A bright flash erupted from the inside of my mind. After the explosion had died down, I saw that there were doors. Many of them. Each door had a symbol hand carved into the sleek wood. Some were tainted with white scratches that were slashed across them, as if someone had sliced through it once or twice. Some were blood red. I ignored those doors, and walked right on by. I continued on the suspended path that I had walked on almost each night. This was my mind, my dream; I could do whatever I wanted.

All of a sudden, I heard a voice, cold as sleet. It was like the voice I had heard in the back of my mind, the one I had thoughts in. Only it was deeper, wiser, and more confident than my usual cocky self. It spoke in an all knowing voice:

"Jake Long, you have been chosen."

I tilted my head and waited for it to continue, it wasn't in every dream that I saw something like this.

Again it spoke, "You have two choices you can perform: good, or bad. It is not a very hard choice. You are given this situation through your mother's heritage."

One of my eyebrows cocked. What the heck was this thing talking about?

"Like your ancestors, you have more than human blood and flesh. The other part of you, the part that is obviously not human, is dormant until you have made your choice"

I replied in an arrogant manner, "Yeah, well, can you speed things up a bit? I have a feeling I might be late for school and I'm not in the mood for another detention."

The voice chuckled, "Always the impatient dragon"

My eyes widened. Then they relaxed. After all this was just a dream, my dream anyway. I concentrated and tried to make the voice disappear, and after a few seconds I collapsed, obviously worn out. And the voice wouldn't go away. A buzzer was heard, and three scenes appeared in front of me. I just stared at them, unsure of my purpose here.

"Now, observe closely, for your decision will affect you, your life, and those around you."

On one path, was a crimson colored dragon rescuing a bright white unicorn that was being attacked by some ninjas. On that very same path, another scene materialized, showing the dragon fighting, but not trying to win, against one of the ninja girls. The next scene showed the dragon being scolded by an older blue dragon. The last scene of path one showed the dragon kissing that very same girl, before she vanished into the woods.

On the second path, I looked on as the red dragon flew over New York City, spitting fire into buildings every so often and crashing into towers. It shrieked and it sounded almost non-human as it stalked into a restaurant and ate some plates of chicken, destroying furniture as it walked. Following him was a team of dragons. There were many that were trying to stop him. Then the scene was engulfed in flames as the dragon roared into the sky.

I shivered. There was no way I wanted to watch something like that again. I almost shuddered a second time when the third path's scene was played. I admit that, as proud as I was, I was a bit scared, at the same time, captivated by the scenarios.

The third path showed a male adult, walking along as if nothing important in his life had happened. He whistled a happy tune as he walked into an office, and sat down.

I knew that job. That's the job of my dad. All three scenes became blank, but the paths were still there. They continued and stretched out until they couldn't be seen.

After a pause, the slightly annoying voice said "Jake, make your choice now, for the first and second dragon, and the third man, are your possible futures. Choose carefully, for each has outcomes that could either help or harm the world."

I was completely stunned. As in a mind blank. When I regained my senses, I realized that this voice was serious. I knew I had wanted for some adventure in my life, but I knew I had to think. The second choice was definitely out. I wasn't the kind of person that would try to do that. Well, maybe I'd do wrong if I chose the second path. But I was smarter than that. I looked away.

Automatically, the second path vanished, disintegrating into nothing.

The third choice was smart, because sometimes not being involved makes you not guilty. Then again, the choice was right there in front of me, and it would be my fault if I chose that path, and ended up not being able to help. I was that kind of person that didn't want a life like this. I turned away from that path.

I chose the first choice, and stepped onto the pathway. It was solid, and didn't melt away like the others. I walked for about a minute, then stopped and said,

"Hey, what do you think I'm supposed to do?"

There was no reply. I didn't feel alone. No not at all. In fact, feeling like someone is watching you is never the best feeling.

So I kept walking. Then the pathway shattered and I fell. Instantly, a blue flame surrounded my body and swallowed me up, then spit me out. It burned with a searing intensity and I screamed, so loud my voice echoed.

Two strong hands caught me, and I calmed down, enough to open my eyes. I almost screamed again when I saw two coal black eyes staring at me. The eyes belonged to a blue dragon. It was the same one I saw in the scenes of the first path.

The dragon had a trusting look, wise and old, yet so familiar. It said "Jake I'm proud of you. Now it's your turn. Make us proud."

It clicked. The dragons voice was the same one that I heard in the beginning of my dream. He put me down gently, and I asked him:

"Who are you?"

The dragon looked at me and smiled as he said, "I am the Chinese dragon. But to you, I am your grandfather. And you, Jake, are the protector of magical creatures, when the time comes, you will grasp your destined role as the American Dragon."

I looked at myself and saw smooth hands with somewhat blunt claws attached at the end. I had medium sized wings, and a plated belly. I even had a tail that I could move at will. Red scales covered my body.

I was that dragon I had watched in those scenes.

I was the protector of some magical beings.

I was who they went to for guidance, to act as a strong leader.

I was a dragon.

I was the American Dragon.

And I had Gramps there, guiding me along the way.