Almost no one has ever seen my dragon, but I would be a sadder man without him.

Thing is, for obvious reasons, I can’t just show him off casually. What could people possibly think when in front of this big, enormous scaled beast that is supposed to exist only in myths? They would run away, call the police, I would be called a freak, and maybe also lose my absolutely normal job in my absolutely normal hometown. For his and my good, I have to act like if I am just like any other guy you could see down the street (even though I am secretly convinced nobody is really like any other guy you could see down the street, but some are just worse in hiding it). If I could have done things my own way, I would have just left him be the dragon he is, and not have to scold him every time. "Do not chase the neighbors' cat!" "Do not go to that farm out of town and attack cattle!" "Don't fly when it's rush hour!" But do I have a choice?

Yet my dragon is so happy to stay with me, and I am. One could think I'm forcing him to a wretched life; there was a time I was convinced too, and I tried to let him free. But he wouldn't go. He would just look at me with his big amber eyes, like if pretending not to have heard anything. And it was there I knew I couldn't - it would break both our hearts to misery.

As we live in an urban environment, we can't have many adventures one could expect from stories about dragons. I have many pleasant memories with him, though. But there is one that has always been the dearest to me.

It happened during a very unhappy moment of my life. My brain has removed the precise details of what was happening, but I remember how stressed, nervous and desperate I had been for many days. It was night, while I kept lying in my bed restless, my dragon literally grabbed me in his paws during night (the only time I could let him fly). Oh, how much I protested! With all the troubles I was living, a scare like that was the last thing I needed! Anyway, since I couldn’t understand what my dragon was designing to do, I started praying my end would be fast. This until he finally landed, at dawn, on a beach where nobody was around.

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At that point, I saw what he had in mind. He wanted to live like a proper dragon, to not be confined anymore - but he wanted to do it with me. Amazed, I discovered that right now, I just wished the same. Well, at least I could pretend I was able to do such things. So instead of getting angry, I just hugged him and then lay on the sand, not caring at all about my clothes. He did the same. And aaarrrgghhh! Imagine it, a big and huge dragon rolling on the sand, the kind of storm it can create! I put my arms on my eyes just in time, and in the end I was made of sand from the head to the feet. But I just laughed, and we rolled more.

Words were now useless. Enthusiastically, my dragon splashed into the water, and I followed him. We swam, we threw water at each other, I used him as a surfboard, we flew together caressing the sea surface until the coast was no more visible, and then went back.

I laughed of happiness, for the first time after many days. My brother, my spirit! Blessed creature that decided to be with me! If I only could be just like you, mindless and free, gifted with wings to leave everything! We would be brothers even in body; and find for ourselves a nice cave, or a beach, to live together and live the life we both really want!

Those were my thoughts that day, the day my dragon gave me back my joy.

That until sunset arrived, and I reopened my eyes. The beach was there: but I was alone. The dragon was back being the inner side of me that I kept repressed: safe and protected against human eyes, until I would be again in need of getting wild again. My car was just there: it was time to get back home and rest for the next day, and be ready to fix the mess I was living.

But at least I would do it with a smile.