To the girl who read by flashlight 40 years ago:
Who wouldn't want to stand and fight with, climb upon the back of, and fly with a dragon? Soar high and free with a dragon? Everyone knows (because how could you not?) that fire cannot kill a dragon. Dragons are fire. Its central to their being. It's the fire that lights up the dragon, that makes it special, beyond any reach of a mere human. It's how you defeat it. Put it's fire out. It's how you control it. Tame it. Keep its fire low. But what happens to a dragon if that fire goes out? Can it survive the coldness that fills it up? That beckons it to a hollow, icy sleep, that becomes death for a dragon? People call for it, expecting the mighty dragon to again overcome it's injuries, to answer their demands.....and only silence returns, no matter how earnest their summoning, and so they climb the mountain, struggle through boulders, blizzarding, swirling snow, searching for the dragon's cave, only to find that the dragon lies weak, numb, too listless to even shiver in the deep cold. They turn away, disgusted and defeated that their dragon is useless. This dragon is dead. Come, it's of no value to us anymore. "So comes snow after fire. Even dragons have their endings." (if you know this, paypal has $5 waiting for you. In monopoly money) The dragon knows they've lost faith. It's so weak it struggles to remember why it fought in the first place. It's so close to giving in to the the deep cold; come rest, the cold whispers. You don't have to fight anymore. Come rest in me. No one cares about you anymore. They've left you for dead. They don't appreciate you, the battles you've fought, the scars you carry deep and many. But I do. I'll take care of you. The dragon starts to slip away. It feels so good to just let go, the dragon is so tired. It's fought battles that were not its own making, it's been so long since it was left alone to rest. But just as it starts to release itself into the dead hands reaching out from the deep, one last little spark flares in the darkness; the sky sends down it's dream, falling gently into the dragon's heart. The dragon is briefly reminded of the fire's warmth. A faint whisper echos somewhere deep in the cave: You are a dragon. The stalker of dreams, you have talons of power and fire. You shake the earth and scorch the ground under you. Cities fall before you. A dragon's heart burns fierce." The dragon's eyes open, and somehow, by some grace from the dreaming sky, the spark becomes a flame, and the flame grows to a fire. The dragon unfurls it's wings, gazing in wonder at the beauty it sees, remembering the strength it once had. It slowly lifts itself to it's feet, stumbling. The cold starts to shrink back before the immensity of the dragon, and the warmth that is growing, emanating and filling the cave. It melts and dries out, retreating to the deep blackness, as it has so many millions of times in the face of the dragon, for the cold and ice are always after the dragon. The dragon tries its wings...once, twice. It turns its head to the light up above it. It rises out of the cave, the people slowly climbing down looking up in wonder. The dragon is briefly afraid, a vague memory of how it's fire has gone out and failed it. It decides it will live for itself, for the fire only. No one will tame the dragon again. No one will tell the dragon, who has faced a thousand foes, fought a thousand battles, borne wounds that would destroy other dragons, it is weak and it's time is over. The dragon and fire are one, the fire fills it to bursting and it opens its mouth. Out rushes the flame, with the heat of a thousand suns, and sets alight everything in its path. The dragon is filled with power, rising higher and higher in circles towards the glowing sun. Once again, it breathes, roaring and releasing the beautiful fire. Faintly it can hear the cheers below; they are nothing to the dragon now. The dragon flies in the welcoming sky, feeling its power, its worth, its ownness.
To the girl who read by flashlight, saw dragons in the sky, who knew magic was real, this is for you. It's time to rekindle your dragon.
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