
“I think I’m okay,” he said, sounding relieved. Then, looking indignant, “Val tried to set me on fire!”
Maria, still hiding her smile, said, “I think he did burn some of your hair off–and maybe part of your eyebrow. I don’t think it was on purpose.” She got down on the floor beside Sam to look under the bed. Val’s glowing eyes glanced back and forth from her to Sam and then back again. She held out her hand to him. “Please come out,” she pleaded with Val. “We won’t hurt you.”
“He might hurt us…” muttered Sam, smarting from the fire incident.
Maria shushed him, still holding out her hand to Val. “He might set your whole house on fire!” Sam said. Val took a tentative step toward Maria, folding his wings against his body, snorting softly. Tendrils of smoke emitted from his nostrils. Val was the size of a cat now.
“He keeps growing,” Sam said. “How are we going to get him back in the box?” Val looked at Sam and an orange sheen moved across his eyes. His wings opened again, and he looked like he would leap into the air or breathe fire again—maybe both. Sam moved back warily.
Maria glanced back at Sam, who crawled over to the box. She watched as Val began to explore the room.
“What did you find?” she asked Sam, who was looking at the box.
“There’s writing on the top and bottom edges of the box.” He started sounding out the words on the box; they were a scrolling sort of script all run together, difficult to read.
Mist recede and mountain claim
Dragon fire and dragon flame
When truth is spoken, the path is sealed
and what was crossed is shut and healed.
“The rest is too hard to read,” Sam said. After Sam read aloud the words he could make out, the mist, which by that time had spread throughout Maria’s room, swirled like a mini tornado, swept up the dragon, who shrank until he was once again tiny. The mist, dragon, and glitter were sucked back into the trinket box, and the lid snicked shut with a light thump. The dragon and the mist were gone, except for some pieces of green glitter strewn here and there about her room and the lingering odor of brimstone.
Maria and Sam stared at the box again, still pondering over what had just happened. Maria picked up the trinket box carefully, walked slowly to her dresser, and placed it there gingerly, wondering if she would be brave enough to open the box again tomorrow.
