Giselle Vilca Sagastegui

The Dragon King

Once upon a time, there lived a boy named Benjamin... Benjamin was a peasant boy who lived alone with his father, ever since his mother had perished in the forest when he was barely five years old. As the years passed, Benjamin realized all the sacrifices that his father had made just to provide food for them to eat each day, so Benjamin always made sure to help his father with the housework. One day while Benjamin went out to the forest to get the firewood that they needed to cook, he came across many fallen trees. So he went to collect firewood from these trees, but while he was gathering pieces of wood, the trees that were on the ground began to move. Benjamin began to dig desperately, because the first thing he thought was that there could be a person trapped under all those trees. But the more Benjamin dug, the more he began to realize that this thing under the trees was no human, and he began to see what looked like a very thick and dark skin, like that of a large animal. As fear began invading Benjamin, he tried to leave. But it was already too late, as a pair of big yellow eyes opened in front of him. "A Dragon!" Benjamin thought, while he stood still, frozen in fear. The boy, terrified, kept his eyes fixed on the dragon. And the dragon stared back, he could feel the pure heart of Benjamin. The Dragon rose, and told Benjamin that he had no reason to be afraid. The dragon began to tell Benjamin the story of how he had gotten there under the trees. He told Benjamin that he had been hiding from the people who were hunting him, because there was a great reward for whoever managed to get his head. Benjamin felt very sorry for the dragon and wanted to help him. He moved closer to comfort the beast. And Benjamin, feeling very sad for the dragon, placed his hand on the dragon. But right when Benjamin touched the dragon's heart, the dragon immediately disappeared! Benjamin did not understand what had happened, he looked for the dragon, but the dragon was nowhere to be seen. And so, Benjamin returned home.