Hello, eager readers! So far, we have met Luna, and we have met Josephine. Now, who is up for seeing what kind of adventures they can go on?
It was ridiculously bright outside. The sun was poking its way through the lush deciduous trees; the birds were chirp-chirp-chirping; the chipmunks were scampering around Luna's large claws as she and Josephine lumbered down to the creek. There was a hint of a breeze every once and a while, but other than that, it was scorching hot outside, especially for an arctic creature and her black-scaled friend. Luna panted as she walked, careful not to stomp on any chipmunks as they went along, and Josephine tried desperately to keep their moods up until the cool water was reached.
"Did you have any fantastical dreams last night, Luna?" she asked, with utmost cheer in her voice.
"No, Josephine. I had a bleak and dreamless sleep." Luna responded, docile and monotone.
Silence then hung in the air while Josephine thought of what next to say. "Well, my dream was pretty interesting. Do you want to hear about it?"
" If you want to tell it little seal." The large dragon responded, still not very engaged in the conversation.
Josephine was slightly downed by this dull answer, but she would not let it stop her; she had a story to tell. "I was a dragon!" Excitement filled her little voice. "I was long and sleek. I could breathe fire. And I flew higher than the mountains! It was amazing." The little seal bounced with joy; it seemed as though she was reliving the dream again. "I lived in a large cavern and had so many dragon friends. They were all sorts of colors: purple ombre, red velvet, ocean green, and I was whiter than snow!" Her story stopped with Luna's footsteps. "Luna?"
Silence answered the seal pup. Overall, Luna did not talk much. Being a wise, old, dragon, she knew how to weight her words. But at this moment, she was much more silent than usual. It made Josephine uneasy.
She asked again, "Luna? What's wrong? We haven't made it to the creek yet, have we?" She peeked around her friend's claw and noted that they had not. They were actually fairly far off from the creek. Josephine also noticed the chipmunks had long since stopped their scampering and were nowhere to be found. Listening to the quiet, Josephine heard a lack of chirping. Their world stood still for the obsidian dragon. Trying again, Josephine nudged her claw, "Luna? What's wrong? Is it something I said?"
"Dragons do not have friends."
The young seal was taken aback. "I'm your friend. You are a dragon, aren't you?"
Again, silence answered her.
"Luna?" Josephine was now becoming impatient.
"Let's play hide and seek," Luna said matter-of-factly.
Confused, Josephine responded, "Hide and seek?"
And with that, Luna beat her fantastical wings and was gone.
"I guess I'm counting first," Josephine said to herself with fear in her voice. "One," she walked as she counted. "Two," might as well get to the creek. "Three," it was still much too hot out for an arctic seal. "Four," she lumbered down to the shore. "Five," the babbling of the water was within ear-shot. "Six," but Luna's wing-beats were not. "Seven," how peculiar. "Eight," Josephine wondered just what it was that caused her to want to play such a game. "Nine," and right in the middle of her story. "Ten," and what about that friend comment? "Ready or not here I come!" Josephine continued to lumber toward the shore.
She hit the clearing and saw nothing. Well, nothing out of the ordinary. There were the trees that lined the opposite beach. The rocks that protruded out of the water every so often. There was the waterfall. But, wait, what was that in the waterfall? That was out of the ordinary. Josephine, being the curious seal that she is, went to investigate at full speed. As she got closer, she noticed something; it did not look like an ordinary rock. It was much blacker than any rock she'd ever seen. In fact, it was much blacker than just about anything she had ever seen. Except, then she was there. She saw it, and just as she had suspected, it was Luna's tail. Her fins were some beautiful mix of green and blue, almost like the ocean; she was afraid and displeased. What had happened? Josephine thought they were playing. And where was the rest of this large dragon? Surely not underwater, or logged magically into the side of the cliff.
Josephine hopped on Luna's tail and followed it. She took care to not hurt her friend's fins and when she passed through the waterfall, she was surprised to find that the tail went right through the ivy leaves to the other side of the cliff-face. Confused, she followed on. The ivy leaves parted at her snout, and she found the rest of Luna in a large, and colorful cave.
"Here is where I awoke. Dragons are not born. We have no mothers to nurture us; we have no fathers to discipline us. Dragons simply come into existence for some purpose. That purpose is found on the walls you see here. These hieroglyphs and pictures. They are the stories of my fellow dragons; this is my history. From this, I must find my future. The thing is Josephine," The large dragon turned her head to look into the eyes of her only companion, "Dragons have not had friends for millions of years. We are reverent; we are fought; we are feared; we are avoided. And since we are not born, and we do not have family of our own, we are alone all of our lives. What we have here, well, it is something no dragon has ever experienced. It is new. And for something that has been alive for centuries, that is saying something." A small smile curled on Luna's lips, and some yellow was splashed into the color of her fins. "You are right, Josephine. We are friends, but I have never had a friend before. No dragon has. For this, you must pardon my shortcomings."
Silence answered the magnificent beast. Josephine, for once, paused and meditated before speaking. The silence was not uneasy this time. It was understanding; it was understood. "Well, Luna, I will forgive such shortcomings. And as your first and only friend, I will be patient with you. You see, seals are quite the opposite, we are very social creatures. We are chatty; we are playful; we chase and are chased; we are adored. The thing is you will also have to be patient with me. With my rash decisions, impulsive behaviors, and constant need for play, you must be patient with me as I am patient with you."
"That, is something dragons are very good at." Luna's sweet voice poured back.
"Now, back to business." Josephine pronounced in all seriousness, "It's your turn to count." And with that, she was giggling and gallivanting off to find the very best hiding spot for such a small, white, seal.
"One..."
