Dragon and the Boy

Abandoned and alone, he looked around at the endless thick brush and deep forest. He was too young to wonder how he was there but instead, he wondered why he was there. He had on a simple hand-cut top and bottom made of wool and linen as well as a pouch around his waist made of leather. The pouch had only one item in it; a dagger.

He stood up from the place he laid and saw no trace of others like him. Instead he gazed at the thick tree stems leading high above the ground, leaving almost no trace of sunlight. There were plenty of bushes; some spiky and others soft. Some were large and some were small and they were a mix of brown and green with multiple intensities.

He couldn't quite figure out where he was or who he was but he knew one thing, this place made him happy. He began walking in a straight line toward a location he didn't know. Looking up at the green forest ceiling he saw birds and rays of light. There were small creatures along the bark of the trees and ground of the forest.

As the child was walking he felt the firm surface beneath his feet; a mix of grass, dead leaves and pine needles. His happiness grew; so much so that he began to run. He ran straight and fast, smiling while looking around, extending his hands to feel the plants he passed so quickly. He ran so fast he began to hear the wind in his ear, whispering to his playful mind.

The wind began to speak but just as it did the child stopped. What he saw halted his movement. A dark color along the bark of the trees brushed by in front of his view; a shadow if you must. Wondering what it was, the child looked closely at the trees again to see if he could experience the same occurrence again. After staring at the tree’s for what felt like a very long time, the child began to walk back on his path and as he did the branches above him shrieked as a giant creature tore through them with its claws instantly breaking anything in its path. It landed right in front of the child.

This forced the child backwards tripping over his own feet. He landed on his back and stared up; scared of the giant creature that was in front of him. The creature was looking in the child's eyes, smoke crawling out of its nostrils. There were giant blue attachments on each side of the creature which looked like extra ligaments. It was standing still as if to wait for the child to do something. The child was terrified due to the very big and new creature and its loud entrance, but curious at the same time.

The creature saw the child shocked and harmless and began to calm herself; the smoke stopped. “Oh you’re not who I thought you would be.” The creature spoke with anger but more so with relief. She had been hiding in this forest for a very long time.

“What?” The child replied to the creature.

The creature was shocked as it looked around her then back at the child. “Wait, did you just hear me?”

“Of course,” said the child, “What am I not supposed to be?”

The creature stared at the child then stood up. “I thought you were a hunter.”

The child began to stand up as he asked, “What is a hunter?”

“A hunter is a very bad person who looks for creatures like me to destroy me and never allow me to be free.” The child felt very sad for the creature. He remembered how he felt while running through the nature around him earlier. The child spoke, “So what type of creature are you exactly?”

“Don’t you know? I am a dragon. A mythical beast here to protect your kind from the dangers of themselves. I breathe heat and can fly above the sky!”

“That is amazing! But why if you are here to protect my kind does my kind want to hurt you?” The child looked very confused.

“It is because a good thing will not always be recognized as good. I am feared because I do not look like you.”

“Well, I am not afraid of you!” The child began to pick at some plants. “You must know a lot. Can you tell me what I am?”

The dragon looked at the child and smiled. “You, you are a young boy with an adventure ahead of him.” The child began to smile as the dragon continued. “You will begin to learn how to live your life by taking care of yourself and eventually others around you. In time, you will grow to be big and much stronger than you are now.” The dragon now laughed a little in playfulness, seeing the boy staring at her with his eyes and mouth wide open. “Does this please you?” asked the dragon.

The little boy began to envision his whole life ahead of him and what he might possibly be able to do. Could he run up the very trees he was running by or could he fly high above the clouds as well? “Yes, yes this is very exciting, I want to be a dragon as well when I grow up!”

The dragon knew this was coming. “My child, You cannot be a dragon. You have to look like me when you come into this world, which you do not. You can only be you.” The dragon paused, she stood back down and moved her head right in front of the boy and spoke slowly. “But by being you, you will be capable of more than you can ever imagine. You can create amazing things to help those around you and make life more enjoyable for everyone. Do not let something that might seem bad be the reason holding you back from your full potential.” A tear slowly crawled out of the dragon's eye. The boy looked at the water droplet as it faded away while sliding down the dragon's skin. He realized he was who he was, and he was going to get stronger and faster.

“Will you help me and teach me to grow up big and strong?” The boy asked the dragon. She took a moment and then replied, “Of course. But we shall start at once and you will follow me now.” She turned and began off the original path; this was something new, but the boy was not scared anymore. Before the boy forgot, he asked “What shall I call you?” The dragon looked back, “I do not know, I have no name.”

The boy answered, “then I shall call you Thyra.”

Thyra smiled.

—

The man jumped up on the rock, looked at his target, pulled back fast on the string, lifting the tip of the arrow ever so slightly, took a deep breath in and exhaled, letting his fingers gently release their grasp and the whispering of the wind was back; bullseye.

Thrya landed next to him. “Very well done!”

“Was that the fastest time so far?” The man asked. “By just a few seconds” replied Thyra, “As I have always told you, you make yourself stronger everyday and soon you will use

that strength to help others.”

“Yes I know. I am very excited to meet my kind and aid them in any way I can.” The man was sweating with a big smile over his face. Thyra began, “Yes but remember you will also make new friendships by meeting new people and talking to them and learning about them.” The man nodded, “I will Thyra, tomorrow will be amazing!”

When they reached camp the man began to prepare food for the evening. Thyra sat down; watching him. What was once a little boy was now a big man. A man who knew how to hunt for food, make shelter from the weather, and gather food for farming. He was tall and strong. As he was preparing the food, he took out the dagger to begin cutting and noticed Thyra’s head move slightly.

He stopped and walked over to her, he began to speak, “I want to apologize for that night.” Thyra interrupted, “I have already told you Torsten, it is not your fault it is mine. You need not apologize to me when I am the one who scared you. Because of that you hurt yourself badly.” Torsten reached to feel the scar on his forehead, reaching down his right eyebrow to his cheek, then he spoke, “I should not have brought out the dagger in front of you without warning. Hunter equipment easily startles you and I knew that about you before I even thought about the dagger.” She smiled at him, “Go finish dinner. You will need sleep before the sun rises.

—

Rays of light were peeking through the canopy and Torsten slowly began to wake up. When he looked around he saw that Thyrsa was waiting for him. He grabbed his pack and began towards her. She led him to the edge of the forest and stopped. Torsten looked out towards the meadow and saw a village quite close. He saw different buildings and people all around. There were children playing in the fields; animals grazing on the grass. He looked at Thyrsa, who was looking right back at him, smiling.

“Thank you for all you have done to make me who I am now. You have taught me not to be afraid of anything and how to live with what was around me.” Thyra said one thing, “All I ask is that you use what you have learned to teach and help those people in that village to become better and safer than they are.”

“A promise made on day one” Torsten said as he began to walk out of the dark forest and into the bright meadow. As he was walking he would continuously look back to see Thyrsa watching him. He made his way to a small path which eventually led to a farmer just outside the village. The farmer noticed the man walking up to him.

“Good morning young man, how are you?”

“Yes, yes it is a very good morning and I am doing very well.”

“That's great to hear. Oh look at you son,” the farmer eyed Torsten’s build, “Your a strong young man. We could use you around here ya know.”

Torsten smiled, “That is exactly what Thyrsa told me to do.”

“Who is Thyrsa”

“Thyrsa is the dragon who raised me.” Torsten looked back to point Thyrsa out to the farmer but as he looked at the same spot in the forest she was no longer there. Torsten was

confused.

The farmer wrapped his arm around the brute and began to walk him to the village, “My boy, there are no such things as dragons. But we do have plenty of sheep that need to be taken care of.”

As they walked Torsten looked back again; nothing…