Lies

By TheDragonGamerGirl

Based on the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey

I couldn't believe my eyes when I found the egg.

It was just sitting there, away from its proper weyr, not a dragon in sight. Trembling, I touched it. The egg was still warm. Dusk was falling. I would not be expected back until much later, having gone out to collect mushrooms that only came out at night.

As the sun set, I noticed that the clearing the egg was in had a plethora of mushrooms, to which I happily helped myself. With a full basket, I waited by the egg. Without a proper Weyr, it would get cold in the night. It might not hatch. Before I could even blink, I had fallen asleep beside the egg. That's the last thing I remember before now.

I sit up with a start, the rising sun shining right in my eyes. I put up a hand to shield my face, and notice a gray haze on the horizon. Oh, no. Thread! I forgot that thread was due today. I have to get back home!

I turn around to grab my basket. There, all too omnipresent, is the Egg. It shines golden in the sunlight, a Queen egg for sure. I hook my basket on one shoulder and carefully lift the large egg in my arms. It is heavy, to be sure, but no more than my little brother when he forces me to carry him around.

Thread is getting closer. Despite the danger of dropping the egg, I begin to run. I can feel my heart pounding harder and harder, my breath short and shallow. Just as the silver rain licks the top of the trees, my family's cothold comes into view. The main cot is too far, but there is a well-protected stable nearer. I gratefully duck inside and, still holding the egg, hoist myself up to the loft.

I can hear the hissing rain of thread coming down and bouncing off the metal roof. The animals locked inside the shed with me continuously whine with fear. I am fairly scared myself. I've never had such a close call before!

My attention turns back to the egg. The proper thing to do would be to bring it to the nearest weyr, but no one would believe that I just found it in the woods. They would say I stole it. So I can't do that.

I'll have to keep it here. But if my family finds out, they'll punish me for sure. Also, my parents would absolutely freak. But where to hide it?

Well, this loft would do good. It's fairly hidden, where my parents and siblings don't like to go. My parents think it's dirty, and my siblings are all too young to climb up on their own. Plus, in here it's nice and warm for the egg, however dirty it may be. Yes, I'll have to leave it here.

Which reminds me, my parents must be sick with worry since I didn't come home before Thread this morning. I'll have to deal with their doting for at least a month after this, and I can't afford to brush it off. If I do anything wrong, they'll find out about the egg!

Say, I heard from some of the boys in the Hold that there's a Hatching at Telgar today. Telgar Weyr is responsible for keeping our small hold thread-free. So perhaps this egg came from there!

My suspicion is proven when, unaccompanied by Dragon-song, the little egg begins to rock. As the last slivers of thread bounce off the roof, the egg rocks harder and harder, until there is a crack. More cracks appear, and just as the last bit of thread slides off the roof, a hole opens in the shell. Two small, clawed feet appear, pushing at the sides of the hole until the shell splits right in two. There, before my eyes, is a golden queen dragon.