The Day I Met A Dragon

Emma meets a Dragon

‘I will save you, Henry.’

I stood in the small mining elevator under the Storybrooke library, waiting patiently for its bell to ring. The mayor of the town and adoptive mother to my son, Regina Mills, had recently told me what to do down in the mines. In order to save our son, Henry, I had to retrieve the potion of true love, and get it to him, before he dies. So, as I stood, I put my senses on high alert, and wondered what monstrous creature lurked ahead, awaiting my presence. The air around me was thin, and when the lift finally creaked to a stop, I realized how dark and cold it really was down here, with the only source of light being the lamps aligned on the sides of the mine shaft.  

-Thump-

I slowly took my first step onto the dark, grey rubble. There were no signs of movement so far, which sounded good to me. As I continued walking, I heard the echo of my footsteps, and an eerie silence filling the air. All of a sudden, I felt a little uneasy. My instincts started kicking in and I clutched my father’s sword tightly. Something was about to happen.

I reached the end of the shaft and entered a wide cavern filled with all kinds of landforms; trenches, stalagmites, stalactites, and… something else that looked like it didn’t fit into the surrounding. From where I was standing, it appeared to be a dusty glass coffin made out of a tree. As I got closer, I confirmed it was just that; a casket. But this particular encasement looked almost…familiar. And then I realized. 

‘This is in Henry’s book. It’s my mothers’.’ 

-Flashback-
Henry, 10 years of age, sat on the highest point of the wooden castle, chocolate brown hair whipping in the wind, smiling as I hopped out of my yellow car and walked towards him. In his hands was the book Mary Margaret Blanchard, or Snow White, as Henry insisted, had given to him. It had the title “Once Upon A Time” written in gold letters. Instantly, I guessed he was hoping to convince me about the people of Storybrooke being cursed fairytale characters.

“Hi Emma!” he exclaimed cheerfully. 

“Hey kid. Whose fairytale past are we reading about today?” I asked, walking up the castle playground. At the time, I didn’t really believe him, but Dr. Hopper (Jiminy Cricket), his shrink, had insisted to me that I not break his fragile reality as it could be devastating to him. So I decided to go along with his wild tale until he eventually got over it.

“Today, I want to show you your mums’ past!” he beamed.

“So…that would be Snow White, right?” I asked as I sat down beside him.

“Yeah!” he replied. Then, he began flipping the pages until he found the one with a full page image of Snow White resting peacefully in a glass coffin, along with seven dwarves and a prince standing around her.

-End of Flashback-

I smiled. ‘Henry had been right all along. All I needed to do was believe.’

Replenished with newfound energy, I continued my task of finding the creature. The place was filled with unstable ground, making movement slow, but eventually I reached a wall. Little light surrounded this particular spot, so I turned around and placed my hands behind me for security.

‘Hang on…’ The wall was slightly warm to the touch and vibrated occasionally. It was also scaly, and…

I widened my eyes in shock and whisked around to face a huge glowing green eye, following my every movement. Its stare would’ve petrified me if I hadn’t already had my dose of unnatural situations. 

The creature slowly rose and roared before blowing hot fire into the air. I backed away, blocking my face with my arms. ‘Seriously?! A dragon?! Why did Regina have to bring a dragon? Couldn’t she have brought something nicer to Storybrooke, like a pixie or a unicorn?’  But no, she had brought a dragon. An angry fire-breathing dragon that wanted to rip me to shreds. Lovely. 

Still standing nearby the casket, I found the courage to look up at the dragon. It just stood there with its green eyes and indigo skin, eyeing me with pure hatred and an urge to kill. To me, this task seemed impossible. But it was for Henry… so I wasn’t ready to give up. I gave one last look at the coffin, before dropping the sword on the ground and reaching for the gun on my waist. If I survived this encounter, I promised myself I would tell Henry about the day I met a dragon.