Believe in the Dragon

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. I am on my way up the hill with my pony, Rhubarb, to see the valley more clearly. I close my eyes. I can smell the sweet spring grass. I hear nothing but the wind in my ears and my eyes tear a little. I feel as light as the wind as I gallop along the trail up the hill to the clearing where we can see the whole valley.

“Please let there be dragons today” I whisper into the wind.

My Gran and I would come up here often, long before the dragons returned. We would get the horses out for a good gallop when the footing was dry enough. Today was one of those perfect spring days. My pony and I made it to the top of the hill and we were both breathing heavy. As we walked across the top of the hill, Rhubarb spotted them first. Ears pricked forward and eagle eyes, he saw them. Dragons. More than one today.

“Good boy, Rhubarb. Good boy. Nothing to be concerned about. Just a couple dragons. We see them all the time.” I reassure him. And myself, because it is quite a sight. It is exciting to see them, but then when you do the excitement mixed with fear and exhileration starts the adrenaline pumping and I can hear my heart beating.

Rhubarb is still breathing heavily, but soon catches his breath and I can tell he is poised to bolt off home just in case the dragons make any curious motions towards us. He is still suspicious of the dragons. I am still suspicious of the dragons. But so far they haven’t noticed us. Both Rhubarb and I are getting more comfortable seeing the dragons, but neither of us are exactly sure what will happen when they see us.

We watch. We wait. We try to stay invisible.

“Do you think they know we are hear Rhubarb?“ I ask and Rhubarb twitches an ear back at me without taking his eyes off the dragons. It is kind of an answer, that he knows I am there but there is no way he is taking his eyes off the dragons and letting his guard down. I am pretty sure they know we are here. But we don’t make any noise or sudden movements to give them any idea that we are here.

Sometimes we come up here and there are no dragons. But today, some luck. A dragon, is it the same dragon we see or is it a different dragon. I try not to blink, just watch. Some days I think it is the same one, and other days it looks different. I can’t quite put my finger on it, what is it that looks different? Or is it that I just don’t know what other dragons look like.

Last summer was the first time I saw a dragon. The first time we saw the dragon, it was really Rhubarb who saw it first. I had come up the hill and Rhubarb was acting very strangely. He was snorting, and behaving oddly and then he just froze. He was barely breathing and all I could feel was his heart beating and then he started trembling a bit. But he didn’t move. At the same time, I saw it too. I really couldn't believe what I was seeing. Time stood still for a moment. Was it real. Was it… what is it…. It definitely is. It’s a dragon.

And then I blinked and it disappeared. Rhubarb was also perplexed and he started breathing but his heart did not calm down. He looked around, trying to catch sight of it again. But nothing. I also was trying to find it again, but could not see anything but the valley below. But it was there, we both saw it. It was definitely a dragon. I am sure of it. Rhubarb was sure and we were both a little stunned as we made our way home.