Iri -

This is the best part of my day, soaring very high, up close to the clouds, engaging in my favorite pastime, which is to swoop down as fast as I can to earth and frighten any unaware animal and human, getting a kick out of the noises they make and their startled jumps and leaps. Oh what fun I have! Innocent fun, because I don’t really do any harm. All of a sudden I see something glinting in the meadow down below. What is it? I wonder. I have to go and see what it is. Is it a small puddle of water among the tall green grass? Is it a jewel a beautiful lady has let fall after a picnic, for a suitor to pick up and have an excuse to visit her? I wonder… Me, a grown dragon, interested in something that glints? I must have too much time on my hands… anyway, let’s go find out…

My word! What is this small and cute creature doing, lying there swathed in a peacock-colored sequined cape? How did it get there? Is it lost? Has it been abandoned? I hope not. Let me get closer to see what this is all about…

A toddler in the forest! It has shrugged off its cape and is walking about like a drunken sailor with no compass and no direction. Is it a he? Is it a she? Or a them? This is so very strange and fascinating… What shall I do? Shall I just leave it and go on with my daily business? Actually, not my daily business: my daily time of pleasure and relaxation before heading back to my cave home, where I have to put up with the screams of my neighbor’s baby dragons, crying for food and attention. Oh, what a strident noise and fuss they make. My word!

I think I’ll look at the toddler for a while longer…

Oh, no! It’s getting dangerously close to a drop in the meadow where the mountains begin, a cliff! I can’t let her topple over. I better go and stand on the edge and not let her pass…

She looks at me with the largest pair of soft green-blue eyes I have ever seen and points at me, gurgling and giggling. Wow, is she cute! Let me start shimmying and dancing to show her all the colors of my scales, glinting in the sunlight: iridescent purple, pink, gold and emerald colors. Let me do a gentle rattle of my wings and scales, not enough to scare her off, but sufficient to attract her attention and let her know I’m friendly. No, I’m not going to bite you! I’m not going to burn you to a crisp! I’m not going to trap you in my long-nailed claws and fly you off to somewhere unknown. I just want you to walk away from the cliff and back to the pleasant meadow you just left behind!

Oh, no! She’s coming closer! This is not working! I better take a step towards her and not be so close to the edge of the cliff myself. I better open my wings and flap them slowly and start walking towards the meadow, forcing her to take steps back and away from danger!

What! She found the smallest part of the nail on my wing and is grabbing onto it! No human has ever touched me before… ever!

I don’t know how to describe what I’m feeling… I’ve not felt this before. It’s a kind of gentle wave lapping up over me from my toes to my head, a very pleasant feeling… I feel relaxed by her touch. Well, this is new…

She’s leading me back to the meadow and is gurgling and giggling and skipping… she seems very happy and contented. Phew! What a relief! And I feel so warm and fuzzy and nice in her presence… but what shall I do with her? Surely she cannot be left here, all alone. Surely she’s going to need nourishment and protection… where can I take her that would be safe for her?