Seth and Ryan Find a Baby Dragon

Seth and Ryan were outside playing in their backyard. It was just after dinner and the summer sun was still high in the sky. They were chasing one another around the big, wooden swing set when they heard a funny noise coming from the far corner of the garden. It sounded like a cross between a snort and a squeal. Being very curious five-year-old boys, the twins scurried over to check it out. Around the pansies they went, then through the daisies, around the big thorny rosebush, and finally under and behind the rhododendron bush they found it. It was a baby dragon, its big, frightened silvery eyes shining in the shadow of the large bush.

Well, Seth and Ryan were so excited that they started to yell and bounce around the poor dragon, which was about the same size as they were. He backed up against the house, his little mouth and nose puffing out smoke with each frightened breath. (Being a baby dragon, he couldn’t breathe fire yet).

Finally, Seth and Ryan realized that the dragon wasn’t having fun like they were. Ryan stopped first and asked the dragon, “What’s wrong? Don’t be scared. We won’t hurt you. Are you hungry?” He turned to Seth and said, “I bet he’s hungry. Quick, let’s get him something to eat!”

The boys ran quickly into the house and found their big sister, Kate. She was 10 years old, almost a grown up and very smart. “Katie,” said Ryan, “What do dragons eat?”

“Dragons?” she asked. “Everyone knows that dragons eat cows, silly.” Katie laughed and continued on her way, shaking her head at the silliness of small boys.

Seth and Ryan looked at each other, wondering how they were going to get a cow into their back yard without their mom and dad noticing it. They thought about it for a long, long time. Finally, Ryan got an idea. “Meat comes from cows, right? Let’s give him some meat loaf. I think there is still some in the fridge from last night’s dinner. Mom won’t even notice that it’s gone.”

Seth asked, “Is meatloaf a cow? I’m not sure, Ry, you know how mad Mom gets when we take stuff from the kitchen.”

Suddenly, they heard another snort and looked around. The baby dragon had followed them and was standing outside the sliding glass door, watching them, his big eyes so sad and lonely that the boys couldn’t resist opening the door to let him in. Ryan dug through the refrigerator and took out all of the meat he could find. He put it on a big plate and stuck it in the microwave, because he knew that no one likes their dinner cold, even dragons. He pushed some random buttons, frowned at the microwave, pushed his glasses higher up on his nose, pushed another button and smiled as it started.

The boys turned their full attention back to the creature, noticing that he had left muddy footprints on the floor. Seth sprang into action, looking under the sink for the soap and grabbing the dishcloth off the top of the sink. The soap was the stuff his mom used to wash the dishes, so he figured that it would work just fine on the floor. He poured some soap on the floor and started scrubbing with the dishcloth. When the floor looked clean, he nodded, satisfied, and put the dishcloth and soap back where he had found them.

The microwave started to beep, so Ryan pulled up a stool and pulled the plate out – OUCH!!!! That was hot! He dropped the plate to the counter, sloshing the meat juices all over the place and looked at the mess with a critical eye, softly biting on his lower lip as he wondered how to fix it so that Mom wouldn’t notice the mess, or the new crack in her favorite plate. He noticed the hot pads sitting next to the stove and took two of them, lifting the plate up without burning his hands this time and succeeded in getting the food to the floor with no further mishaps.

The dragon hungrily started to eat, snorting and growling as he chomped down every last bite. When he was done, he looked up at the boys as if to thank them for the lovely meal.

“We should take him back,” Seth whispered, “I bet his mom is looking for him, you know how upset our mom gets when she can’t find us.”

Ryan agreed and they gathered up their courage with a deep breath, put their hands out and touched that dragon. He was cool to the touch; his shiny blue tinted scales were smooth, like a snake’s scales. Ryan even ran a hand along his underbelly, finding it to be soft and leathery. Once they got over the wonder of touching an actual dragon; Seth pulled and Ryan pushed, until they finally got him back outside, where he belonged.

They coaxed him over to the corner of the yard where they had found him, and both of their jaws dropped in amazement. There was a lovely lady standing there, smiling at the boys. She had long flowing red hair adorned with a crown of leaves and flowers almost but not quite covering her small pointed ears. She wore a gown of the lightest blue imaginable, which was shimmery and glowing at the same time. Her eyes were the same pale silver as the dragon’s and her skin was almost white, with a slight blue tint to it.

The lady spoke and it sounded like a sweet lullaby that they had heard somewhere long ago. “You are very brave little boys to take care of a dragon, you know,” she said, “My name is Lady Aislynne (Ash-lin) and I have come to take this little one home.”

The boys stared at the lady, not knowing what to say; they had never seen anyone like her before. Ryan remembered that in a story, a knight had to bow to a lady. He wanted very badly to be a knight, so he bowed deeply and motioned to Seth to do the same. “My lady,” he said importantly, wanting very much to sound like a brave strong knight instead of a little boy, “the little one was no trouble at all. We gave him some supper and were hoping to help him find his mother.”

Lady Aislynne smiled again and said, “You have found her, Sir Knight. Might I know the names of the brave and noble heroes who have cared for my precious little one while he was lost?”

Seth squared his little shoulders and spoke softly, feeling very small as he looked up at her lovely face, “My name is Seth and this is Ryan. We live here. What is the dragon’s name, please, my lady?”

“Sir Seth, his name is Tearlach (Tair-la). Sir Seth and Sir Ryan, my, what noble names you have, you must certainly be the bravest knights in all the land, to face a dragon unarmed as you did. Even a baby dragon can be dangerous, little ones.” She leaned down and gave each of the boys a kiss on the check. “I do thank you for your service, Sir Knights, and would welcome you to my home whenever you wish to visit.”

She waved her hand and suddenly two shiny dragon scales appeared, each a brilliant blue color with a small, oval stone exactly the silvery color of her eyes right in the middle. She plucked them out of the air, knelt down in front of the boys and held out the scales to them. “Put these somewhere very safe children. When you are not touching the scales, they will look like ordinary seashells, but if you touch the center stone and make a wish, you may come to visit us. Just remember that you have to come together and must leave together as well. Now, it’s time for Tearlach and I to go home, please do come visit. He is just a baby now, but he is growing so fast, soon he will be able to talk and take the shape of a boy child. I know he would love to have friends such as you to talk to as he grows.” She ruffled each of the boy’s blond hair as she gracefully rose back to her feet.


Lady Aislynne began to shimmer, her shape began to change and suddenly, she was a beautiful shiny blue dragon. She began to grow, quickly, and scooped up the baby with her large snout and spread her leathery wings to fly home. Seth and Ryan watched her until she was just a speck in the sky and finally disappeared altogether. Without a word, they turned and walked back into the house, absently rubbing the scales that Lady Aislynne had left with them and wondering when they would have time to visit her and their new friend Tearlach.

Just as they got back to the porch, they heard a squeal and a loud crash coming from the kitchen. They ran inside as fast as they could and stopped short at what they saw. Mom was on the floor glaring at them. The cracked plate was broken: Mom had landed on it when she slid on the soap left over from Seth’s clean up. There was still mud on the floor, meat juices all over the floor and counter and a very muddy dishcloth sitting in the sink.

Mom said one word. “BED!!!” She emphatically pointed toward their bedroom, still glaring furiously. The boys slunk to their room, wondering how they were going to explain the mess to Mom because she would never believe that a baby dragon had been in their house. They got ready for bed slowly, talking all the while about Tearlach and the Lady.

When she had finished cleaning everything and calmed down, Mom came into the room and gave them each a hug and a kiss goodnight. “I saw a footprint that you missed when you were trying to clean up,” she said with a smile. “Did you find a stray dog outside? He must have looked very sad and hungry.” She paused for a moment and looked at each of them very seriously. “Boys, helping stray dogs or cats is a very kind thing to do and I’m so proud of you for wanting to take care of animals, but in the future, you need to talk to me or Dad before getting any food out of the kitchen or using the microwave. And if you do find a stray to feed, it needs to stay outside.”

“Mom,” Ryan said, “It was a baby dragon! We found a baby dragon in the backyard, not a dog.”

“Yes, Mom,” added Seth in an excited voice, “A real, live baby dragon, with silvery eyes and blue scales. He was scared but we took care of him and his mom thanked us! She thought we were knights!”

“You have the most wonderful imaginations. Now, it’s time for you to get some sleep,” Mom said with a smile as she left the room. The boys looked at one another and smiled, thinking of Lady Aislynne, Tearlach and the adventures they would have, as they closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep.