"BONE!"
Fone Bone turned around and found Miz Possum, with her kids and Miz Hedgehog jogging up the hill in his direction, worry and relief etched on all their furry faces. "Bone! There you are!" cried Miz Possum. "We came as fast as we could! Are you alright?"
"Yay!" cheered the littlest possum, while the other two echoed, "He's safe!"
Fone Bone bent over, wincing from the burns and his possibly-twisted ankle, to let the little ones run straight into his open arms for a hug. He felt so relieved that they were safe that every injury he received was the least of his worries. "I'm okay..." he said, hugging them all. "I had a little run-in with a dragon, but the important thiung is that we're all safe!"
"A dragon? Really?" squeaked a little possum, while the other exclaimed, "Get outta town!"
"See how he is with th' kids?" Miz Possum told Miz Hedgehog, smiling. "He's always got a story! It's not enough that he chased off those bullies…now he's turned it into a yarn with a dragon in it!"
Miz Hedgehog giggled. "Isn't that precious?"
"Hm?" Fone Bone was only half-listening when he looked up. "What was that?"
"Oh!" Miz Possum turned and gave a reassuring wave. "I'm sorry, Bone! Tee hee! Go ahead an' tell th' boys about th' ferocious fire-breathing dragon!"
"Yeah, tell us!" One of the little possum boys climbed on his burnt nose. "Were you scared?"
"Of course I was!" Exclaimed Fone Bone, cross-eyed at the kid.
"He's so modest!" Whispered Miz Possum.
"And brave!" Added Miz Hedgehog with a sigh.
"What happened, Fone Bone?" Squeaked the baby possum climbing over his nose. "Did you kill th' dragon?"
"What happened to your hat?" The second baby possum pointed. "Did the dragon do it?"
"He's pulling our tails!" Said the third baby possum, pulling at his own tail excitedly. "Everybody knows dragons are make believe." Then he paused, thinking. "Aren't they?"
"Uh…"
"That's enough questions for now," called Miz Possum. "Uncle Bone must be very tired. Let's all go home where it's warm and safe…" The baby possum all leapt out of Fone Bone's arms and surrounded their mother, "and then Bone can tell us all about his adventure!"
"Maybe he'd like to stop and clean up first," Miz Hedgehog suggested.
"Oh, yes! By all means! There's a nice hot springs just back over th' hill! Why don't you stop there to freshen up!" Said Miz Possum to Fone Bone as the family turned to leave. "C'mon along, boys! Say thank you to uncle Bone!"
"Thank you!" Chorused the boys, before they trotted along. One of them piped up innocently, "Did he really see a dragon?"
"Now dear…"
Fone Bone watched them leave, smoke still sizzling from his head.
"Hmmf! Did too see a dragon!" grumbled Fone Bone, stomping down the snowy hill with annoyance. He slid down a slippery slope, grabbing a dangling branch for balance. "What'd they think? That I lit my own head on fire to keep warm?!"
He kept sliding, faster past the rocks and trees when a thought suddenly came to him in his rant. "An' how come the dragon knew I was baby-sitting th' possum kids?" He wondered aloud. "What's he doin'? Followin' me around?" He came to a halt on flatter snow and stood.
The thought did not sit well with him. He remembered back last autumn when he had still be in the desert, covered in a darkness on a moonless night. With nothing but a lit match lighting a cigarette…from a dragon's mouth.
Had that been the same dragon, from all the way back before reaching this valley?
Fone Bone looked over his shoulder, uneasily. For all he knew the dragon, large and hefty and red as he was, could be following him right this moment, spying on his from the trees disguised as a nearby boulder.
Well, that's just great. First he and cousins were run out of their home, he loses those same cousins in a swarm of locusts of all things, he gets hunted down by overgrown rat monsters, trapped for the winter, and now he's get stalked by a walking, talking mythical creature who set his head on fire with just a puff from his head-sized nostrils.
"This place is too weird!" groaned Fone Bone, feeling the stress catch up with him. "It's gettin' me all in a twist and no way out! The first sign of spring I see…Pow! I'm takin' off. Right through those mountains, with or without my cousins!"
SNAP! Fone Bone halted in a crouch, wide-eyed. His heart pounded nervously.
"Uh-oh, what was that?" He breathed, listening for more sounds, his eyes darting around nervously.
From behind the nearest tree, Fone Bone crawled over and peered beyond the hill of snow.
And stared.
It was a girl. A human girl, walking across a log bridging a steaming hot springs. She was heavily bundled in winter coats, carrying a bucket.
Her hair was long and golden-brown.
She's…
Fone Bone continued staring.
She was humming a lovely tune as she set down her bucket in the snow. Then she started undoing her strings.
W-W-What is she…
Her baggy pants dropped to her ankles. One bare leg extended, smooth and sleek.
"…"
His mouth went dry. His whole body heated up...
Poof!
Then his hat exploded into flames.