It was the weekend in the suburb of Lion Street and Elles’s parents were throwing her a small party. The sun was out to brighten her special day as she ran around with her white balloon trailing behind her.

The grass was putting up a fight against the number of parents who had brought their children over. Pop music kept the older guests moving their stiff limbs. Elles’s father, Deon Dekker, was joined by his guests as they exposed their ‘fangs’ in laughter, while enjoying the smoking Boerewors on the braai.

Kids jumped over castles and kicked the clown king to the ground. Painted faces were playing ‘police’, chasing the criminals and shooting them down using water pistols.

Elles ran past the table where her mother was sharing a cup of tea with a circle of ladies. Emma grabbed hold of her daughter and tickled her in her white dress.

On the roof of the house sat three kids in dragon suits, the matching heads discarded next to them. Sitting on the edge, Chris, with his fat painted cheeks and fluffy hair, darted his slingshot and aimed it at Elles’s balloon. His two costumed buddies keep a close eye on his target. A few seconds later, Chris released the stone, which popped its white target with a bang.

Elles stopped short and grabbed the dangling string. She looked up angrily at the devious dragons. She strolled over to the festooned balloon table and picked out a red one. Before darting her foot she stuck out her tongue.

“Okay boys,” said Chris, as his two buddies adjusted their dragonheads, “let’s do this!”

The fat kid, who thought of himself as bully, took out a lighter and set the clown king on fire. Children who were on top of the joker, screamed, as he ran wildly, plunging himself into the swimming pool. Their ‘dragon head’ camouflages replaced, the boys stole kitchen forks from the guest plates and used them as claws to burst the bouncing castles and water slides at the party. Tablecloths caught fire as the chef tried to extinguish the flames, while the young dragons tried to sneak out a bottle of Champagne in exchange.

Elles’s party was out of hand; she kept searching for those three dragons so she could sort them out. She found them filling backpacks with the birthday presents that guests had put in her old wooden pushcart. She screamed her lungs out and the frightened monsters took off. As they ran off, one of the dragons scooped up a bucket and the others grabbed some explosive firecrackers. Elles stopped chasing them when she saw the big bully lighting some crackers and throwing them, like a ticking boom.

The young dragons stopped running and jumped into the truck of the clown king. Glancing at the others, doubtful, Chris drove it into the yard, hooting at parents to get out of the way. The masked party invaders bumped into chairs and table settings with the big truck. The clown king chased after his vehicle until the wheels squealed to a stop.

The dragons quickly jumped out to escape another chase, just as the clown king was startled by a loud bang from the rear of the truck. Horses kicked the door open and galloped from the tour truck, followed by dressed up monkeys and white pigeons who nervously fluttered upward as the growling bear made its appearance. A fully-grown anaconda took its time to slither onto the grass before the Siberian tiger escaped from its leash.

Chaos erupted in Lion Street as the young dragons heaved their heavy bodies up into a tree. Elles, with her family and guests, looked on from behind closed doors as people scattered in all directions. The monkeys climbed onto the tables, attempting to knock on the windows of the hooting cars trying to dash out. Neighbours looked down from their windows at the passing tiger and dialled 911.

“Yes, operator, it is a full grown tiger!”

To everyone’s dismay, the snake chilled out in the grass as Chris’s mother, Jen, tried to fight a number of parents who were holding her back from going outside, “My son is still out there with that thing crawling! In… in that…!”

Elles’s father, Deon, was holding on to the obese woman, attempting to prevent her from over powering his braai mates.

“It’s still too dangerous!” Deon shouted while trying to keep hold.
“The police are on their way!”

Her obese husband, Andrew, appeared at her side, soberly holding a rifle.

“Let me go and kill that thing!” he said, while inserting the ammo.

As he left the house, the heavy snake made the slightest movement, striking out towards his boots. The others pulled Andrew back to the house, just in time!

The grizzly bear was failing in its attempt to climb the tree that held the kids.

“Guys, he’s not going anywhere!” whispered Chris, stunned by the growling bear below.

“So, how are we going to lose that thing down there?” Nick asked.

Chris took a slice of pizza from his pocket and tossed it towards the animal. The bear calmed down and began to chew on the slice aggressively, which the kids found a bit unnerving.

“I think our new friend likes it!” exclaimed Chris as his friends joined him in throwing down the other goodies stolen from the party.

The sound of the police siren came closer as the clown king tried to escape with his tour truck, but the broken wheel did not get him far. The animal rescue team captured the wild animals with their equipment and the police arrested the clown king.

Later, when it was safe for the local residents to come out, they all gathered near the tall tree, while a fire engine with a ladder rescued the three kids.

Elles stood disappointedly next to her father, clutching her balloon. A prestigious silver car, driven by a man in a suit, travelled along the street past the crowd and approached a nearby house. A bored kid leered at Elles from the backseat. She glanced at him before looking back down.

The woeful boy kept his sight on her until the driver, Ivan, stopped the car behind the high walls. As soon as handsome Bryan got inside, he ran up the stairs to the rooftop window where could watch the after-party across the street.

***

Tell us what you think: What punishment would you give the three naughty boys for ruining Elles’s party?