After that, we had Chemistry, Public Speaking, Personal Finance, and Amarkian History. At 3:30 pm, the last bell rang and everyone ran out like a stampede of wildebeests.

Hey! Bell rang. Got it right that time.

Anyways, we had at least survived the first day. We stepped outside and waited for Phillip at 3:45 exactly. The girls and I waved goodbye to Dimetroodon, and stepped in. Oh, and Larry came along. He also lives with us. Not necessarily a good thing, but oh well.

Then, we picked up Robert and Greeny. When we got there, Robert was playing in his phone while Greeny was…eating rocks!?

What the..?

They both stepped into the limo like two robots. Robert never took his eyes off his phone and Greeny kept putting pebbles in his stomach.

"What are you doing" I asked Greeny.

He looked up at me. "Huh? Oh, eating candy."

Candy? This was barely his first day of public school and he could tell the difference between rocks and candy? Hardly.

He grabbed several of the small rocks and pushed them into my. "Have some."

Huh? Me? Eat rocks? Never. But you know how six-year-olds are. Oh well, I said to myself. Just so his feelings won't be hurt. I put the rocks in my mouth and…chew…hey...crunch…it was candy. It was chocolate rocks.

"Hey, it is tasty," I said. "Where'd you get them?"

"Mrs. Rosebraham gave them to me."

"Your teacher? Why she'd give them?"

"Because I learned the longest word without looking at it."

""Aw, isn't that sweet?" said Patty. "He knows a long word without even knowing how to read."

"What was the word?" said Kathy.

"Work," he said.

I stared at him for a while. What? "Uh, you mean, 'work' was the longest word that anyone thought of?"

He nodded. "You proud of me, Spiny?" Oh boy. "W-well," I stuttered, "You won, didn't you? Um," I elbowed my sister. "How about you? Kathy?"

"Well, sure. We're sure proud of you," she said.

"Yay!" Greeny replied.

Oh well. We all got to start somewhere.

Anyways, I turned to Robert. "How was your day, Robert?" No answer. His mouth didn't move as much as this dumb, I'll say that.

You see, he's attached to his new cell phone. And when he's not playing on the phone, he's on the computer on social networking sites.

"Robert?"

"Huh."

"Robert!"

He looked up quickly. "Shut up!"

HUH?! Did he tell me to shut up?

I don't think he realized that. He looked up again, this time about 65% slower. He gave the innocent smile. "I mean, uh, hee hee, what did you, ask dear brother?"

I stared at him for a good thirty seconds. Then, "Give me, that!" I snatched the phone out of his hands. "I asked how your day was."

"Oh, well, went well. For a first day, I guess."

"Hmm. Didn't go too well, right?"

He shook his head. "Got tripped over by a bigger kid, my lunch was stolen, and someone peeked over my shoulder during a test."

"Well, outside the second one, we got along great," said Patty.

"You mean, someone stole you lunch too?"

Kathy shook her head. "No, someone stole five lunches."

"Who?"

Then, we all turned to look at Mr. Sneaky. He was beside the window. He was…CHEWING his tail? I knew Larry was not normal, but this? Weirdo.

I think Robert got the idea, because all he said was, "Oh."

Well, we were quiet the rest of the drive home. The cities here in Amarkia are home to a lot of creatures, from the 9-inch Epidexipteryx hui which lives in the tropical, moist Rainy Basin, to the 190-foot Amphicoelias Fragillimus which lives in the open flatlands of The Northern Plains. And all the buildings have fifty-foot high doors and ceilings for the biggest citizens. And no heavy animal is allowed to go above two stories. So most skyscrapers are occupied by smaller dinosaurs or people.

Anyways, we got outside the city, down the highway, and onto Royal Avenue. There's several other people who live there. Not all of them are government workers.

Oh, and did I mention that when we travel by car we're always escorted? By police cars, motorcycles, armed cars, and even a drone above us. We have a lot of enemies who'd like us dead, you know?

And when we arrive at the Palace Gates, the guards ask me for my fingerprint, six different kinds of identification cards, and a secret question. Only then are we allowed in.

Once we enter, the escort vehicles wait outside and the guards stand by. Once inside the gates, we're safer than…than…than…I don't know. But we're super-mega-ultra safe.

And unlike The White House or The Buckingham Palace, our Royal Palace is not open for tours and is strictly residential. But I'll let you on a little secret. I have a secret room underneath the palace next to our basement. Only Larry and I know about it. My family doesn't. We have robots, talking spy cars, secret agents, and phones connected directly to every country and its leader.

Oh, and we also have special drinks that give you super-powers.

However, the place where I actually work is in the city itself. It's a ten story government building. However, for safety reasons, my personal office is five floors beneath the ground.

Anyways, we drove up to the front doors. Robert and Greeny must really hate school, because once Phillip opened the door for us, they ran raced inside like a silver streak.

I stepped out and stretched real good, that is until Larry ran out and knocked me over, slamming me into the ground. Clumsy reptile.

We stepped inside and, oh, it felt great to be home again. I stretched again, and went to my personal study room. I looked at my watch. It was 3:45 pm. I had about thirty minutes to do my homework. Then I had to run down to my office downtown. Remember, I still have a country to rule and manage.

So, I went up to the fourth floor and walked into my study room. It has an eighty-thousand-year-old desk, nineteen different kinds of pencils, and thirty-foot-tall, twenty-foot long bookshelves with books and encyclopedias on thousands of subjects. There's a big painting of my grandfather in canvas behind me. He had been a student of medicine, biology, astronomy, and just about every kind of science. He was a genius. He ruled from 34,986 BCE to 5,214 BCE.

I'm actually the first King of Amarkia to be single. All other kings were either married or had been married.

Anyways, I sat down at my desk, sharpened my pencil, and started my homework. Then someone knocked at the door. "Come in," I said.

Kathy came in. "Just fixed you a little something before you left." She put a small plate and a cup of crystalline spring water. Water from underground springs in the Sky Valley Caves, which are in the Epitretari Mountains and were we get all our precious minerals and jewelry.

Kathy had made me some bean and beef burritos. "Thanks, sis," I said with a smile.

"Sure thing."

"You gonna do homework?" I asked her.

"Yeah. What time are you leaving?"

"Uh…about half hour."

"You going to be home late?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Got my monthly UN meeting. Maybe I'll be back by 10:30. Plus, I got to do the rest of my homework."

She chuckled. "I wish I only had to go to school once every two or three weeks like you."

I shrugged. "I got a country to rule, twenty million citizens to feed and protect, make laws, monitor the economy, command the armed forces, meet with other government leaders, and make sure everyone is happy."

"Some life, huh?"

"Plus, I have to be father, mother, and older brother to you and Patty and Robert and Greeny."

She shook her head. "I don't know how you manage."

"Well, even though I have absolute power, I don't do everything. And you and Patty help me keep this house running smoothly."

"Well," she said, "it's hard work, but we all enjoy it." She stood up. "Well, I need to do my homework. See you tonight, then."

"Right."

She came over and kissed me on the cheek. "See you later."

"Bye."

She was about to walk outside when I said, "Hey! Teach me how to make Lilia come in here and kiss me just like that, but on the lips instead of the cheek?"

She laughed. "Don't worry. You'll get your first kiss soon." She left me to myself.

One thing I do with my homework: I do the hardest parts first and the easiest things at the end. Makes for less stress and anxiety.

So, I usually start with Algebra II and finish with Amarkian History.

Well, I ate my small meal and finished about one-third of my homework. Good thing they hardly give you homework on the first day. The heaviest homework is usually from early December to late March.

Anyways, I said goodbye to everyone and walked out to the garage. I have my own car. It looks like a cross between a tank and a stealth fighter. I called it the TIV. It means Tornado Intercept Vehicle. It was originally made to go inside tornadoes. But know I use it as my personal vehicle.

It weighs 14,500 lbs. It has ten wheels with eight-wheel drive. Off-road tires. Three-inch bulletproof windows and windshield. It also has hydraulic panels on the front, back, and sides that can be lowered so that wind won't get under it. And nine-foot spikes in the sides are thrust into the ground in order to anchor the vehicle.

On the top, there is a Doppler radar inside a three-inch thick metal dome. Along with four antennas, a 360-degree turret with a 3D HD Imax camera, and a weather station that measures temperature, dew point, humidity, air pressure, and wind speed and direction.

So, why does TIV weigh 7 ½ tons? Well, the frame is entirely made of solid steel, while the body includes 2 ½ -to 4 ¼-inch steel, polycarbonate, aluminum, and Kevlar. That bulletproof stuff police use. Oh, and TIV can also fly, time-travel, and teleport.

And it's mega-efficient. Nine hundred sixty horsepower, ten cylinders, and 175 miles per gallon. But instead of regular oil as basis of our modern civilization, we use soybean oil, biodiesel, ethanol, and above all…algae oil. The plastic made from algae oil decomposes in only ten days. And it makes no pollution, and no litter whatsoever. It actually cleans the air.

And we use fuel cells for our factories. Those things use oxygen and hydrogen for fuel, emit no pollution, and only produces water as a by-product.

So, yeah, we have algae stations instead of gas stations. One bad thing about algae oil: it's highly flammable. But since smoking has always been banned in Amarkia, and we have tight security at our algae fields, it's not a huge problem.

So, we use solar, wind, geothermal, and magnet power—yes, clean energy from electromagnets—to process all our products and use fuel cells as source of energy. So, we have absolutely, and positively no environmental problems.

Just a little FYI.

Anyways, I went to the garage, got in TIV, started the engine, drove out, and towards the Palace Gates.

My escort vehicles were still there, waiting. They got into formation as I drove down the road. I said hi to some neighbors as I went by.

Just another day ruling a country. I made a mental note to myself: Put 12 tablespoons of sugar in coffee and eat five donuts to keep awake during cabinet conference and boring, useless UN meeting.

Crazy, right?

And I was only going to work part-time today. From 4 pm to 10 pm. Just thinking about it makes you exhausted. So, yes, I work 18-hour days. But since I've been doing this since 1073 BCE, I'm more or less used to it. But I still get tired. Plus, I need time to spend with my family.

On days that I don't go to school, I work from 9 am to 5 pm. On these days, the girls wake up early to get themselves and the boys ready.

Anyway I drove down to my office. I walked to the front doors, which had guards. I walked inside and went to the receptionist desk.

"Hi, Kelly," I said to the receptionist girl.

"Hello, Your Majesty," she said. One thing: just about every girl I work with at the office is cute.

I said to her, "Please tell the guy at the delicatessen to bring me three cups of strong coffee, and five donuts, three chocolate and two sugar."

"Yes, of course."

"Do I have any messages?"

"I put them on your desk in your office."

"Oh, okay. Thanks. See you, Kelly."

I waved bye and got on the elevator. She smiled and her cheeks blushed. I never knew I was such a charming guy.

The elevator boy said, "To your floor, sir?"

"Yes, please."

We went the full five floors beneath the ground, then I stepped out. I said thanks to the boy and gave him a tip.

I walked down about ten steps, turned right then left, then came to the end of a hallway. There was my door with the sign that said Office of King. No admission. Authorized personnel only. Deadly force is used. In gold letters, of course.

There are two-heavily armed guards at my door. They are Troodons. They only let certain people in. Of course, me and my siblings can come and go as we please. But before I can enter, I have to unlock five locks, enter a secret pin, speak into a mic for voice identification, and body scan.

The door opened and I walked in. In case you're wondering, I'm still in human form, wearing a regular business suit.

Oh, and, instead of a crown, I have a 280-karat pure gold ring on my right hand. Royal Ring. That's basically my trademark. No crown.

I sat at my desk and…started saying "Oh, man" about a thousand times.

I had 35 emails, 42 phone messages, 20 letters, and a stack of papers about two feet high.

Plus, I had two large conferences to attend to.

Oh boy.

And I'd barely arrived.