I woke up to the sound of a crash downstairs. I immediately froze and listened for any more noise. Nothing whatsoever, just the sounds of cars zooming from the main road I live near. I laid there for a couple more minutes before reaching for my phone on my bedside table. I got ready to call 911, my finger hovering over the button. I cautiously crept downstairs and looked around. The thing that had caused the noise was a plate falling from where I left it, on the kitchen counter. It was shattered all over the white and black tiling, even reaching the wooden floorboards. There wasn't a robber or any sign of life. I heard a small croak.
My eyes snapped to the place where I heard it from. It was under a large piece of the broken plate. I silently walked towards it and carefully lifted the shard. It revealed a tiny little creature which looked like one of those huge golden dragon sculptures you can find in temples or some shops. This one was way smaller, and it was this very beautiful jade colour. Its eyes were black and shiny, and it had splotches of lighter green all over it. I marvelled at the sight, until it let out a little shriek and started flying everywhere in a terrified frenzy.
It flapped in my face, messing up my already unsightly dark brown hair and giving me a few scratches in the process. I yelped and stumbled back, almost crashing into the small wooden dining table I had just bought, and dropping my phone.
"Good job Kara," I mumbled to myself sarcastically.
It flew upstairs and I could hear a thud. Must've crashed into the window.
I picked up my phone and checked if it was damaged. It wasn't, so I walked up the wooden staircase to the second floor and into my room. Sure enough, the dragon hadn't seen the glass and was laying there. I set down my phone on my bedside table walked up to it slowly. It laid there, eyes closed. I crouched down a little bit away from it.
"Hey, buddy." I cooed, trying not to spook it into a flying frenzy.
It croaked and opened its eyes. I froze and looked at it. Was it going to fly? Hopefully not.
"Hey, shhh," I whispered.
I slowly stretched out my arm so that it was close to the dragon. I'm pretty sure that its wing was broken because when it walked, it dragged its wing on the floor. It climbed into my hand and curled up. I inspected it, looking at the scales and little whiskers and feeling its radiating warmth against my cold hands. I walked to my bed and set the little creature down. I grabbed my phone to text my friends for help, but none of them responded. Probably busy, they have work early in the morning.
Speaking of which, I too, have a life. I stared at the sleeping dragon, trying to formulate a plan to take care of it without anyone finding out. I thought about leaving it here, but it could hurt itself again. On the contrary, if I do take it out, there's a high chance of it being seen. I chewed my hair. I was going to have to take the risk of it being seen.
I left it there to sleep as I freshened up and quickly changed clothes into jeans, a deep blue shirt and a blue jacket with deep pockets. I decided to hide it in my jacket. I picked the creature up and gently put it in my pocket.
I could go to the library. The place had plenty of old books about mythology. Maybe those could help. I nodded to myself as I walked downstairs and grabbed my car keys. I was so lucky that I didn't have work today, it would be hard to keep a live dragon in your pocket as you cook and walk around.
I drove myself to the library. It was drizzling and the drive there was quite drab and dull. The greyness of the sky seemed to be the energy of New York most times. Ever since the move here to pursue my dreams of becoming a chef, I've gotten used to the rain and loud people. I parked a short walk from the library and stepped into the rain, letting the cold air embrace me.
