The Sleeping Dragon

Once upon a time there was a small kingdom near the sea called Carwhew. In the village of Carwhew lived a small boy who loved to go out and find sea shells. Every morning when the sun came up he would run to the beach and find the most beautiful shells he could find. They came in pinks and blues, browns and greens each one a different color. One day while he was collecting shells he saw a purple irridescent shell like none he had ever seen before. He reached down to pick it up but it seemed stuck in the sand.

He pulled on it, then brushed the sand away. As he did he realized that it was larger than he imagined. he cleared more sand and realized that what was under the sand wasn't a shell at all but the ear of a large baby dragon that had somehow washed ashore or had fallen asleep in the sand. He could see it's large body rising up and down as it breathed. He ran to tell the other villagers what he had found. He wasn't sure weather to cover the dragon back up again so he just spread a little cool sand over it's body and left it there.

The princess of Carwhew was taking her daily stroll on the beach when she tripped and fell over the sleeping dragon. she dug down and saw it was a dragon. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She petted its scales and tickled it's nose to try to wake it up, so she could lead it gently back to the castle but to no avail. The dragon kept sleeping. She tried to push the dragon but it wouldn't budge. She covered the dragon with sand and ran back to the castle for a way to bring the dragon back home.

An old fisherman came along the beach and saw a lump in the sand. Burried treasure he thought and bent down to start digging. When he saw it was a sleeping dragon he stared in amazement, he had never seen a dragon before. This one was very beautiful. He tried shaking it to see if it would wake up. The baby dragon didn't move. Finally he left to get his net to carry the baby dragon back home with him.

Finally a brother came down the beach with his young sister. They stopped at the lump and saw it was a dragon.

"Look at the beautiful dragon," the sister said.

The two childen collected sea shells and other pretty things they found on the beach and put them by the dragon's snout. The dragon didn't move but now his head was surrounded by beautiful shells. The two children stayed to watch the dragon sleep.

The boy from the village came back and brought all the villagers with him. Some of them brought laterns and pitchforks because they were not too sure what to expect. Even though the boy had assured them that the dragon was sound asleep. The princess came back with her chariot and a wagon to put the dragon in. The fisherman came back with his net to catch the dragon.

They all arrived back at the sleeping dragon at the same time. The boy saw the princess with her chariot and challenged her by saying.

Hey, that is my dragon, I saw him first!

How do you know I didn't see him first? asked the princess.

Then the Fisherman said, That dragon be mine! I found him first.

With all the noise of the villagers and the guards and the Fisherman the dragon woke up. He blinked large green eyes and stared at the people surrounding him. He could be cranky when he woke up and he blew a column of black smoke into the sky. Then he saw the beautiful shells that the brother and sister had put around his head and he felt a little ashamed of himself. He scooped the shells up in his mouth and unfurled his wings. He looked at all the people. It was too noisy for a dragon to sleep around here.

He tipped his snout to the crowd of people and took off into the sky. The crowd stared at the beautiful creature as it took to the sky. They forgot about trying to own it and appreciated the amazing dragon's beauty and freedom. For a few moments their hearts soared free with that dragon. They were amazed. The princess realized that the brother and sister had saved them all by giving the dragon their beautiful shells. She invited everyone back to the castle for a party and the people talked about the beautiful dragon and what they had seen until way after dark.