THE DRAGON'S REQUEST

At first glance, the mountain seemed uninhabitable but, upon closer inspection, a cave could be seen in which a family of dragons had made their home. Once gloomy, an attempt had been made to make the interior homely with, amongst other items the addition of wall mounted torches.

A male dragon sat and read aloud to five offspring, who listened in silence. Occasionally, a gust of wind would make its way into the cave, which caused the flames of the torches to do a dance throwing shadows across the book’s pages. Jake stopped reading, as he had done several times already that evening, which prompted a collective groan from the children. This time, however, rather than restarting when the flames had settled, he closed the book with a snap and announced: “I think that's enough for tonight. I am old and need my sleep and you need some too even though you think you don't, goodnight!” They protested. “Goodnight!” said Jake again. He kissed them, put the book back on the bookshelf, then went around and extinguished the torches. He stood in the darkness until he heard the first signs of sleep: gentle rhythmic breathing and snoring. He then tiptoed to the rear of the cave to join his wife.

Marcy was smaller than her husband and had big blue eyes. She whispered: “Are they asleep?” When Jake nodded, she continued: “I think our children have gotten wise to your tricks, they came to me the other day and asked: “Why has daddy never finished reading us a bedtime story?”, ''What did you say?”, “That you thought you were finished. What excuse did you use tonight?” Marcy asked. “That I need sleep because I am old...” Marcy chuckled: “You are not that old!” She swatted at him playfully, Jake ducked and they both laughed. “What is the real reason why you never finish reading to them?” He looked at her seriously: “Long ago we flew many miles away from the Kingdom to this cave, to protect you and our unborn children from ever having to find out about the persecution that happens to dragons at the hands of humans like King Frederick. I am not ready to let them hear about it in books.'' “I share your worries, of course,” Marcy replied gently, “But the kids are getting older, maybe they will understand?” “They will not. Who could understand the murder of their own species, just so a princess can be rescued!” Jake shouted, which echoed around the cave. There was a murmur from one of the children, Jake and Marcy fell silent, but their child did not wake, so the conversation continued. “I wish there was a way we could keep them oblivious too, but leaving stories unfinished and lying to them every night is not the way to do it,” reproached Marcy. “I know,” sighed Jake, “Come on Marcy, let's go to bed. We will think of something tomorrow.” Although they tried to sleep, Jake and Marcy laid awake and tried to come up with a solution. However, nothing presented itself. So, life carried on as normal. Jake never allowed their kids to hear the end of a story, no matter how much they pleaded and begged.

Several weeks passed and, finally, an idea occurred to him. He would write his own bedtime story where the dragon would not get killed at the hands of the prince. Instead, they would make a deal: the princess would be released, unharmed, from her captivity and the town would not be terrorized by the dragon. Jake was filled with excitement as he sat down to write, but the story soon became mixed up in his head and whatever he tried he couldn't seem to figure out how to rectify his mistakes. After several attempts, the cave floor was littered with screwed up balls of paper. Who would have thought writing would be such hard work? Out of frustration, he gave up. Adapting existing stories was sure to be easier. However, as Jake soon learned, this came with its own problems. Due to the sheer number of tales he had to adapt, he often worked late into the night, which meant that he missed the children's bedtime. Marcy complained that it was his responsibility to read to the kids. Also, he got cramps in his writing claw and soon gave up on this too.

Finally, Jake had to admit that there was no other option but to read a bedtime story till the end. That night he found he could not muster his usual enthusiasm for reading, taking his time selecting a book, still hoping that by some miracle this would not be necessary. Then Marcy beckoned him over. They walked out of earshot of the kids and keeping her voice low she said:” I have an idea but you’re not going to like it.” “What is it?” asked Jake with a rush of excitement, but what she said next made him furious. “Go back to the Kingdom and ask King Frederik to change the ending of the stories.” Jake turned toward her and trembled with anger roared : “How could you Marcy! How dare you suggest that I go back there? We barely got out alive last time or don’t you remember?” Keeping her voice calm, she touched his wing gently and responded with: “Yes, I remember only too well having to keep up with you, while pregnant as we were chased out by the locals. But that was years ago, anything could have happened since then.” “I won’t do it!” he shouted. “It’s either this or you have to lie to them for the rest of their life because I will not cover for you. I do not like to lie.” Jake remained silent for a long time before reluctantly agreeing. The next morning, before dawn, he kissed his family goodbye and set off on the journey back to the Kingdom.

The perilous journey, it turned out, would take Jake a long time owing to the fact that the route was unfamiliar. The people, much like their King, were not fond of dragons. They taunted him from the ground, even throwing things at him, forcing him to change his course several times. “Marcy was wrong,” he thought to himself, “ Nothing had changed. Why had I ever let myself be talked into this?”

After many days, Jake spotted King’s Frederik castle in the distance. Thoroughly exhausted, he landed on the battlements and flew into the open window of the King’s chamber. Spotting him, Frederik immediately started shouting for his guards. “Be gone dragon! I command it! You and your kind are a blight on our lands. Be gone with you!” Just then the guards burst into the room, swords drawn. “I only want to talk,” pleaded Jake. He meant for his voice to come out deep and booming, but only managed a frightened squeak. “I do not talk to beasts, guards kill him!” They kept advancing, they were almost upon him. He thought he was going to die and never going to see his family again. “Let's see what it wants first, father,” a gentle voice said. Time seemed to stop, everyone turned. The voice belonged to Princess Aurora, King Frederik's beloved youngest daughter. She was only a baby when Jake had left with Marcy. Unlike her father and most of the Kingdom's citizens, she had a soft spot for animals. She had come back from riding her horse and had walked back into the room unnoticed due the commotion. “Stay out of this Aurora,” shouted the King. “Father please,” Aurora began to cry. King Frederik’s heart melted at seeing her so upset. He called his guards off and said:” What do you want, beast?” Jake bowed and cleared his throat: “Your Majesty, I humbly request that you change the ending of children's stories, leaving the dragons unharmed, so I can read my children a bedtime story to the end without fear of causing them distress.” The King burst out laughing: “I never heard such a ridiculous request!” he was about to say more but one look from Aurora silenced him. “What is your name?” she asked gently. “Jake, your highness.” Aurora went over and stroked his snout. “Oh father, I like him. Can you help him, please?” “Very well, Jake, I will do as you ask,” concluded the King.

On his way back to the cave, Jake felt as if a great weight had been lifted. Thanks to Aurora, King Frederik was as good as his word and all stories in the Kingdom which featured Dragons, were rewritten with happy endings. Much to the delight of his kids, they got to hear these bedtime stories to their conclusion and Jake, for his part, was happy to read them.

Years later, due to Jake’s bravery, generations of children, humans and dragons, grew up not fearing each other.