Nate's Story

Of Dragons and Butterflies
By Dade

Once upon a time there lived a dragon. His name was Li. He had very strong smooth green scales. Li was unlike other dragons. He was a nice dragon. While his fellow dragons would pillage towns and rob people of their gold, Li the friendly dragon, would lay alone in the corner of his dark cave dreaming. Li loved to play in the fields by night. He would stroll across the hills and valleys of wildflowers. He only went at night so to avoid Knights and Heroes who would love to capture Li and use his strong beautiful scales to make a shield or a suit of armor Gazing up at the stars during his nightly walks, Li thought about a great many things. He would think of Life and Death, of Love and Hate. He didn't like to think of love. That made him lonely. After returning to his cave one dark morning he couldn't stop thinking about how much he wanted a friend to play with him in the fields at night. Oh how wonderful, he thought, how wonderful indeed to share the beauty of this world with another. Oh how he longed for someone to care for, someone who would care for him as well. When he searched for this person among the other dragons, the only laughed at Li, telling him that he was such a silly dragon. For weren't dragons creatures of destruction? This brought great pain into Li's soul. Would he ever be truly happy? That night during his walk, he walked farther than he ever had walked before. Li wished he could fly, but alas dragons have no wings. He wanted to fly. Fly far from here. He didn't care if he ever saw his cave again. He walked all night until he could see the sun peek over the distant mountains. He was so torn by the thought of solitude that he fell to the ground and wept. The tears fell until he finally slipped into a deep sleep. When Li awoke, he was startled by a swift movement in the grass beside him. He jumped up to examine this moving thing. It was the most beautiful thing he had