I ran out of the castle this morning with a piece of toast in one hand and a bag filled with apples in the other. Dragon had sent me a message last night among the dreams to meet him as the sun rose over the castle spires on the front lawn, that he had something to show me.
The sun was just starting to peak over the edge when I heard the sound of the wings from up above and Dragon came flying over the top of the turret and did a loopy loop before he came in for his landing, just as he was about ready to land he transformed into the boy that I know and as his feet touched the ground, he threw me that cheerful impish grin that he seems to wear constantly.
Dragon has black hair that mirrors his black scales in dragon form and the greenest eyes you ever saw, almost as if they are jewels instead of the every day eyes that the rest of us have. As I reach up and give him a hug my hand brushes across his hair which is soft and sleek as a cat.
“So, where are we going today? You know I am supposed to be doing stuff, right?” I asked
Dragon looked around and whispered in my ear, “we are going to go to the birth of an island. I will take us through time there and get you back here in time to do your work.”
“Dragon, can’t we do the whole time travel thing and NOT get me back in time to do my work? I want a day of doing nothing but playing.”
“So you want to play do you? Hop on and let’s go.”
As Dragon changed into the large beast that I have grown to love I jumped onto his back and I heard him in my head. “Hold on.”
As I held on with my legs and arms around his neck, he took off and as he twisted and turned and my laughter rang over the castle grounds the entire world blurred around me and we left my time behind to the “time of the dragons”.
“Where are we?” I asked.
Dragon replied back, “we are everywhere.”
“Everywhere? How can you be everywhere?”
“It is very simple,” he said as he took us into a dive to fly low over the water so I could feel the spray flying up and touching my legs. “Everywhere is the place where everything is.”
“But, there is nothing here but water, so how can everything be here and if everything isn’t here than how can we be everywhere?” I sighed… Sometimes Dragon thinks the most impossible things.
“How do you know that everything isn’t here?”
“Dragon, if everything was here wouldn’t I be able to see it?”
“So you are telling me as we are flying along the water, that just because you can’t see the fish below they don’t exist? Or that as we are flying in the air that just because we don’t see any birds that there must be none or that because no one sees us that we are nothing?”
I can’t help but laugh at my friend, as I said he thinks the most impossible things. “So you are telling me that here is my castle and here is my cat and here is flowers and here is life?” I think to myself, now how can he possibly imagine that there are flowers here in the middle of the ocean. Let’s see him get out of that!
At my last comment, Dragon just stops and seems to be suspended in mid-air, “Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. I am so glad you finally understand!”
“But, Dragon…”
“shhh… We are here”
I look around at all of the water, trying to see the signs of the island that is about to be born. I see no bubbling in the water and when I look down it is clear and dark and deep. I wonder if someone magical is going to come by and call it forth from the sea, but it is only Dragon and I, suspended over the patch of water below.
“So,” I whisper in his ear. “How is it going to be born?”
As he turns his head and looks at me with his emerald eyes, I can see the smile spread across his face and make his eyes shine so brightly. “You get to decide”
“um..” I stammer, “I get to decide, but who am I to decide?”
“Well you are going to be the person who creates it, so it should be your decision.”
“I can’t create an Island, I am nothing special but a human.”
“you are wrong, Etoile. You are very special and you have the gift of creation. You have always had it, now you just need to use it. So, what should it be? Song? Words? A wave of your hand? Maybe you should laugh it into existence or cry it.”
“Dragon you can’t be serious. I am not like you I can’t do those things. I have no magic, I have no power. I am just me.”
“Do you believe that if you keep on saying Can’t and keep on denying that you are nothing that all of a sudden it will be true? I am very disappointed in you my star, I am giving you the opportunity of a life time and all you can do is look at me and tell me that you can’t do it. Before you say Can’t one more time, maybe you should just try.”
“But…” At those words of mine Dragon let out a roar and the flames from his breath turned the world around me the blue green of dragon fire.
“try…”
“Dragon, I don’t know what to do. You need to help me.”
At those words I could hear the whisper of the ancients running through my head telling me the secrets of creation. As the knowledge filled me, it all made sense, it was so easy. I just needed to name it, call, it give it life with my belief while I say the word.
I wanted to create the most beautiful island in the world, so I thought long and hard and I created what to me would be perfection and I looked below us in the water and I let the beauty spread below me into my soul and I said the one word that I wanted the island to be and as I said the word what was once just water and air was in but a breath and a thought a perfect island.
I could feel Dragon’s joy radiate up through every part of his essence into my very being and then it exploded out of him and I until we were laughing in the pure joy of creation. As our laughter rang out across the land Dragon flew across the beaches and up the streams to the mountain tops where a waterfall flowed down the mountain side to land in a pool below. As we got to the pool, Dragon transformed till he and I were tumbling through the sky into the cool depths of the water.
As Dragon and I came to the surface of the water and saw each other wet and happy, we gave each other a hug and played in the little piece of heaven I created. As we grew tired and sat next to the waterfall on the bank and dangled our feet in the water, Dragon asked me what word I used to create such a beautiful place. I smiled and whispered in his ear “Friendship.” I wanted the Island to be a representation of our friendship. He smiled at me and then whispered in my ear. “It is a very beautiful thing.”
