Dragons in the Valley

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. But the idea of them was always there. The inflatable dragon that rose up above the sea of cars in the used car dealership, the animatronic dragon that reared up as customers entered the arcade, the dragon mascot at all the High School events. Even the Red Dragon diner with its dragon-themed specials field by Sal’s seemingly endless well of dragon-themed puns.

“He gets them off the internet.” Said Joey, his feet hanging off the The Cliff a hundred feet above the railroad tracks that lined the river. “I saw his computer in his office.” Joey was a bus boy at Sal’s. Nobody local ever called it The Red Dragon- it was just Sal’s.

“Has it been really busy?” Asked Piper, cradling the head of the Hudson High Dragon in her arms.

“Not too bad yet, but Sal says it’ll be worse soon.”

‘Tourists are stupid. They’re going to get eaten.” Piper said heatedly. She and her family were leaving in the morning. School would be out for two weeks and her mother had decided this was a good time to go to Disney World. Piper's opinion on that point was irrelevant.

“They aren’t all tourists. My mom says there are researchers from all over the place at the museum setting up equipment. They’re going to find out where they come from.” Nina never went near The Cliff and sat on a log some distance back, sketching their outlines from behind.

“They come from the comet.” Said Joey, who knew all.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Piper said vaguely.

Laughing and crunching leaves told them more kids were coming up the path. Joey and Piper stood up quickly and walked over to the top of the path to look down. Joey’s brother Matt and his girlfriend Alice were on their way up. “Hey Joe, I thought you’d be up here. I hope you don’t mind. Alice needed to get away.”

Alice laughed. “He kidnapped me or I would have never escaped. Our place is packed.” Alice and her family operated a 6-room Bed and Breakfast overlooking the river called Dragon’s Watch. “I can’t stay long though, maybe an hour.”

She flopped down on the log next to Nina who clasped her sketch pad to her chest. “What are you drawing?” Nina rolled her eyes and showed her. “That’s amazing.” Alice enthused and Nina murmured her thanks.

Matt walked to the edge of The Cliff and looked out over the river. “They’ll be here any minute won’t they?”

They all looked at Nina who shrugged. “They haven’t spotted the comet yet.”

Matt pointed. A sliver of white pierced the fading sky. “Is that it?”

Nina set down her notepad and moved closer to him, still keeping well back from The Cliff. Sure enough, there it was, just above the horizon. “I think so.” She whispered. Then, after a moment of silence, she spoke again, a little louder. “We should have some time yet, but maybe head home soon?”

A bright light flashed on across the river and swept across the sky, obscuring the comet. “What’s that?” She asked.

“Some kids are throwing a big watch party at The Castle.”

“What? But it’s a ruin.” Exclaimed Piper.

“They brought out a bunch of generators. There’s a band too.” He added, as the sound of an electric guitar pierced the night.

“Hey dragons, over here.” Piper sang and then took her phone out of her pocket and looked at it. “I have to go. My mother wants me at the train station pronto. Her word. Not mine.”

“I’ll walk with you.” Nina stood up and Alice followed her lead, but the boys continued staring out over the Cliff. Alice shrugged and gestured toward Matt and Nina and Piper waved goodbye and made their way down the trail back toward town.