The salty air tickled Jackson's nose! He could hear the waves crashing against the side of... his living room?! Jackson blinked his eyes. Nope, it was still his living room, but there was a giant pirate ship parked right outside his window! "Grandma, look!" Jackson shouted.
Grandma, who was busy stirring a pot of her famous dragon-shaped cookies, peeked out the window. "Well, shiver me timbers!" she exclaimed, "It's a real-life pirate ship! How about an adventure before cookie time, Jackson?"
Jackson, being a brave adventurer at heart, grabbed his backpack and zoomed out the door. He raced onto the ship's wooden deck and almost tripped over a snoring pirate wearing a bright pink eye patch.
"Ahoy there, matey!" boomed a voice. It was the pirate captain, a jolly-looking fellow with a parrot perched on his shoulder. "Welcome aboard! We're on a quest for a magical creature who hates homework. Know where we can find one?"
Jackson’s eyes widened. He DID have homework, a whole page about dragons! "Maybe..." he mumbled, pulling out the crumpled paper.
The parrot squawked, "He's got homework! I bet he knows about dragons too!"
The captain chuckled, "Well then, Jackson, you're in luck! Legend says a grumpy dragon lives on a tiny island shaped like a… like a…”
"A homework sheet!" yelled a voice. A little green dragon with bright orange scales poked his head out from behind a stack of treasure chests. He had a pencil stuck behind his ear and his tail twitched impatiently.
"That's me!" the dragon grumbled. "And don’t even get me STARTED on homework. It's always 'write about my fire breath' this and 'compare and contrast me to a griffin' that. It never ends!"
Jackson, normally quite elegant, felt a little shy. But he knew just what to say. "I actually like doing homework about dragons," he said, "It helps me learn all about you!" He held up his drawing of a dragon, complete with sparkly scales and a puff of smoke coming out of its nose.
The dragon's eyes widened. "Wow, that's a pretty good drawing! You even got my good side," he said, puffing out his chest. He peered at the homework sheet. "You know, this question about dragon diets IS pretty interesting. Did you know we love spicy peppers?"
Jackson shook his head. This was way more exciting than just reading about it!
"And building a tiny volcano for science class to demonstrate lava flow? That's way more fun than just writing about it!" the dragon chirped in.
Soon, Jackson and the dragon were chatting away, the homework sheet long forgotten. The dragon even let Jackson try on his spare pencil (which was surprisingly stylish, tucked behind his ear).
Grandma, who had followed Jackson onto the ship, smiled. She’d snuck some dragon-shaped cookies onto a plate and offered them to everyone. "You see," she said to the dragon, "sometimes homework can be an adventure too! It’s all about using your imagination.”
The dragon took a bite of a cookie. "Hmm, you might be onto something," he mumbled with a mouth full of crumbs.
The sun began to set, painting the sky in shades of orange and purple. It was time for Jackson to go home. He waved goodbye to his new dragon friend, promising to visit again soon.
Back in his living room, which was thankfully pirate-ship-free once more, Jackson got to work on his homework. It didn't seem so bad anymore. After all, who else could say they got homework help from a real live dragon? He smiled, thinking about his adventure. Maybe homework wasn't so bad after all. Especially if it involved dragons, pirates, and Grandma’s delicious cookies.
