A Stranger Among Us

My throat is dry, itchy, and scratchy after a long day of blowing hot smoke. See, I’m the mediator for all the creatures in the region, and today was a hectic day. I had many problems to solve. I tried to keep my cool, but a body can only take so much. So, before going through the forest, I decide to stop by the field of lavender to gather some for a relaxing cup of lavender tea. I put some lavender in my satchel and head for home.

I’m about halfway through the forest when I hear a loud high, pitched wail in the distance. Disgruntled, I walk toward the sound. There on the forest floor is a young creature unlike any other I’ve ever seen. It’s not a dragon. It doesn’t have scales, a tail, or any of the distinctive characteristics of a dragon. It’s not a griffin. It doesn’t have any feathers. It doesn’t have the head of a lion, so it’s not a sphinx. It’s on land and has no fin, so it can’t be a merperson. It’s not big enough to be a giant; besides, they live high in the mountains and rarely venture down here. It’s too big to be a dwarf.

I approach it cautiously. As I do, it stops crying and crawls toward me. I kneel and sniff it. My nostrils flare as I smell it. It laughs. Its smell tickles my nose. I shake it off as It circles me and grabs my tail. I shake my tail out of its hand and spin around. I sniff it again. It laughs again.

A human? I haven’t seen a human in eons, and I’ve never seen one so small. How did a human man-child end up here, and alone at that? Undoubtedly, its parents must be near. They must have seen me and got scared. They ran and got separated from their man-child. That’s it.

I run and hide. The man-child starts crying again. I wait a few minutes. No one comes for the man-child. I take to the sky to survey the area. Yes, the human man-child is indeed alone. As I fly back down, he stops crying. I look left and then right. I cock my head to the side. I don’t know how a human got in here and left undetected. There’s the coast where the merpeople swim to shore to converse with the rest of us. That’s where I was all day. Then there’s the grassy area where the flowers and berries grow. The forest is next, along with the caves. The humans live past all of that. They have a hard enough time getting along with themselves; they aren’t ready for intra-species relations.

I don’t see myself as much of a babysitter, but I can’t leave him alone. He’ll never survive the night on his own. He’s too small to ride on my back, so lift him in my mouth by the back of his britches. My jaws are powerful. We fly home.

My cave is modest. It’s not huge. I sit him down on the floor, and go to prepare something to eat. That’s when I realize I’m not equipped to feed a human. I guess he can eat oatmeal. I put some toasted oats in a bowl and pour some water into the bowl. I heat it with my fire breath. I sit the bowl in front of him. He digs in with his hands. I pour some berries and nuts into a bowl and prepare a cup of lavender tea. As I sit down to eat, I look at the man-child. He’s done eating but has oatmeal on his face, hands, and in his hair. Grumbling, I get up, rinse him off and dry him. He curls up on the floor as I eat.

“I don’t know what to do with you. We’ll figure it out tomorrow. My name’s Sage. I don’t know what to call you, but we’ll figure that out too.”

He goes to sleep fast and easily. I look toward the opening of my cave, concerned that he might wake up and crawl outside. So I wrap my body around him. I tuck my head under my wing and go to sleep too.

In the morning, I’m relieved that he is still next to me. He wakes up early and entertains himself by playing with my tail. I prepare another bowl of oatmeal for him and berries and nuts for myself. This time I watch him eat and ensure he doesn’t

get it all over himself. After we eat, I pick him up and carry him to my friend Liberty the dwarf, Libby for short.

She lives in a little wooden house in the forest. I knock lightly on her door with my tail.

The door opens, “Now, who’s knocking so early?” Her face goes from agitated to surprised to happy. “Sage, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

I place the man-child at her feet.

“Is that what I think it is?” She pokes him in the side.

“Yes, I found this man-child in the forest last night.”

Her hand drops to her side, and she looks at me with an expression mixed with shock and fear. “In our woods? How?”

I shrug. “The griffins were supposed to be on patrol. Can I leave him with you while I ask them about it?”

Libby smiles and scoops him into her arms. It looks funny because he’s already half her size, but dwarfs are very strong. “Of course, we’ll see you when you get back.” She goes inside and closes the door.

I turn around and fly to the base of the mountains where the griffins live. They’re outside grazing. I fly down to meet them.

“Good morning Sage,” the pack leader says to me.

“Yes, it is. I have a question for you. Did you notice anything out of the ordinary while patrolling yesterday?”

The pack leader glanced at his pack and then looked at me. “No, everything was on the up and up. Why do you ask? I mean, it’s not a problem. It’s just that you never have before.”

I feel the fire in me rising. I pause to calm myself. “Well, I did find something out of the ordinary. As I was walking through the forest just before sundown, I found a human man-child all alone. I took him home with me, and now he is with Liberty dwarf. I want to know how a human came and left undetected if you were patrolling the area.”

The griffins exchange glances. The pack leader steps forward. “To be honest, we began by patrolling the area, but after a while, some got bored. It’s so quiet here usually, no intruders. So, I didn’t see anything wrong with letting them play a game of soccer. After the game, we were all tired, and we took a nap. This gave the human time to come and go without us seeing it. When we woke, it was time to come in, so we didn’t do our final walkthrough of the forest. If we had, we would have found the man-child.”

“So, now you see why we walk the grounds even when it seems that all is well or on the up and up, as you say. Let this be a lesson to you all. Today complete your task before playing and napping.” They hang their heads in shame. “Lift your heads. Be better today than you were yesterday.”

Again I take to the sky—the gall of them. I could have singed their feathers. They were bored. I can’t believe them. I return to Libby’s house. I hear the two of them laughing as I land, and it lightens my mood.

Libby opens the door and steps out with the man-child on her hip. “So?”

I look at Libby, then at the man-child, and back at Libby. “I need your help. I want to take him back to his people. Humans are dangerous. I can’t show them my face, but you—you can be invisible.”

She puts the man-child down and takes four steps back. The color drains from her face. “Wait. You mean you want me to—

“I’ll be right behind you. I promise. He doesn’t belong here. We have to give him back.”

“Okay.”

I pick the man-child up with my teeth. I lay down, so Libby could climb on my back. I fly us over our region. I land at the edge of the forest.

“There aren’t enough trees for you to hide in beyond this point. Why don’t you fly to the top of the mountain? You can see us from there. I’ll go alone from here.”

I lay down, and she climbs off. She takes the man-child from me. I’ll find a place where I can hear you too. Be careful.”

She nods. “You too.” She and the man-child vanish right in front of me. I’ve seen Libby do that several times, and it’s always surprising. I fly to a cave I know in the mountain. I’ll be able to see and hear them and be out of sight.

“I have something that belongs to you!” Libby shouts. “I ask for peace! I intend no harm!”

Several humans run out to face the voice. They have spears and bows and arrows. “Face us, stranger!”

“Please, put down weapons.” The man-child is visible now. “He was found in the forest yesterday. I’ve brought him back to you.”

The humans lay down their weapons. “That’s a courageous thing you’ve done, but he is not one of us. All of our children are accounted for. So be gone and take him with you. Don’t come to these parts again.”

The man-child is invisible again. I fly back to the edge of the forest. Libby’s shoulders are drooped forward, and her head is bent down slightly. “Now what?”

“I guess we keep him. Can he stay with you and your family? Your home is better suited than my cave. As he grows bigger, your husband can build space for him. I’ll help, of course.”

Libby nods.

“We’ll teach him our ways and tell him what we know about humans. One day, he’ll return to them and tell them what he’s learned. Hopefully, he’ll teach humans how to coexist with us peacefully.”

“That’s a tall order for such a little person.”

“Yes, but he’ll grow into it. But he needs a name fitting of his task.”

Libby turns him around and looks deeply into his eyes. “How about Guy because he’s our guy.”

“I like it. Well, Guy and Libby, it’s time I take you home.”