MY BEST FRIEND IS A SECRET AGENT, Book 2: How C.H.I.P. Took a Dive to Dash...

Chapter 3: "My Dream"

That night, Dad made a campfire and fried up all the fish that he'd caught.

It was really good, but it would've been better had I not had to witness what goes on in between catching a fish and serving it on a plate. I mean, yech!

Also, Dad insisted on cooking everything using all this military surplus cookware from World War II. "Forget about all that flimsy, newfangled camping stuff they sell you today," he said. "What was good for the troops in Europe is good enough for me." Our sleeping bags had also seen a lot of combat. They weighed about fifty pounds each and smelled like our garage, but I guess Dad felt that if we were comfortable while camping, we weren't doing it right.

But I did eventually get to sleep on the hard, rocky ground. And, in spite of my situation, I had the most amazing dream . . .

In my dream, Chip was C.H.I.P., and we were battling the wackiest wacky bad guy of all. His name was El Niñono, I think. He didn't really exist, but, in my dream, he had something to do with the weather —tornadoes mixed with tidal waves or whatever.

Anyway, he was actually attacking our school, so C.H.I.P. and I had to take him on right in front of everybody. As a result our secret identities weren't so secret anymore. Everyone actually got to see how cool we were, and they knew it was us being cool, not some nameless hero guy.

And that meant that Carla Mawhinney finally got to see me in action! Now she couldn't deny that I, Nort McKrakken, was everything she'd always wanted in a boyfriend.

First, Carla apologized for ever doubting me. Then she looked up at me with true love in her eyes. (Okay, in real life I'd have to stand on a chair for her to look up at me, but this was a dream, okay?) 

Then she leaned in . . . her lips pursed, her eyes closed. I puckered up too. This was my chance! This was the moment I'd dreamed of ever since we were assigned lockers next to each other.

But suddenly—CRASH! A huge foot slammed down between us, sending us both flying. Was it El Niñono, suddenly the size of an elephant?

No, it was a giant Gert von Brugen! She had become a wacky bad guy named The Eruptor!

And she was coming for me! As I ran frantically across the schoolyard, my romantic moment with Carla Mawhinney now just a memory, the massive Gert von Brugen charged, causing an earthquake with every slam of her feet, shooting molten rocks from her volcano head, bellowing at the top of her lungs!

But it wasn't really her bellowing. It was my dad. I was suddenly back in the campground. Dad's bellowing had woken me up.

I sighed with relief. Dad had saved me from Gert von Brugen.

But what was going on? I looked down at the lake, and there was Dad, splayed out in the water next to this small dock.

Or was he splayed out ON the water? Why did the water seem to be solid?

And why was it PINK??