The Adventures of Roxy and Binks

“What a lovely adventure that was!” said a small voice from a small girl, in a little tent under the bright stars. Another voice, (the voice of a piglet as a matter of fact) squealed a small, joyful reply, that meant something like, “That was a wonderful adventure, wasn’t it Roxy? I liked the part where I smelt the dandelions and ate an acorn.” “Tomorrow we can build a boat and sail down the river to the cave. Do you remember the cave we found, Binks?” asked Roxy. Night continued on as the pair planned the events of the next day. Eventually, the sleepy piglet’s head began to do that thing that sleepy heads do, which is to say it nodded slowly as he began to drift off. “Oh, you’re right, it is past your bedtime,” replied his friend sympathetically. “You have had a lot of adventures today, and adventures make you tired.” As the piglet nestled his head in the grass under the blanket-tent under the stars, Roxy removed her cloak and shrouded her little lantern with it. Through the fabric it cast a dull, pinkish-orangish glow over the piglet who now wore a contented smile. “Good night Binks, sleep tight,” said his friend. Roxy squirmed into her sleeping bag, turned off the lantern, sighed a sleepy sigh, and closed her eyes.

Before dreams had a chance to play around in their little heads, a dreadful screech pierced the warm night air. A terrified Binks leapt to his feet and scurried to his friend’s side, shivering with fright as he looked wide eyed at Roxy, waiting for some assurance. Startled, Roxy sat up and turned on her lantern. As the light filled the tent, her friend shrunk down and pushed closer to her side, as he did not feel brave in the least. “What was that?” he wondered. Looking up, Roxy sat perfectly still, listening and looking. Suddenly, a warm feeling fell over Binks as he admired the courage of his companion. “I wish I were brave like her,” he thought, “but as long as she is brave for the both of us, I think we will be okay. I hope the scream goes away. I do not like screams that scream like that. That was unpleasant!” Peering out of the tent, and into the night, Roxy glanced around the yard. From somewhere in the darkness a winged shape passed silently over the pair, and swooped into the barn just a little bit away. “A dragon,” Roxy whispered, breaking Binks’ reverie, “I think it’s a dragon. We must be close to its lair. I don’t think it’s seen us yet.” Noticing Binks’ alarm, she patted his head, “Don’t worry Binks!” she assured her frightened companion, “I won’t let any dragons hurt you! Stick with me and we’ll be safe. I wonder if it has a lot of treasure? Did you know dragons have treasure? But we need a plan; we need to chase it away. I bet if we scare this dragon off, we can find it’s treasure, and we will still have time for a midnight snack! And you can have a marshmallow!” she said lightly touching his nose. At the promise of a marshmallow, Binks trotted in place, nuzzling Roxy’s elbow. “Now let’s go find some treasure!“ At this proclamation Binks raised an eyebrow at his little friend (or would have if he had one to raise, piglets do not have eyebrows). “Don’t worry buddy, we won’t steal anything from the dragon, we are just going to borrow it for forever. Dragons steal. They steal their treasure from little girls like me and little Binks like you.” Satisfied with this explanation, he sat down and listened to his friend’s plan. “We need to be sneaky Binks; we need to get close to the cave so we can spy on the dragon,” she said, pointing at the barn that sat slightly uphill from their camp. Binks sat listening and nodding with all the gravity a piglet could muster. “I just need my torch and my sword,” Roxy said picking up the lantern and her walking stick.

Two little heads poked out of the tent and looked around, which were followed by two little bodies as the pair slipped out of the tent and tiptoed toward the barn. For a moment, Binks forgot that he was afraid because the dew on the grass sparkled in the moonlight and made him so happy that he skipped a little skip…and smacked his nose right into the barn door. Roxy giggled at her friend’s antics. “Shhh, I am going to spy now,” she said, easing the side door open, peering into the darkness. “I don’t see it,” she whispered to Binks, who stood trembling against her leg, having remembered that he was afraid. “I’m going in; you can follow if you feel brave. But you don’t have to if you are afraid. It’s okay to be afraid,” she said as she planted a kiss between his drooped ears. Roxy straightened herself, breathed a small, deliberate breath, and set off into the dragon’s lair.

The shrouded lantern offered just enough light to wind her way toward the loft stair. “I bet it’s up there,” she thought. “I wonder if dragons can smell good. I hope it doesn’t smell me.” She felt the hay softly crunch under her feet as she silently made her way toward the loft. Approaching the ladder, Roxy looked up into the darkness beyond the reach of her lantern. It was silent now. If the dragon was still there, it was pretending that it wasn’t. With a great deal of pluck, she put one foot on the ladder, and the other followed. In a few moments, she was halfway up. Swallowing the little bit of “scared” that told her to go back down, she scowled a determined scowl, and began to climb again. Before her foot could find the next stair, a groaning, metallic squeak came from behind her. Roxy crouched as a screech and a flutter burst from the loft, and a large feathered form soared out of the barn. Turning around, Roxy saw the silhouette of Binks staring from the doorway as the door swung open. Squealing in fear, he dashed for the loft, slipped, and dashed again. Roxy turned and rushed the rest of the way up the ladder just in time to see the dragon fly to the edge of the woods a little way away from the barn. Roxy looked down at Binks, huddled at the bottom of the ladder. “Are you okay?” she asked in a hoarse whisper. Binks just nodded. “I have to find the treasure before it comes back,” Roxy squeaked. Pulling the cloak away from her lantern, she crawled through the bales of hay, looking for any sign of the dragon’s hoard. At the very back corner, a small cozy corner, was a small cozy nest. “Here it is!” exclaimed Roxy. “Dragon treasure, I knew it!” Peaking out of the nest were seven white somethings. “Pearls,” she mused to herself before inching closer and looking into the nest. “Dragon eggs!” she said in an awed whisper. “They’re not pearls; they’re dragon eggs. I wonder why this dragon doesn’t have treasure. Maybe it’s a nice dragon.” She was very puzzled by the fact that this dragon did not have treasure. But only for a moment. “Oh Binks!” she yelled, “The eggs are its treasure. It wasn’t stealing, it is going to have baby dragons.” “They are probably sleeping,” she thought to herself and began to back away from the nest, crawl through the loft, and climb back down the ladder. At the bottom of the ladder, Binks now sat beaming with a long brown feather in his mouth. “You found treasure, too; that is a lovely feather. Too bad I can’t keep the treasure I found,” said Roxy as the two friends walked out of the barn, and back to the house.

Roxy held a little Binks ear, rubbing it between her thumb and forefinger. “You did good Binks,” said Roxy, beaming with pride. “You were afraid of the dragon, and you still came with me. That’s brave.” Binks kicked up his legs at his friend’s praise. “I was brave; wasn’t I?” he thought. “But I would not have been brave without my friend. She helps me be brave. Roxy is my best friend.” Binks nudged her hand. “No friend, I didn’t forget,” she said, “let’s go get your marshmallow.”

When the two companions had walked inside, from the trees at the edge of the woods, a momma barn owl returned to her little treasures in the loft. As Binks lay down to sleep on his bed, a loud screech echoed from the barn. Only this time, he wasn’t scared. “Good night dragon,” he thought, “good night Roxy.”