Follow me, Dragon by miajaffri Fantasy Writing Contest contest entry |
In the Land of Wonder, the smallest of all the dragons was called to seek the
Wise Wizard. He was frightened because the Wise Wizard had never called him to the Grand Palace. Dragon didn't think Wizard knew he lived in the Land of Wonder. Dragon decided he must be brave and go to the Wizard. He didn't want Wizard to come looking for him. He stood as tall as he could and walked slowly to the Grand Palace. When he arrived at the giant-sized blue door, it automatically opened. He peeked inside before walking through the door. Inside he saw a large cat with bulging green eyes who said, "Follow me, little Dragon." Dragon didn't like being called little so he did not move. Again, Cat said, "Follow me, little Dragon." Dragon took two steps inside, then he changed his mind. He turned to go back outside through the giant-sized blue door but the door had disappeared. All he saw was a black wall. Not knowing what to do, he followed Cat down a long hallway and into a magnificent room where he found Wizard sitting in a red and green jeweled chair. Wizard motioned for Dragon to come closer and sit before him. Even though he felt his knees shaking and his ears itching he did as he was told. Wise Wizard spoke in a strong, loud voice, which caused Dragon's ears to hurt and thump like a beating drum. "I heard you are the smallest dragon in our Land of Wonder. I see that is true. You are very, very small. The smallest dragon I have ever seen but I have a task for you. You must listen carefully." Dragon could still hear thump, thump, thumping in his ears but he did his best to listen. He heard Wizard say, "The children of Bored Ville lack any imagination. We can't have that. Bored Ville is soon to be part of the Land of Wonder and the children must be able to have an imagination if they are to stay here. Therefore, you, little Dragon, have been chosen for the big job of bringing imagination to the children of Bored Ville. It is because of your size that I believe the children will listen to you. This is a very important task for such a small dragon but I believe if you put your brain to work you will find a way to get this job done. Do you agree?" What could Dragon do or say? He was afraid to say, "No, no, wise Wizard. This is not a job for me." So, he answered Wizard with the words, "Yes. I will do my best to get the children to think with some imagination." "Not some imagination, Dragon. You will get the children to think with a great amount of imagination. Then, when they come to live in the Land of Wonder they will make it more magical than it already is. If that is possible. I do believe it is possible. Now, Dragon, you must not waste another minute. You must go out through the giant-sized blue door and go to Bored Ville as soon as you can get there." Dragon turned to go. His knees were still shaking, his ears still itching but the thump, thump, thumping in his ears had started to calm down. Cat suddenly appeared standing next to Dragon. He flipped his long tail around Dragon and said, "Follow me to the giant-sized blue door." Dragon had nothing to say. He was wound around so tightly by cat's long tail all he could do was breathe deeply and close his eyes hoping all the while that Cat was leading him to the giant-sized blue door that he knew he would not be able to find on his own. After walking down long dark hallways, Dragon felt the warm sun shine on his head. He was pleased to feel a cool breeze fan his face. His breathing returned to a slow, steady pace. His knees stopped shaking and ears stopped itching and thumping. Once they were outside, Cat removed his long tail and Dragon was free to run. He ran faster than he could have ever imagined to the old, tall Willow tree beside the river. There, he sat down in the cool shade of the tree. It was the first time he felt safe all day. He breathed a sigh of relief but before he could feel himself return to normal, he remembered his task. "Why me?" he asked. "I don't have any imagination. Why did this wise Wizard choose me?" He sat staring at the river watching the gentle rippling of the water. He began to feel relaxed and sleepy. He laid his head on the soft grass and slept until the sun was going down causing the river to look wide and sparkly. Dragon looked at the colorful sunset all red, pink and orange and remembered he had an important job to do. It was then that he decided to change his name to Imagine the Dragon. He thought if he could be Imagine, then he could live and breathe imagination wherever he went and to whomever he met. "Tomorrow." He said as he jumped with excitement. "Tomorrow, I will go to see the children of Bored Ville." The next day he awoke and ran as fast as he could to the school in Bored Ville. He found children sitting alone on benches in the play yard. He walked up to one child who was gazing into the distance. He tapped on his shoulder. When that didn't get his attention, he stood directly in front of him and made the silliest face he had ever made but the boy kept gazing into the distance as though Imagine Dragon was no where to be seen. Dragon didn't give up. He saw a little girl sitting on a nearby swing. He walked to her and whispered in her ear. He knew this would make her laugh but instead she swatted him away and began making circles in the sandy area with a long stick she had found lying on the ground in front of her. Again and again, he tried to get the attention of every child he saw. Not one of them spoke to him or to each other. They all swatted him away as if he was a mischievous buzzing insect. When they returned to their classroom and sat in the chair at their desk, Dragon tried to make them laugh. While they were reading their books, he tried sitting on each child's nose, one after another, blocking their view from the pages. He wanted them to notice him and think he was small and silly but his unsteady movements made their noses tickle. This caused a string of sneezes that blew him across the room where he landed flat on the floor. He was very disappointed that not one child came to help him get back on his feet. So, he stayed sitting on the floor thinking of what he could do next. By afternoon, Imagine, decided he could bring imagination to the children in their nightly dreams. That night he flew through the windows of the sleeping children. He watched them before deciding to fly over them as they slept. He was hoping the children would see him and ask if they too could fly with him but not one child opened his eyes. Dragon realized the poor children had no dreams. There was nothing going on behind those tightly, closed eyes. Feeling hopeless, Dragon realized his task was going to be much harder than he expected. He was going to need help. In the early morning, he walked back to the river where he sat down on a jagged rock and thought hard as he looked at the gentle rippling of the water. By noon, he was smiling again. He knew who he needed to find. He needed Tina, the smallest but smartest fairy in the Land of Wonder. He jumped up and flew as fast as he could over cotton candy clouds and marshmallow moonbeams until he found Tina sitting alone atop a miniature mushroom in the middle of Enchanted Forest. Her pot of golden fairy flecked sparkles sat on the ground beside her. "Hello, Tina Fairy, why are you all alone here in the Enchanted Forest?" Dragon asked. "I was waiting for you, Dragon. I knew if I waited long enough you would stop by. I was dreaming that you might need to use my golden flecked sparkles." "Yes, yes, yes! Tina Fairy, that is why I have come. I need you to help me get the children of Bored Ville to find their imagination. The poor, poor, children have no idea what they are missing. To live without an imagination makes everyday dull. I know you believe that too." Excited, Tina Fairy blew three puffs of air at her golden pot which made it turn into a flying golden goose and then the three of them flew up and away through red and orange sunsets to the gray, dreary Land of Bored Ville. When they arrived, Dragon and Tina landed on the back of a tiny tortoise near the home of Timothy and Tommy Tubbs. They sat for a long time discussing a plan that would work to help stir up some imagination. Imagine the dragon wanted to fly through the open window of the boys' bedroom with his arms outstretched, his green eyes shining like flashlights and his long tail flip, flap, flapping from side to side. Tina Fairy argued. "No. That won't do anything. I will fly quietly and slowly around and about the room sprinkling my golden sparkles on the boys' beds, on their clothes, their toys and all their books. The golden sparkles hold such a large amount of wonder, the boys will begin creating magnificent enchanted dreams of discovering gold in all the hidden caves and deepest oceans of the world." Dragon demanded. "Tina, this is not your job to do. The Wise Wizard has given this hard task to me. You are my helper. You must listen to my directions and follow them. I will do as I said and you will sit quietly on the window ledge waiting for me to tell you when to sprinkle the golden sparkles on the floor." "On the floor? How can sparkles on the floor bring dreams of imagination to the boys? The sparkles need to be on the boys or as close to them as possible." Dragon was growing angry. "Do as I say, Tina Fairy, or I won't use your golden sparkles." Goose interrupted and said, "Now, you two need to work together. That's why we all came. This job takes more than one of us." "Tina Fairy rubbed her forehead to help her think better. Finally, she mumbled, "Fine. I will fly to the window ledge and sit quietly until Dragon tells me to sprinkle my golden sparkles." "Good," said Dragon. "Now let's begin." He flew through the window with his arms outstretched, his green eyes flashing like flashlights and his long tail flip, flap, flapping from side to side. He flew around and around the room over the sleeping boys until his arms and tail began to feel achy. Then he motioned to Tina Fairy to sprinkle her golden sparkles on the floor. Tina jumped off the window ledge and picked up the golden pot. Just as she opened the lid, a gust of wind came rushing through the window knocking her on the floor and all the sparkles began to dance and flutter about. There were so many sparkles. It looked like a sand storm in the middle of the desert but not frightful at all. Instead, it was quite magical and beautiful. Poor Dragon was covered with golden sparkles. He felt too heavy to continue. He plopped on the floor and rubbed his eyes. Sparkles danced and flashed rainbows of colors before him. When he tried to stand, he lost his balance and landed on a pile of toys stacked in the corner of the room. He called to Tina but she could not see or hear him. She was busy spreading what was left of the golden sparkles on the boys' beds. Goose could hear her singing, "Find the gold in the hidden caves. Also, the deepest oceans." Dragon said, "Tina, What are you doing?" What I wanted to do before you said put the sparkles on the floor. You saw how that turned out." "Shh." said Goose. The boys are waking up. The boys were tossing and turning in their beds. Suddenly Tommy Tubbs sat up and called to Timmy, "Wake up, Timmy. Wake up. You gotta see this. I see a fairy, a goose and a dragon in our room." "Shh, Tommy. Go back to sleep. You're having a dream." "A dream! So, this is a dream! Well, in the morning, I'm going to ask the dragon, the fairy and the goose to take me to find an enchanted forest where I will be king of all the creatures." Timmy wasn't listening. He was dreaming of being the biggest, strongest, wildest and craziest lion in the Land of Wonder. Imagine Dragon, Tina Fairy and Goose were happy and proud they had accomplished their first task. They flew back to the Enchanted Forest to get another pot of golden sparkles so they could get all the children of Bored Ville dreaming dreams of excitement and wonder. When they were finished, Big Cat with the bulging green eyes was waiting for them at the river. He said, "Now, Little Dragon, you must come with me through the giant-sized blue door to see the Wise Wizard. Imagine Dragon looked up and down the road for Tina Fairy and Goose but he didn't see them until he looked up toward the blue sky where he saw Tina sitting on the back of goose, waving to Dragon on their way back to the Enchanted Forest. He didn't want to go alone with Big Cat to see Wise Wizard. His knees began to shake, his ears began to itch and he could hear his heart thump, thump, thumping. He walked slower. When Big Cat told him to walk faster, he thought of Tina Fairy. He knew if he ever needed help she would always be there to help him. Goose would be there too. He began to walk faster. His legs stopped shaking, his ears stopped itching and he only heard a soft whispering of his heart. .
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