The Dragon’s Flame

“…aw, please… One more story?”

Sigh. ” It’s late, Adam.”

” Please please please!”

Dad sits adjusting the blankets around his son.” Okay one more… What do you…”

” PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON!”

” We’ve done that to death. I have an idea. How about one of Puff’s Dragon ancestors? You do know that they are all named Puff, don’t you?”

” Well… I think so. Okay. A story about Puff … The ancestor! Dad?”

” Yeah?”

” What’s an ancestor?”

Sigh.” This Puff was his great – great – great great great great – Grandfather. Do you understand?”

Adam nodded yes, pulling the covers closer to his chin and snuggling down. “Now, I have a question for you: something happened to this Puff… What do you think could have happened to him?”

” I know I know… Couldn’t breathe fire!”

“Aah… That is right I forgot. So… At this time, all dragons were fierce and they flew. Their bellies were full of fire, and this  is what helped them fly. But, sadly, this Puff lost the fire in his belly. Gee, you know… I seem to have forgotten how that happened?”

” Maybe it’s cause, um… Somebody yelled at him?”

” You are right. Somebody yelled at him, and he lost the fire inside of him. Puff had been one of the bravest, most handsome, most wonderful of all dragons. Every body looked up to him, except one horrible mean disgusting nasty icky Dragon: the grandmother!”

” DAD! Leave grandma alone.”

They both smiled.” Okay, okay. It was the Queen of the Dragons… Dragonbubby! She was the most feared Dragon of them all. One day Puff got in her way while he was trying to clean a section of the Royal Cave. He missed a major area that the Queen wanted to shine. It was an honest mistake, but sadly… The Queen took it the wrong way. She screamed and  ranted close to an hour… And then some.”

” That is a lot of screaming.”

” Yes it is. At the end, Puff was worn out. His tail drooped, his years flopped, and his wings were bent really weird angles. He left the cave to go fly off but when he tried… He found he could not fly. All the fire and him had gone out. I hate to tell you this but he felt like crying. Walking around the cave area all the other dragons felt bad for him. Well, most of them did. Not all. Those dragons make fun of him.

A week passed, and he still did not have the fire in his belly so that he could fly. He went to five different Dragon doctors, and they all stroked their white beards (which, you do know, that all wise Dragon doctors have long white beards)…”

” Even Lady Dragon doctors?”

” uh huh. Well, all of these doctors had different things to tell him, but again, sadly, none of them knew how to fix this problem. Puff was down by the lake of the Crater of the Moon, just staring at himself in his reflection in the water. Suddenly, overhead, he noticed a Golden blonde Dragon flying overhead, circling.

It was an old friend his and he had not seen for quite a while. Her name was Sally…”

” Hey… That’s mom’s name!”

” Funny thing… You are right. Well, Sally landed right next to Puff and asked him him what was the matter.

Up unto this moment, Puff had not really been paying attention to her. When he turned to her to answer her, he just stopped. She was smiling, happy to see him after so long…

She glowed. Her smile was a golden transformation of utter brilliance. It was her  that shone like the sun; a smile that gleamed like 1000 sparklers. Sally was so gloriously beautiful it took Puff’s remaining breath away. He was speechless.”

“… Yeah? And then?”

“um… They talked and they talked and then they talked some more. She made him laugh. He made her laugh. He told her what was wrong and she listened. The smile on her face grew and became her face. The smile became her. She said: ‘look, Puff, you… You are glowing.’

He was. There was a heat in his belly that was far greater than any fire he had ever experienced in his entire life. His tail undrooped, and his ears unflopped, and his wings unbent into their normal shape. Puff had never felt like this before. Neither had Sally.

At the same time, they jumped in the air and flew. Puff was always a great flyer, but he was able to soar higher then ever. So did Sally. It is still said today, in Dragon tales, how they flew. Together they were golden sunshine, and together they remained for a very, very long time.

Okay. That’s it. Time for you to go to sleep. Love you!”

” Love you too, dad. ‘Night”

He got up, went to the door, turned off the lights, and stepped outside into the hall way.

” Hi.” It was a smile on her face.

” You there the whole time?”

” Yeah. I was.” The smile grew brighter.

He smiled back, equal.

“C’mere “Puff”… I think some golden sunshine is coming your way!”

They kissed.

” I love you.”

” I love you!”

The hallway lit up like 1000 thousand suns.