Doug jumped up and raised his hands in the air. “Have I got any shrimp? People don’t call me the Food Dude for nothin’!”

I cracked up. “Doug, nobody calls you the Food Dude.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s just what I call myself sometimes when I’m cooking. Anyways, follow me into the kitchen, friends. I was planning to sauté me up a little shrimp carbonara later in the week, but I suppose I could share some with our little flamingo.”

SQUAWK!

We made our way into the kitchen, and Doug pulled a five-pound bag of shrimp out of the freezer! He filled the sink with water and dumped in the bag of shrimp.

“Flamesy, you’re one lucky flamingo! You ended up in the Food Dude’s kitchen! And you’re about to have some nice, raw shrimp carbonara, minus the carbonara!” Doug swirled the bag around in the warm water. “Hey, Arcade, you ever wonder why shrimp isn’t orange till you cook it?”

Zoe shook her head. “Shrimp is pink.”

I threw my hands up. “Seriously, Zoe? Your nose is pink!”

*  *  *

After Flames demolished his raw shrimp dinner, we took him upstairs to get him settled in Doug’s extra bathroom.

“He can’t get into too much trouble up here,” Doug said. “Should we fill up the bathtub a little? You know how those flamingos like to splash around at the Bronx Zoo.”

“Actually, I’ve never been there. That’s a goal of mine this year. To see New York stuff. But hey, I have been to the Beijing Zoo.”

“Man, I wish I could have been with you guys when you went there. Do you think I’ll ever get to go on another Arcade adventure? They’re the best!”

I glanced down at my chest. There was sizzling happening under my shirt, and I had a feeling it wasn’t heartburn.

“Why are you sweating?” Doug laughed as he filled the bathtub for Flames. Zoe jumped up from the little footstool where she had been sitting, feeding dessert shrimp to Flames.

“Arcade, is your token acting up again? Please tell me you’re sweating because you forgot to use deodorant today.”

“Zoe, my face is sweating. I don’t put deodorant on my face!” The token jumped off my chest, and then dropped. When it dropped, it sizzled.

“I don’t understand,” I said to the token. “Can you help me understand? Where did you come from?” I placed the token between both hands and wished to know.

Chapter 8
Squawks and Sparks

Flames squawked and kicked water in the bathtub with his webbed feet, and Doug’s bathroom suddenly filled with sparking orange glitter. It sprayed out of the wall air freshener that was plugged into an electrical outlet. And the temperature in the small room rose at least ten degrees.