posted
This is my first short story. I wrote it for my daughter for Christmas this year. I would be interested to hear what you think.
From: Cincinnati | Registered: Jul 2003
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I had just turned 16 when I saw a dragon for the first time. It wasn’t a large dragon – about 20 feet from nose to tail, its scales shimmering green in the sunlight as it drank from the stream. I honestly didn’t know dragons still existed, although I had heard enough stories to know they had been real. I had even been to Gildar once and seen the skull of a dragon that had been killed there – but I had never seen a living, breathing dragon. I would have been ecstatic about seeing a dragon except for one thing – the dragon saw me, too.
Ever had a dragon stare straight at you? Not many people have. Still fewer had survived to describe the overwhelming fear that goes along with the experience. Perhaps not so overwhelming, though, since I started running for home as fast as my legs could carry me.
I had just had two misconceptions dispelled over the past few minutes. The first was that dragons do indeed exist. The second was that I can run a lot faster than I thought I could. It wasn’t fast enough though. The dragon caught up with me before I could run 100 yards. I knew dragons were supposed to be able to fly – what I didn’t know was that dragons can run!
I heard him right behind me as the ground in front of me exploded into flame. I stopped as quickly as I could, and I still had to back up. I had run into the path of scorched earth where the dragon’s fireball had struck, and my sandals were smoldering. I backed away from the fiery circle the dragon’s breath had made and kicked off my sandals. I decided then to turn and meet my fate face-to-face.
The dragon was only a few yards from me. He licked his lips as he sized me up. I was close to choking from the sulfurous fumes of his breath.
“Get it over with, then…” I stammered, tears starting to trickle down my cheeks.
“If I planned on having you for lunch, I wouldn’t have missed with the fireball.”
“You’re…not going to eat me?” (There are few conversations more unnerving than whether or not you are about to enter someone’s digestive tract.)
“I haven’t quite decided. Roast human isn’t quite to my liking.”
“Well, that’s a good thing,” I cleverly replied.
“So tell me, human – what do they call you?”
“I’m…Yolanda. Do…do dragons have names?”
“They do. But dragon names are sacred, and made known only to other dragons. Besides, I don’t think you are in a position to be asking questions.”
But I couldn’t stop asking questions. “If you aren’t going to eat me – and thank you for that, by the way – then what do you want?” It was then I found out dragons can smile, too.
“I like you, Yolanda,” the dragon stated matter-of-factly. “What I like most…is the way you smell.” If I had heard that from a boy, I might have appreciated it. From a dragon, I wasn’t sure how to take it.
“In fact, you smell quite…tasty.” Hearing that, I instinctively started to inch around the patch of smoldering grass behind me. “The truth is,” the dragon continued, “you smell like sheep.”
After tending my father’s sheep all morning, I likely did whiff of mutton. I was starting to catch on as well. “So, you won’t eat me…if I fix you up with a sheep, is that it?”
The dragon grinned broadly. “Sounds like a fair trade, yes?”
What could I do? I was so frightened the dragon could have asked me to deliver one (or both!) of Pandeia’s moons, and I would have promised to dedicate my life to building a ladder long enough to pull one down.
“All right, I’ll bring you a sheep.” I turned my head to one side, as the dragon was getting uncomfortably close. Then I turned and looked straight at him (her?) “Wait right here, and I’ll go get one.”
The dragon’s eyes narrowed as he considered my plan. “How do I know you’ll come back?” he whispered. He didn’t really whisper, but when he talked he made kind of a hissing sound that sounded like a loud whisper.
“Because I said I would. And because I don’t want you eating me.”
The dragon considered this for a moment. “No tricks. I’ll be waiting.”
I eased back, putting some distance between the dragon and me. Then I turned, and walked towards my flock. I found a small ewe, and slipped my tether round its neck. I led it back the way I came, but she started to struggle before she even saw the dragon. I guess she could smell it.
The dragon raced forward and pounced on the ewe, taking it in his claws. Then, he spread his wings, taking flight, the tether still dangling from the ewe’s neck.
I watched as the dragon got smaller and smaller in the distance, flying low over the hills. The dragon’s flight was not at all smooth or graceful, but jerky and uneven.
“I hope you choke on the tether,” I whispered as they faded from sight. Then I walked to a nearby stream and waded in. Not that I needed a bath – I simply wanted to hide the fact that the bottom of my robe was already wet. Then, I headed home.
Before I opened the door of my home, I could hear Uncle Melg. He always seemed to be yelling, even when he wasn’t. I quietly opened the front door and did my best impression of a mouse, squeezing in the front door and trying quietly to sneak past Uncle Melg and Father.
“The Kregzin are mobilizing!” said Uncle Melg, much louder than he needed to. This stopped me in my tracks. The Kregzin invaded once every decade or two, and they were merciless. Our village still bears scars from their last invasion.
“I know, Melg,” my Father replied. “and we’ll deal with it.” Father turned his gaze to look at me. “Yolanda, why are you back so soon? And why is your robe wet?”
I looked down, unable to meet his eyes. “Um…well…there was a slight problem.”
Father raised his eyebrows. “What kind of problem requires you to drip on the floor?”
“There was…there was…”
“Just like always,” interrupted Uncle Melg. “Your sheep-girl can’t seem to meet a problem head-on.”
I winced as Father smacked his hand down on the table. “Enough of that, Melg!” Father looked back at me. “Now Yolanda, sit down here and explain yourself.”
I sat, lifting my eyes to meet Father’s. “There was a dragon…”
Uncle Melg’s eyes opened wide. “A dragon?” He looked at me sternly. I looked down at the floor, unable to look into his angry eyes. “Yolanda, you aren’t just spinning tales again, are you?”
“Melg, stay out of this. Yolanda, please,” said Father, “just tell me what happened.”
I told him the whole story. I could tell by the look on Uncle Melg’s face that even he believed me.
Uncle Melg turned to face my father. “This couldn’t come at a worse time. All of our fighting men are preparing in case Kregzin invades. We don’t need this distraction right now!”
Father furrowed his brow. “On the other hand, Yolanda said it wasn’t a very big dragon. This might be a good training exercise for some of our men.”
Uncle Melg scowled. “Very well. I’ll assemble a squad of…dragonhunters.”
Father faced me again. “Now, Yolanda, I believe you about the dragon. But there’s one thing I don’t understand.”
“Yes, Father?”
Father grinned as he asked, “Why in the world is the bottom half of your robe all wet?” My cheeks turned bright red, and Uncle Melg laughed so hard I thought he might hurt himself.
* * * * * **********
Two days later I set off with Uncle Melg and twenty men from our village. They were armed with swords and spears and nets and bows and arrows and all kinds of other weapons. I got to go along because I was the only one who had actually seen the dragon, and if we did see a dragon, we wanted to know if it was likely the same one, or if we had an even bigger problem.
Dragon hunting is easy. Walk around, look for a dragon that isn’t there, so walk some more. And some more. Dragon hunting, nothing to it. Dragon finding, that’s the hard part. On our fourth day out, it got hard.
We spotted the dragon by the stream a few miles from where I had seen it. It was curled up by a large boulder, basking in the sun and enjoying the additional heat as the sun warmed the boulder as well.
Uncle Melg whispered, “We’ll be able to surprise it.” He and the dragonhunters spread out, walking slowly and silently with weapons ready. Suddenly, a dragon’s head raised up – from behind the boulder! There were 2 dragons! The second dragon cried a warning, and now there were 2 wide-awake and none-too-happy dragons to deal with.
Smoke rose from the dragons’ nostrils as they prepared to breathe fire. The dragonhunters stopped their advance, and to their credit, not one of them ran away. I was the only one running, and I was as surprised as anyone to find that I was running towards the dragons, not away from them. As I ran past Uncle Melg, I found myself yelling, “Stop!”
20 dragonhunters, 2 dragons, and Uncle Melg all stared at me, probably wondering what the crazy girl was going to do next.
I looked from the men to the dragons, and yelled as loudly as I could, “This doesn’t have to happen!”
The dragon (the one I had already met, not the new one) gazed at me, and for the second time I was looking into the eyes of a dragon.
I stood my ground, taking a deep breath. “Can’t you see? Nothing good can come of this.”
I looked back at Uncle Melg. It’s the only time I can remember when Uncle Melg looked like he didn’t know what to do.
“If we fight, people are going to get killed.” I looked back at the dragon. “Maybe even dragon people. Maybe even…your baby.”
The dragon sucked in her breath and her eyes narrowed. I knew I had guessed right!
“That’s why you couldn’t get your own sheep, and why you can’t fly very well. You just aren’t quite fast enough to catch a sheep, especially if they catch your scent first.”
I looked back at Uncle Melg. “And you! Do you have to solve every problem by sticking a sword in it? Didn’t you ever think there might be a better way?”
To my surprise, Uncle Melg spoke up. He really was a brave man after all.
“What are you saying Yolanda? Don’t you know what those things can do?”
“Yes, I know. But I also know that maybe…we could work together.”
The dragon hissed as steam floated from her nostrils. “What are you saying, human?”
I looked her straight in the eyes. “There aren’t many dragons, are there? People have killed most of them. Dragons are stronger than people, but there are so many people.
“And dragons don’t breed very fast, do they?” I could tell by the dragon’s expression that I had scored another hit. Anyone who grows up on a farm knows that the bigger the animal, the slower it breeds.
I continued, “I was thinking that we could make an arrangement. If we agreed that no humans would hurt you, and if we even provided the occasional sheep, maybe you could help us with one of our problems. “
“What problem would that be, human?”
“Have you ever heard of Kregzin?” I asked.
***************
I will be 17 in a few days, so it’s been almost a year. Kregzin did invade, but that didn’t last long. Seven dragons have settled on the Thurland peninsula (where I live,) and it seems to be going well. Four of those dragons helped push back the Kregzin, and I expect we won’t hear any more about invasion (from anyone!) for a long time. Ever been attacked by a dragon? I have, and it scared me half to death even if it wasn’t really an attack.
Several of the local villages have a special “Dragon Day” holiday. A dragon will make an appearance (in exchange for livestock!) and people from far away come to see the dragon and the area merchants make a fortune. After all, who doesn’t want to come and see a real live dragon?
Even Uncle Melg has softened towards them a bit. He doesn’t even start to pull his sword when he sees a dragon anymore.
Betsy (that’s what I call the first dragon I met) gave birth last fall. Dragons are born live; dragon eggs are a myth.
And me? I get to attend meetings with the dragons and help iron things out whenever a problem arises. Which isn’t often; most people are too intimidated to complain about the dragons. I still tend Father’s sheep most of the time. Nobody calls me Yolanda the sheep-girl anymore, though. Around here they call me Yolanda – Ambassador to dragons.
posted
Wow! That was an excellent short story, Lance. I'm sure your daughter will love it.
Are you sure this is your first short story? It's extremely well-written. You managed to use a first person POV quite well, without making the story drag along.
posted
Well, thanks guys! I don't know why I couldn't get it to preserve the tabs and spaces and such, so it looks sloppy. And...
I actually went ahead and wrote stories for all 3 of my kids for Christmas. I am not sure how they will compare to toys and such; still, I hope they like them.
The other 2 stories are too juvenile to post here, btw.
From: Cincinnati | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Lance, the awesome thing about these stories is that they'll remember - and appreciate - them for many years longer than they would a toy. The effort that you put into them counts for a lot!
posted
Just for fun, here are a couple of other stories that I wrote. I will probably give the above story to PJ, even though my daughter was the inspiration. Here is the one that will now go to my 7-yr-old girl.
Princess Mariah
Once upon a time there was a little girl named Mariah. She was so sweet and pretty and everyone told her so. More than anything Mariah wanted to be a princess. Suddenly, Husky, Golddaisy, Woofie, and Poodle Lee started doing a doggy dance. “We know how you can be a princess!” they said. Mariah was very surprised. “How?” “To be a princess you have to dress like a princess! We have everything you need,” Husky said. “All you have to do is find the five different parts of your outfit and you’ll be a princess!” “Really?” said Mariah. “Oh, I can’t wait!” Woofie explained. “There are five Webkinz, and each one has something different for you. But I will warn you now – each one has a riddle that you have to answer!” Mariah walked out the door, very excited to have a chance to be a princess. She saw Pam the panda sitting in a tree eating bamboo. “Do you have part of my princess outfit?” asked Mariah. “Yes I do,” said Pam. “But first you have to answer my riddle. Ready? Here it comes. Why is a fish like a xylophone?” Mariah thought very hard. Then she smiled and said, “I know! Scales! A fish has scales and you can play the scales on a xylophone!” “That’s right,” said Pam. “Here is the first part of your princess outfit. These are magic dancing slippers!” Mariah put on the slippers and began to dance. It was the most graceful, beautiful dance and she didn’t want to stop, but she really wanted to find the rest of her princess outfit. “Thank you Pam!” she said, as she looked around. Then she saw Gramer lying in the sun. “Hello Gramer!” she said, stopping to rub his tummy. “Do you have part of my princess outfit?” “Yes I do,” said Gramer. “But first you have to answer my riddle. Ready? Why is a fish like Mariah?” “What’s with the fish riddles?” asked Mariah. “Did Flippers tell you to say that?” Mariah thought very hard, then she said, “I know! School! I go to school and fish live in schools!” “That’s right,” said Gramer. “Here is your princess ring.” Mariah took the ring and slipped in on her finger. The ring sparkled in the sunlight and Mariah thought it was the prettiest ring she had ever seen. Now Mariah had the ring and her magic dancing slippers, but she wanted the rest of her outfit. She looked around and she saw Piglet playing in the dirt. “Hello Piglet!” she said. “You have part of my princess outfit, don’t you?” Piglet smiled. “Yes I do! But first you have to tell me the answer to my riddle! Are you ready?” “Yes, I am!” said Mariah. “Then tell me, why is a dog like a tree?” asked Piglet. “At least it isn’t a fish riddle,” said Mariah. “Now let me think…a dog and a tree…Oh! I know! Bark! A dog barks and a tree has bark!” “That’s right!” said Piglet, as he handed Mariah a beautiful shining necklace. “Oh, it’s so pretty!” said Mariah, as she slipped it around her neck. Mariah now had three pieces of her princess outfit, so she looked around for more. She saw Cheeky Banana playing in a tree, and Cheeky Banana smiled at Mariah. Mariah asked, “You have a part of my princess outfit, don’t you Cheeky Banana?” “Ooh ooh ooh yes I do!” said Cheeky Banana. “All you have to do is answer my riddle. Ready? Here we go! What do a shark, a saw, and a zipper have in common?” “That’s an easy one”, said Mariah. “They all have teeth!” “That’s right!” said Cheeky Banana. From out of a pouch Cheeky Banana unfolded a beautiful dress and he gave it to Mariah. The dress was pink and frilly and floated onto Mariah. It was a perfect fit! “This is a special dress,” said Cheeky Banana. “It will never get dirty or wrinkled and as you get bigger, so will the dress.” “I love it!” said Mariah. She had almost all of the parts of her outfit, and she was looking around for the last one. Suddenly, she saw a small unicorn running around. The Unicorn was covered with peace signs. “Hello Peace!” said Mariah. “Do you have a riddle for me?” Peace smiled. “Yes I do. Would you like to hear it?” “Yes, please!” said Mariah. “Ok,” said Peace. “Here we go. What is your favorite color?” “That’s not a riddle!” said Mariah. “It isn’t? Well, that’s good, since I don’t know the answer anyway. Are you ready for your real riddle? You are? Ok, here it is. Why is a bell like a finger?” Mariah thought and thought. “Hmmm….a bell and a finger….” Mariah thought and thought, but she could not think of the answer! Mariah decided to take a good look at her fingers, but she had to blink because the sun was shining on her ring. “That’s it!” Mariah was so happy! “I know the answer! The answer is rings! Rings can be worn on fingers, and a bell also rings!” “That’s right!” said Peace. “For getting all five riddles, you now get the last part of the princess outfit.” Peace then gave Mariah a Princess crown, which was made of gold and silver and many precious jewels. Peace placed it on Mariah’s head. Mariah looked at herself in a mirror and thought it was wonderful. Mariah finally got to be a real princess, and everyone thought she was the most beautiful princess that ever lived. And they were right!
From: Cincinnati | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
And here is the one I wrote for my almost 5-yr-old boy. I know these are juvenile, but I just feel like sharing them.
Patrick, Mariah, and PJ were playing outside. They were playing hide-and-seek. Patrick went to hide behind a bush. As he walked behind the bush, he saw…a chicken sitting in the grass! “Hello there, Patrick!” said the chicken. Patrick looked at the chicken. “I didn’t know chickens could talk,” he said. “Oh, we can talk,” said the chicken. “We just don’t have much to say.” Then Mariah and PJ had found Patrick and the chicken. The chicken stood up…and there was an egg! They could tell this was a special egg, because it was red and green and blue and was even glowing! “Wow!” said Patrick, Mariah, and PJ. “This is a special egg, just for you, Patrick,” said the chicken. (The chicken was hard to understand, because even talking chickens don’t talk very well.) “This egg will grant you three wishes.” “Free dishes?” said Mariah? “No,” said the chicken. “Three wishes!” “Feed the fishes?” said PJ. “No!” said the chicken. “Three wishes!” “Oh!” said Patrick. “Three wishes! I get three wishes?” Patrick was very surprised. “Yes,” said the chicken. “You can wish for anything you want.” “Can I wish for another magic egg?” asked Patrick. “No! You only get one egg, and you only get three wishes,” said the chicken. “What should I wish for?” said Patrick. “Lots of Webkinz!” said Mariah. “Pokemon cards!” said PJ. “I know!” said Patrick. “I wish I could run as fast as Sonic!” Suddenly, the egg glowed a little brighter, and even Patrick sparkled a little. Then…Patrick started to run. He ran around the house so fast PJ and Mariah thought he looked blurry. Patrick then ran all the way around the world! He ran so fast he could even run on the surface of the ocean! “Wow!” said Patrick, when he got back. “That was fun! I wonder what I should wish for next?” “A princess crown!” said Mariah. “A dinosaur! Maybe a real one” said PJ. “I’ll throw that one in for free,” said the chicken, and a small velociraptor suddenly appeared and started to chase PJ. As PJ was running, he yelled “I wish I could run as fast as Sonic! Make it go away! Make it go away!” With a *poof* the velociraptor disappeared. “Patrick, I don’t think you should wish for a dinosaur,” said PJ. “I know!” said Patrick. “I want a big swing set inside so I can swing every day! And I want it to have a slide too!” The egg again glowed a little brighter. Suddenly, a swing set with a slide appeared in the family room. “Mommy isn’t going to like this,” said Mariah. The swing set had a magic slide, too. Patrick only had to climb a 3-foot ladder, but he could slide down for 20 feet. “Wow!” said Patrick. “This thing is great! You guys have to try it! So PJ and Mariah and Patrick went down the slide and swung on the swing and thought it was wonderful. “That was a great wish, Patrick,” they both said. “Now,” said Patrick, “what should my third wish be?” “A swimming pool!” said Mariah. “A new Nintendo DS game!” said PJ. “Lots of comic books!” said Daddy. “Daddy!” said Patrick, “you aren’t in this story!” “I am now,” said Daddy. “I know!” said Patrick. “I wish it would be the best Christmas ever!” And Patrick’s wish came true today.
posted
I gave the stories to my kids for Christmas. My little girl read hers right away. My 10-yr-old boy read all 3 stories a few days later. I ended up reading Patrick's (the 5-yr-old) story to him. They really seemed to like them!
Although...Mariah said to me a few days ago, "Next year, instead of stories can we get more toys?" Ha! I suppose I probably felt the same way when I was 7.
It didn't hurt my feelings, by the way. I wish I had gotten more toys for Christmas too!
From: Cincinnati | Registered: Jul 2003
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