Dillon Hunt And The Desert Oasis Resort by Chad Stewart (books suggested by bill gates txt) 📕

“Check this out guys,” said Jason, a stalky sixth grader, to his four friends who were just hanging out by the school fence talking about the latest you-tuber as they ate lunch.

They all turned and watched as they saw Dillon and five younger grade kids jumping all over the Jungle Gym, pretending to dodge blows and battle some unseen foes. The guys started chuckling.

“Man, is that kid ever weird,” said one of Jason’s friends.

“Ya … no doubt,” Jason replied as he started walking toward the playground.

“What are you doin man?” asked another of his friends.

Jason turned to regard him and smiled. “I’m just gonna have some fun,” he responded.

There were other kids watching the display from a distance but didn’t seem to mind. From time-to-time another smaller kid or two would come up and start playing with the crew. Dillon welcomed anyone who wanted to engage in the adventure.

He noticed Jason and his gang approaching but continued the adventure anyway, knowing that it was probably about to come to an end.

Sure enough. As Jason walked up he pushed one of the younger kids out of the way. The kid sprawled out onto the grass and rolled a couple of times before coming to a stop. Immediately Dillon jumped off the equipment and met Jason face-to-face.

“Hey man! Why don’t you leave us alone,” he said, getting between Jason and the rest of his “crew.”

“I just thought you might want some real people to fight,” Jason said with a sneer.

“No, we’re okay with the pirates of the Glass Sea,” responded Dillon.

“The what?” Jason asked incredulously.

“The pirates of the Glass Sea,” Dillon said matter-of-factly. “Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of them? They’re infamous for their murderous rage. They seek vessels to attack and pillage, murdering all in their way and hoarding all the treasure they acquire.”

“You’re weird man,” stated Jason, a tone of condescension in his voice.

“I know. It is strange that we use our imaginations to entertain ourselves. You’ve heard of that? Haven’t you?”

“Of course I have you nerd!” exclaimed Jason indignantly.

“Then maybe you would like to join us?” offered Dillon.

Jason shook his head slightly, unable to mask the disgust he had on his face. “Man, I could beat the crap out of you if I wanted. But you’re not worth my time. This thing, though?” he said as he noticed the watch in Dillon’s hand. Quickly, before Dillon could react, he snatched it from him. “What’s this?” he asked in a taunting voice.

“Hey man, not cool!” Dillon responded. “That’s mine!”

“Hunt, your family’s so poor your parents can’t even afford a proper watch for you!,” Jason exclaimed as he held it up. Dillon tried to grab it back, but Jason quickly pulled it away and shoved Dillon hard in the chest. Dillon stumbled back, but was able to maintain his footing.

Jason’s crew was quick to look around and see if any of the recess monitors had noticed what was going on. They hadn’t. Fortunately for Jason the playground was packed and the monitors were all preoccupied: some with other kids; some talking to one another; and one monitor, Mrs Jacobs, apparently thought there were more interesting things going on in the world of social media as she had her face glued to her phone.

“It looks worthless,” said Jason. “Let’s see if it is.”

Before Dillon could try and grab at it again Jason threw it as hard as he could behind the playground and into … Miss Kettle’s yard! Dillon, and all the kids who had witnessed this, were horror struck.

Miss Kettle’s yard backed onto the school property and all the kids avoided her part of the fence like the plague. This was due to her dog, Chocolate. The name she gave her dog didn’t seem to match the dog itself except for maybe its color. Chocolate was a massive Rottweiler-Husky cross with dark brown fur. His bark was enough to scare the bravest of the kids at school. He didn’t show himself very often, but when someone ventured too close to the fence he would, most-times, let out a deep-throated bark that seemed to shake the very air. The worst part was that Miss Kettle’s yard was full of trees, plants, and shrubs which made it perfect for Chocolate to conceal himself so you wouldn’t know he was even there until it was too late.

Dillon stood there in a daze. In an instant it seemed like the entire playground went silent. You could hear a pin drop at that moment. The slight breeze, which before now was not even noticeable, seemed like a torrent at that moment.

“You jerk!” screamed Sarah—another sixth grader with medium length brown hair, and one of Dillon’s best friends—as she moved closer to Jason and Dillon.

Jason merely laughed.

Dillon started walking toward the yard.

“What are you doing?” asked Sarah as she grabbed his arm. “You’re not seriously thinking about going in there are you?” she pressed.

Dillon pulled his arm away. “I have to,” he said as he turned to look her in the eyes.

“Why?”

“I … I don’t know,” he responded hesitantly. “But I need to get that watch back.”

“Why don’t you just wait until after school and go ask Miss Kettle to get it back for you instead of risking your life for a stupid broken watch you found in the forest?” Sarah reasoned.

“I can’t wait. I can’t lose it. What if the dog get’s it first?” His voice was verging on the edge of desperation. His tone stopped Sarah in her tracks for a moment.

Jason laughed again as he began to walk away. “You’re as stupid as you look Hunt!”

Sarah snapped her head around and gave Jason a cold look. He sneered at her, waved his hand dismissively, and continued walking. “Come on guys,” he said to the rest of his posse. They hesitated, unsure of what they should do. “I said come on!” he reiterated forcefully. That was enough to get them going.

By the time Sarah looked back, Dillon was halfway to the fence. The other kids who, a moment earlier were hanging out with him on the Jungle Gym, looked to one another for a second and then began to follow. Sarah ran to catch up with him.

“Dillon!” she whispered emphatically as they got closer to the fence.

Dillon quickly waved his hand in a downward motion indicating that he wanted her to be quiet. He stood by the fence for a moment and listened. Everyone was deadly silent. The only sound that could be heard was the light breeze that moved through the trees and brush of Miss Kettle’s yard, ruffling the leaves and branches as it went.

Dillon grabbed the top of the chain-linked fence. Sarah touched his shoulder. He turned and met her eyes, noting the concern he could see in them. “It’ll be okay,” he whispered to her. With that, he quickly leaped over the fence and into the yard. Every kid watching held their breath, not daring to make a sound.

Dillon made his way quickly across the small clearing that led to the edge of the trees and bushes which covered Miss Kettle’s yard. He then crouched down and slipped under the closest overhang of branches and disappeared under the overgrowth. As silent as he could he maneuvered through the yard, trying to remember roughly where he saw the watch go down. As he snuck along he was careful to listen for any sound that Chocolate might make. He noted some deadfall under the trees and picked up a one inch thick branch that was about three feet long, just in case. He came through the thick brush and noted a large doghouse in front of him and to the right. He scanned the yard to see if he could spot the dog anywhere. All was clear. As he was repositioning himself he suddenly heard some movement coming from within the doghouse. He froze, not daring to even breathe. He waited for what seemed an eternity, but nothing happened. No dog. He’s probably sleeping, Dillon thought. I hope he’s sleeping!

As he continued to scan around he noted the glint of an object as the sun reflected off of it. It was the watch! Dillon’s best guess was that the watch had cleared the trees and landed about ten feet from the edge of the brush into the yard; five feet from the entrance to the doghouse.

Man. Jason has a great arm! he thought to himself. That kid should really focus on using it for good not evil. Dillon shook his head in order to focus his attention back to the task at hand. Get the watch,