Close Encounter
It was the first day of summer and the late afternoon sun was shining as birds sang in the trees. Everything was peaceful and calm as Lauren took one of her much-loved walks through the forest. She undid the braid that held her thick brown hair and felt its warmth cascade down her back. Taking a deep breath, she smiled as the aroma of wildflowers in full bloom filled her nostrils.
Suddenly a shadow fell over her accompanied by an odd flapping sound. The branches on the surrounding trees started shaking violently and gusts of wind sent the previously peaceful birds fluttering about in a state of chaos. Lauren looked up and her jaw dropped open. Above her, something with gigantic wings was blocking out the sun. As it got closer Lauren could see that it was no ordinary creature. As unbelievable as it seemed, a dragon was making its decent toward her. Even though it must have weighed a great deal, the dragon landed before her as gently as a butterfly would on a flower.
Lauren gazed awestruck at the green and gold dragon not believing her eyes. It had a bright green belly and scales that shone like emeralds in the late afternoon light. The golden membranes stretched as the dragon beat its wings a final time and folded them delicately across his back.
The dragon turned its great head and looked down at her. ‘This can’t be happening,’ she thought to herself. It had to be a dream. How else could a dragon be standing before her? This was like something out of a fairytale or movie. The dragon motioned for her to get on its back. Lauren shook her head as if to clear it of this strange phenomenon. ‘Perhaps this is one of those dreams where you know you’re dreaming,’ she thought. She had, of course, had several dreams like this, though never this realistic. Confident that that was the explanation, she stepped forward. Approaching the dragon slowly she placed a hand on its scaly hide tentatively.
The girl could feel the dragon’s warmth emitting through his scales and spent a moment reveling in the heat convincing herself that this was indeed a dream. She climbed up gingerly and settled herself behind one of the dragon’s crest spikes, which to her surprise turned out to be quite soft and flexible, instead of hard with sharp edges as she had always pictured them to be. The dragon spread its wings and for a moment all Lauren could see were two thick, dark green, muscular shoulders and pale green wings with intricate designs of golden membranes.
As the dragon beat his powerful wings, dust swirled around them, and Lauren was forced to squeeze her eyes shut. When she opened them again, they were well off the ground and a breathtaking view was portrayed below them. Lauren had never seen the forest from this vantage, and she marveled at how far she could see. The dragon flew over the forest leisurely, following a winding river as he allowed the air currents to carry him. In amazement, Lauren watched the sparkling river winding its way around curves, as if it were a stream of diamonds trickling across the earth.
They reached a raging waterfall and without warning the dragon plummeted toward the churning waters. It was all Lauren could do to keep from letting go as they hit the icy water. The dragon swam with remarkable speed, but to Lauren it seemed as if they would never surface. She started seeing spots and her lungs screamed for fresh air but just when she thought her lungs would explode, they emerged from the water into a cavern filled with gleaming, water dripping, stalactites. Enormous stalagmites seemed to go in both directions as the water calmed and their reflection reappeared.
Lauren tried to get her breathing back to normal as the dragon flew out of the cavern and entered a dark tunnel. The tunnel seemed tiny compared to the dragon’s size, and Lauren wondered how the dragon managed to keep from hitting its wings against the tunnel walls. She couldn’t worry about this for very long, however, as the dragon suddenly started turning corners abruptly and she had to hold on tightly or risk being thrown off. Large stalactites hung down at odd intervals and she feared the dragon would knock into them, but he apparently knew this route very well and didn’t encounter any obstacles.
Soon they reached an opening and the sudden light momentarily blinded Lauren as they left the dark tunnel. She stared open mouthed at her surroundings as the dragon started its lazy descent. Straight ahead was a forest, bordered by purple mountains on either side, giving Lauren the impression of an enchanted valley. Making things even more magical was a herd of unicorns running right below them, their white coats in sharp contrast to the rich green of the meadow they crossed. In the distance Lauren could see dozens of dragons flying heading one way or another on errands known only to them.
Lauren was delighted at seeing so many dragons, but a faint blue shimmer to the right caught her attention. The blue shimmer was coming from a large white castle, which seemed to be the center of activity for all manner of creatures. Before Lauren had a chance to examine the castle more carefully, it disappeared behind some trees. At first Lauren was startled but then she realized that the dragon had landed in a clearing and was waiting for her to get off. Lauren started climbing down, slipped on a scale, and tumbled ungracefully to the ground.
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