"That's not how the story goes"

Chapter 3

Denis walked through the open field next to Samantha. Fireflies flew up from the tall grass.

Samantha smirked and shoved Denis.

"Tag!" She called and ran off.

"Hey!" Denis called, regaining his balance. "That's not fair!" He ran after her. The two chased each other around for a while. Denis soon gained on Samantha. In an act of desperation, she ran into a cluster of trees. Denis stopped for a moment. They'd never gone this way before.

"Samantha come back!" Denis ran in after her.

Denis saw the little girl hiding behind a bush. She pulled Denis down with her and held her finger to her lips, signalling to be quiet.

The dog poked his head out from the bush and looked around. There was a chain link fence surrounding a large yard. One section of the fence stuck up from the ground, probably from an animal getting in or out.

"Fetch!" A voice called. Samantha stuck her head out two to see who was there. The voice sounded like a child.

Soon a small red ball rolled over to the fence and it came to a stop. A dragon ran up to it and picked it up with their mouth. Denis and Samantha ducked down again making a soft rustling sound.

The dragon turned to the fence. They dropped the ball and went over to the broken section of fence. They crawled under it, their horns barely missing getting stuck. They sniffed around and got closer to the bush.

Denis and Samantha felt the dragon getting closer and closer.

"Hey!" The voice called again. A little boy ran up to the fence and climbed over it. The dragon stopped sniffing around and looked at him. The boy pointed a spray bottle at the dragon and sprayed it a couple times. The dragon flinched and hissed at the cool water hitting their body.

"Bad dragon!" The boy said. "You know you're not supposed to go outside the fence!" The dragon shook off the water and went back over to the broken fence. They crawled under it and back into the yard. The boy rolled his eyes.

"Dad needs to get that fixed," He mumbled, climbing back over the fence. "Come on, let's go back inside."

The dragon grabbed their rubber ball and ran towards the fence. Denis and Samantha quickly ran back to the field.

The boy looked back at the woods, hearing the sound of footsteps on crunchy leaves. He shrugged and went back to the house.

"That was too close!" Denis hollered, hunched over catching his breath.

"It was fun!" Samantha piped in. "Maybe we should go back tomorrow and talk to that kid." Samantha picked a flower and looked back at Denis.

"No," Denis said. "That kid is gonna think we're crazy woodland creatures!" Samantha rolled her eyes and plucked a petal from the flower.

"Let's go back home before our moms lose it." Denis started walking in the direction of their houses. Samantha looked back on the trees and sighed before running back to Denis.

【┘】

Alex walked through the streets of the small town. He walked up to a stand and smiled. The butcher looked up from his book, his old eyes filled with joy.

"'Morning Alex," The butcher chuckled. "Where's Elijah?"

"I sent them to go deliver a few things." Alex said. The old man nodded and reached down.

"Here you are." He placed the cooked bacon wrapped in wax paper out on the ledge. Alex smiled, took the bacon, and gave a small bag of gold coins to the old man. The butcher opened it and counted the coins.

"This is way too much," The man said. "Here, take some back." He put a couple of the coins back in front of Alex.

"Keep them," Alex smiled. "I know you need it for Daina's education." The old man smiled and Alex walked off, waving.

Alex sat on a bench, watching the town at its busiest hour. Soon, the dragon trotted over the bench. Alex patted the space next to him and Elijah jumped up. Alex gave a piece of bacon to Elijah and they both sat watching the town.

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"He's kinda cute," Alex pointed at a blonde haired man talking to the town famer. Elijah shrugged.

"Oh come on," Alex crossed his arms. "Fine, who do you pick?" Elijah looked around and pointed to a large man carrying a barrel to the paint stand.

"Fine. I'll give you this one." Alex sighed and leaned back into the bench. The large man put the barrel down and the woman who owned the paint stand thanked him. The large leaned down and kissed her. Alex and Elijah immediately looked away.

"Never mind," Alex laughed.

Elijah got off the bench and walked around, sniffing for something to play with. Alex watched them, smiling.

A small gust of wind came, making the paper fall through the open space of the bench. Alex sighed, stood up, and went around the bench to pick up the paper.

He looked at the back of the bench. There were names carved into the back on it. Alex bent down and looked at it, retracing the engraving with his finger.

It was his and Elijah's names. As well as a couple of Alex's relatives. The bench was made by his great grandfather, the first person to have the dragon. His great grandfather carved his name and birth into it and Elijah messily carved their name as well.

Ever since then, each person has carved their name into it and put the person before them's death date, everytime Elijah's penmanship getting better.

Two other names were carved next to Alex's name. He looked at them and his smile faded. Elijah came up beside him and nudged their head against Alex's arm.

"Come buddy," Alex mumbled, standing up. "We have to go home now." Alex began walking away. Elijah looked back at the bench before following Alex.

Pierce 1956-1966

April 1957-1961

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