The Day

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. We didn’t always have to train on what to do when you would encounter one on a hike. There wasn’t always a faction between trying to train the beasts versus destroying the beasts. We used to live ordinary lives, with ordinary school and ordinary work. That all changed one day when I was in grammar school and my friends I stumbled across a nest and a book.

It was like any other day. Jonas, Sarah, Zeke, and I were out exploring the mountainside after school. We did this frequently and would often come across different animals along the way. The clouds were getting darker, and soon the rain began to unleash like a waterfall from the sky. The thunder was rolling in the distance and lightening was shimmering against the dark clouds.

“We should probably find somewhere to stay dry.” Zeke stated. He was our safe friend. He was always looking out for whomever was in our group that day. He would have snacks in his satchel and a pocketknife in case of emergency. His parents were the town doctors, and he likely gained his caregiving skills from them.

“Let’s explore the cave over there.” Sarah said, pointing to a small crevice in the gray rocks. Sarah was our observer. She noticed things that no one else did on our adventures. Sarah came from a long family line of inventors.

“Hurry!” Jonas yelled between thunderclaps. And he grabbed Sarah by the arm to run towards the cave. Jonas was our protector. He was tall and thick. He worked on a farm with his family. He would fight anyone that picked on us.

I was the book kid of the group. We would discover odds and ends along our adventures, and I would know what we were looking at. And if I did not, I would do the research before we would venture out again. My family owned the local bookstore, and my love of books and learning was endless. The other three would sometimes give me a hard time for always having a guide or journal with me.

The four of us slid through the slim crack in the side of the mountain and stood cold and wet in the very dark and very echoey space. Zeke pulled a candle from his satchel and used the flint rock to light it. We all gasped as we saw the cavern open to well over four hundred square feet and the ceiling was higher than the light would let us see. There were green heavy vines growing all over the walls and as we moved further into the cavern moss was growing on the ground. Between the vines there was a shimmer in the rocks, like crystals that was a mesmerizing contrast to the gray and green.

“How have we never seen this place before?” Sarah asked as she walked further into the cavern.

Zeke hurriedly walked to be in front of Sarah, his eyes squinting as he was looking for anything dangerous that might pop out from the shadows.

“Jonas, you should come over here just in case.” Zeke said.

“Look!” she exclaimed, “There is another opening over here. Let’s see what is in there!”

Before any of us could respond, Sarah was climbing through the opening. Slowly, the rest of us climbed our way through.

The space on the other side was not nearly as massive as the room we were just in but had many of the same features. As we walked towards the back, there seemed to be writing on the wall that was in a language we could not read. I quickly took out my notepad and began to scribble down what I could make out of the words.

There was a large brown bowl-shaped thing made from sticks, rocks, mud and dead plants the size of a small cottage sitting underneath the writing. We excitedly ran to the contraption to discover what was inside. There were five what looked like large rocks, the size of a kitchen table sitting in the middle. There were scraps of sticks, mud, and foliage draped around them like a blanket.

Our eyes grew large as we looked at the brown and white rocks.

“What are these things Elizabeth?” Sarah said to me as she was touching the rock.

“I have never seen these before.” I answered. “They do not look like any rocks from my books.” I walked closer to see. I touched one of them and was surprised to feel warmth. I took a step back to see if there was something underneath that would be creating the heat. “These rocks are warm.” I said in surprise.

“These aren’t rocks!” Jonas exclaimed. “These are eggs! I have seen hundreds of eggs on the farm. These are eggs. I have never seen anything so large before. I wonder what they are?”

All four of us backed up in surprise. We were looking at each other, and then looking back at the nest.

I began to try to read what was written on the wall, not understanding what I was reading.

“Zemma zhu wastoria lazoni shasty?” I stumbled through, having no idea what it meant.

A rumbling from deeper inside the cavern began to shake the ground all around us. A blue light shot down from the ceiling into the middle of the nest with an large “Kaboom” and then a wave of light that sent us all flying backwards.

“Are you ok?” Zeke was immediately checking on all of us.

“I am good.” Jonas replied. “I don’t think we should be here anymore.”

I looked over to Sarah and she had a giant smile on her face and was walking towards the nest.

“I don’t think that is a good idea, Sarah.” Jonas exclaimed.

There was a tiny nose peaking over the top of the nest. We all followed Sarah closer.

“What is this?” she asked, puzzled at what she saw.

There were five long, four legged, green creatures, covered in slime trying to climb out of the remaining shell pieces in the nest. They had wings and long pointy tails.

“Oh my goodness, are these…dragons?” I asked. I had read about these in some of the fairy tales in my family’s store.

All of our mouths were agape as we contemplated seeing what we thought were only fantasy creatures climbing about in front of us. One of the beasts saw us and began to move closer. These babies were the size of a pony and it hobbled over innocently. Sarah reached her hand out to pet it. It seemed happy with her. She was instantly mesmerized.

“We probably need to go tell someone about these.” Jonas said. “We aren’t going to be able to keep dragons alive. What do they even eat Elizabeth?”

“Well, the books I have read do not go into detail about what they eat. They were make believe. There is not a guide on how to raise a dragon that I know of.” I replied.

“It is getting late.” Zeke said. “We should go home and tell out parent to see what should happen with these things.”

“I don’t think we should tell anyone about them.” Jonas chimed in. “They might hurt them, and these guys are so cute.”

“I agree.” Sarah chimed in. “Let’s see what we can find out about them, and they will be our secret.”

“Everyone agree?” Jonas asked.

“Yes.” We all answered at once.

I wish I would have told someone. I wish I would have known what these beasts were capable of. Maybe this would have stopped the war that has consumed the valley. Maybe our countryside would not have divided. Maybe Sarah would still be alive. The tale of that day is one that will haunt me for the rest of my existence.