Georgie and Her Dragon Read Free Page A

course, that happened several years later
than expected, this being Theo who never did anything - including
develop - according to the rules. But finally, he rested in the
sunshine on the battlements of the castle and puffed out his chest,
secure in the knowledge that when it came to dragons, he could
finally hold his own.
    And he began to dream.
    Not wet dreams, because God forbid a dragon
should have a wet dream. Mass drownings would most probably have
resulted, and the idea was that dragons should protect the
humans they lived with, not smother them with nocturnal
emissions.
    No, these were dreams of a rather strange
nature, simple at first, involving annoying songs that stuck in
Theo’s head and revolved around the alphabet, counting and fingers
and toes.
    By themselves, they were nothing out of the
ordinary - even though dragons didn’t actually possess fingers and
toes. But when they began to include scenes of little girls playing
games, Theo started to get a bit worried.
    Was he bisexual? Was he a gay dragon? Were there such things as gay dragons? Was he showing early
signs of perversion? He was blue, not rainbow-colored, had no urge
to go screw any of the other guy dragons, so he doubted they
resulted from a conflict in his sexuality.
    Occasionally they were frightening. A closet
with something very nasty in it figured largely in his dreams for
several weeks. Then there was a party, presents, and the unpleasant
sensation of barfing up some sort of cake.
    He woke from that one with a headache, a
really bad taste in his mouth - which, for a creature that
regularly belched fire was unusual - and a strong desire for a
couple of lakes worth of fresh water.
    Finally, when one restless night he found
himself tossing and turning and constantly dressing and undressing
a small doll, he awoke knowing that enough was enough .
    It was time to seek counsel from the eldest
and wisest dragon of them all - Dandelion.
    Theo wasn’t thrilled at the thought, since
Dandelion - so called because of a fluffy tuft of hair that flew
off his head at regular intervals - was renowned as having the
worst temper in the Kingdom. With the possible exception of the
King after the Queen birthed yet another daughter.
    But, being a desperate dragon with some
deep-seated fears about his own sexual identity, Theo girded his
loins - or at least firmed up his stomach muscles - and headed out
to the Shadowed Vale where Dandelion lived a solitary
existence.
    The stench of sulphur greeted him about five
miles downwind, thus Dandelion was pretty easy to locate. Theo
simply followed the smell.
    “Er...’scuse me?” He landed awkwardly on a
couple of rocks and stumbled a little before righting himself.
“Sir? Mr. Dandelion?”
    The massive creature raised his head from
the tangled coil of body and wings, to open one eye lazily.
“Whut?”
    Not an auspicious beginning, but Theo was a
dragon on a mission. “I need to consult with you.”
    “Take a number.” Dandelion lowered his head
and apparently went back to sleep.
    “There aren’t any.” Theo looked around.
“Numbers, I mean. There isn’t anybody else here, actually.”
    “You don’t say.” Dandelion yawned. “Well in
that case, speak your piece. And make it quick. It’s time for my
nap.”
    Theo held his tongue and did not point out
that it appeared any time was time for the old dragon’s nap.
No point in pissing off somebody one was about to ask for help.
    “Well, you see, it’s like this...” He
settled his tail more comfortably and kicked the sharper of the
rocks out from under his ass where it was digging into his delicate
underbelly.
    By the time he’d finished his recital -
telling Dandelion all about the dreams - the old dragon had both
eyes open and was staring at Theo in a rather unnerving way.
    “Well, I’ll be damned.” That pronouncement
was followed by a small belch of smoke. “Sorry.” Dandelion waved a
foot in front of his mouth. “Shouldn’t have had that