The song 'the house at pooh corner' belongs to Kenny Loggins or whoever...
Kenta woke in the clammy little upstairs room, eyes wide and aching all over. One thing was different this morning: There was no music coming from the block corner.
He heard a noise beneath his window and opened it, hanging over the ledge inquisitively. Les was walking by with his guitar over his shoulder like a baseball bat, staring up at the window quietly.
He broke into a grin at the sight of Kenta.
"Hey, son. Was wondrin' when you'da been up. Came by ta check on ya."
"How bad was the damage to the general store?"
"Gen'ral store? Ah don't remember no damage ta the gen'ral store. Don't know what you's talkin' bout, kid."
"No. Remember? There was a dragon."
Les stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Huh. I don't remember no dragons, son, but ah tell ya, them's creatures ya don't wanna mess 'round wit."
"There was a dragon, Les! In the general store!"
Les glared at him. "See here, nah. If there was a dragon this town'd been rubble bah now. Not ta mention nobody'd believe ya."
Kenta figured Les was continuing with the earthquake act. "Oh, yeah, it was an earthquake, right Les?"
"There weren't no earthquake at ta general store, but it's a better story'n yer dragon. Kids like you don't need ta be messin' round wit them mythicle critters. Ain't need ta be believin' in em, neither. Keeps ya outta a whole lotta trouble, Ah tell ya that, son."
Les didn't remember the dragon.
"Seeya later. Ter's a street corner callin mah name. And, uh..." Les paused and looked up at him. "You're a brave boy, ya know that?" He winked at Kenta and left.
Kenta went downstairs to get the paper. The earthquake would be in the news.
The earthquake was not in the news.
"Madoka, there was an earthquake yesterday, right?" Kenta asked carefully.
Madoka flipped her pancake on the griddle. "No, why do you ask?"
"But-but the wall of the general store got busted! The ceiling too! An-and the guy at the counter fainted!"
"No, Kenta, you were probably dreaming. You were yelling something last night...something like, 'WHOA OH WHOA WHOA WHOA'? Is that what you mean?"
So it had all been a dream then? Kenta couldn't quite believe it.
"Oh...okay."
"You should check on Sagittario today. At least clean it off. It's been on that shelf for the past two months."
Kenta consented, absentmindedly. He sat at the table as his pancakes got cold, thinking about what Les had said that morning.
"You're a brave boy, ya know that?"
Christopher Robbin and i walked along
under branches lit up by the moon
posing our questions to owl and Eeyore
as our days disappear all to soon
but I've wandered much further today than i should
and i can't seem to find my way back to the wood
so help me if you can I've gotta get
back the the house at pooh corner by one
you'd be surprised there's so much to be done
count all the bee's in the hive
chase all the clouds from the sky
back to the days of Christopher Robbin and pooh
The music floated through the window in the kitchen and Kenta had an idea. If he couldn't figure out what Les had meant, maybe he should just ask him.
He ate the cold pancakes and raced down the sidewalk barefoot as the strains of another song rose into the air.
We will fly way up high
Where the cool winds blow
Or in the sun laughing having fun
With all the people that we know
If the situation should keep us separated
I know the world won't fall apart
You will free the beautiful bird
Caught inside your heart
"Oh, hey again, son...ahem...Can you see her? oh she flies so proud...ehrm...nevermind. How ya doin?" Les leaned in and gazed into Kenta's eyes. "You ain't feelin poorly, is ya? Not scorched er nothin?"
"N-no, Les. What happened last night?"
"Oh, that ain't my part ta tell, boy. Ya see this right here?" He gestured to himself. "This is a none-a yer bizness suit. Get it?" He chuckled, and added, "Besides, I ain't so sure mahself. It ain't our place ta explain the doin's o' tha universe cos' we'll prob'ly git it wrong nohow."
"Okay. But what happened was real, right?"
"Ah told you son, Ah don't know. It were a dream, and it weren't a dream. It never happened an' it's a-time ta get on wit what you was doin."
"Okay. Les, do you know any songs about dragons?"
"Aw, dragons is feisty creatures, Ah kin tell ya that much. But ah do know a song ah picked up from mah granddaughter loooong timeago. She made it up, ah tell ya. Cindy was her name and her momma added a verse or two. Lemme see if ah can remember it."
Les hemmed and hawed and hummed and then he said: "Ah, I got it nah. Sure as them clouds is movin' ah got it."
Way up 'bove in my own lil' world lived a dragon so proud and so bold
He flew in tha sky just's high as the sun and his scales was a-shimm'rin like gold...
The song had a lilting, Southern feel to it.
One day that dragon laid a egg on a cloud and it fell right through to the earth.
It landed in my backyard and I picked it up and I tell you it hatched,
oh I tell you it hatched,
Little dragon beneath my bed
Open your eyes up sleepyhead,
Learn to fly and be so free
There's a great-a-many things you could learn ta be.
Les paused to refresh his memory, strumming a few chords on the guitar. "Here we go, nah, son."
I walked that dragon around the park
when the sun went down and it got all dark
cause I knew if anyone else should see,
they'd take mah baby away from me.
He learned to be quite and eat from my hand
and not shoot flames at the ceiling
Baby don't shoot flames at no ceiling, now...
Little dragon hiding under the bed,
don't you worry your little head.
There ain't no force on this world, you see,
that could ever take you away from me.
My dragon got big, and he got pretty smart
he flew out at night by himself to the park.
He'd always come back at the break of the day
because my little baby'd never fly too far away.
But dragons ain't meant to be on their own,
no they can't stand to be so alone.
One day I looked up and he was flyin' away
to find his own kind
His own kind in the hills where they hide...
Les drew a shaky breath and finished the song quietly.
Little dragon gone from under my bed
To go and find his pack where they've hid
It was fun when you got to stay here with me,
but with your own kind was where you're meant ta be.
There's a hole in my heart where you used to be
but maybe someday you'll fly back ta me...
Les wiped his eyes quietly.
"An' Cindy's all grown up now and workin' that gen'ral store down in the South...that song'll always remind me a' her." He looked down at Kenta. "What'd ya think? Cindy's a reg'lar musician. Ain't meant ta be in that there gen'ral store. Should be at a music college. Lemme tell ya somethin', boy."
He leaned down close to Kenta.
"Tha reason Ah play on this corner all tha time? I'm sendin' the money back ta Cindy when ah gets enough so someday she kin go ta college and learn music. 'Cause she ain't meant ta be in a lil' town. Cindy was meant for great things. And so're you. Come ta think of it, boy..."
Les drew back and cocked his head at Kenta.
"Isn't you a blader? Where's yer beyblade? Ya used to play down't the park wit the other kids but you ain't goin' there no more since ya got back here. Ah remembers it, and ah remembers it real well, son."
Kenta flicked his gaze down shyly. "Well...my friend...you see, the one the dragon that wasn't was looking for last night?"
"Yeh."
"He gave me his bey spirit. I haven't been able to touch my beyblade since, and he's gone now..." tears welled up in Kenta's eyes.
"Bey spirit? Mah boy, it's the reason he hain't come back none! You cain't come back'n blade 'nless ya has a spirit! And it ain't bein' used! If it belongs ta you, ya should be usin' it so maybe it'll grow and he can fine'ly return once 'e has enough. You better get your beyblade and head to the stadium, son, Win ya some tournaments and then give 'im a chance. Dragons usually fins their own ways ta come back. They got a partic'lar way o' beatin nature, Ah tell ya. Git." Les flapped his hands at him.
Kenta stood and ran back to Madoka's workshop, filled with a sudden hope. He clutched the marble in his pocket as he ran, the hot pavement beating against his bare feet, and swung around the corner as Les's voice filled the air.
"Dragon hidin' neath mah bed,
open yer eyes up, sleepyhead.
Spread them wings and learn ta fly
and you'll get by."