Please Don't Eat the Baby

“Hello, my fiery drakaina. Guess what I found in the forest today.”

“I can't imagine, my soaring drake. What did you find in the forest today?”

"A baby."

"A hatchling? All by itself?"

"It was on its own, yes, but no, not a hatchling. I believe it's called a 'toddler'. Very shaky on its legs."

“A toddler? You mean a human toddler? A human child?”

“Yes. Maybe lost, but more likely abandoned. There were no adult humans anywhere near, so it must have been abandoned. It couldn't have walked that far on its own.”

“Easy pickings, then. Was it delicious?”

“No! I didn't eat it. I couldn't. The way it looked at me... I adopted it.”

“You did what?!!!”

“Well, not officially adopted it, of course, not yet, but I, uh, brought it home.”

“Why the hell did you do that? Not as a treat for me, from the sounds of it.”

“No! Not as a treat. Not to eat, anyways. But to cuddle, and play with..."

"To cuddle? You expect me to cuddle a human child?"

"It has very soft skin. There's something comforting about being near it. And it is very cute. A little girl child, I believe. She was so scared, all alone in the forest. Afraid of the forest. Afraid of me, at first.”

“Well it ought to be afraid of you, you great, big, burly drake! Mmhm! It's no doubt a tiny thing. It should have died of fear. Or of you eating it.”

“No! Stop talking about eating it! Eating her. That's not going to happen.”

“Oh, just think, I could season it with fresh sage, sear it lightly–”

“THE CHILD WILL NOT BE EATEN! UNDERSTOOD?”

“Okay. Okay! Calm down! No eating the brat. It's just that, that's what we usually do with stray humans we find in the forest, is eat them. I mean, I know I do. It's a special treat, they don't come this far that often. But when they do, yum! Especially the young, tender ones... They've got just the right amount of crunch in their bo- Ow! What the-! Stop that! For fuck's sakes, what is wrong with you? What the hell do you think you're doing blowing flames at me?! I've seen you eat humans before, including young ones, so I find it rather odd that you didn't just snap this one u–

“Stop talking about eating this child! Or human children in general. Maybe humans in general – after all, it wouldn't be right to eat someone that's the same species as someone in the family.”

“ 'Someone in the family?!' Have you completely snapped? Do you really believe you can 'adopt' this child? Humans and dragons cannot be in the same family! We are entirely different species! What do you know about raising a human child, anyway?”

“Well, not a lot, not yet, but I'll learn. And I'll get help from Aleenia or Norebba or someone, if you won't help. Fairies and gnomes are a lot like humans, in some ways...”

“Hhmph!”

“Aleenia will help for sure. She's out there now with the child. We ran into her on the way home and they instantly took to each other. Well of course the child was captivated by seeing a fairy, and I think it helped her get used to me, more comfortable with me, seeing that a delicate little fairy wasn't afraid to be near me. Aleenia has already offered to help us as much as we need her to. She says a baby is always a challenge and a blessing, and the challenge is even bigger with inter-species adoptions.”

“There's no 'us' for her to help as far as taking care of the thing goes, and you need to stop talking about adopting it! If you want to keep it around as a pet, I guess I can live with that and let it live, but it will not be part of our family.”

“Oh, but just wait till you meet her. You'll be captivated by her, too, like I was – there's something special about her, a presence beyond her years. I don't know why, but I have a feeling that she's special, that she has a destiny with us. There's a reason I found her, a reason I couldn't blast her the moment I saw her..."

“Harrumph! I am not interested in 'meeting' a human. Humans are beasts. They kill and destroy wantonly. They use the forest until it's completely used up. They –”

“Not all of them. And that's what I'm saying, this one feels different. Give her a try, my love, and together we'll raise a human who can be at peace with the forest, with Dragons, with herself...We'll raise her here surrounded by forest, we'll teach her our way of life, to appreciate the simple things...”

“Like the feeling of wind rippling along your wing-tips as you glide above mountains, or streaking past them when you dive for prey? You going to teach her how to fly?”

“Well no, of course not, but maybe she can ride with me, she can sit between my dorsals and feel the wind in her hair, see the world from above. She'll see how the forest is all connected, sheltering wolves, moose, caribou, rabbits. And the Fay! She can meet the Fay, grow up with them... That will surely help her be a better human.”

“You live in a dream. More likely it will grow up and want to be with its own kind, it will leave and then it will come back, bringing others like it here, and they will destroy our forest, our home, us.”

“No! Not after we've given her so much love! I'm sure we can raise her right. Don't be such a pessimist.”

“Hmph! I'm a realist. And have you even thought about Maarkie? How do you think he's going to feel about it? You think he wants a human as a sister? Sharing our love? Not likely! Maybe as a pet He might like to play with it. For a while.”

“She is not a toy! Or a pet! She is an intelligent creature we can raise to be a caring individual. I'm sure Maarkie will be fascinated with her and will fall in love with her like I have. You just have to spend a few minutes with her! She's so bright and curious, and gentle, she really is, not a fighter at all. She'll learn our ways. Maarkie can help teach her. I'm sure he will. He should be home soon, shouldn't he?, and you can both meet her. Or maybe you should come out now, so it's not too many new dragons at once for her. I mean, we are very much larger than she is, which can be intimidating.”

“Look, I've already told you I want no part of 'raising' the thing, and I'm not in any hurry to meet it, either.”

“But even if you just see her as a pet, at least come out and see her! She's out in front of the cave, playing with Aleenia.”

“Well...wait, that sounds like Maarkie coming home now.”

“Oh! Let's get out there. I want to see how they like – What was that? Maarkie?”

“Hi Dad! Hi Mom! You won't believe it but I just found a human child, right outside the cave! I don't know how it got this far into the forest, but it had caught a fairy! It had Aleenia! It dropped her when it saw me, though, and Aleenia got away, so I scorched it on the spot. Delicious!”