16 SMOKE

CHAPTER 16 SMOKE? I cleaned out Marshmallow's pen while Sassafras watched. It looked so empty without our little dragon bounding around. Even Sassafras was mopey. We all really missed Marshmallow. I sniffed back another wave of tears. Wait a minute. I sniffed again. "Do you smell smoke, Sassafras? Where's it coming from?" Sassafras pawed at the barn door and meowed. Oh no, was something burning outside? We burst

out of the barn to find my mom standing by a fire in our backyard fire pit. She held two sticks and a bag of marshmallows. She smiled. "Roasted marshmallows seemed like an appropriate way to celebrate your success with our dragon friend." We cuddled up by the fire telling stories about the little guy and laughing. I ate five or six marshmallows, and went to grab another one. But then I remembered how Marshmallow felt after eating the plate of marshmallows. I set my roasting stick down and just enjoyed the fire. I'd skip the stomachache!

After we headed in for the night, I went to my bedroom. Sassafras jumped up on my desk and nosed at my science notebook. It fell open to the next blank page. I laughed and snuggled him up. "Oh, Sassafras, I know how you feel. I can't wait to meet our next magical friend either!"

GLOSSARY Carnivore: An animal that eats only meat Cold-blooded: An animal that uses the sun to warm up and shade to cool itself because it can't control its body temperature Conclusion: What you learned from your experiment (hopefully you get an answer to your question but sometimes you don't) Herbivore: An animal that eats only plants Hypothesis: What you think will happen in your experiment Omnivore: An animal that eats plants and meat Reptile: An animal that has scales and is cold-blooded

Warm-blooded: An animal that doesn't need the sun to warm up or shade to cool itself because it can control its body temperature