A Dragon Learns of Tricky Treats

I was crashing through the forest, trying to outrun the stupidity of my clan, an impossible task to be sure. Then there, near the river was a human hatchling. She was sitting on a fallen log using a stick to draw in the sandy riverbank My first thought was of roasting her up and having myself a little snack, but then she stood, cracked the stick in two over her knee and started up an awful noise. Part furious howl, part shriek with a sobbing cry mixed in. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to try to have a chat with the child.

Approaching a human of any age is a challenge as a dragon, approaching a human who is already visibly upset is an even harder thing to do with any hope of having a reasonable conversation after the inevitable excited/frightened screams have finally faded. I tried to keep the child as calm as possible, approaching the river a fair way off from her, quietly looking in her direction then taking a long drink. She noticed me, but didn’t seem to react, certainly not in the way I had expected. She was staring at me. A little fearful, a little unsure, but not panicked. This was a strange creature indeed!

As I got closer to the child, I saw she was indeed even more peculiar than I had first imagined. There was a sparkling circlet floating above her head with the help of a thin piece of wire and the child had wings! Stubby little things to be sure, not suitable for flight, maybe she could hover a few inches above the ground, but she’d have to flap so hard and so fast she’d be exhausted quickly. What possible use could dinky wings like that serve?

As I came within earshot, I ventured what I hoped was a friendly smile and a hello, she startled a little but said a cautious hello back. This was going well thus far.

“My name is Azurous, Can I ask your name little girl?”

She glanced around shyly then said

“It’s it’s Juniper, sir, but Momma calls me Juni.”

“Do you mind if I call you Juni?

“You can. If you’re not going to eat me up”

‘No, no, no, farthest thing from my mind.” I lied.

“ Juni, I was just wondering what had gotten you so upset, you were making such a racket.”

“Oh, I was just mad. I wanted to go tricky treat tonight, I’ve been waiting for Halloween for forevers, but momma said I couldn’t go, I was too sick.”

“You don’t look very ill. Though mothers generally know better if their children are sick, better than dragons would at any rate. Are the wings a symptom of your sickness?” That would explain why they were such puny little things.

“No! Silly dragon. The wings are part of my costume for tricky treats. I’m pretending to be an angel. “

“And this tricky treats, what is that?”

“Oh! It’s the funnest thing you can possibly do. You go outside at night with Momma, and you go to all the neighbors’ houses, and you ring the doorbell. They come to the door, and you say tricky treats and show them your super neat costume and then they give you candies. I was too little last year to really understand how fun it was, but this year Momma says I’m just old enough to really love it, but I can’t go now cause I’m too sick.”

Her lip quivered as another storm of sobs threatened to break.

Her face brightened quickly though as she exclaimed.

“But instead, I got to make friends with a real-life dragon. We are friends now right Mr. Azurous?”

The tiny thing had charmed me so. I had even forgotten to be angry with my clan, though I had reasons aplenty to be sure.

“Of course, we’re friends Juni. It’s getting awfully late for little girls to be in the forest, it will be dark soon. Do you remember how to get home?”

“Kinda, sorta, maybe…” She looked around unsure.

“Do you know the name of the town you live in?”

“Sanborne View, we live behind the baker’s shop.”

“That’s quite a way to walk for someone on such little legs, climb on my back and hold on tight and I’ll fly you home.”

“This is the best Halloween ever Mr. Azurous, a dragon ride is way funner than even tricky treats!”