The Secret Life of the Wobbly Dragon

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. Stella, a shaggy terrier- mix of questionable descent, happened upon the beast while on one of her daily jaunts.

Stella’s human parents were in a constant state of worry and frustration at her persistence in jumping the five- foot fence encasing the property since her adoption, despite every effort to prevent her escape. She only wandered the neighboring woods for about 20 minutes at a time with her nose to the ground in the hunt for squirrels, deer and the occasional fox. Most of her hunts were unfruitful. Always, she returned with a wagging tail and a guilty countenance due to the aggrieved reception she received upon her return, only to repeat the behavior again the next day.

On this particular day, she happened upon a most astonishing and unusual creature thrashing about in the thicket. The thing was as large as a deer, but with wings that spanned the length of its body and smelled of sulfur. She had never experienced anything like it. With the fur standing up on the back of her neck, Stella began an incessant and high-pitched bark to notify the humans that something dangerous and out of the ordinary was amiss. Despite the humans calling her name, she continued with her passionate vocalizations. She could hear them drawing near and increased the intensity of her bark to convey the importance of her find.

Gerard had been working in his garden, which he cultivated with great care, when he heard the racket. Eloise was nearby admiring his handiwork, but not really participating in the work. Her efforts were more along the lines of moral support. Loui the cat was pawing the water from the garden hose and Bingo, the slightly rotund Maltese rescue, was slinking around biting off the tips of the asparagus plants and snatching just ripe cherry tomatoes from the vine when the humans weren’t watching. When the frantic sounds of Stella’s barking started, Gerard and Eloise immediately knew that something unusual was afoot. Gerard dropped his hoe and he and Eloise ran toward the sound.

As they approached, they heard thrashing and a strange, high- pitched sound coming from some type of creature. Gerard called Stella sharply and grabbed her collar to pull her back fearing she would be injured or attacked. Eloise approached the creature cautiously as Gerard urged her to stay away. They both took in the astonishing site. The creature was orange and white with golden eyes. It was about the size of a large deer with wings that spanned about three feet. There were no feathers, but it had a beak and was clearly some type of bird. “Hey there. It’s OK”. Eloise cooed to the thing in the voice she used for the special creatures she rescued. The creature instantly stopped thrashing and the vocalizations turned to a low errr, errr , errr. She reached her hand out to touch it and it rubber its head against her hand, seemingly soothed by her comforting voice and touch. “ Whatever this is, I think this is a baby”, Eloise murmured. Gerard nodded his agreement. He was already formulating the argument against taking it home, but could see that it was too late. His wife had an uncanny knack for stumbling upon and attracting strays of all sorts and typically, they had some sort of oddity, quirk or difference that made them unattractive to the normal human. She always saw something unique and beautiful where others saw flaws. After years of experiencing her random adoptions, Gerard, whose initial posture was skeptical, was quick to read the signs and realize the futility of a negative response. “I think we will need the wheelbarrow to get it back to the house. I will call Vince to come take a look”, he shouted over his shoulder as he jogged toward home.

It took great effort for the two of them to get the thing in the wheelbarrow. Eloise had already named it Buddy while Gerard was on his mission. He had the wheelbarrow under the great bird’s bottom and told Eloise to hold it in place while he tried to roll the creature in. After several futile attempts and many curse words, Buddy just hopped in on his own, at which point Eloise emoted on what a smart boy he was, even though his gender was purely a guess on her part. Stella, meanwhile, gave the periodic encouraging bark.

After a strenuous journey home, which required both of them to push together as Stella trotted along side, they arrived to find their good friend and neighbor, Vince Dalton waiting for them. Vince was a veterinarian and historian and had helped with their many and varied animal rescues over the years. These included sheep, many of whom were also named some variation of Buddy (Buddy, Buddy Jr., Buddy the Third, Buddy the Fourth, also known as BF), a pig who had the very original name of Porky, chickens, roosters, Guinee hens, one cat and a vast number of dogs. He peered at their newest find through round spectacles that sat crookedly on his curvaceous nose. After walking around the wheelbarrow several times rubbing his slightly balding head, he muttered repeatedly that it was impossible.

“What in the world is this thing, Vince,” Gerard asked. “I can’t believe I am saying this, but it appears to be a baby of an ancient dinosaur called the Dragon of Death,” Vince responded. They grow to be the size of a bus with a wing-span of 8 feet or more and they lived over 86 million years ago before the Big Bang, which caused the extinction of dinosaurs.” The three stared with mouths open, individually processing what they were seeing. After a beat, Gerard looked at Eloise and said, “Well, you have really done it this time. You know we can’t keep this thing. We must notify someone.”

Eloise reached out and Buddy rubbed his head against her hand and purred. Looking at Gerard and Vince with a determined set of her mouth, they both realized it was too late. The decision had been made. Buddy, a relative of the largest Pterosaur that ever lived and whose existence predated that of birds, had found a home. The mystery of how he came to be would have to wait. The three knew that this must remain a secret or Buddy’s life would be at risk.

As the weeks passed, Buddy grew at a tremendous pace. He ate mice, squirrels, snakes and other rodents. He snapped them up, but it seemed to Gerard and Eloise that he had difficulty. He would aim at his desired meal, but generally hit somewhere to the left or right of his intended target. Not just in eating, but also in ambulating. And his attempts at flying were disastrous. He crashed into the house, the barn and trees. Something just seemed off. After doing blood work, an x-ray and several rounds of tests, Vince made a home visit. He was unusually serious as Buddy, who now stood at over eight feet with a matching wing span, nudged him from behind. “ I am afraid Buddy has a neurological condition where the cerebellum of the brain is not fully formed. This condition is very rare and I have only seen it in cats. We call it wobbly cat syndrome. His symptoms mimic this and I fear it is the same. He doesn’t have any understanding that he has a disability, which can be dangerous for him. His life will most assuredly be shortened and that is most probably why his mother abandoned him as an infant.”

Eloise and Gerard looked at each other and Gerard saw that Eloise was on the verge of tears. “ It’s OK,” he said in a soothing tone, “we have managed other challenges and we will navigate this with Buddy. Our home here is isolated in the valley and no one even knows Buddy is here. He can have a relatively safe and secluded life here”.

And so begins the tale of wobbly dragon who should not even exist…..