The Dragon's Abode(Compressed)

Part 1: Chapter 4

It was noon, on the day the earth rested under an eclipse. The sun seemed to weaken. The river calm and cold, the leaves glowed a subtle golden and the lines of shadows seemed ever gliding on walls and on the village's dusty road. The girl watched the phenomenon from within the cave. The dragon crawled towards her and she broke the silence.

"I have a question for you but I forgot what it was. Oh...Have you heard of the story about the queen of toads that went to the heavens?" She asked the dragon as she stared at the peaceful blackness outside. The sun was completely engulfed.

"Is that the question?" The dragon asked.

"No... This is another." She replied and continued.

"My mother told me, she went up by standing on a tree and using a chant, she went because she was angry at the sun for burning her coat."

The dragon bowed his head seemingly showing interest in the little girl's story. He had never before had a companion in this world and the little girl can make his bleakest moments intriguing.

"And then what happened to the sun?"He asked.

"The moon got eaten by the toad... I think. I think she ate the sun too." She frowned.

The story she told the dragon seemed to trouble her. To her, the outside world and the stories that were told to her were confusing and rather disturbing. She didn't like it that the little toad and the sun were at enmity with each other. She didn't know what happened to the toad, the sun and the moon towards the end. She didn't know if they were all safe. The dragon seemed to have read her thoughts.

"The toad came back to Earth and the sun and moon are safe which is why they are still here today." He told her.

"What about the toad? Is she safe too?" She asked.

"Yes of course she is. You do see toads sometimes. Don't you?"

The little girl nodded relieved to learn that the story she had heard from her departed mother did not have a tragic end.

"Me and my mother used to watch a toad and her children hopping in a funny line whenever it rains. She lived in a pond near my mother's place. They were all very cute." The little girl told the dragon.

She stood up suddenly remembering what she was going to ask the dragon. Her little face lit up.

"I finally remember!!" She exclaimed.

"How was Earth when you were born and have you ever been able to fly on Earth?"

"So those were the questions..."
The dragon sighed.

The little girl was worried lest she has hurt the dragon by asking questions pertaining to his past.

She frowned and looked down at her feet, ashamed.

"Now there's no need to frown. Look up child." He said.

The girl looked up and the dragon spoke.

"I wasn't born here...but the Earth wasn't so different from how it is now. We dragons live in another realm only few can reach. I came here a long time ago when the Earth was in need of balance. I was a young dragon then. And I did soar the skies. Worries were a distant memory and I thought the world will be as beautiful as the Earth. But it wasn't. Before I knew it ... The Earth wasn't a safe place for my kind to be in anymore. It is until the people have made sure that there isn't anything of me left anymore that I was able to return to this place."

Light had slowly returned to the earth as they spoke. She had always loved stories and the ones her grandmother told her in particular made her feel like the world isn't such a bad place to be in. She thought of the stories her grandmother told her of dragons and how they went into hiding because they were feared and that fear arouses hatred in people. Hence those that people fear are harmed even if they were innocent and defense less beings. She thought of the days that the dragon might have enjoyed in his past. She thought of him flying across the skies freely without a care and her heart hung heavy with sorrow for the dragon.