They Have Returned

There weren't always dragons in the valley. The place that's been my home ever since I was a child. Life was predictable; things were boring and safe. People grew up, got married, and had kids. A life that seemed to be planned out for generations. Until the day they showed up and burned everything to the ground. No one knows where they came from, and honestly I don't care. People kept saying it was God, and that was how he was finally punishing us, for everything man kind did against him. Can you tell I grew up in a small religious town? I cant accept that though, what God would punish us like this? No. I think that they were here long before we were, and for whatever reason they had disappeared. But know they're back, to reclaim what was always theirs. To burn our world to the ground and start anew.

It was a day like any other. I woke up to the sounds of my many alarms. Wondering if I had enough time to grab a coffee, on my way to work. I didn't of course. I always gave myself just enough time to get to work, before I would be late. Starting my morning shift with little sleep and no caffeine, I greeted my fellow coworkers and started my day. It wasn't even ten o'clock yet, when the first angry customer called demanding this and that. Wow, I thought not even ten AM, and people were already angry. Just before I was about to wrap up this phone call, sirens started wailing. Louder and louder, they rang. I looked at Ronda, a lady that's been working here way longer than I have. So I expected her to know what the noise was all about. She just looked back at me just as puzzled. "Hello! Hello!" screeched the angry old lady through the phone. Getting lost in the sounds of the growing sirens, I had almost forgotten I was on the phone with her. "I'll half to call you back mam." I told her, feeling a little relieved, I had an excuse to hang up on her.

"Whats with all the noise?" Amanda said. Walking up to counter where Ronda and I were standing. The three of us just listened to the sounds of sirens speed past our little building. "I'm going to take a look outside."I said, wanting to figure out what was going on. I walked past the counter where Amanda and Ronda were looking at me with concern. Through double doors that led to a small parking lot. As soon as I took a couple of steps outside, I could feel heat engulf me. It was like being inside of an oven. Except I could see no fire. I looked toward the street, where people were starting to gather. All along the streets, cars stopped and people got out to look up into the sky. "What are they looking at?" I wondered, looking up. I shielded my eyes from a sun that had been completely blocked out. Thick heavy clouds of smoke were quickly filling the sky. I walked further into the parking lot, getting a better look at the scene that was laid out before me. All around pillars of smoke rose higher and higher. Creating a thick mass of smoke, that was rapidly turning daytime into what seemed like nighttime.

Then I saw it, this large beast with wings coming out of the smoke. flying right towards me. "It cant be." I thought. "There's no such things as dragons. Its just a bird or... Then I heard the loudest roar I have ever heard. So lowed it drowned out all the sirens that had been filling the air. Instantly I reacted, running back inside. I walked past the circle of coworkers that were waiting to hear me explain what I saw. "So? Whats going on out there?" Ronda asked me. I ignored her, walking to the back where I kept my phone wallet and keys. The three things that would get me out of this nightmare. When I had walked back into the lobby, Mike my boss was on the phone with someone. He looked scarred and sweaty, like he was just getting some terrible news. "Well?" Amanda said. "What did you see." "We need to leave." I said making my way to the front doors. "Why?" Amanda and Ronda said in unison. Walking in front of me, blocking my path. "What did you see?" "Your not going to believe me." I said looking at both of them. "There's, There's a." "Dragon." Mike my boss finished for me. He had gotten off the phone, and started walking to the back to grab his stuff. When he returned he handed Amanda and Ronda there things and said, "we all half to leave now." They didn't look convinced. "I'm leaving, I half to go home and find my family." I said pushing past Amanda. As I left Mike called out to me saying. "To be safe," giving me a look like he might never see me again. "You to." I yelled back, as I ran to my car.

I drove home as fast as I could. Swerving trying to avoid the cars that had been abandoned on the sides of the road. "What is happening?" I thought calling my dad for the tenth time, still no answer. All around me buildings and businesses burned, blazing in the prettiest fire I had ever seen. Electric blue, in every shade you could imagine. Consuming building after building, nothing was left standing. The small town I had grown up in was quickly turning into ash. "Where is everybody?" I kept repeating to myself. Just moments ago I was at work, talking with my fellow coworkers like any other day. Know I was racing home trying to get to my family, and why aren't they answering? No. I forced myself to remain calm just because things are in flames here doesn't mean that they are there. I lived far enough out of town where this couldn't be affecting my family.

I was wrong. Before I could even turn onto my street, where I lived. A wall of blue fire blocked my path. I slammed on the brakes, my car screeching to a stop. I looked to my left, and to my right, trying to find a way past this. The only way I could think of was cutting right through. So I slammed my foot down on the gas. Forcing my car to go as fast as it could, not giving it a second thought. Driving through this much fire was surreal. Mostly because of the color. It almost looked like I was under the ocean. Instead of water, fire was swirling all around me in a way that mimicked water. I could feel scorching heat radiate through my thin car windows. Just before I started to panic, I broke through. Screeching to a stop. I threw the car door open and, and stumbled out.

I looked up seeing nothing but a scorched, charred mounds of ash. Where my home used to be, was now a pile of ash that was quickly being blown away. Not just my home, the row of houses that used to sit so close to each other, were all gone. There was nothing left. I fell to my knees, my eyes stinging with tears that started to fall. "NO!" I screamed. Slamming my hands down, and grabbing hand fulls of scorching hot ash. "Ray!" I heard someone yell my name off to my right. But before I could turn around and see who it was. I was tackled by someone heavy. "Ray!" They cried. Grabbing me around my waist, and shoving their crying face into my back. "Get off of me." I said, through tears of my own. "Oh sorry," The boy said. letting me sit up and turn around to face him. It was Ethan, the boy that lived in the house next to mine. We lived next to each other, ever since I could remember. We used to be friends and hang out every single day. My older brother Cruz, Ethan and I used to get in to so much trouble. Being the only kids in the neighborhood, we became fast friends. But all that changed about a year or two ago. I was starting to learn about, and accept my sexuality. I grew my hair out, pierced my ears and overall became a happier person. Want to know what the first thing he told was when he found out I was gay? "So, are you trying to be a girl know? Because I am not cool with that." Why do straight guys act like you need their permission just to exist. After that he did his best to avoid me, and I did the same.

Looking at him know, sobbing covered in black ash, the both of us having lost everything. I couldn't help but to feel sorry for the guy. "Where is everyone?" I said pulling my knees into my chest and closing my eyes. I expected him to tell me the worst news possible. That my whole family was gone, and that I was going to be alone for the rest of my life. "I don't know. I was at work when the sirens started. we were told to go home, and evacuate." He said rubbing his puffy red eyes. His hands were so caked in ash. Every time he touched his face, it just kept getting darker, and darker. "They said that a dragon came down and burned everything." He said scooting closer to me. "Do you believe that?" He asked, grabbing my arm. I didn't reply, closing my eyes. I kept seeing that giant serpent like monster with wings, come out of the sky. He shook me forcing me to look at him. "I don't know what happened." I said trying to pull away from him. But he wasn't looking at me. Instead he was looking up, mouth open quickly loosing what little color he had in his face. Before I could look up. Something big and heavy, slammed down right behind us. On either side of us, was this huge reptilians monster claws, that dug into the earth. ROAR! It screeched bleeding out every other sound for miles. Shaking me down to the core. Ethan's hand grew limp as he stared in horror at this beast right behind me. I didn't need to look at it to see what was coming next. I don't know how long it had took. Everything I knew had been burned away from this world. The only thing that I new was that I was not going to be losing Ethan. That we were not going to go out like this. The air seemed to be sucked back wards as it prepared to fire its brilliant flames down on us. In a second I sat up on my knees wrapping one arm around Ethan's neck. with the other I had shot it straight out, trying to shield us from our coming fate. When the flames came down, time seemed to stop. As I felt my heart beat I could see the flames wrap around us. Looking up I could see the only thing that had stopped them was me. It was my outreached hand, that I had instinctively raised to shield the two of us. I could feel pressure building up, pushing against me. I didn't know what was happening. Logically I new that we should be dead, consumed like everything else had been. But a little voice in my head told me to keep it up. Emotions started to build up inside of me; anger, hate, sadness. But something seemed stronger than all these negative feelings. It was love. Love for everything that I had lost. Love for the family that I had no idea whether they were alive or not. Love for the town and the home that I grew up in. And love for this boy, that I held in my arm. I didn't care if he didn't feel the same way towards me. Because my love for him was enough. I felt all this as the last licks of flame had ruched past us. As if the ground wasn't burnt enough, all around us everything was singed black. Except for where we had been, beneath our feet was a perfect circle of gray gravel. I lowered my arm, starting to feel tired and shaky. The dragon was gone, I guess it never had anything escape its flames. So it didn't feel the need to stick around and make sure we were gone. "What, What happened? How did you?" Ethan looked at me with a little fear in his eyes. I didn't get the chance to answer, as everything began to spin. I collapsed, my head hitting the ground hard. I was vaguely aware of Ethan freaking out, yelling at me to get up. Before I new it everything was black.