The Hidden World

Chapter Four

Just as the dragon book had predicted, Borealis grew fast. Halloween passed gradually, then Thanksgiving. By the time Christmas came and went she was a little smaller than a  mini-bus. She was getting increasingly beautiful as well. She had become more majestic and she had grown into that enormous tail of hers so she wasn't tripping over it anymore. But that tail was huge and since she had to grow into it, she was getting bigger or the lot was getting smaller.

One afternoon Brendan came back from Borealis' feeding and came into Kendra and his room. She was on her side of the room on a tumbling mat doing the splits. She was wear a white tank top and yoga pants. Brendan watched her for a moment.

"I'm not really doing anything," Kendra said, "you can go about your daily business."

"I was just thinking," Brendan said. "I think the lot is getting too small for Borealis.

"Oh great," Kendra muttered.

"So what do we do now?" Brendan asked.

"Well I was also just thinking that she's ready to burp fire on her own."

"Oh dear."
"I think we are going to have to go into the thick part of the forest and cut down trees to make a man made clearing."
"And how are we going to do that without mom and dad noticing?" Brendan asked.

"I don't know but I'm also starting to think...," Kendra said.

"Oh no," Brendan moaned.

"I think we should fly her freely."

"We have been," Brendan argued.

"No, I mean we should ride her!" Kendra insisted.

"You're kidding, right? We don't need an extra problem like that right now! We already have to do more for her!" Brendan exclaimed.

"But it's not a problem!" Kendra argued. "I've been studying Borealis for the past few days and her muscles look the same as...." Off she went into a lecture about a fellow named Scotch and horses. Brendan didn't really listen too closely to this speech.

"What does this have to do with dragons?" he finally exclaimed.

"Weren't you listening to me?" Kendra asked.

"No." Kendra signed and whipped her phone out of her pocket. She loaded up a picture of a butterscotch colored horse and zoomed in on the leg.

"Look," she told him.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"The leg muscle of the horse."
"All I see is...," Brendan told her, then trailed off because he saw absolutely nothing at all.

"Have you been seeing the small details on Borealis?" Kendra asked him.

"No, have you?"

"Yes," she said through gritted teeth. "And I know something you obviously don't because of it."

"What do you know?"

"I know that the leg muscles of dragons and horses are almost the same."
"How does this help with any problem right now?"

"A horses leg muscles are crucial to riding it," Kendra explained. "Before I learned to ride a horse, I learned how to identify if the horse could be taken out. Borealis' leg muscles look the same as Scotch's muscles when he's heathy, so Borealis must be ready to ride."

"I don't see how this helps with us flying her," Brendan said.

"You're just not trying," Kendra persisted. "If I were you I would try to connect the dots a little faster."
"But you haven't given me any dots! Right now we're talking about a horse and a dragon, both of which are almost opposite from each other!"