I know my stories aren't everyone's cup of tea here, but that's probably because they're about more than stomping and blood.
Still! I figured I'd post this little flight of fancy here anyways, for the 1 or 2 people that will actually even look at it.
It contains some bigness, a little casual stomping about, and plenty of interaction with smaller folk.
There's also a dragon in it! Yay! Enjoy this little bit of whimsy, should you choose to do so.
***********
Have you ever had one of those moments where you just barely catch something out of the corner of your eye? You see a glimmer of movement, or a shape, or even a colour. Sometimes it just turns out to be something you've caught in your peripheral vision, other times your mind has fooled itself into seeing something which isn't really there.
I'm sure we've all had the latter at one point or another in our lives. Depending on how active your imagination is, you could have spotted everything from a faerie to a goblin. Some people see good spirits, some see monsters, and some see horrors which drive them mad. Fortunately for me, I haven't seen any of those things. What I did see however, was a Dragon.
I should probably go into more detail.
It was a sunny day in the middle of summertime. Birds were chirping, there was a pleasant breeze, and I was at my favourite cafe enjoying a well earned coffee break. My little plate of pastries was being neatly tucked away bite by bite, in between sips of the wonderful dark brew. I had been reading a magazine I believe, glancing up every now and again as people and traffic drove by my curbside table.
It was during one of these routine glances up that I caught sight of the Dragon. At first it didn't even register on my mind, and I had to stop and do a double take to really take it all in. But rather than this being just one of those things you catch sight of but isn't really there, the dragon did indeed exist. It was simply sitting on a stack of wooden boxes stacked outside of some business or another, wagging its large feet around at random.
What struck me as most curious, was how nobody seemed to be paying it any attention. Which was hard to believe, considering its size. It looked to be at least twice the size of a man, perhaps more. From the distance I had been sitting, I estimated at least 12 feet, though my perceptions could be off. After all, how many dragons have you seen to form a basis for comparison? The critter appeared to be bipedal, if its immensely wide legs and bottom half were any indication.
It sported a very lardy looking torso indeed, round and wobbling with the simple movement of its legs. This massive sphere of flesh tapered as you went upwards, leading to considerably slimmer arms, and ultimately a large pudgy neck and face. It had all the usual dragon things of course. Two wings, claws, a rack of horns, back spines, tail spade, head fins, whiskers, and even a little beard of sorts made up its assortment of additions.
He, as I later found out, was a brilliant mixture of colours from head to tail. His main body was a lovely shade of green, and he had a very light green belly and under-tail. His tummy was striped, as was the underside of his tail, and his spade and back horns were dark green in contrast. His wings matched the rest of him, with green on the main parts, and light green on the membranes. The only part of his body that wasn't green in some shade or another were his horns and claws, which were quite white.
As I sat there watching, the huge bottom heavy fellow slid off the boxes, and began walking down the street. Various parts of his fat hide bumped into other people as he went, but they didn't seem to notice. Even if a fellow was tripped up somewhat by his tail, knocked off balance by that huge belly, or had his hat knocked off, they just didn't notice the huge creature. If the fact that he was a huge dragon wasn't of concern enough, his full stature and appearance might be. You see, it wasn't just a Dragon of scale and fire like you might expect. No, this creature looked like a living cartoon wandering around in the middle of the road. His every movement sent his hide wobbling around, shining in the light like he was made of rubber, or had hand-drawn points of light here and there.
As the people continued to ignore his very existence, the big fellow began to stomp with each step. Car alarms were set off, but they were ignored as they always were. When that didn't work, he ran up and down the street, passing me by several times in his haste. During one such passing, he knocked over my cup of coffee, which only served to confirm this huge creature really was throwing a tantrum.
He stomped, he raged, he jumped up and down. At one point he made a new pot hole in the street, but nobody seemed to notice it just appearing as it did. Eventually his tantrum turned to pure antics, as I signalled the server for a refill of my beverage, and some more pastries. As I sat and slurped, glancing over my magazine, the huge green Dragon began to do cartwheels down the lane. A minute or two later he was flying up and down the street, emitting far more wind than had been previously blowing by.
He'd fly by belly down, scraping his cartoony looking fat hide against buildings, leaving streaks and smudges on the otherwise clean windows. Next he'd fly by upside down, doing a back-stroke in mid air. Once or twice he flew by doing constant dives and rises, stopping even to blow a stream of water upwards like the worlds most agile mid-air whale.
As a grand finish to his performance, he began bouncing up and down belly-first on the pavement, sending off quite a lot of ground vibrations. Several people took notice of this, but they just thought it was heavy construction or a small earthquake. I slurped my tea, and watched as the huge bouncy dragon finally came to a stop, spinning slowly in a circle upon his own huge tummy.
At one point, our gazes met, and there was the faintest twinkle of recognition in his eyes. He stopped his spin and came back the other way, making his own double take at where I was looking. He seemed to know I wasn't just staring off into space, and was indeed seeing him there in the middle of the road. A slow grin spread across his reptilian features, stretching into the happiest smile I'd ever seen in man or beast. He sprung to his feet and bounced from one to the other, clapping his paws together with excitement. Then all at once he launched my way, and stopped floating in mid air, his muzzle mere inches from my face.
“Helloooooooooo there!”
He cried, beaming between pudgy cheeks with a look of bliss that would make anyone else feel like they were missing out on something awesome in life. I put down my magazine, set down my mug of coffee, and leaned back in my chair somewhat. Looking out to the side, I confirmed that the huge creature was somehow floating in mid air, small-ish wings flapping somewhat to keep him there. It made no sense, but then again, I was about to strike up a conversation with a giant cartoon dragon outside a coffee shop.
“Um, hello?”
Brilliant opening dialogue, I know. Still, it seemed to have the desired effect. If anything the big fellows smile became even broader and considerably more infectious, and he clapped his paws together while laughing and spinning around on his own axis. His huge tail struck a potted plant off a nearby light-post, which struck a rather expensive looking car. The owner came running and screaming out of another street-side eatery, but did nothing about the huge dragon just floating there.
Once the huge fellow had finished with his laugh, he spun to a stop facing me again, and looked me over. Nodding to himself, he smiled anew and threw me a little wink.
“Yep, you'll do!”
With that, he bounced into the air once more, and swelled up several sizes larger with a very loud sound of stretching rubber. Then all at once, he seemed to implode in on himself, and vanish in a puff of purple smoke.
I was left there with purple clouds washing all over me and the entire street, noting with some amusement that many people around me started to sneeze. I was unaffected however, so I merely shrugged and returned my attention to my coffee. After all, this break wasn't going to waste itself. I eventually went back to my job at the farmers market, a block away and awash with people seeking out farm fresh produce likely picked that very morning. I ran the place all day long with two others, and we took breaks when we could for 12 hours a day. It really wasn't a bad job, considering the pay was good, and the market was only open 3 days a week.
My mind was awash with the antics of the large cartoon dragon for the remainder of my shift, but fortunately it wasn't that much of a distraction. All we really needed to do was provide more change to the dealers from time to time, help cash them out at the end of the night, and ultimately help them tear the place down at closing time.
As I walked home to my apartment, I could have sworn something large and bottom heavy was keeping tabs on me from a distance, or high above. Call it a feeling. I made my home inside of a converted brick office building of sorts, from decades before. It had been turned into several spacious lofts, with huge 16ft ceilings in every unit. Most of mine was all one level, minus a little raised area that contained my kitchen and dining table. Everything else was on the lower bit, from washroom to bed to entertainment centre.
It was late when I got in, and I barely remembered to take off my shoes and pants before stumbling into bed. The last of the light outside was pouring into my huge picture windows, as I tucked myself under the covers and feel asleep. I must have only been out for mere moments however, before a very thick finger complete with claw tapped upon my forehead. Opening my eyes with some effort, prepared to murder whomever was bothering me, I looked right up into the very close and toothy face of Dragon.
I'm not sure how he had gotten into my loft, but there he was, taking up most of the space. He was quite a bit larger than I'd previously gathered, at that. His head nearly brushed the ceiling, and his large frame took up my entire entryway and most of the sitting room as well. I'm fairly certain he flattened my sofa into a paper thin pancake. Even his tail had wormed its way into the bathroom, and was no doubt knocking things over as it waggled about.
Blinking at the sight, I extracted myself from the covers, and took a good long look at him. Rubbing sleep from my eyes, I discovered I was hungry again. Sighing, I lumbered up the stairs to my kitchen unit, and began whipping up a very early breakfast. As I cooked, I found a huge pair of green eyes staring at me, watching my every move.
The huge creature remained silent the entire time I was cooking, minus the odd curious sniff at the smell of frying eggs and sausage. Finally as I sat down with a mug of coffee and my meal, I addressed him properly.
“So, what brings you to my house... whoever you are?”
I'm fairly certain I heard him blink, as he considered the question. His features screwed up somewhat, as he placed his paws upon his fat sides, and really pondered the matter at hand. Finally shrugging, he directed his attention back my way, and puffed out the smallest gout of flame. It wasn't quite enough to set anything on fire, but I did loose an eyebrow.
“Scorch. You can call me Scorch. Gosh, I haven't had to use a name in the longest of times...”
No doubt there was a story coming. I had a sixth sense for that kind of thing. So I tucked into my breakfast and settled in to listen to it. Sure enough, he started taking the odd step or two around my place, somewhat careful not to flatten any furniture or take out one of the windows.
“You see, its been years since I last had anyone to talk to. I've been wandering through city after city, trying to find anyone who will pay attention to me. All the others told me I was nuts, and that your kind didn't believe in us anymore. Others felt it wasn't a matter of belief, but a lack of a certain something... magic if you will. Obviously there's still some of that spark left in the world, because you saw me! And you still can, or so it seems.”
I nodded in between bites of my food, and the big fellow eventually settled down. Arms upon the railing of my dining area, he sniffed at this and that within the kitchen, and licked his chops. I pointed to the fridge, and waved my fork at it randomly.
“Help yourself, if you're hungry.”
Scorch smiled and nodded once, rubbing his paws together and smacking his jaws.
“Don't mind if I do!”
I probably would have regretted my choice of words if the resulting spectacle didn't make for a lesson in gluttonous abandon. He practically tore the door right off the fridge and started devouring whatever he found within. All sorts of fresh produce vanished down his gullet barely chewed, followed by all my milk, juices, and even cold coffee left over from a day or two before. He crunched down all the frozen meals within the icebox, emptied the pantry of all my sundries, and even consumed a roll of paper towels. When he was finished, there wasn't a thing edible left in the house. Sitting his fat arse down, be belched and seemed to expand about a foot in diameter all of a sudden with a wobble.
Drumming his paws on his even fatter frame, he grinned at me and seemed pleased with himself.
“Thanks for the snack, pal. I haven't eaten in hours.”
I could only nod in reply, as I put my dishes in the sink. I'd deal with not having any food to speak of in the morning. Or eventually, anyways. I didn't much care at that very moment. As I wandered slowly back down the stairs, Scorch began sticking his nose into just about everything. My TV was played with, the couch was peeled off his backside like a sticker of some sort, and he even stuck his large frilled head into my washroom unit to sniff around. Obviously he found something worth playing with in there, because his arms went in next.
“Ohhhhh, you have bubble soap! I simply adore the stuff, its so fun!”
I heard my bath tub run for a bit, followed by bottles breaking and much splashing around. Large soapy spheres of various sizes began floating around the gaps in the doorway left by his huge bulk, and drifted around the whole apartment. He wagged his tail around and even tapped a big footpaw, waggling his immense rump about to some beat only he could hear. As I sat on the corner of my bed and watched, he extracted himself from the bubbling room, wearing a thick mass of suds all around his face.
“BUBBLE BEARD!”
He exclaimed with a delightful chortle, before wiping the stuff off his muzzle, and rubbing it across his huge belly. I must have looked tired, because he stopped playing with the tub full of suds long enough to take a good look at me, and wink.
“If you're tired, feel free to go to bed. I won't make much noise, and we'll talk in the morning. I have a lot to tell you.”
I thought that was a lovely idea, and proceeded to fall asleep. Just as I was closing my eyes, I could have sworn I saw a growing mass of suds pushing their way out of the bathroom, where his tail was splashing around in the tub apparently. Shrugging it off, I added it to the list of crazy things in process, and passed out. I could deal with being insane in the morning, after a good nights rest.
Despite all the splashing around and thundering foot-falls, I did manage to sleep like a rock. When I woke up however, I found I wasn't in my bed anymore. Instead I was atop a soap-stained mass of dragon belly, complete with my pillows and blankets. Upon closer inspection, there was little bits of soap fluff everywhere, and soap stains galore. It looked like he was up all night making a soapy mess of the place, and he was still at it. He had my bath tub in one paw, and was dipping his snout into it time and time again, and blowing bubbles the size of a person. They would float around and bump against one another and the walls for a while, before sticking somewhere and ultimately bursting.
He must have felt me moving around, as he looked down and smiled at me, around soap-caked lips.
“Good morning friend! Have I got a day planned for you. I'm going to take you flying, show you the sights you've probably never seen before, and all sorts of other things you can't possibly imagine. You might want some breakfast first, its going to be BIG day!”
He tossed the tub over his shoulder, and I winced as it crashed into my dining area and sent soapy water cascading down the stairs. I tried to protest all this destruction of my property and living space, but he'd have none of it.
“Don't you worry none, all of this won't be any concern after today. You've already made me certain that you're out of place here, and so you're coming with me for now.”
I tossed off the last of the covers at that, letting them slide to the ground over his soapy smooth fat hide.
“Now wait just a minute, you. What do you mean I'm coming with you? And what's this about me being out of place? I'll have you know I have a good job, and I did have a nice apartment until you destroyed the place...”
A large pair of fingers gently clamped my mouth shut, as the big guy spoke again.
“Ahem, as I was saying, you don't belong here. How many people do you know whom routinely see large Dragons wandering around staging bubble parties? I'm guessing none, but if you do know anyone, do let me know. We'll pick them up as well! Now you might want to hold on tight, and cover your face. We're going for a ride!”
I didn't have time to protest further as he took one huge leap towards my floor to ceiling picture windows, and exploded through. Surely people below saw the outwards explosion of glass, but nobody saw a lowly human being carried off by a big fat wobbly dragon. Scorch quickly gained altitude, and put me up atop his neck to better enjoy the ride. Once the immediate shock of the situation wore off, I quickly began to enjoy myself. Crazy or not, riding around on a giant cartoon dragon was great fun.
I'd recommend it to anyone.
I wasn't sure where we were going, but it obviously wasn't far. More purple mist began to gather around us, swirling about as we went. It all moved forward, becoming a spinning vortex in the air. I was somewhat frightened of it all, but it wasn't like I could do anything about it. Staying more calm than I would have imagined myself being under the circumstances, we plunged right through the centre of it all, and came out the other side.
All of a sudden, we weren't above the city anymore. The sky was brighter than normal, and a more deep shade of blue. Everything seem more pronounced and well defined, from the clouds to the trees down below. And boy, were there ever a lot of trees. Large century-old forests spread out below like a carpet between endless rolling hills of grassland. There were mountains poking out here and there, with what looked like more Dragons and other flying beasts of legend darting around in the skies.
My host seemed to sense my delight at all this, and flew us down lower for a better look. I felt the most curious sense of ease here, a calm that spread all the way threw me. It was wonderful, and it made me want to take off into the skies myself. Scorch roared at that, even though I had not voiced my thoughts aloud. He suddenly sucked in a huge gout of air, and his size started to increase rapidly. He stretched out in spurts, becoming double his previous size again and again. I had trouble holding onto his thickening neck, and wound up merely sitting along-side him.
The power must have been infectious, as I began to feel like I was expanding as well. I wasn't of course, that would be absurd. But still, the feeling of pressure continued. All at once it began to feel like too much, and I could have sworn I was going to explode.
In the end, I suppose I did.
With a puff of air I was suddenly gone, and instead there was nothing left but purple mist. Scorch stopped flying and took aim at the little cloud, and expelled his bloat in a raging torrent of his own internal gas. The two clouds mixed and merged, swirling around and taking form rapidly. Then with a little popping sound, I emerged back into the world. Only my body had changed. Instead of human, I was suddenly a big bottom-heavy dragon just like Scorch. Well, big in comparison to a human anyways, he still loomed over me. Where he was green however, I was a deep shade of orange. He smiled and waggled his eye-ridges at me as I floated there in mid air, wings already flapping while looking over myself in a state of shock.
“Welcome, to beginning of the rest of your life my friend.”
With that, he clamped his snout over mine, and began to blow. It was a curious and shocking sensation, to say the least, as my hide became even rounder and more cartoon like than it already was. I swelled up bigger and bigger, the massive bloat of Scorch leaving his frame and entering mine, until we started to even out with size. In the end, we looked like a matched pair of Zeppelins, floating there in the sky, hundreds of feet in diameter.
Phewing and belching out a puff of purple mist, I shook my head to clear out the cobwebs, and gave myself a looking over. Not bad, I thought, that's for sure. Certainly, this could have been worse. After all, its not like Scorch ate me or anything. With a smirk, I nudged my huge bloated frame up against his, and smiled the most toothy smile of my life.
“Well, this is certainly a surprise.”
He nodded and grinned, and led me towards the others in the distance.
“You'll get used to it. It was for me as well, some centuries ago. Come, its time to meet the family, so to speak.”
At that, we drifted off towards the mountains, and the hundreds of flying forms that were there waiting for us.
I left this log of my early adventures in the hopes that somebody would find it and read it. Our numbers are small, even if our physical statures are not. The others tell me I'm mad, and that its doubtful anyone will take a random story on the internet seriously. But hey, you never know. After all, Scorch found me through less conventional means.
As a closing note, I leave you with the following. The next time you're out and about, and you see something out of the corner of your eye, make sure you take a moment to have a second glance.
After all, you might just see a Dragon dancing in the street.
(c) -Tombfyre, July 2010.
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