Daughter

Once there was a girl who could not keep her baby. Burdened with sorrow but determined to save its life, she ran alone into the forest, hoping to find somewhere to hide and shelter it. She wandered until she reached the place where the branches tangle thick and the paths are no more. By then she was tired, so stopped to rest a little.

Out from the shadows came a smiling stag, with a human mouth and too many teeth.

"Daughter, where do you go this day?" asked the stag.

"Today I stroll for my own pleasure," lied the girl. The stag sniffed the air.

"And what do you carry?" it asked.

"Nothing of value," said the girl, for she saw that the beast looked upon her child with desire.

"Give it to me, I am hungry," said the stag.

Up jumped the girl and ran through the trees until she came to a little brook, where an old woman was washing clothes.

"Daughter, why do you run?" asked the old woman.

"There is death on my trail," answered the girl.

"And what do you carry?" asked old woman.

"Nothing of value," said the girl.

"The stag will eat your child," crooned the old woman; "you'd better give it to me." When she reached for the baby, she smiled with too many teeth. Up jumped the girl and ran, until she stumbled into a clearing.

In the center she saw her father, torn and bloody from battle. Her father stumbled towards her saying,

"Daughter! Daughter! Obey me now, and give me that child!" And he smiled at her with too many teeth.

Up jumped the girl and ran, until she found a hole on the side of a hill, and inside it she hid. There she curled herself around her baby and slept, for each meeting had taken something from her and the sun was going down.

When she opened her eyes the moon was high and its light washed the world. Outside she saw the stag, smiling in the shadows of the trees.

"Come out," it said, "I'm waiting for you."

The girl went farther into the cave, making her way bravely through the darkness. At last the passage she followed opened up into a great cavern with a lake at its center. High above was the night sky. All around the lake, the earth glittered in the moonlight, for it was scattered with enough gold for a thousand kings.

The girl was very thirsty, but afraid to move into the open.

At last need got the better of her, so she made her way to the water. When she leaned over the lake's edge to drink, the girl froze in fear. Reflected on the surface was a dragon, looming gigantic and terrible above her. And it was his lair that she'd wandered into.

"Why have you come here?" asked the dragon.

"Please have mercy on me, Great Sir, for there is death on my trail," trembled the girl.

"You are here to steal,"  The dragon rumbled, "You seek to take the treasure of this place." 

The girl closed her eyes and wept, for she knew the end was near. She said,

"No Great Sir, rather, I bear treasure." The dragon's eyes gleamed and he said,

"What treasure?"

"A treasure like no other, one that will only grow better with time, more valuable every day to its custodian. A treasure that is one of a kind. It's the only thing I care about, the light of my life, the heart of my heart," The girl sobbed; "Only I can no longer have it, I must find a new protector for it, one who can care for it and keep it from harm." Then the dragon said,

"Turn around."

The girl turned from the water and rose, her face wet with tears. There stood a tall man with eyes that gleamed and two great horns: The dragon in his mortal form.

"Show me the treasure you speak of," said the dragon.

And the girl unbundled her baby.

When the dragon looked into the babe's face, the babe smiled, and something moved in the old fellow's heart.

"I will accept your treasure," the dragon said, "I will care for it and keep it from harm."

Then the girl looked into the dragon's eyes, and the two saw the truth of each other's souls.

The girl gave her baby to the dragon, and went back into the forest.

That is how you became the light of my life, the heart of my heart.

That is how you became my daughter.