Dragons Next Door

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. Then the Thornbushes moved in. The Valley consisted of all kinds of creatures who lived there but this was the first time a dragon family moved in. Some of the neighbors were skeptical because they heard about how bad dragon neighbors were. Dragons are hoarders. Dragons start fires everywhere they go. Dragons are loud and will ruin the neighborhood. So many opinions were whirling around the Valley about the Thornbushes that even the children were talking about the new dragons.

“I seen one of them and it was huge!” Maddie exclaimed.

“Well you are half fairy so everyone seems huge to you.” Lily remarked.

“Oh well I seen one too and it was little.” Emma piped in.

“You’re half giant so a lot of things seem little to you.” Lily replied.

“You’re just jealous because you haven’t seen them yet. Just wait and see they shouldn’t be here.” Maddie said flying away.

“Yeah maybe they shouldn’t. They don’t fit in.” Emma angrily stomped away.

Lily sat for a moment thinking about what her friends said, thinking about how the adults were talking the same way. How come no one thinks the dragons belong? Lily made up her mind and decided to go introduce herself to the new family. See if they were really as bad as everyone was saying.

Lily spent the next afternoon making a welcome snack for the dragons. She couldn’t decide what to make and figured everyone liked cookies so she made them. Lily nervously walked up to the house on the corner. It looked like a normal house. It was big, blue and tall, about three stories. There was a nice garden in the front yard, full of all kinds of flowers. The whole yard was fenced in except where the sidewalk led to the front door. Taking in a deep breath Lily headed to the door. She knocked twice and the door swung open. Before her stood two dragons, one was red and one was blue. They were about her size which was about four feet tall. They had longs tails and their wings were tucked in on their backs.

“Hello! Welcome to the Valley. My name is Lily and I’m your neighbor.” Lily said smiling. The dragons looked at her then smiled back when they saw the cookies.

“Come in. I’m Skylar and this is my sister Ember.” The blue dragon said.

“Nice to meet you”

“You can bring the cookies out here to the back yard. Our mom and dad are out there already.” Ember said.

Lily followed them outside. The backyard was just as nice as the front yard. There was a massive swimming pool, a tree house and a barbecue area. Ember and Skylar walked over to their parents. The parents were the same colors as the kids except they had designs. The blue one had swirls like water and the red one had curves and loops like fire. The parents were taller too at least seven feet tall.

“Mom, Dad. This is Lily. She is our neighbor and she brought us some cookies.” Skylar said.

“Well aren’t you a sweetheart. I’m Luna Thornbush and this is Haden Thornbush.” The blue one said.

“Hello. Mr. and Mrs. Thornbush welcome to the neighborhood.” Lily grinned and held up the plate of cookies.

“Thank you Lily. Are your parents here too dear?” Luna replied.

“No, they are at work but said they would stop by when they got home if I was still here.”

“Oh okay. Well I’m about to cook us some dinner on this here barbecue grill. You are welcome to stay of course.” Haden said as he turned and lit the grill on fire with his breath.

Lily watched in amazement. She thought it was cool that Mr. Thornbush could breathe fire.

“Hey Lily you want to go check out our tree house?” Ember asked.

“Sure!” They ran to the tree house and Ember and Skylar flew up to the top. Lily looked up at them and they tossed down a ladder for her to climb up.

“Dad got us the ladder when we moved here since there is gonna be other families besides just dragons.” Skylar remarked once Lily reached the top.

“Yeah, that is if we can make friends with any of them.” Ember sadly said.

“Well you made one!” Lily replied and they all laughed. “It was so cool how your dad shot fire out of his mouth. Do all dragons do that?”

“Nope, there are different dragons. Dad and Ember are fire dragons so they can breathe fire and that’s why they are red. Mom and me are water dragons so we can shoot water out our mouths and that’s why we are blue.”

“Oh okay! Neat.” Lily grinned.

“What about you? Is your family all the same?”

“We all sort of look alike. I just have a different hair color than my mom.”

“Do you have a lot of friends here?”

“I have a couple. I’m sure you will make a lot of friends too once everyone gets to know you.”

“Come on down kids. Dinner is ready and Lily I think your parents are here.”

“Thank you for the lovely meal. I haven’t had food on a grill like that before it was great!” Lily’s mom Rae said.

“It was our pleasure,” Luna replied, “Lily is welcome back to play anytime.”

“Same to your children although we don’t have a tree house or a pool.” Rae laughed.

Luna laughed too then said, “Oh we are having a cook out this weekend. So the new neighbors can get to know us and we them. Can you help spread the word?”

“Of course! Anything else I can do to help?”

“Is there a bakery or a sweet shop around here? I would love to order cake or something for the cook out.”

“Yes there is one in town. But no need to call, I’m the owner.”

“Okay great! See you soon!”

“Come on Lily it’s time to go.” Rae said leading Lily out the door.

The rest of the week at school Lily was telling everyone about the new family and inviting her classmates to the cook out. Ember and Skylar didn’t start school yet but were suppose to the following week. On Friday Lily noticed all her classmates staring at her and giving her weird looks.

“Lily we have to talk.” Maddie said at lunch time.

“Um, okay.”

“Emma and me have been talking and we can’t be friends with you if you keep being friends with those dragons.”

“What? Why?”

“They don’t belong here and if you keep hanging out with them then you won’t belong either.” Emma said as her and Maddie left.

Lily didn’t understand why everyone was being mean and hateful towards the dragons. She didn’t understand why everyone was judging the dragons before they got to know them.

Later that day Lily walked into her Mother’s bakery after school to talk to her mom about what happened at school.

“Hey sweetheart, how was school? Did you tell everyone about the party?”

“Yeah but I don’t think anyone is coming.”

“Why?”

“The kids at school are being mean and saying the Thornbushes don’t belong and if I keep being friends with them I won’t belong and won’t have any more friends.”

“Well how do you feel about the Thornbushes?”

“I like them a lot. They are fun and cool and nice. How can everyone say stuff when they don’t even know them?”

“What they say doesn’t matter. It’s what you feel about them. If you still want to be friends with them, then be friends with them. Everyone is probably just scared of the unknown. Not many of us have seen dragons and don’t know what to think. Once everyone sees how nice the Thornbushes are they will come around I’m sure of it. As for you, you keep doing what you are doing. Making friends and playing. Don’t let what the other kids are saying get you down. You know what you feel and your feelings are what matter.” Rae hugged her daughter then together they finished making the cupcakes and cookies for the cookout.

Lily listened to what her mom told her and the next day at the cookout she had fun. Lily and her mom were the first ones there and they helped set up. Haden got the grill going while Luna made some ice and put it in the cooler for the drinks.

“Mom can I have a cookie?” Ember asked.

“Yes but just one for now.” Luna replied as her daughter took a cookie and skipped away.

“Thanks again for all your help today.”

“No problem. Not too long ago we were the new family in town.” Rae said rearranging the cupcakes.

“It’s hard sometimes that is why I’m so thankful for Lily. She came right over and decided to be friends with the twins. And you didn’t hesitate either.”

“We like to get to know our neighbors ourselves. We don’t listen to the gossip.”

As the party went on only two more families showed up, Maddie’s and Emma’s, and they weren’t sure about the Thornbushes. Maddie and Emma stayed close to their parents while Lily played with Ember and Skylar. Lily tried to get Maddie and Emma to come over and play but they just turned their heads. So Lily walked up to them.

“Maddie, Emma these are my friends Ember and Skylar. They are really cool. Why don’t you give them a chance and see for yourself.”

“Okay,” Emma said giving in, “Why are you red and he is blue?”

“I’m red because I take after my dad who is a fire dragon. Skylar is blue because he takes after our mom and is a water dragon.” Ember replied.

“Wait there are more than just dragons that breathe fire?” Maddie asked shocked.

“Yep. And just because we breathe fire doesn’t mean we start fires everywhere we go. My dad used his to start the grill.”

“So what do water dragons do them?” Emma asked intrigued.

“We can shoot water out of mouths and control it. My mom can even freeze it. That’s how we got ice for the cooler.” Skylar replied.

“Oh that’s actually awesome!” Maddie and Emma said in unison.

“See what happens when you try?” Lily asked with a grin.

“Okay okay you were right. We are sorry we were mean to you Lily.” Maddie said.

“Yeah we should of just followed your lead and let ourselves see about the new family.” Emma said with a shrug.

“No worries. I’m just glad we can all be friends. And who cares what anyone else thinks!”

All the kids took off running playing. It was hours before they had to leave but they had so much fun. At the end of the day when Lily waved goodbye to her new friends she was glad she took them the plate of cookies that day.

Now she would have to see what Monday brings when Ember and Skylar start going to school.