Shivering in the heat of a warm wind that she could not control, a very unremarkable yellow dragon meandered through the jungle, scanning the trees for a familiar face. Her pupils were pinpoints, and she shook like a leaf clinging to its branch in a futile effort to delay the inevitable. Looking to her left and right, she gave a smile that was rather unsettled.

"Well, I'm being narrated for, again. I guess I'd better keep going, seeing how something bad is about to happen."

She hummed a cheerful melody with her eyes darting back and forth.

"I can only hope it's not a jump-scare. I don't do well with sudden noises. In any case, I can see it coming, so there's really no use in-"

She paused.

"I thought for sure it would come in the middle of my sentence. I didn't have the rest planned out. I guess what I meant to say is that there's really no use in . . . delaying . . . the . . . inevitable."

Her ear twitched like a springy door-stopper.

"Nothing? Oh, come on! I know you have it in for me, but can we hurry it up? This is torture. Can't you just end this?"

She waited.

"No? Okay. I guess I'll be going, then . . ."

She marched forward. After a few steps, the ground beneath her paw fell away, revealing a dark hole that went down for miles.

"Oh. That wasn't so bad. I hardly even j-"

The world around her shattered, and she fell into nothingness. Elkay screamed, then grunted as she landed in a familiar building. When she got a better sense of her surroundings, she realized that she was not alone. A girl stared at her with a bitter scowl, as though she was expecting her, but would have preferred if she had never come at all.

"Oh, so we're doing this again? I hate writing these meta chapters. Anyway, you're not really here, and neither am I. But I'll go ahead and pretend that this is actually happening."

Elkay rubbed her head.

"Who the hell are you? I mean, I know who you are, in theory, but- Wait. No, this isn't right. You're not real."

"I think you may have that backwards."

Elkay batted her eyes, frowning with confusion. The girl crossed her arms.

"Oh, come on. You must have had some idea," she stressed.

Elkay grimaced.

"No, it isn't true!"

"Oh, come off it. You knew. You realized what was happening, and who it was happening to. Don't play stupid. You saw this whole mess coming. There's no use denying it."

"This is a trick."

"No, it's not, and I think you know that. I'm sorry it had to end this way, but that's just the way things are. It's the saddest conclusion, but it's the truest one, too. There are no heroes, there are no dragons, and there are no stegoceratopses. This is real life, and we don't get happy endings."

Elkay felt tears pouring down her cheeks.

"There must be some way to stop this."

The girl shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I really wish I could change things, but I don't have the power to make it so. It was fun while it lasted, but come 2018, everything we've done will be pushed aside by people who know what they're doing. It's better that way, I guess. The general public doesn't want hybrids or magic in Jurassic Park. I was doing it for me, because I wanted to prove that I could. Now that I've found the answer, I can move on."

Elkay choked.

"But the people . . . the characters . . . they'll all be gone."

"Naturally. I'm upset about it, too, but they're not living, breathing people. A girl like me can connect with elements of fiction, but sooner or later, reality has to set in."

Elkay looked away in shame.

"But we care about them."

"Sure, we do. I mean, I do. I care about everything I've set in motion. Trouble is, the world does not. We're just a drop of water in a vast ocean. The ripples we create do not spread far in the big picture."

"Can't we keep going? Just for a little while?" she pleaded.

The girl smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry. It's time to wake up and grow up. I wanted this to mean something, but I'm afraid I wasn't good enough to pull it off."

Suddenly, Elkay's eyes went wide.

"Wait. But if- I mean- No, this can't be happening! What about me?"

"What about you?"

Elkay backed away with horror, but was suddenly inspired to bare her teeth.

"I don't need you! I can do this alone!"

"No, you can't. If I die, you die, but if you die, I live. And it's about time I did exactly that: live. I can't live my life while you're still here."

"But I am your life!"

"I know. That's what scares me. Still, I have to let you die sooner or later."

"I can't die."

"But you can end."

Elkay adopted a defensive posture.

"I won't let you end this."

"I know. The part of me that's you is trying to fight it, but it's not up to a dragon to decide my fate. The world has responded to my work, and while some have made me feel like I could actually accomplish something great, the fact of the matter is that ninety-nine percent of the population will sneer at the mere mention of a Stegoceratops. I thought I could show them how to love a hybrid, but love must be let in, and there are those who refuse to open their hearts to something that appears silly on the outside. That's what the world is made of: a bunch of artists skimming the surface of truth, refusing to dive any deeper than their predecessors, for fear that they'll be dragged into the darkness below. People like me are seagulls soaring over the ocean; we think the sky is our domain, that it is all we need, but the water that surrounds us will only be explored by those daring enough to penetrate it. And I fear I won't resurface if I continue to dive. I'm not successful. I'm not popular. I'm destined to drown, and when I do, that's the end of me."

Elkay's eyes were empty.

"I . . . I can't . . ."

"And neither can I. Goodbye, old friend. Know that I truly am sorry."

Elkay closed her eyes, feeling the world evaporate. When she came to, she was lying on her back in the middle of the jungle, and someone was standing over her with concern.

"Hey, Elkay. You alright?"

She blinked twice.

"Sarah?"

"Yeah, that's me. Don't tell me you're getting sick like the others. Vivian and I had to send poor Alison away on the b-"

Elkay pushed her to the side aggressively.

"You idiot! It's not real! None of this is!"

Sarah backed away slowly.

"Are you having some kind of mental breakdown?"

Elkay snarled.

"She told me the truth. You're fake. All of you! . . . And I am, too."

Sarah narrowed her eyes.

"Okay . . . I think you might have been hallucinating or something . . ."

The dragon screeched loudly, forcing Sarah to cover her ears.

"Oh, that's your excuse? Tell me, do you actually believe that's canon? I've got news for you: the real world is canon by default, and we are not in it. Go ahead and believe your comforting lies, but I'll have no part in it!"

And she flew away, beating her wings until the clouds swallowed her up.

***TSFEW***

"Oh, that was cruel."

"I know, but it was necessary."

"What if she is unable to see the truth after we reveal our ruse?"

"Then she'll be delusional, but at least she'll be safe. That's all you wanted, right? For her to be safe?"

". . . I'm not sure I like this."

"Well, I can't have you interfering with my plans, so if you've gone soft-"

"No, I'll continue. I see the value in what you're doing. I just wish we didn't have to cause so much grief."

"We are only unraveling the web she knit. If there are casualties, there's no one to blame but the dragon herself."