Dragon Tales: The Dragon's Kiss.
Chapter 1
Amora, a girl of 19, was sitting in her bedroom, alone, as usual. It was a lovely, balmy summer Saturday night, and most of the other folks were out having fun. Not her. She was stuck here, again. Amora was an average sized, slender built young woman with long hair of raven black and eyes of golden brown. She was named Amora, for she filled her parent's lives with love. But she lived with her grandmother Lorena, in California. Both of her parents died when she was young in a car wreck.. She still missed them terribly. "Amora?" a female voice called. She turned and saw her grandmother, a kindly woman of 78, standing behind her. "Why are sitting here by yourself minieta? she asked. "Just thinking." Amora said. "About what?" her grandmother asked."My parents." she said. A tear came to her eye. "I see." her grandmother said, She sat down on the bed next to Amora. Amora put her arms around her. "It'll be ok querida." said her grandmother. "It doesn't seem that way Abuelita." said Lorena. She sighed. Her life was so lonely. If only she could find loyal friends like when she was a child. Her grandmother hugged her. She felt terrible for her. Lorena, then thought of something. "I have something you might like." she said. "Hmm?" Amora asked. "Follow me." her grandmother said. "What is it?" Amora asked. Lorena chuckled. "You'll see." she said.
They rose from the bed and went to Lorena's room. Amora followed. She looked confused. Grandma Lorena held up a small red and yellow box. It had dragon designs on it. " "What's that?" Amora asked. "Open it and see." her grandmother said. Lorena took the box and opened it. Inside was a silver scale-like object that seemed to glow magically. "What's this?" she asked, very curious. "This mi nieta," Lorena said. "is a dragon scale." Amora was skeptical. "Right." she said. She closed the box. "Abuelita, I love you, but I highly doubt this is a dragon anything." "Oh, mi nieta." her grandmother said. "There are things in this world that are more wondrous than anything." She smiled.
"Give it a try, and you'll see." Amora looked at the scale. She nodded. "Ok." She said. "Gracias Abuelita."" Amora left her grandma's room and returned to her own. She was still skeptical about the scale. Amora sat the box on her bed. She pulled out one of her favorite romance novels and began to read. Reading romance novels was one of Amora's favorite pastimes, as well as music. She immersed herself in the story, feeling the love and the pain of each character. Amora sighed. "I wish I could fall in love like that." she said. A tear escaped her eye. She wiped it away. Amora sighed once more. She then looked at the box that her grand mother gave her. Amora took it and opened it. The dragon scale shone in it's brilliance. Amora scoffed. "Magic." she said under her breath. She closed the wooden box and put it under he bed. It was getting late. "I'd better go to bed. Nothing else to do." she thought. Amora changed into night clothes and knelt beside her bed to say her prayers.
"Dear God." she said. "I don't ask for much, but I want to ask you to give me strength. "I just don't feel strong anymore and I know I need it to serve you. So please, help me be strong again." Amora sighed and continued to pray. "And one more thing, please help me find the one I'm meant to be with." she said. "In the Lord's name I ask, Amen."
Amora crawled into her bed sheets and rested her head on her pillows. Before sleeping she looked at a picture of her and her parents on her nightstand. She remembered them so well. Her thoughts turned to when she was a little girl.
She began to think of her mother. She remembered her lovely raven hair and deep brown eyes. Amora, then thought of her father. She remembered how he used to play with her when he came home from work. He always made time to be with her. But what Amora remembered the most, was that every night before she went to bed, her mother sang to her to help her sleep. Amora began to hum the tune to her mom's lullaby. She soon began to sing it softly.
"Buenas noches, mi hija, no temen a la noche
"A la luz del día viene pronto, todos serán a la luz
"Siempre debe venir el alba, por lo que todos pueden ver
"La belleza de la creación de Dios, para usted y para mí."
In English it could be translated to:
"Good night, my daughter, don't fear the night
"For daylight comes soon, all will be in light
"Always must come the dawn, so all may see
"The beauty of God's creation, for you and for me
A tear came to her eye again. How Lorena longed for those days. She sighed and closed her eyes allowing sleep to take her.
The next day was Sunday. Amora arose to a knocking at her door. She rose from her bed and stretch her arms. Knocking was heard again. "Mi nieta, it's time to wake up." Her grandmother said through her door. "I'm up." said Amora. "I'm up." "Breakfast is ready." Lorena said. "All right. I'll be there in a second." Amora replied. She got some clean clothes before stepping in the shower. Since it was Sunday, she had to get ready for Church. She washed herself well, before drying off and dressing. Amora was soon ready, and went to the kitchen for breakfast. "Buenos dias querida." Grandma Lorena greeted. "You too Grandma." Amora said. "How are you this morning?" Lorena asked. "I've been better." Amora said. "Thinking about your folks again?" her grandmother asked. "Yeah." her granddaughter replied. "I wish they were still here." Grandma Lorena smiled warmly. "I know mi nieta." she said. "So do I." Amora at her breakfast, pancakes with syrup. After breakfast, Lorena cleaned up and they left for church.
The service was lovely. Amora sat in the pew with her grandmother, following along with the prayers and sermon. "My brothers and sisters." The minister began. "In today's sermon, I'd like to talk to you about something that we all need in our lives; love." Amora listened with open ears. The minister spoke about how love is not just the romance stuff read in books. "The Scriptures tell us how the Lord wants us to love." he said. "1 Corinthians 13:4-7." All attendants, including Amora, turned to that passage in the Bible. Amora put her finger on the passage. It read: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
Love means putting others before yourself." The minister continued. "It means being able to sacrifice for others, no matter what the sacrifice entails." Amora thought about what he was saying. What the minister said even made her smile. She hoped she could find that kind of love. The service was soon over. Lorena and Amora left the church after bidding the minister farewell. "Lovely sermon." Lorena said. "Mm-hmm." said Amora. "And a lovely message." her grandmother said. "It's a shame so many today don't take it to heart." "No kidding." Amora agreed. When the two got home, Amora quickly changed to some casual clothes. She sat down on the couch, still thinking about the sermon. Her thoughts became interrupted when her grandmother asked her for a favor. "Yes Abuelita?" Amora asked. "I need you to go to el mecardo (the market) and pick up some jugo de naranja (orange juice)." said Grandma Lorena.
"Ok, I'll be back." She said, kissing Lorena before grabbing her purse leaving.
The walk to the market wasn't far. Amora kept an eye out though. The neighborhood wasn't the best, and she didn't want to run into unsavory types. She managed to safely make it to the market. Amora bought the orange juice she needed and was soon on her way back home. She felt nervous as she passed some rough looking men. She didn't even look at them. But the men looked at her. Amora tried to ignore them, but it was still nerve wracking. The men followed her. Amora was getting tired of this. She turned around to the men. "Buzz off." she said. They continued to follow her. "I said get lost, you cabrones." she said. "Tough girl aren't you?" one of the guys asked. "Get her purse." said another guy. Amora heard him so she did what she had to do. Run. "Get her!" They yelled. Amora ran for her life. She ran around in different directions. She didn't want to risk getting her grandmother in danger. The men pursued her. Somehow, she managed to double back and hide in a dumpster. Good thing it was cleaned out. The men gave up the chase. There was better pickings anyhow. Amora peeked out of the dumpster to see if the coast was clear. She sighed. "I hate this neighborhood." she said. Amora crawled out of the dumpster and walked home once again. She walked inside and gave a heavy sigh. "Abuelita, I have the juice." Amora called. Lorena walked to the door where her granddaughter was. "Ah, good." she said. Then she noticed she was dirty. "Querida, what happened?" " I was chased by these…goons, and I had to hide in a dumpster." said Amora. "Oh dear." Lorena said. "Muggers?" Amora nodded. She looked to the floor and a tear fell from her eye. "Oh querida." Lorena said. She wrapped her granddaughter in a hug. She didn't care that she was a little dirty. "Why does this place have to be so dangerous?" Amora sobbed.
She hugged her grandmother back. "Things will be better." said Grandma Lorena. "I promise." "I hope so." Amora cried. "They will." said Lorena. "Remember, there are things in this world that are more wondrous than anything." Amora nodded. Her thoughts then went to the scale. She was still skeptical about magic. However, curiosity began to take hold. Amora looked at her grandmother. Lorena winked at her. "Excuse me." said Amora. "I'll be back." Lorena giggled as her grand daughter went straight to her room. Amora dove under her bed and pulled out the box. She opened it, revealing the silvery scale. "How does this thing work?" Amora asked herself. She pulled the scale from it's cushion and sat it down on her bed. She then noticed an inscription written on the inside of the box lid. It read: "I wish, I wish, with all my heart, to fly with dragons in a land apart."
"Hmm." Amora said. "It can't hurt." She picked up the scale and looked at it. It's shine was so lovely, she saw her reflection on it. Amora took a deep breath and recited the inscription "I wish, I wish, with all my heart, to fly with dragons in a land apart." she said. At first nothing happened. But then, the scale began to glow brightly. Amora gasped. She found herself surrounded by what seemed to be, dragons of different colors swirling around her. "What's going on?" Amora exclaimed. The dragons began to swirl around her even faster, creating a brilliant display of light. Sparkles of green light appeared. "Whooaaaaaa!!!" She cried as the light began to overtake her. Soon, in a brilliant flash, she was gone. After Amora disappeared, her grandmother came to her room. She noticed the box she gave her was open. Lorena giggled. "Have fun mi nieta." she said.