Sunrise/Sunset

The Princess and Her Dragon

Princess Dahlia sat indolently beside her window, her chin resting on her hand as she stared down onto her Kingdom.  She did this in an attempt to shirk the tasks which her mother had asked of her, but soon realized that it was just as boring.

    She had been there so long, that her mind was far off in the distance and her mother was surely just a few flights of stairs away from yelling at her daughter. You see, the Queen was not a very patient woman. And it didn't help that young Dahlia simply did not like to follow orders.

    "Dahlia, are you in there?" the Queen demanded, pounding her fist on the door so hard she nearly broke it.

    Dahlia's back straightened suddenly, her head whipping to the sound which had disrupted her daze. Her heart dropped into her chest, for she knew that a long lecture would surely follow.

    "Yes, mother." she admitted shyly. The Queen then walked into the room, her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed tightly.

    "I asked you this morning to come down to the study room, where your tutor would be waiting. Poor Sir Taylor has been waiting for hours, and just informed me that you never arrived to take your studies. I dismissed him, expressing that I had absolutely no knowledge of your absense. What punishment could possibly be fit for wasting his time, my money, and your learning?" the Queen's words dug sharply into Dahlia's head, causing the Princess's shoulders to slump.

    "I'm sorry, mother." Dahlia said shamefully. The Queen stared for a few moments, but it felt like forever to Dahlia before her mother spoke again.

    "No supper tonight, and no breakfast tomorrow. A servant will return with food for your dinner tomorrow afternoon, and since you clearly prefer to stay here over doing your lessons, then you may not come out of this room until tomorrow evening. Hopefully by then you will have learned to listen." with that, the Queen turned and left the room, locking the door behind her.

    All Dahlia could do was stare at the closed door incredulously, her mouth open and her eyes wide. How could her mother do this over such a simple thing?

    Eventually, the young Princess made her way to her bed and fell asleep.

***

    A loud sound awoke Dahlia. The sun was just setting as she blinked the last ounces of sleep from her eyes, and a large shadow sat perched in her window. It did not move, but Dahlia could see exactly what it was.

    A Dragon.

    Immediately, Dahlia lept out of her bed and backed to her door, her hands shaking and her heart pounding. It was a known fact in the Kingdom that dragons were ruthless creatures, and would take children away to their cave any chance they could get.

    And those children were never seen again.

    The Dragon slowly approached Dahlia, his green scales shimmering as they caught the candlelight. A smile spread across his triangle face.

    "Hello, Princess. I am the Dragon, may I ask your name?" the Dragon seemed suspiciously genial, but little did  Dahlia know that his friendliness was only an act to cajole her into coming with him.

    "Princess Dahlia," she replied slowly, feeling quite irresolute.

    "Ah, Dahlia, a beautiful name." the Dragon said, approaching closer like the bestial creature he was, "I have a home where all your troubles will go away. Where the Queen will have no control over you, where you may study what you wish to study, where you will be free."
Dahlia frowned as he lingered on that last word, stretching it out so far and long that it slithered into her ears. She shivered.

    For a moment she nearly fell for his trick, but that vulnerability did not last long.

    "No, I will not come with you." Dahlia stated firmly. The Dragon tilted his head to the side, puzzled by her refusal.

    The Princess's mind was racing with ideas of how she could escape this situation. For she knew that even if she said no, the Dragon would find a way to capture her.

    She could not escape through her window, no, she would surely fall to her death. And pounding on the door would not work, for she was too high up in the castle for anyone to even hear her. For a moment, she thought she was trapped.

    But then she knew what to do.

    In one quick flash, Dahlia dashed to her bed and lifted up the mattress, dragging it across the room and propping it against the window.

    Now the Dragon could not escape.

    You see, dragons have very short arms, and are not good with their hands. So even if he did try, the Dragon would not be able to move the matress from the window. And, no, dragons do not breathe fire in this world. That is far too imaginitive.

    "I caught you!" Dahlia let out a laugh of relief, pointing with astonishment at the speechless dragon.

    "It appears you have, you irksome child..." the Dragon trailed off, eyeing the blocked window with disbelief and frustration. He was practically fuming at the nostrils, but Dahlia was just amused.

    She couldn't explain the sudden inclination which urged her to act so quickly, nor her outburst of giggles as she watched the dragon pace the large room.

    "Hopefully this will teach you a lesson..." Dahlia shrugged slyly, mimicking the words of her mother.

    And it did teach him a lesson, for after a day of listening to Dahlia's incessant chatter, you see she was not often given the opportunity to talk in her regular life, the Dragon began to speak. He ended up opening up about problems he didn't even know he had. After that, he almost seemed like an entirely different creature.

    And before long, the two might have even considered eachother friends, for they nearly talked through the whole night.

***

    The Dragon hid in Dahlia's closet when the servant arrived with her dinner the next day. When he emerged, they ate together and talked for hours on end. But soon, the Dragon told Dahlia what she dreaded to hear.

    "The Queen will be returning this evening. I must leave."

    "I know." Dahlia's chin dropped. She had never had a friend before she met the Dragon, for the castle got quite lonely sometimes. And now, he was leaving and she didn't know if she would ever see him again.

    Dahlia moved the mattress from the window with great travail, and ran up to the Dragon to give him one final hug.

    "Fly safely, Dragon. You are my very best friend, and I will miss you dearly." she smiled, "And please do return if you ever have the chance."

    And he did. Time and time again.

Author's Note:

I hope you liked this short story! It was written in one day...

You see, I was challenged to write a short story and work in ten words I didn't know the meaning to. So you're not alone if you saw some words and thought, 'huh???'

But hey, now you've got some cool words you can use in your own writing!

Have a nice day, thank you so much for reading :D

-I. Quill