Beware the Ninja Weenies by David Lubar Read Free Book Online Page B

nothing happened. I guess it was so old that the fake snowflakes had gotten stuck or something.
    I took it downstairs to show my younger brother, Shawn.
    â€œLet me try.” He grabbed the globe and gave it a hard shake.
    A couple flakes swirled through the liquid. But not many.
    â€œIt doesn’t work,” Shawn said. He tossed the globe back to me.
    I shook it again, and got several more flakes. I was about to put the globe away, when I looked out the window. There were some snowflakes falling through the air.
    It was July.
    I went outside to make sure the flakes weren’t actually flower blossoms or bits of ash. I put my hand out. One of the flakes landed on my palm. It glistened for an instant, and then melted. I felt the tiniest chill on the spot where it had landed.
    Snow. For sure. I felt a bigger chill run through my body.
    â€œShawn!” I yelled.
    He came running out. “What?”
    â€œWatch this.” I shook the globe harder than before. A little more snow swirled through the liquid. And more snow fell from the clouds.
    â€œWow,” Shawn said. “Let me try.”
    I passed the globe to him. He gave it a shake. He got a few more flakes, but I could tell most of the snow was still stuck to the bottom. I took the globe back and gave it a whack on the side, making sure not to hit it so hard that it broke.
    Some of the clumped snow broke free. I whacked the globe again, then shook it as hard as I could.
    The globe filled with snow.
    So did the sky.
    Snow fell thick and heavy. A moment later, I heard the screech of brakes, and then a crash. I heard other crashes as the falling snow turned everything into a slippery slushy mess. People weren’t expecting snow. Nobody had salted the road or put down cinders.
    â€œStop!” I shouted at the globe. That was stupid. It couldn’t hear me. The snow in the globe swirled in every direction. The air around me swirled with snow. It looked like it was going to snow for a long time.
    I heard another crash. People were shouting and crying.
    I had to stop the snow. I lifted the globe high above my head, then hurled it down, smashing it on the ground. The globe shattered into a thousand pieces. The contents spilled out, splashing across the driveway, carrying the snowman along like he’d been tossed in a river.
    The snow stopped falling.
    â€œI did it, Shawn,” I said. “Look—it stopped.”
    Shawn’s reply was drowned out by a roar, like a thousand jet engines or a million freight trains. The sky turned dark as a wall of water raced toward us, higher than the tallest houses. The flood I’d created crashed down like a liquid hammer, knocking me off my feet and sweeping me along the road.
    I tried to swim to the surface, but it seemed impossibly beyond my reach. I knew I’d never make it. As I remembered the tiny snowman being washed across my driveway, I wondered how far the flood would spread, and how far away it would carry me.

 
    THE IRON WIZARD GOES A-COURTIN’
    There is an old saying about having too many irons in the fire. It used to make sense, back when pieces of iron were commonly heated in fires by blacksmiths. That was a long time ago.
    There’s an even older saying: Be careful what you wish for. That one makes as much sense now as it did back then, because people often make wishes without thinking about the consequences.
    Far back, even earlier than when either of those sayings was first uttered, there lived a princess of extraordinary beauty and uncommon brilliance. Her name was Lendina, and she had a secret. She also had dozens of suitors who wished for her hand, both because of her beauty, and because anyone who marries a princess becomes a prince. At a time when most people had little to eat except for moss and frogs, princes enjoyed a very nice lifestyle.
    On the first day of spring, the traditional day in the Kingdom of Wellandia for seeking hands in marriage, fifteen knights,