5
An Adventure to Remember
I've never been so frightened in my life! I don't know what to do. I've just got to keep very very still. One wobble and I'm done for. I can't even cling to anything. My fingernails scrabble but there's no groove in the brickwork, no ledge, no creeper. Plain brick wall behind me. Yawning space in front. I mustn't look! Yet my eyes swivel and just for one second I peer down down down. My stomach lurches. I feel as if it's about to spill right out of me. I take a deep breath. I can't be sick now! I've got to think what to do. If only I was a cartoon child I could pedal in the air, my trainers whirring like helicopter propellers. I concentrate on my shoulder blades, willing them to sprout wings. No use. Not so much as a feather. I've got to be brave. But I'm the wuss who can't even watch Dr Who without getting nightmares. Get me out of this nightmare, please!
I feel myself shake even more; my finger nails are digging right into the wall, making holes. It's no use, I'm slipping, I can hear screech against the brick. It sounds like a baby screaming for its milk. I have to let go, it's now or never, then I can end this adventure from hell. My hands loosen and soon I can't feel the wall anymore. I'm shooting down to the ground at breakneck speed, the wind rushing through my hair, as if it's blowing one million miles per hour. My cheeks are wobbling like jelly, every single part of me is numb, and my whole life flashes before me, not a pleasant sight. I'm going to die…
"Oh no you're not!" comes a voice from behind me.
"What was that?" I shriek.
"It was me," says the voice.
"Oh that's a fat lot of use," I reply, then realize that I've stopped falling and have landed on something soft and warm, which smells faintly of burnt toast.
"I'm a dragon," says the voice helpfully.
Ok, so I'm riding on a dragon. Can't complain, I suppose. After all it's got to be better than the Number Six Bus.
"Are you looking for an adventure?" says the deep voice.
"What? Don't you think falling from a great height and nearly dying is adventurous enough for you?"
"Well, after 300 years of living, not really," he says ever so casually.
The dragon turns his head round and winks one of his great, golden eyes at me. What's he up to now? I think to myself. When it comes to big, stinky things I never have trusted them.
"So, where do you want to go?" he asks me, smiling, showing all his brown, crooked teeth.
"I want to go home!" I demand. I'm sorry; I'm not going to let this dragon take me over. I've got to let him know who's boss, but unfortunately he seems to see it differently.
He laughs and then says, "I don't understand human beings, they live such boring lives; wake up, go to work, fall asleep, how dull! This is why I'm going to give you an adventure, sister."
I feel like giving this dragon a good, old slap; he is really getting on my nerves. What's with this sister thing? Please don't tell me I'm related to this dragon. It's bad enough with one whining little brother at home.
After what seems like hours of silence, I finally ask him, "Where are we going?"
"China" he replies, "The land of all dragons".
I can feel my face turning pale. "You must be joking," I screech, "That's millions of miles away from home".
A grin covers his whole face. "You're in China right now, kid," he laughs.
China! I think to myself, out of all the places in the world he picks China.
"What about Australia?" I murmur hopefully.
"Whoa, that place is way too hot for dragons; I'll scorch to death over there".
"You're a bit of a wuss, aren't you?"
"Well, hark who's talking".
A few minutes later we land on a mountain, swarming with dragons of every shape, colour and size. Thin ones, fat ones, tall ones, small ones, red ones, blue ones, every dragon you can imagine. They only have one thing in common, they all smell terrible!
"Heya, Eric," a deep voice says, coming from a misty corner. All of a sudden the hugest dragon I have ever seen in my entire life comes out from the blue.
"Eric! Is that your name?" I giggle
"I'll have you know", he snorts," that I'm a direct descendent of the great fire breathing legend, St Eric the Sizzler."
"Ok, ok, I'm sorry; I always thought dragons had more dramatic names than Eric".
"I can assure you that St Eric the Sizzler was dramatic in the extreme. No slice of bread for miles around was safe when he was in the neighborhood."
I'm having a good laugh at the vision of St Eric and all that burnt toast, so don't notice the conversation now going on between present day Eric and his mates.
"I see you brought some supper with you tonight, lad," a fat one rasps.
"She may be a pain in the back side," Eric replied, "But we ain't going to eat her".
"Arrgh, but I'm starving", groans another loafy dragon.
"Well, if we can't eat the girl, we can always chuck Eric in the pot", growls a tough type.
Eric feels a ball slide down his neck and sweat dripping on his shiny, scaly skin. "Whoa, chill, I was only kidding, we can eat the girl", Eric cries.
He dashes up to me and digs his claws into my shoulders. "Kid, we got to get the heck out of here".
"Why?" I ask in confusion.
"Let me put it to you this way, we are surrounded by a bunch of hungry dragons and you are the main course on the menu," he mutters very quietly.
I look all around me and Eric is right. All of their mouths are watering and they have their beady eyes pointing directly at me. A fat dragon even has a white cloth around his neck, and a knife and fork at the ready. For the second time today I feel fear bubbling up in my body. I want to scream for help, but what good would that do? I'm up in the mountains of China and wouldn't be heard for miles.
"Hop on my back", whispers Eric, breathing his hot blazing breath into my ear, not very comfortable, I can tell you. I can see the dragons closing in on us, so in no time at all I leap onto Eric's back and he jets up in the air like a rocket.
Now I can see all the dragons watching us in fury. Some try to chase us, but Eric is much too fast for them all.
In a twinkling of an eye we are back in Britain. "How's that for an adventure?" Eric asks.
"Next time I think I'll just stick to falling off brick walls," I reply, "But can I go home now? I'm really tired."
Eric flies me back to my garden and drops me off in mum's best flower bed. Whoops!
Annoying though he is, I feel a strange lump in my throat as I turn to say good bye.
"See ya, then, kid," chirps the dragon, giving one final blast of scarlet flames as he rises in the air.
I wave until he's out of sight, then turn with a sigh to walk towards the kitchen door.
"Hi", calls mum from the dining room. "Just in time for your pizza; you're late back today. What've you been up to?"
I smile to myself quietly, before replying,
"Aww, nothing much."
An Adventure to Remember