The Dragon King

Once upon a time, there lived a boy named Benjamin...

Benjamin was a peasant boy who lived alone with his father, ever since his mother had perished in the forest when he was barely five years old. As the years passed, Benjamin realized all the sacrifices that his father had made just to provide food for them to eat each day, so Benjamin always made sure to help his father with the housework. One day while Benjamin went out to the forest to get the firewood that they needed to cook, he came across many fallen trees. So he went to collect firewood from these trees, but while he was gathering pieces of wood, the trees that were on the ground began to move. Benjamin began to dig desperately, because the first thing he thought was that there could be a person trapped under all those trees. But the more Benjamin dug, the more he began to realize that this thing under the trees was no human, and he began to see what looked like a very thick and dark skin, like that of a large animal. As fear began invading Benjamin, he tried to leave. But it was already too late, as a pair of big yellow eyes opened in front of him. "A Dragon!" Benjamin thought, while he stood still, frozen in fear. The boy, terrified, kept his eyes fixed on the dragon. And the dragon stared back, he could feel the pure heart of Benjamin. The Dragon rose, and told Benjamin that he had no reason to be afraid. The dragon began to tell Benjamin the story of how he had gotten there under the trees. He told Benjamin that he had been hiding from the people who were hunting him, because there was a great reward for whoever managed to get his head. Benjamin felt very sorry for the dragon and wanted to help him. He moved closer to comfort the beast. And Benjamin, feeling very sad for the dragon, placed his hand on the dragon. But right when Benjamin touched the dragon's heart, the dragon immediately disappeared! Benjamin did not understand what had happened, he looked for the dragon, but the dragon was nowhere to be seen. And so, Benjamin returned home.

Just as Benjamin had arrived at his house, he saw that his father was gone... and that his house had been burned to the ground! And his entire town was on fire. The people of the town ran desperately in every direction, and voices could be heard that the blame for all this misfortune lay with a dragon... Benjamin's heart was torn into pieces, after seeing his house on fire, and now feeling that he had lost his entire family. His mother had died in the forest years ago, and now his house, where his father lived, had been destroyed.

Benjamin was devastated. He returned to the forest, where he gave a cry from his gut. But while he was releasing his pain, his feet started to slowly come off the ground. And his arms began to wave back and forth, with giant wings slowly coming out of them. And soon, he left his village and flew through the trees! When Benjamin finally realized that he was flying, his wings suddenly disappeared and he abruptly returned to the ground and there, on the ground, he heard the dragon's voice again... but he still couldn't see the beast. The dragon explained to him that since that day they met, when Benjamin touched his heart, the creature was able to enter Benjamin's body and become one with him. But the problem was that Benjamin had no consciousness every time the dragon took control of his body, and that is why Benjamin did not remember anything that had happened to his people in the village. But although he had no memory of it, deep in his heart, he felt that he had destroyed his people's village. And so, began to weep, and he couldn't stop crying. Still with tears in his eyes and with the helplessness he felt, he flew to the top of the highest mountain and tried to take his own life, but whenever he was about to fall to the ground, the dragon's wings opened and saved him. Benjamin tried again and again to jump off the mountain top, because he thought in this way, the dragon would also die and neither of them would cause more damage to anything or anyone again. But the dragon, still with him, encouraged Benjamin to rebuild the town, to make things right. However, this would take him many years to complete. But despite this, Benjamin agreed with the dragon's plan. And so he decided to face this challenge and thus try to free himself a little from the guilt and pain he had.

The people of the town were very grateful to Benjamin for the amazing work he did. And as the years passed, the people were so happy with Benjamin, that they decided to crown him as their king. Everything seemed to be fine in these days, the people, little by little, forgot the misfortune they experienced when the town burned in fire, their hearts were healing, and they began to feel happiness again throughout the village, but this did not happen with Benjamin. For the people did not know the secret of their king... for no one knew that a dragon lived inside him.

One day, a poor old man knocked on the palace doors, saying that he had an important message for the King, so they let him in and he talked to the King. And as soon as the old man saw the king, he began to cry. The King did not understand what was happening, so he approached the old man and saw his eyes filled with tears. And in the midst of a long beard and gray hairs, he recognized that this was his father. Benjamin could not believe that all this time his father had been alive! He was ecstatic! Tears of joy filled his eyes. And decided right then and there, to host a celebration in the palace in honor of his father. And so, he listened to everything that his father had to say, of where he had been all this time, and what had happened...

But when Benjamin asked his father about that day of misfortune, his father gave a long silence, then... he told Benjamin the true story of that day. He said that day, some people from another town were thirsty for power, they came looking for a dragon that they claimed was being protected by our town. But the people of Benjamin's said it wasn't true and that they had never seen a dragon. And when they heard this, these evil people attacked Benjamin's village and their people, and started burning the town. After that, Benjamin' father said a dragon appeared in the sky, and took them all to a safe place, far away. Since then, we have not left that safe place, because only the dragon can enter and leave this place. Over the years, everyone thought that they protected the dragon, but it was totally the opposite, it was the dragon who protected them.

Benjamin felt many mixed emotions at hearing this news. He was happy because his father was alive, he was at peace because he had not caused misfortune to his town, but he was also sad because he had lived away from his father for many years. But his father explained that a few days ago, the dragon had visited him again and this time he took him out of their hidden village and told him to go to the palace and ask for the King. The old man told Benjamin the terrible sorrow he felt at the thought of his son being dead all this time, but now he was filled with joy to learn that his son was not only alive, but standing in front of his, as a King!

So that day, they celebrated this great reunion, and at the end of the night, the king entered his bedroom and had a long conversation with the dragon that continued to live inside him. Benjamin thanked him for bringing his father back, but then blamed the dragon for his unhappiness, because the dragon allowed him to live with guilt and pain for so long. But then, the dragon explained something to the King... that the guilt and pain Benjamin had been carrying all this time, was his choice, and his responsibility. Each human being is responsible for what he wants to keep in his heart, for good or for bad. The only thing the dragon had done was direct him towards his purpose. And in spite of everything that had happened to Benjamin, he had managed to obtain wisdom and courage, enough to govern his people. With tears slowly filling his eyes, Benjamin finally understood this lesson, and thanked his dragon. The dragon, seeing the work with Benjamin had come to an end, touched Benjamin's heart, and immediately their bodies separated. The dragon smiled and told Benjamin that his mission was over, and as mysteriously as he had entered Benjamin's life, the dragon left, flying out of the palace window... never to be seen again.

The End