Little Dragon Keeper

“There weren’t always dragons in the valley. It wasn’t always this desolate and dry, covered in ashes and bodies burnt to a crisp-“, the bell rings, and I notice Mr. Carter pout like a child that just got denied candy at the supermarket. He mumbles something under his breath. “We were just about to get to my favorite part”, he says with a sigh. He’s an oddball . Always have been from what I heard. I heard Miss Jenny talking about how he used to be super edgy, how he used to talk none-sense about hunting dragons and seeing what she called “little folk” in his backyard. It’s hard to imagine him having a goth stage with his current preppy hamster looking persona.

Everyone is already packing up and leaving before he even gets to give us our break. I can’t blame them - this is our last class for the day AND we are about to go on Winter break! I give Mr. Carter a sympathetic smile. I feel bad for him because he has such a hard time disciplining the class. He smiles back. “Miss Rabinowitz”, he says as he takes an eager step towards me, “how do you like this book?”. I step back. I’m all packed up and ready to leave. I should have left as fast as the other kids. I swear he’s about to give me homework. He does this every time. I shrug, “it’s a good book, exciting though slow. It’s as if I’m reading someone’s diary, so it’s a fun read”. He tilts his body awkwardly, gathering the to say something. He’s making me uncomfortable. “I should go now my mother is waiting”, I say reluctantly. “Wait wait”, he’s stammers as he hands me the book. “The homework. It will be extra credit. Read the book, and email me a five page essay”, he says with an awkward smile, “and feel free to let me know your thoughts further. Email me if you have any questions. I’m sure you will”. I take the book with a strained smile. “Have a good break, Mr. Carter”, I nod at him, and he nods back.

I make a very visible face of annoyance and roll my eyes. Why couldn’t he just leave it since I’m the only kid that waited? Is that why he made it extra credit. I really don’t care about extra credit, but I feel obligated now. But, it’s not like I had much of anything planned for Winter break anyway….I bend down to tie my shoe, lost in thought. I wonder if the man in the book could be real.

“You’re going to get permanent frown marks”, says a soft voice, almost like a whisper. I look up from tying my shoe to see a small black haired girl with an unusual short haircut that looks like a sharp tilted bowl cut, as if someone cut her hair in the dark. She makes a small awkward smile and makes this small sound. She seems nervous. What do I say? Im no good at small talk. She panics a little, acting like she’s said something wrong. Newsflash, she didn’t. “I-uh…umm….it’s just”, I sigh as I stand up. “Well, he isn’t trying to pick on you”, she says under her breath. She reminds me a little like a caterpillar trying to escape a cocoon with how much she squirms. “You look like someone he knows”, she says, much louder than before. “How-“, I’m interrupted by someone calling my name. “Tiffany!”, I turn to see my mother. She’s scowling at me from the car. I turn to the girl, but she’s gone. Huh.

That was strange.

When I turn back to the car to leave I see my mother directly in front of me, scowling. The furrow of her brow makes an ugly that way that she hates. I can just hear her now, “look what you made me do, Tiffany. Listen to me next time”. She grabs my wrist and pulls me towards the car. “Stay away from those new age kids. They’ll ruin you”, she says, still scowling. “Who said anything about her being a new age freak?”, I think to myself. I don’t answer outright. I stay silent and stare straight forward, trying my best not to make eye contact. I refuse to give her another reason to scold me.

My mother goes on and on about the people at work. She hates them, but she refuses to quit. We are finally on the way home from an appointment I had after school. The gifts (or benefits) of being ill. We live about an hour away from school; it’s a prestigious school that my mother wanted me to go to. Apparently, my grandfather also went here. My grandmother refused to allow my mother to go here, but no one knew why. My mother hated her for it because she felt like it made her an outcast in our family because everyone went there, even my cousins. My family knows the family that owns the school. I grew up around them and ended up being close friends with the youngest daughter who is in the same grade as me. Sadly, we aren’t in most of the the same classes, but we get to eat lunch and have gym together at the very least. She helps me when I feel ill. I’m not sure how, but she does something that helps me feel better. I never told Mama about it since she hates that stuff. New age bullshit she calls it.

We get home and I notice someone standing near our house that I have never seen before. He seems to be looking for something and just standing around.

As we drive up, he freezes. Something is off about him, something stale. I can’t quite put my finger on it. He stares at us for a good thirty seconds. I hold my breath, unable to break eye contact. Why isn’t my mother saying anything…? He’s gone. I look around in confusion as my mother shakes me into reality. “Tiffany! Tiffanyyyy. Hello?”, she shakes her hand in front of me, “what the hell were you looking at? You blanked out for a moment”. “You didn’t see that guy standing there?”, I blink in disbelief. “What guy, sweetie? Let’s go in. I’ve gotta make dinner. Go get some rest”, she says as she waves a dismissive hand.

I’m laying in my bed in silence, staring blankly up at the wall. What was that? Who was he? Was I just seeing things? My mind is going a million miles per second. I can feel a stress rash creeping up my neck. Suddenly, I hear a knock. Thinking it’s my mother, I walk up to the door to open it. “I couldn’t sleep-“, I swing open the door to see nothing - nothing but a faint cold burst of air hitting my whole body. I stand there blankly for a second before I close the door, confused. What the literal fuck. I’m starting to get paranoid.