Magic

Chapter 1

Emma

I've always hated running, but this took things to a whole new level. Running the mile just to get an A in PE was horrifying enough, however, at least I knew when and where it ended. I didn't know where I'm going to end up after I'm done being chased by the fire breathing dragon only a few yards behind me. Am I going to be gobbled up by the razor sharp teeth the giant dragon held within its mouth, or find my way back to civilization? These questions drift through my mind as I run for my life.

I look around my surroundings trying to uncover resources that could help me win this race, but there is nothing. The rugged terrain of desert mountains is as barren as an empty bowl of chocolates. For miles, all I see are rocks, sand, and dirt, even from atop a cliff. This is another problem that concerns me. One wrong step will have me tumbling to my death.

As foolish as I am, I turn my head slightly to get a glimpse of the horrible beast. It is about five times my height, and its wing span as wide as the Statue of Liberty is tall. The dragon is covered in purple scales but the tip of its tail is vibrant orange, as well as the inside of its wings. Its orange horns look as if they are on fire, which I wouldn't be surprised if they are. The dragon catches me looking at it for too long, and suddenly I find myself making eye contact with it. It opens its large mouth preparing to burn me to smithereens. The dragon blows out a long trail of fire straight for my head, but I tuck and roll before it reaches me. The ends of my hair smoke a bit, although nothing is truly burning me.

The dragon keeps going with his fiery breaths, and at one point, it is able to burn my heels. And then it starts. The pain sears from the top of my head to the tips of my fingers then back down to my heels again. I trudge through the agonizing pain as it slowly consumes me. I know I can't hold out for long, but I'll keep going until I collapse. Eventually it does. I gradually run slower and slower, and before I know it, the dragon is right on top of me. It looks down like I'm its well deserved lunch, which I probably am. We make eye contact again, and this time I see a slight sparkle in its eyes as a symbol of victory. I stay staring at it because I know these are the last moments of my short life. I try to wrap the idea of death around my head, but it’s just not happening. I don’t want to die, not now. I feel like I should do something special in my the time I’m alive, not just an ordinary girl who goes to school like everyone else and gets a stupid job that I will never enjoy.

Then, I realize that I don't have to die now.

As the dragon dives its head down towards my body, I quickly roll to the left, away from the cliff. Unfortunately, this takes a toll on my muscles. I'm too weak to move anymore and the wave of hopelessness comes back. Just when I feel like this is the end, I'm being lifted into the air. I look around and find that a boy, about my age, is carrying me in his arms. He has short dirty blond hair and light green eyes with a tint of blue. His tan skin is mostly covered by magenta v-neck t-shirt and black pants.

Then reality shoots back to me with unbearable pain. The burn marks that still scar my heals feel like they'll never go away. I try to stay awake, but it's almost impossible to do so. A few seconds later, I notice that my vision is blurry and getting worse. My whole body goes numb and starts shaking. Breathing gets harder and harder until it's as if I'm no longer capable of it. Everything just gets worse by the moment, and eventually, my mind slips as I fall fast asleep.

I wake up breathing heavily. While cold sweat beads down my face, I scan the area around me, but there's nothing to see. I'm back in my bedroom, under my soft blue quilt. Everything is how it's supposed to be, with my Swiss coffee colored desk across from my bed, and my giant beanbag chair next to my closet. It takes me minute to grasp the fact that it was all just a dream, the dragon and cute, heroic boy. What doesn't make sense to me is that I have never seen the boy or the dragon. I've heard someone can only dream about another person if they've seen the person, but I haven't met or seen the boy. How did he appear in my dream? Is he an actual human being? I put these questions aside as I headed downstairs towards the backyard.