COMFORT ZONE | Sirius Black [REWRITING]

53. Consequences

In the past

"But one day, a dragon really did come to the valley."

"Oh no!"

Dark maple hair falling over her shoulders, the woman held a colourful storybook in her lap, a soft blanket draped over her legs as she rested on the armchair. At her feet, sat two eager five-year-olds; the girl kept glancing worriedly a little way away, where crawled a curious toddler, dark hair falling into his hazel eyes as he supported himself on the ground with squat arms.

The messy-haired boy had wide eyes, a warmer hazel than the other three.

"Was the boy strong? Did he fight it?"

"He was too small. He couldn't fight the giant dragon," the woman told. "But this time, when he shouted to the villagers to say that a dragon was trying to eat all the sheep, no one believed him."

The girl nodded in slow realisation. "Because he lied before..."

"Exactly, Maddi."

"Auntie... how many... sheeps... does a dragon eat to get full?"

Placing her elbows on the armrests, the woman leaned back in thought. "I'm not sure, jaanu... maybe you could look in the library?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Jamie hates books."

"Why is that?"

"I can read books at Hogwods," the boy dismissed quickly. "I think dragons need to eat lots and lots of sheeps to be full," he rambled, messing up his jet-black hair. "And the boy didn't have that many sheeps... so the dragon gotted really hungry and eated the boy and... and all the village too."

Ending the story with another ruffle of his hair, he grinned at the toddler who looked particularly frightened by what he understood of his words. The girl glanced at her younger brother with concern.

"Well, that can be your version of the tale, James," said the woman before fixing the pair of children with a more sober look. "What I want to talk to you about is the moral of the story."

Wavy curls swinging, the girl whipped her head to look curiously at her mother, no longer thinking of the toddler.

"What's a moral?"

"A moral is the lesson you learn from the story."

"I learned you should feed a dragon enough sheeps," the boy proclaimed.

"I think you should take care of your sheeps better," the girl said wisely, "So they don't get eated by dragons."

Nodding patiently, the woman smiled down at them. "Those are good lessons to learn. Should I tell you another moral of the story?"

The boy grinned at the girl. "Mads? Should she tell us the moral?"

"Yes, yes, yes."

"Okay, then. The moral of the story is that you shouldn't lie."