by Rolli –
(picture illustrated by Sarah) –
I was eating blueberries with my dragon. My dragon is a fussy eater. He only likes blueberries that are perfectly round and sweet. If they’re not sweet, he spits them out. “That’s wasting,” I told him. But my dragon didn’t care. He just shrugged his wings and pointed at the berries I spat out. Then I told my dragon, “Be quiet.”
When we ran out of blueberries, we moved on to strawberries. There’s a strawberry patch in the forest by my house. They’re wild strawberries so we have to be quiet. Wild strawberries are shy.
My dragon is a messy eater. He got strawberry juice all over his snout, and his eyelashes. “You’re a pig,” I told him. But my dragon didn’t care. He just shrugged his wings and pointed at my red hands. Then I told my dragon, “Be quiet.”
When we ran out of strawberries, we moved on to watermelons. There’s a watermelon tree in my backyard. I picked two that looked juicy, and my dragon split them in half over his knee. Then we dug in. I spat the seeds out but my dragon just swallowed them. “You’re not supposed to swallow them,” I told him, “because a watermelon tree might grow inside your stomach.” I thought he stuck his tongue out at me, but no, a dragon’s tongue is black like licorice. This was green. It was a leaf. Then more leaves came out of his mouth, then a branch. It was definitely a tree.
“I told you so,” I said.
My dragon looked nervous. He looked unsure.
“What do you think we should do?” I said.
My dragon shrugged his wings.
“Maybe…we should just wait and see,” I said. My parents like to say that.
My dragon nodded. While we waited, the tree grew. It grew fast. By lunchtime, it was as big as me. I went inside for lunch, and when I came back out, there was a full-grown watermelon tree sticking out of my dragon’s mouth. There were already little watermelons growing on it. I didn’t want to stare, but I couldn’t help it.
“Can you breathe okay?” I asked.
My dragon nodded.
I was glad. If your dragon chokes, he isn’t much good to you. That’s a fact.
“Are you hungry?” I asked.
My dragon nodded again. Dragons are always hungry. I picked some of the little watermelons, and dropped them down his throat. He swallowed them whole like vitamins.
I got an idea, so I went and fetched the clipper-snippers from the garage. “I can probably cut the tree down,” I said, clicking the blades together.
My dragon shook his head fast and waved his claws. Little watermelons fell all over the place.
“Wait – you want to keep the tree?”
My dragon nodded.
I couldn’t believe it. He wouldn’t be able to breathe fire anymore. He wouldn’t be able to toast my marshmallows anymore. I was pretty disappointed. But I respected his decision.
The tree didn’t grow after that, but it did get greener and thicker. Birds built a nest in it. When their eggs hatched, I peeked in at the baby birds. “They sure are ugly,” I said. My dragon looked offended. I guess to him they were beautiful.
The summer got hotter and hotter. Nine or ten times a day I had to turn the water hose on, and stick it in my dragon’s mouth. The only thing thirstier than a dragon is a watermelon tree. It was hard keeping up.
The fall was a bad time for my dragon. First, the birds flew away. Then the leaves started dropping off. My dragon panicked. I had to tell him this was all a normal part of tree life, and not to worry. That helped a little.
Things got better in the winter. A few weeks before Christmas, I decorated the tree for him. I even put a star on the top. My dragon thought that was great – even better than having leaves, or birds. He showed his Christmas tree off to all the other dragons. They looked so jealous.
In the spring, the leaves came back. The birds came back, and built a new nest. Everything happened all over again. My dragon was used to all the changes now, so they didn’t upset him.
It’s weird when there’s a tree growing in your dragon. It took a while, but I’m finally used to it, too. I miss our old games, but now we have new games. Like teaching songs to the baby birds, and watermelon bowling.
My dragon is definitely happy, and that’s what matters. After all, if your dragon isn’t happy, he’s not much good to you. And that’s a fact.
the end
Question Time
1. Why did they have to be quiet when they were picking wild strawberries?
2. When the boy and his dragon ate the watermelons, who ate the seeds and who didn’t?
3. What came out of the dragon’s mouth?
4. What was hard for the boy to keep up with?
5. Why was fall a hard time for the dragon?
