Living, Fire-Breathing Myth

Dragons.

They're the greatest fantasy creatures ever to be dreamt of by humanity.

From proud Draco, from Dragonheart, and Saphira from the Inheritance Cycle, Spyro, Smaug, Glaurung, and a host of other dragons from modern fiction, both evil and benign, dragons are doubtless, the most recognised, and beloved characters in fantasy, both modern and last century.

Even the legends of long ago, like the Norse sagas have dragons, like the wicked Fafnir, and the dread Nidghogg the corpse-eater.

It's interesting to note, that the old legends, always portray dragons as creatures of evil.

And that these days, modern fiction is rather ambivalent to them: You get good dragons, like Saphira, Draco, Spyro, etc.

Then you get your evil dragons, like Griffin, Smaug, Glaurung, Shruikan, Thorn, etc.

For a mere legend, dragons are a many and varied one.

Just one question: Are Dragons, really a myth?

Here are my thoughts to the contraire:

If you've ever been out around dusk on a cloudy day, when the light and shadow starts playing tricks to your eyes, and you happen to look at the clouds, ever noticed that some of the clouds, if you use even a trace of imagination, look an awful lot like dragons?

And who's to say they don't lair in remote areas? Or even have hidden lairs in that disused garden no body has bothered to weed in god-knows how long?

And who's to say that statuette in the two dollar shop window isn't simply a dragon in disguise?

For all we know, they could be basking on the roof, or lounging on top of that hill over-the-way, or in that thicket.

And why don't they want us to regard them as anything more than a myth?

Ever seen our track-record with rare or interesting animals?

Poaching, trophy hunting, pet trade, if you were a practically immortal, fire breathing, magical creature, with a mind sharper than a razor's edge, and scales that make the jewels of the Queen of England look like cheap bits of glass and tin, well, you'd keep your head down too, wouldn't you?

So, the only places us lowly humans can ever hope to encounter a dragon, really, is in a book, a piece of art, on the 'net, or,-if you're stupendously lucky, and maybe a little unfortunate,-over the hill, where that dragon living in the neighbour's garden happens to be basking at the same time, and was too busy thinking of that certain she-dragon to be bothered keeping an eye and an ear out for us.

What happens then, really depends on whether said dragon is of a benign disposition, is hungry, and thinks you can keep that mouth of yours clamped shut on this particular bombshell.

Or, alternatively, how fast you can run in the opposite direction.

Hey, you might make it.

Just one word of advice:

If a dragon really wants a human to talk too, they'll come to you.

But you'd have to be a one-in-a-million sort, to even interest one of those fickle and proud masters of the skies.

And to the guy who chose to run: if you do manage to get away, keep your mouth shut, tight.

Otherwise the arson department is going to be left scratching their heads, wondering what the hell you had the open-fireplace going for, in the middle of summer, on a forty degree night.

I don't own any named dragons in the above one-shot.

The ideas, and the article however, are all mine.