04 October 1901
squeak... squeak.…
The young boy followed the sound across the garden, weaving his way between the clusters of juniper and cedar hedges, finally finding the playground clearing. The sky was crystal blue, the warm air filled with the scent of the flowers, but it all paled in comparison to the sadness that irradiated from the slow squeaking of the wooden swing and the silent sobbing from the young girl perched on it. The young boy approached it slowly, knowing his presence was the last thing the young girl wanted. He remained silent, fidgeting on the spot, wondering what to do or what to say.
The young girl stopped the swing, and looked up to him. To strangers, little allowed them to know that the two young children were in fact siblings: except for the same curly brown hair, the young boy was skinny and had hazel eyes, while the sister was chubbier and her eyes were as dark as the night.
Her tear-stained face turned away from his, and the swing began once again to move; when the young girl finally spoke, her voice was broken:
“I can’t do anything right in their eyes. I can’t draw; I can’t play; my studies are inferior. When their friends come over, I’m sent to my room as if I’m an embarrassment, while you get to stay. Everyone are head over heels for the perfect son. A talented genius, while your little sister is too dumb to be allowed near you… in any case I might infect you.”
She sniffed, and furiously wiped the tears away with the sleeve of her dress.
“I’m worthless, and I’m an embarrassment to our parents, and to you.”
“That’s not true,” the young boy softly replied. He subtly relaxed as he understood with relief that her anger was not directed to him, and he sat on the swing next to hers. His hazel eyes, showing golden specks near his pupils, looked at his sister with unbridled fondness.
“I don’t care what our stuck-up parents say. They can try to keep us apart, I’ll just climb the roof and sneak right back again in your room.”
The young girl faintly smiled, but it faded right away.
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better; you can’t mean it. I can’t do anything like you; I’m just a silly burden to all of you...”
The young boy looked at her thoughtfully, and something in his appearance relaxed even more so, as if a decision that was haunting him was finally reached. He began to move his own swing, matching her speed.
“Can I tell you a story?”
His young sister looked at him, lightly puzzled; but the question already made an effect as her heaving chest slowed down. She nodded, still contemplating him.
“How do you like stories to begin as?” he then asked.
“Once upon a time,” she answered, slightly ashamed.
“That sounds great to me! Well then,” he smiled at her, his golden eyes locking into her nightly eyes, “once upon a time, there was a dragon...”
**********************
… who unlike many dragons, lived mainly under the cold clear waters of the Northern sea. He was the size of a navy ship, his scales were like bronze, his eyes were golden, and he had long silver whiskers and eyebrows that would float gracefully under the waters when he swam.
But what distinguished him was a special pearl hidden below his chin, as dark as the twilight. The dragon had found it in his youth, nestled on the seashore, glimmering in the sands. That pearl had a unique power that the dragon harnessed: it could turn the mundane into treasure, whatever might it be. The sky and the waters would reflect the dragon’s mood, and the pearl would lend its powers to turn drops of rain into the much needed storm or clear the sky and let the sun through. As for the mundane into treasure, it applied from mere rocks turning to gems, or the fragile wheat seedlings growing into strong crops.
The dragon did not keep the pearl’s powers to himself, but rather protected it and shared its magic with the inhabitants of the settlements bordering the Northern sea. Thus the dragon’s kindness went unknown to the human inhabitants, although they were always grateful for the mysterious miracles, knowing they would never understand the secrets of the sea.
Such was the quiet yet fulfilling life of this dragon who lived under the sea for nearly a century, occasionally visiting the lands and admiring the beauty of the world. It was a lonely life, but the dragon was rewarded with the blissful happiness of those he could help.
It was then that one day, a greedy King coveted the luscious lands bordering the seas at the North of his empire, hearing the tales and rumours of bountiful crops, favourable weather, and much more treasures. His army began the conquest, and despite a feeble resistance from the villagers, they soon raised the flag, claiming the lands as property of the King, with the benefits belonging to him. Just when the villagers began to cry out in despair, knowing how greedy and selfish the King was, suddenly the waters broke, and the great bronze dragon flew and landed in front of the royal soldiers.
The dragon trashed the camps, cornered the soldiers, and none of the blows from the soldiers could stop him or even harm him. Facing the terrified soldiers, the dragon then requested that the army retreated, and carried a message to the King: whatever the latter desired, the dragon would provide with his powers, at the condition that the villages remained untroubled, and that the treasures be fairly distributed to the King’s subjects.
When the army delegated the message, the King agreed to the dragon’s conditions, for he was eager to learn about the dragon’s powers. Along with his personal spy, the King sent to the dragon half-dozen of caravans, and requested that the dragon filled the caravans with as much wheat as the villagers’ luscious lands would have provided. The dragon bowed, and walked to a nearby wheat field where he cut a mature kernel with his claw. Setting the grain in the caravan, he then plucked the pearl from his chin and laid it carefully on the wheat. At the soldiers’ great surprise, the wheat filled up to the rim the six caravans; after which the dragon replaced the pearl safely between his scales.
Months after months, the King sent more caravans, requesting anything from wheat, crops, gold, water, etc, assuring the dragon that everyone benefited from his generosity and kindness, while seeing to a more troubling matter: training a special faction of the army to discover the dragon’s weaknesses, and fight him if need be.
But one day, after nearly two years of such services, the dragon decided to visit the lower lands, and see from his own eyes how the subjects fared from his and the King’s kindness. But even from afar, it became clear to the dragon how the King’s empire did not in fact benefited from all the riches.
So, upon the next visit, the dragon refused to fill the caravans, and decreed that he had learned of the King’s treachery and would take it upon himself to make sure the kingdom received its dues.
For the following weeks, the dragon moved inshore and worked day and night to give to the rest of the Northern kingdoms their share of the luxuries that the King had enjoyed.
Such an action infuriated the King, and he called upon his new knights to hunt down the dragon and capture the pearl. Owning the pearl, he would no longer need to rely on the dragon, and what all its powers would become his alone.
The dragon, upon realizing what the King was up to, and knowing he would not be able to fight such numerous experienced knights, fled the lands.
Chased by the King’s soldiers, the dragon jumped one last time in the waters of his birth. He knew the pearl would be found by the King at all cost, even if dropped at the bottom of the sea; so he swallowed the pearl, hoping at the very least to protect it with his life.
But an incredible transformation happened instead: his whole body began to glow, as if burning from the inside; his wings began to curl around his body, and soon, a cocoon formed around the dragon, like that of a silkworm.
Upon arriving at the seashore, the knights could find no sign of the dragon or the pearl, and they retreated, fearing the worst from their angered King.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
When the dragon finally opened his eyes after what felt like an eternity, he found himself staring at a blade of grass that for strange reasons looked bigger than he remembered. When he meant to turn onto his limbs, he startled, for he longer had wings, scales, or even his usual four limbs. Instead, he looked exactly like a young human boy. Looking around in panic, he noticed remnants of the strange cocoon that had enveloped him upon swallowing the pearl.
The pearl had merged with his dragon heart, and all that he was had become trapped within the stone, for such had been the price for protecting the pearl: unclaimed, the pearl turned the mundane into the special; but claimed, it did the opposite, turning the special into the mundane. The dragon was now something out of this world’s laws, not a complete human for his dragon soul was immortal, nor was he any longer a dragon for he had been trapped in a human shell.
The boy mourned for days upon this loss, unwilling to move away from where he had landed. But as he despaired upon his situation, cursing the greed that had resulted from his kindness, he was found by a young girl playing near her father’s farm.
Believing the young boy to be an orphan, for wars were raging in the kingdom, she begged her widowed father to welcome him into the family. Although the boy was put to work in return, the young girl being an only child, she did all she could to help him out, even sacrificing many opportunities to join more distinguished options in the city.
The years stretched, and the two were now in their golden years. She had family, while the dragon did not, not having yet understood what it meant, but that didn’t stop them from remaining close, for both loved each other truly as a brother and a sister would.
When she left the world first, the dragon cursed his own life: he would return for yet another lifecycle, knowing who he was, who she was, but never seeing her again. For two more life cycles, he hoped to find her once again, but in all his travellings and the lives he led, he never met her again, and his heart ached. As he had once wished that his dragon body could return, so to once again roam in the cold waters, gaze upon his treasures and regain his true form, he now realized that he wished for a greater treasure: the girl who had been kind to a young frightened orphan, and did all she could to protect him and give him joy.
So upon his last day of life, before being sent to yet another lifecycle, he made a single prayer.
In the Void, a blinding light appeared:
“Rare does your kind appear here. What is it that you wish?”
“I know I am to be forever reborn as a human due to the sacrifice I made, but I wish to bestow something.”
“What would it be?”
“This,” the dragon said, holding in his hand the pearl, for his spirit form temporarily allowed him access to it.
“This is your heart, this is your true dragon spirit.”
“I am aware of it.”
“I must warn you: if you throw this away, you can no longer return to being a dragon, nor will you retain your special ability; you will become a normal human soul, and abide by the world’s law. Your current spirit allows you to be reborn regardless of the life you led; and you retain your memories of who you are, what you have seen, what you have learned. A normal human soul is different: their souls are bound by their actions and meant to start anew. In addition, their souls requires to be needed in order to be reborn. A good life will make them remembered by others, and thus, requested to be reborn in order to meet once again. A bad life, and they will remain here as long as needed before being granted redemption by a forgiving soul. This is what will happen if you choose to throw that pearl away.”
“I do not wish to throw it away, although I am aware that no longer having this inside of me will mean that I will forever more remain in a human form. However, I am already a human, cursed by the choice I made; but I am alone, and so was I when I was a dragon. No, I do not wish to throw this pearl away. I wish to give it to a girl I met when my transformation happened. This pearl is part of me, but if I bestow it upon her, she will have my heart, and thus, she will be a part of me, bound together. Across time, we will both remember who we used to be, and what we mean to each other. No matter where life takes us, how apart we are, we will always know that we are together, that even death will never takes us away. As a human soul, she will always be remembered, and as a dragon soul, I will never more be alone. I no longer care about the soul and form I used to be. I wish only for her to be my only treasure, and for her to know that.”
“If she accepts your gift, may it be so,” the light simply replied.
And so, the girl who had died believing that she had been forgotten by the land of the living, for her sacrifice had kept her isolated from the rest of the world, found herself to be face to face with the boy she had raised as a dear brother. The dragon simply put the dark pearl into her hands, and as if everything was said between them, the girl looked at the dragon. And with tears in her eyes, she smiled and swallowed the pearl.
They waved goodbye, and awaited for their separate time to return once again to the living world.
**********************
“And so, above the treasures he had, above his desire to return to his dragon form, the boy chose one treasure to cherish,” the young boy resumed his story, his younger sister listening to every of his words.
He got off of his swing, and he took his sister’s hands, his gold eyes gazing deep into her dark eyes, as she noticed for the first time a patch of silver hair showing prematurely into his brown hair.
“I chose you to carry the pearl, to carry my heart. You are not worthless; how can you be? You have always protected me for the simple illogical reason that is love; you never gained anything from it, and yet, you still do so. How can I ever return you the favour? How can I show how much I love you, how the world pales compared to someone like you? Forgive my selfishness, but for that, you have what none of the people that dismiss you can ever give you: you have a dragon’s heart, a dragon’s soul within you. No matter what, you will always be remembered and loved by the soul that you protect.”
The sister was now hugging her brother, her face in his neck, sobering.
“So don’t ever think you’re worthless,” he whispered.
“I won’t,” she simply replied.
19th October 2018
“Kids, come on down!” the mother called.
Footsteps fled down the stairs, and two teenagers, a brunette girl with dark eyes, the other a light-brown haired boy with golden eyes, ran into the kitchen.
“Happy birthday, my son!” the mother proudly said, hugging tightly the boy, kissing him on his cheeks despite his protestations.
Setting down the lasagna plate, the father walked around the table to cordially slap the boy’s back. The family then sat down, muttering their thanks, then dig into the food.
Once seated around the pile of wrapped gifts, the girl excitedly handed her brother her own gift. Unwrapping it, the boy uncovered a painting of roaring waters, from which emerged a great bronze dragon with golden eyes and silver whiskers and eyebrows.
“That’s a beautiful drawing, darling!” the parents praised her.
Leaning over her brother to hug him, she whispered into his ears:
“Happy birthday, little dragon!”
The dragon boy smiled gratefully and pulled his sister more tightly.
The End
Cover Image [https://elysianmark.weebly.com/uploads/7/6/1/3/76139411/published/capture.png?1556815331]