Narelle's New Pet

One day when Narelle was walking through the woods, she happened upon a most curious thing: there was a little dragon curled up under a big oak tree.  The dragon looked quite sad; its large, golden eyes stared at the ground, and it barely stirred as she approached it.

"Are you okay?" Narelle asked, carefully approaching the dragon.  "Did you lose your mother?"

The dragon turned its head toward Narelle and let out a sigh, smoke rising from its nostrils.  It didn't frown--that would be silly, dragons can't frown, after all--but Narelle could tell it was lonely.  It opened its mouth and made a groaning sound.

"Are you hungry?" Narelle asked, tilting her head to the side.

The dragon groaned again and a bit more smoke rose from its nostrils.

Narelle patted its head and smiled.

"I'll be right back, okay?  Stay right here."

She ran through the woods, weaving her way between the trees, until she came to its edge and saw her house.  Her father was carrying firewood inside, and she smelled something delicious coming from the kitchen.  She ran up to the kitchen window and when she peeked inside, she saw her mother pulling a freshly baked shepherd's pie from the oven.

I wonder if dragons eat pie, Narelle thought.  As her mother turned around, she ducked; her mother placed the pie on the window ledge and went off to help with the firewood.

Making sure no one could see her, Narelle took the pie and ran back into the woods.  When she made it back to the dragon, it raised its head and watched her curiously.  It opened its mouth as though it were smiling.  Narelle fed the dragon the pie and it seemed to enjoy it.

She patted its head again.  "I'm going to call you... Beast."

That evening, Narelle took her place at the dinner table.  Her father started carving the turkey, and her mother set the table.  Her parents didn't say a word until everyone was seated, and then her mother cleared her throat before asking, "Narelle, I baked your favorite thing today, shepherd's pie.  But it's gone missing.  Did you get a little impatient?"

Narelle wiped her sweaty hands on her skirt and smiled at her mother.  "No, I had no idea you made a pie.  I've been in the woods all day, playing."

"The dog must have eaten it," her father grunted.

The next day, Narelle returned to the big oak tree where she'd found Beast.  Beast was there, just like the day before, and he still seemed sad.  He groaned at Narelle as she approached.

"I can't keep sneaking you food, you know," Narelle said.  "My parents think the dog ate that pie I gave you."

But, since dragons--especially baby dragons--don't particularly care about anything besides having a full tummy, Beast merely groaned again, with a bit more intensity.

"Oh, all right," Narelle sighed.  "I'll see what I can find for you.  But you've got to start hunting for your own food, Beast."

She said that same thing to her dragon friend every day for a week.  She'd bring him more food, he'd eat it, she'd go home, she'd lie again about being gone all day, and the dog would take the blame.  Until one day when her father had had it with the thief.

"Narelle, you haven't touched your food," her mother said.  "Aren't you hungry?"

"No," Narelle lied.  She'd been doing it so much, it had become easy.  But she still felt horrible about every single lie she told.

"I'm going to have to put this dumb dog down if he doesn't stop stealing food," he said.  "No matter how much we feed him, he just takes more.  I don't know how he can even eat that much.  He's got a bottomless stomach, that's for sure."

Narelle couldn't take it anymore.  The truths she'd hidden for the last week came bubbling up and she couldn't stop them.

"I am so hungry," she shouted, "but I can't eat because I can't live with this anymore.  The dog hasn't been eating all of the food.  It's been me all along."

Her mother raised an eyebrow.  "Well, that certainly explains a lot," she said sharply.  "Have you really been eating all of this by yourself?"

It would be so easy to lie just one more time and take the blame.  She'd be sent to bed without dinner.  But she'd have to stop taking food for Beast.  There was no turning back.  She had to come clean.

"I haven't been eating any of it," she cried.  "I've been bringing it to my friend Beast."

"Beast the dragon?" her father asked.  A smile spread across his face.

Narelle's eyes widened.  "You knew?" she asked.

"Oh yes," her father chuckled.  "We've known the whole time.  Before you ask, yes, you can keep him.  But you're grounded, young lady.  You're going to help your mother with the cooking from now on, and you're going to learn how to cook for your new pet."

"Why didn't you say anything before?"

Her mother laughed.  "We wanted to see how long you'd keep this up," she admitted.  "And you needed to learn your lesson."