Benton Believes

By Kimberly Bugbee, M.S. and Sara Clement

Benton is so angry he could throw something! His little sister is a pest, and his older brother treats him like a baby. Just when Benton decides he can't get any more frustrated with his life and his family, he meets Eli. But is the magical lizard even real? Should Benton take his advice? Can he really be happy and change his life?

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781940684147

Book preview

Not long ago, in a neighborhood not far away, there lived a boy named Benton. That’s me. Or at least, it was me… the old me. A lot has changed in my life since then. When I look back at how I used to see the world and compare it to how the world seems to me now, I am certain that this is a story that has to be shared. Who knows how many lives could change like mine did? And all it really took was a little bit of magic! Let’s see…

I was just about your age, or maybe a little bit smaller, when I first met him. I had always been a pretty good student. I loved to draw colorful pictures and play outside in the sun. All in all, I think I was a pretty ordinary kid, living a pretty ordinary life, on a pretty ordinary street, in a pretty ordinary town. I suppose my life could have continued to stay pretty ordinary indefinitely, but if it had I may not be sitting here writing this story for you. In fact, I’m sure that I wouldn’t. I hated writing. I was beginning to hate just about everything. But all that changed when I was… well, I guess you could say that I was chosen... chosen to do something extraordinary.

It all began on a beautiful Saturday morning. It was the kind of morning that could make a kid spring out of bed just to soak up the sun. But for some reason, I couldn’t seem to pull myself away from my cozy cocoon of sheets. My alarm clock was blaring like a rooster right into my ear, but I refused to budge. Instead, I groaned loudly, ripped the alarm clock cord from the wall, and chucked the whole thing into the trash! I grinned in satisfaction at the silence, but then pulled my pillow over my head to shut out the uncomfortable feeling that was creeping up inside me. My skin felt prickly, and there was a heavy feeling in my stomach. It felt rotten, like food that had been left in a lunch box all weekend.

I continued to lie there wondering if I was catching the flu when my little sister, Lucy, ran into my room. She stood there hopping from one foot to another grinning her ridiculous, toothless, lopsided grin at me as she tugged at my safe-haven of blankets.

Hey, Benton! she squeaked. Mama says it’s time to get up ‘cause we’re going to Gramma’s and then to the park, and you can push me on the swings, and maybe we’ll get some ice cream, and then we might go swimmin’ if Gramma says we can!

I groaned again and pulled the blankets back up over my shoulders. She didn’t leave, so I grabbed my stuffed dinosaur pillow and threw it at her.

Go away, Lucy! I could see the dismay in her eyes, but I didn’t care. Why did she always have to come into my room anyway? I imagined myself painting a sign that I planned to staple all over so that no one would be able to remove it. It would say, DON’T COME IN UNLESS YOUR NAME IS BENTON!

Of course, a sign like that wouldn’t matter to Lucy because she couldn’t really read much yet. Maybe, I mused, I could make a sign that just says, NO! That would be easier for her to read. Or, maybe a lock… yeah! A lock would be awesome! I looked up, smiling at my brilliance. Lucy still stood in the doorway pouting. I felt a little bad seeing the sadness in her eyes, but instead of telling her I was sorry for being grouchy, I just glared at her. After all, she was in my room! Lucy stuck her tongue out at me and blew a raspberry in my face. I could feel little drips of spit splattering all over my cheek like mist. Then, she turned around and skipped down the hall chanting, Bossy Benton, Bossy Benton, Bossy Benton! over and over.

As I wiped her slobber from my face with the corner of my blanket, I could hear her telling my mom that I was rude to her. Great. I knew I was going to be in trouble. I reluctantly kicked my blankets to the floor and rolled out of my toasty bed. When my feet hit the floor, it felt like I was standing on a block of ice. The freezing chill shot straight through my feet and into my bones.

Yet, listening to Lucy go on and on about what a terrible brother I was made my head feel boiling hot with anger! That prickly feeling began to spread all over my skin like a burning rash. Lucy was making sure that Mom would be on her side.

I tried to tell myself that she deserved my abuse, but there was a tiny voice inside my head that wouldn’t let me believe it. Benton, you are a real jerk. She’s just a little kid! She was so happy, and you