The Dormant Dragon

There was once a kid dragon. He lived in a nice cold cave, undisturbed by the actions of humans. He was stuck with other dragons, who were of the same kind. One day, as the kid dragon was playing around in his den, he saw a human's silhouette against the warm light of the morning sun. Surprised, he leaped up, curious yet puzzled why a human would be outside his adobe. He noticed that human was actually just a young girl, slightly younger than him. He could not understand the girl's behaviour. Why does she laugh? What does the smile upon her face signify? Why does she come close to a dragon, when dragons are feared as monsters? What does a pat and a caress on the nose signify?
The dragon, confused, let the girl do as she pleased. He realised that the caress on the nose felt comfortable, and unconciously, he snuggled up to her. They realised it was fun, playing with another specie, so they continued to do so, until it was nearing dusk, when the girl suddenly left. The dragon didn't want her to leave, so he just followed her to the edge of the den. She waved goodbye, and the dragon waved a wing, watching her departing silhouette, feeling nostalgic, recalling how he first met her.
They continued to meet with each other for three years, but it was not always, only occasionally when the girl was there. The dragon, being dormant, never took initiative to look for the girl, but he took advantage of the girl coming to visit him. They met again, once, when the dragon was roaming the woods for something to drink. He bumped into the girl again, and they got to know more of each other. He invited her to come to his arcadia, a place where the water was crystalline and the trees were emerald green and the sky was baby blue. The scent of flowers filled the air. The contrasting ruby hue of roses and the sapphire hue of violets made the place colourful, yet peaceful. The girl was europhic discovering the dragon's utopia. She laughed in joy and ran around, enjoying the joy the garden emits. She lay upon the dragon's feet, enjoying the sun and the cool breeze that blew her hair. With her flyaway hair, she smiled at the dragon and thanked him in a truly happy mood.
The dragon thought he had finally found the best girlfriend, let alone friend he could ever find in his life. He wanted to tell her that, but he wondered what would her reply be. He kept quiet and being dormant, waited to see what she would say. He walked her out of the garden that could rival the garden of eden, and returned to his home. A month passed without her visiting. He waited day after day after day at the same place where he first saw that girl. But she didn't come. His clan had to leave the den, for it was about to have a cave-in. He requested to live somewhere near, saying that it was more convenient to return to the arcadia and so that they don't have to adopt to totally new environments. In fact, he wanted to live near the old den so that he could chance upon the girl by luck. There wasn't luck at all in his life.
A few years down the road, he became more matured both in looks and character. He was a loner most of his life, because he thought only of that girl. Once, he thought he saw the silhouette of the girl again, but it was too far away for him to make out who it was. He dismissed it as his imagination but waited at the same spot for a whole day. No one returned to the area, so he sadly hunched his back and returned to his dark den.
Many more years passed and the dragon became a fully fledged adult dragon. He could breathe fire and fly. He had a bad habit of setting trees on fire and flying away after stealing some food from villages. People thought of that dragon as mad and without compassion. The dragon felt that he was left all alone and so to gain attention, he did all those actions. He was bored one day and decided to find a new place to just chill. His old arcadia was destroyed by the hands of men, who wanted to build new homes for themselves.
As the dragon was flying over forests, he came across this small clearing, which was the exact duplicate of his old arcadia. Entranced, he flew down to take a look around. Every single detail, every single tree and flower was similar to his old garden. Feeling Déjà vu, he turned his head around to see his memory of the girl running past him, laughing in joy. He shaked his head and subconsciously followed the girl’s shadow. He walked to the crystal clear waters, and he saw that there was already a woman standing there. It dawned upon him that it was the girl he hadn’t met in more than half a decade. His first feelings were shock, followed by indescribable joy, joy that brought spring to his step and an extra beat to his heart. The dragon could not speak due to shock, so he just smiled. That smile came straight from the heart, which was far more beautiful than a smile coming from the most handsomest man or beast in the world. He bode the girl farewell so that he could collect his thoughts on how they used to be, young and carefree, without worldly worries to hinder them, and also, the memories they shared.
They met many times more after that, but each meeting got worse and worse. The girl gave out an air of plasticated elegancia and the dragon gave an impression that it was loud and uncouth. The girl chatted with every other person the dragon knew, save for the dragon himself. He waved his wing to the girl, but she looked past him and hugged the person behind him. The dragon felt all alone again, his only thread preventing him from falling into total depression shredded into pieces. He felt pangs of longing towards the girl, but he tried his best to forget about her. He tried to divert his attention to his fellow dragons, but it didn’t work out. Sooner or later he would think back to the girl and feel a piercing pain in his chest. He wondered what the piercing pains meant. Did the girl poison him? Did she make him sick? He had no idea.
The dragon still lives on, unaware of why the girl makes him feel that way. Even with the wisdom of age, he is still a greenhorn when it comes to matter like this. The dragon still has the impression that the girl is a promiscuous girl. Even so, he still loves the girl in the depths of his heart. He does not know how the girl feels, and neither does he know what to do about the whole issue. He survives, hanging to the last vestiges of his sanity, provided by his clan members. If it were not for his clan members, he would have just gone and destroyed villages and even cities. His story continues…

THE END
©2005 Akitoshi Nomi

Che I was thinking too much and too in depth again.