Sam and his Fly Friends

By Rubina Shaikh

"Sam and his Fly Friends" is a book for readers of ages 7 to 12 and also a fun book for parents and grand parents to read aloud with their little ones. This book starts out in an elementary school in New York. The characters in the book, Sam and his best friend Lucas travel to faraway lands and see large enchanting monuments, deep forests and small and friendly neighborhoods that all seem quite foreign and yet also seem very familiar. Sam is almost afraid to ask and know more but his curiosity takes him deeper and deeper into the strange land and he witnesses some dark and foreboding events until he is forced to ask the dreaded words "Where are we?"

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9781667886091

Book preview

1 Sam meets Emer

It all started in second grade, one week when his best friend Lucas was out sick.

Sam was in the cafeteria and had just finished eating his lunch alone and was walking absent-mindedly to the trash bin to dispose of the left overs of his lunch. He dropped a piece of apple, his sandwich bag into the trash bin and just as he was lowering his bottle of water in he heard Pssst…

He followed the sound to see who was speaking and could not believe his eyes - there he was - a beautiful emerald green dragonfly - speaking to him. He looked at him wide-eyed.

His eyes were the most luminous shade of green Sam had ever seen and his wings seemed to be like shimmering gold tinted gossamer that made them seem like they were made of jewels worth millions of dollars.

Can you please recycle the bottle?

Sure… But … But … words escaped Sam but he did as he was told.

Who are you? Sam asked warily.

My name is Emer, what’s yours?

I am Sam

Nice to meet you Sam

While they were exchanging looks and sizing each other up Sam heard a commotion in the huge trash bins where kids drop their left over lunches.

Hey you guys - come out and meet Sam. Emer called out to the trash bin that apparently was housing his friends. The commotion continued as one after the other two more of the flies popped out and introduced themselves to Sam.

Hi - I am Max said one who seemed to be covered in gooey, sticky chocolate pudding.

How many times have I told you not to dive straight into the chocolate pudding cup? - nagged the third fly who seemed to have a strange but familiar accent.

Oh stop - like you are so organized while scouring the dumpster - I saw you drag the first piece of chicken nugget you saw straight to the other end to dip into the honey mustard sauce. You think I didn’t see you?

Of course - you don’t see anything with the chocolate on your face and eyes …

Guys - stop. Emer signaled them with his large eyes pointing to Sam.

Oh hi paused the third fly and came close to Sam quite enthusiastically to make an acquaintance.

I am Sandeep but my friends call me Sunny he said in what now Sam recognized as a distinct Indian accent.

Are you from India? Sam asked curiously

Yes, my grandparents flew to India, I mean they flew onto a crate and the crate was on a ship and the ship was traveling to India

Ahh, I see; my parents are from India too

Gee. Aren’t we lucky? Said Sunny with a wry smile.

Ron, come and meet Sam

Just then Sam caught sight of the fourth fly sitting at the end of a table with a napkin laid out in front of him. He seemed to be picking at a bowl of salad and barely looked at him and nodded at him in a distant fashion.

There was an awkward pause as they all stood looking at each other - Sam was not sure how he felt about the talking dragon flies but they seemed to be very friendly and he wanted to know more about them.

Do you want to come out into the school yard and play with us?

I don’t know. He said after a long pause.

I have my after school starting shortly said Sam carefully.

Oh come on - how many times are you going to watch Kung Fu Panda 2?

Questioned Emer in a pretty confident tone that made Sam aware the Emer was quite familiar with the second grade schedule.

Sam considered the offer; he did want to join them but was not sure if he should and he was a cautious boy - always putting safety first as his parents had taught him over and over again.

Something in the eyes of this amazing beautiful creature made him trust his instincts and say slowly

Sure - I can play for a bit.

They were about to go into the yard and Sam realized he was still holding onto his bottle and looked at Emer who looked back knowingly -

Yes please recycle, you have no idea how much trouble this little bottle has caused my people.

Sam quickly dropped the bottle in the recycle bin and as they piled out of the cafeteria Sam unable to hold his curiosity asked him

Your people? What are your people like?

Sam had heard about bottled water from his Mom who would not stop talking about how they were bad for the environment but hearing from this intriguing creature made him want to find out more.

They talked and played in the yard for a bit.

So what is this little bottle of water going to do to endanger your people?

Oh it’s a long story… Emer’s voice trailed off.

Its not that long spoke Ron for the first time in a sharp voice. Sam looked at him and saw him shrug in a nonchalant manner and in a single breath related an even more intriguing tale than Sam had heard all day

There are some bad men in our town that call themselves D’Men and have built a massive wall of these used plastic water bottles around the only clean water source that is causing extreme dehydration in many of our family and friends.

Whaaat?

How is that possible? Sam had read as many fantasy books and watched as many fantasy movies as any other second grader but still could not imagine such a thing was possible.

I can show you …. It’s quite close by said Emer looking in the direction of the ground below the black soft mats that covered the playground.

Wide-eyed Sam could only follow his gaze ….

Emer walked over to the slide and crawled underneath the steps and lifted one of the squares of the mat …

Follow me he said and Sam couldn’t help but obediently follow him in a trance - they crawled into what seemed like a dark tunnel and Sam heard sounds below him like a subway train sound - he saw a small sliver of light at the end of the tunnel - when they got there Emer pushed open what looked like a dark trap door and they piled out into the subway station that was next to Sam’s school.

They stepped out near a convenience store, the store clerk barely noticed this unusual procession and there was a man with long hair and disheveled clothes slumped on a bench who nodded at them like it was any other day in a subway station. Emer stopped to drop a quarter in the empty coffee cup he had placed in front of him. They kept going on down the stairs, they heard music played by a group of teenagers performing their dance routine on the platform and a guy in a suit was playing