Ruby And The Little Red Dragon

Let the adventure begin

Ruby And The Little Red Dragon

Characters: Ruby, Brendon, Nov, Judy, Meinli, Liz The Red Dragon (short for Lizardracka) Grezilga �" (mother dragon) Dracko-Thunderwing- (dad dragon) and Earl (The vegetable huckster/ anthropologist)

One day, not far away from here and now, the large round sun filled with yellow sun beams burst out into the bright blue sky, went swimming in the cosmos all about, all the way down from way up high in the far away sky, bright and sunny, pretty as the day went by, as pretty as a day could be. It shot out beams of light in far directions with warming rays of day over the land of Dragon Trust, way down to the soft spongy ground where fun could always be found on Earth.

Ruby was on her way to school riding her orange motorized scooter. She always wore her helmet shaped like a torpedo with silver snaps on top. Her mom, Nov, made sure the leather chin strap was snug, tied nice and secure for her protection and she would always place a paper bag full of goodies for her lunch in the green straw basket mounted in front.

Thick wild grass laid like a carpet for miles and miles as far as the eye could see before her. Pink tiny flowers and purple heather filled in the landscape majesty, dotted it like freckles, here and there sparkling brightly on rolling hills and nearly perfect world. Ruby loved going up and down the gentle mounds on the thin dirt road which cut right through the center of the grass, lifting the cloudy dust from the scooter wheels, moving along safe and steady to class.

She passed by donkeys on the narrow road who were pulling a large raspberry colored cart full of vegetables filled to the very top, being moved off to the market place down in the valley below. The old bearded man called Earl was leading them slowly on over the winding path. He did not want to lose a single turnip or a carrot because they would be needed later on that evening for a soup at supper time.

The ruins of Preah Khan of Kompong Svay lay hidden in the jungles near Angkor Wat which reveals the grand history of the Khmer Empire and lost people. It was close at hand where the old man Earl was passing but he didn't want to lose time.

He didn't want to take any chances by having the overfilled cart taking a spill. His produce was very perishable so he had to move it along quite quickly, especially since the hour was getting late and after traveling such a long distance from the top for so many hours and under such stressful conditions. The rocks and twisting paths were unforgiving to old men and their ancient carts.  It would be a shame to have it spoil after all that hard work.  Side trips would have to wait. Kompon Svay will still be there tomorrow.

Just then, Ruby came whizzing by, kicking up dust behind her. The old man came to a complete stop to let her pass. He would go to the ruins another day on his way back home when he would have more time for discovery and fun.

A rather large spotted tan egg with blues and greens surrounding its shell, sat there on a rounded hill, a mound like structure and having nothing better to do, it cracked wide open suddenly. Out popped a little red dragon with a smile, flapping metallic wings waving hello and singing a dragon song.

The parents hovered up above their new hatched baby with shrieks of joy, metallic wings spread out massively in celebration, both breathing large breaths of fire into the air while they circled in harmony with nature, floating through rings of smoke of their own making.

It was a baby girl dragon. They would call her Liz. The baby dragon could not breath fire like her dad and mom. She was too young to smoke.

Ruby had just zoomed around Earl in a zigzag maneuver when she veered off the path, right up and over a fragment of the newly hatched egg shell, tumbled in the air a while then landed right on Liz's left wing. They were both so startled by what had just happened that they didn't know what to do or say. Ruby said, “Are you ok?”.... “and by the way... “who or what are you?” Liz didn't understand too much English being she was just born and stuff so she flapped her wings and smiled some more and yawned as if nothing was wrong. Ruby walked around her new found friend to size her up. It dawned on her it must be a dragon. It must have been the wings and scales that gave her away. Liz was a little confused and shy. She had never seen a human before. She looked up to see her parents still soaring above her weaving in and out of clouds. They were still busy celebrating her birthday from way up there.

Ruby liked talking so she talked some more. Old man Earl came running over yelling, “Is anyone hurt?” Dragon and child just smiled and shrugged their shoulders. Ruby said her scooter was broke. She was going to be late for school for sure. Earl offered to take them down in his raspberry cart. The little red dragon and Ruby jumped on top and off they went. The ride was a little bumpy but fun. The donkeys seemed to know what they were doing too.

The old man liked to talk. He told stories about his life and wife and his lost son Brendon who went off to fight in the war. He hadn't heard from him in years. He feared the worst. Just then Ruby shouted down from all the vegetables she was sitting on, What a coincidence!” “My dad is called Brendon.” Earl looked up at the child and said, “Do you think?” “Do you think?” “Could it be possible?” “Do you think your daddy could also be my lost son Brendon?” Ruby shouted, “There is one way to find out!”

Earl dropped his passengers off at the village school and continued on to the produce market. He would come back later that afternoon to drive them home, up Roller- coaster Mountain in his Chevy Impala. He only used his car on special occasions. Maybe today is his lucky day. It would be great to find and see his son again. The dragon would make a perfect show and tell today for Ruby's teacher and classmates to see.

They had fun all afternoon. The little red dragon took the children for a ride on her scaly back. One by one, one after another, the children would mount her via the long silky metallic red wings. The rear of the school has a very long playground and walled in yard. It was the perfect launch point for an up and coming dragon flier. She jumped higher and higher learning how to fly and getting better each time with each child. By the time Ruby's turn came around the little dragon had mastered flight. As soon as the little girl climbed on Liz's back they were up up and away over the schools high walls flying over the village and off into the surrounding countryside to play. It was already getting late. They almost forgot about Earl who would be waiting for them to drive them home.

Liz was becoming too large by now to fit inside the Impala. Dragons grow fast you know, especially mountain dragons who come from the land of Dragon Trust.

Liz would fly along side Earl and Ruby as they drove up the mountainside. It dawned on Earl that Ruby could very well be his granddaughter. If her dad, Brendon, turns out to be his missing son then she would definitely be his little grandchild. Anticipation grew as they drove higher and higher towards home. As they pulled into the driveway of Brendon and Nov's small cottage; two children, Meinli, her brother and Judy her older sister where playing soccer in the yard.

The yard split open all of a sudden. The soccer ball disappeared. All the grass and flowers sunk into the brown crusty dirt, was swallowed up by the Earth at the moment of the earthquake's first horrific trembling. Earl caught Meinli by the wrist before he could be gobbled up by dirt and rocks. He held fast to the wooden fence with his other hand and would not let go at any cost. Dragon Liz reacted quickly too; caught Judy by her paint legs between the massive teeth, pulled her from a growing hole collapsing all around her. Judy found herself upside down and screaming for her life, being held by the mouth of a perfect stranger, namely Liz, our little dragon friend was disconcerting.

Brendon and Nov came out of the house yelling What's the matter? What's happening? Brendon dropped his lap top computer running through the door and quickly took hold of his 3 children to comfort them. They all ran quickly to an open field near by for safety.

Strange things happen in Cambodia when you least expect it. After a few minutes the earth settled down from shaking violently. Over several hours a few tremors could be felt. The house was still intact but new cracks appeared on the exterior surface to give their old home a new found purpose, something with character, something to talk about in the future with friends and family.

Thank God no one was hurt. Fear turned into joy turned into hunger. Nov had prepared a giant pot of rice but it was now all over the walls and floor of the cottage due to the earthquake. She quickly gathered the children to clean up the broken dishes and lost food while she set about making chicken and dumplings for everyone.

Old man Earl was so busy surviving and saving people that he almost forgot the reason for his visit. He instantly recognized the young man in front of him. It was Brendon! It was his only son! He ran to him with tears of joy and happiness. Brendon was just as shocked to see his dad again after such a long time. He grabbed his best friend, his dad and gave him a big hug.

Liz was happy too. She quickly flew off to find her parents. Grezilga �" (mother dragon) Dracko-Thunderwing- (her dad.) They all came back to Brendon's place to celebrate the day. They flew in circles around the little farm house. They danced in the air for hours, blew fire and smoke rings to the joy and merriment of all, to the applause and cheers of their new found human friends on roller coaster Mountain.

Earl and his son Brendon began a wonderful undertaking together on the mountain. They started at the very top one day. It was a roller-coaster project on Roller-coaster Mountain; a ride with rail and tracks, equipped with rubber feather bumpers. They constructed egg shaped copper compartments in 2 sections where the bottom interior section is spherical in shape. The top section closes over the passengers enclosing them in a complete sphere inside the carriage with an oval shaped exterior, with iron wheels traveling over silver rail tracks.

The dragon family helped to move heavy material and equipment from the village below. Every day they would carry heavy bundles of supplies to the top to help the humans with their work.

The roller coaster had no brakes so once it was released at the top their was no stopping it. There were a couple of mounds it would go over on the way down which would slow it down a little. There were many sheep and cows who could easily get in the way of the carriages so Brendon designed a rubber feathery wedge to be installed at the front of the coaster to move the animals to the side as it roared on down the mountain side.

The return trip was a little tricky. The mountain was steep and bumpy. Earl and Brendon built a small motorized engine that attached to the carriage. It would tow it to the top slowly but surely.

For fun on Sundays, old man Earl would drive the family to the top of the mountain in his Chevy Impala. They would all take the roller-coaster ride down to the village below. There was a magnificent zoo with new creatures added every week. This week they could see and play with the snow white panda cubs from Indonesia. We understand they like to eat bamboo shoots. Liz would fly us around town later in the day to go shopping. We felt comfortable and free spirited flying on her back. It was cheaper than a taxi and much more friendly I might add.

Author's Note

I wrote this story for my first granddaughter Ruby who was just born.