The cat snorted, and I glanced at him, then checked out Molly’s father’s reaction. I couldn’t believe the cat had made such a human sound, but the cat ignored us and curled up in a ball next to the register.

Molly’s father seemed unsure for a moment, staring at the cat, but then shook his head. “Well, we all know dragons are dinosaurs that haven’t been discovered yet,” he said in a singsong voice to Molly.

I quickly agreed with him. “Yep, dragons are dinosaurs with wings.” Though my eyes darted to the back bookshelves, hoping that Indigo stayed out of sight until Molly and her father left. I did not need to deal with the drama that would undoubtedly follow if Molly’s father saw the book dragon. Then again, would he even believe what he saw?

Molly glanced back at the shelves, looking unsure. Her bright eyes searching for something. Her head snapped back to her father. “Where did my book go?” she asked, her eyes wide and searching the counter.

“It’s in my backpack, so you can hold your hot chocolate,” he said, pointing toward the cup on the counter.

Molly’s eyes widened, and she glanced at the cup that sat on the edge of the counter. I had put a tall point of whipped cream on top from a can, along with a little cocoa powder so it looked fancy. “Oh… that looks so yummy!” The counter was too tall for her to grab it so her father moved to pick it up and hand it to her. “Can I give you a hug?” she asked me.

I nodded and hurried around the counter before crouching down. Molly hit me like a truck, almost knocking me to the ground, but I quickly steadied myself. She smelled like pancakes and maple syrup. “Thank you for the chocolate!” Her voice was loud in my ear but I smiled. Little kids were strange, but mostly adorable, especially when they liked chocolate and dinosaurs.

“You’re welcome,” I said with a smile.

Before she pulled back, she whispered in my ear softly. “I know I saw a dragon by the shelves.”

I didn’t say anything, only winked when she pulled away and kept the smile on my face. As I stood up, I gave her a nod. “I hope you have a happy birthday!”

“I will, Daddy has a surprise for me!” She walked back to her father’s side, and he held the hot chocolate out to her. Molly carefully licked most of the whipped cream off before taking a sip.

“Thank you again,” he said, placing a hand behind Molly. “Come on, Molly, we need to get moving if we don’t want to be late for your surprise.”

“Oh, wait, I have a lid for the cup,” I said, darting back behind the counter. I grabbed one of the to-go lids and held it out to him. “Here you go.”

He smiled at me, grabbing the lid, then motioned for Molly to head to the door. Both of her hands were wrapped around the cup and he had to open the door so she could head out. He waved as the door closed behind him.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Well, that was close…” I mumbled, leaning forward on the counter.

“Children are special when it comes to magic,” said the cat. That reminded me of the trick-or-treating and how kids reacted to the bookstore during that time. I wished Indigo had been around to be a part of that.

Indigo flung herself across the room from the top of one of the shelves. She chirped frantically, looking worried.

The cat nodded. “She saw through your hiding spot. It happens. Molly is sensitive to magic, it’s one of the reasons she comes here. It’s like she knows when the bookshop is in this place.”

Again, Indigo asked something, but it was too fast and I couldn’t follow it. The cat chuckled and I glanced between the two of them.

He sighed. “The little book dragon would like to learn about dinosaurs. The dragons without wings from your world.”

I nodded slowly. “That shouldn’t be a problem. We have plenty of books about them, and I have some movies.” My mind went to the movies about a little long neck and star leaves. Though, given what happened to its mother, maybe that one wasn’t a good idea.

Indigo spoke again, but it was to the cat.

“She wants to know more about kids, and why she was so small.” Now that was a harder question, but I had an idea on how to answer it.

Indigo sat on the counter ready for me to speak.

“Well, kids are little. Like you are a little dragon. Do you remember Lady Bosel? Molly is like you, a little one that needs to grow up. Like the cat said, magic is weird around kids on my world. We don’t have much magic where I’m from, but some kids are sensitive.” Now I was making things up based on what the cat had said, but it made sense. And, I figured, if I got anything really wrong, the cat would correct me. “We don’t have dragons like you there, but we do have dinosaurs.”

I hurried over to the kids’ section and Indigo watched me grab a book. I brought it back behind the counter and cracked it open. It was a picture book, with the different eras of dinosaurs. “See? They were big creatures who lived on our planet a very long time ago.”

Indigo’s green eyes went wide at the pictures, and she put her head right up close to the pages before taking a step back. “They were much bigger than the whole store.” I flipped through several of the pages with her.

“The delivery guy will be here soon,” muttered the cat.

I nodded, thankful he’d given me a heads up. “How about I leave this open in the kitchen for you?” Indigo nodded, and climbed on my shoulder. I placed her and the picture book in the kitchen. “Maybe, if you’re lucky, the bookshop can turn the pages for you…” Hopefully, the cat wouldn’t mind. I didn’t want any of the delivery people to see her. Molly was one thing, people who regularly came to the bookshop as part of their job was another.

It made me think of my family and how they would react to the little book dragon. My mom would completely be in love, though it was my father who wouldn’t stop reading stories to us when we were kids. He’d get a kick out of reading to the little dragon. My brothers were a little more complicated, but Cyan loved to read. Umber would teach her how to cook, since he knew I wasn’t that great at it. I still couldn’t believe I had burned the oatmeal.

That left Onyx and Cerulean, and I didn’t know how they’d react. Cerulean lived for the adventure on high peaks. He’d probably be excited if Indigo ever got bigger, especially if she could take him flying. Onyx, I wasn’t sure. He was quieter, and such a steady presence. Probably nod and not make a fuss.

“Sable, are you alright?” asked the cat, startling me out of my reverie.