Adventures of Windi West: A Dragons Tale
There once lived a girl that was born Duct Taped to a Dragon.
Go ahead, read it again……….
Anyways, she was not a Dragon herself but just a plain looking fair skinned child with dark brown hair and green eyes. An otherwise ordinary little girl that was indeed stuck to a Dragon. She called herself Windi and she most often addressed her companion as “Dragon”. You see, Dragons don’t speak and they don’t wear name collars either (or at least this one didn’t) and given that her Dragon didn’t have any friends aside from her she had never heard him called anything other than Dragon. Furthermore, officially naming him like this seemed fairly safe since she had never met another Dragon and besides, even IF someday they did happen across another one and even IF his name already happened to be Dragon there were plenty of kids on the playground with the same name and they seemed to survive just fine. As for Windi, well, she could never get her Dragon confused for another because her Dragon would always be the one that she was Duct Taped to. So after a lengthy and healthy debate with herself, on that day, so very many years ago it was decided. “Dragon” it would be.
Life on a Dragons’ tail might not be a common birthday wish and while it certainly had its ups and downs it wasn’t an entirely awful life to have. I mean after all there were starving children in Africa, girls & boys stuck in their Great Aunts dark attics, Grandmothers that had to walk miles to and from school each day when they were young and it was uphill both ways. Just think, there are Orphaned Annie’s, A Man trapped in the belly of a whale, there was that raggedy little girl, Nute, that was stuck on a planet infested with Aliens that have Acid for blood, and even poor tiny Dutch children forced to wear hand-me-down wooden shoes one size too small. That last thought made Windi quiver a little.
“I would hate wooden shoes!!” Windi suddenly exclaimed.
Dragon just kept steadily beating his wings against the cool dusk air without notice. For it was completely normal for little Windi to blurt out her thoughts mid-stream.
“In fact, I don’t care for shoes at all!! I rather enjoy feeling the world around me with my toes. I can feel the warmth of the sun, the tickle of the grass, the firmness of solid rock, or the faintness of a summers breeze…..” Windi began to drone on and on about all the plus sides to not wearing shoes. Dragon exhaled lightly and gave Windy a brief glance. Slowly rolling his eyes he returned to watching his flight forward. “Oh NO, don’t you pretend you disagree with me!!” Windi was pointing her finger now. “ I have never seen you so much as try on a pair of shoes.” Dragon quickly turned and gave her a quizzical look. At that moment Windi tried to picture such a shoe, shaped and sized for a Dragon…. but stubbornly forcing back the urge to giggle she quickly retorted: “Well, come on, I have never even seen you look in a store window longingly at a pair of shoes. You know.. Like, as if you WISHED they were Dragon shaped” She crossed her arms and looked the other way firmly pursing her lips so that the silly mental picture of her Dragon with shoes on wouldn’t slip out. Just then, Dragon gave a little chuckle. His large belly jiggled and this always caused his tail to roll a bit which was much like what Windi imagined a roller coaster would start like and she couldn’t hold it anymore. A squeak escaped Windi’s mouth and the smile won its way to the top, exploding across her face. At that moment Dragon abruptly increased his speed, carved thru the air towards the left and added in a couple exhilarating twirls. Now Windy was full of squeals and laughter. Against the wind and between giggles Windy happily shouted “I have my very own Roller Coaster” Besides Roller Coasters there were plenty of other wonderful things about being strapped to a Dragons tail. Like experiencing so much more of the world then just one playground like the other children she often watched, or growing up in the same neighborhood, marrying the boy next door and working down the street at the local grocery store. “Seriously, how blaise” Windi questioned. Dragon raised his eyebrow while scouting for a place to land. “We could fly anywhere………” tapping her chin Windi continued excitedly “Dragon! We could fly to the North Pole to meet Santa!” Windi gleamed with excitement at her sudden idea but Dragon cringed and then began to shiver at the thought of all that snow. Now, you must understand that Dragons are pretty long and when you are Duct Taped to their tale you can see the shiver coming as it travels from the snout and unavoidably towards you. There is that quick moment where your stomach sinks all the way to your feet in anxious anticipation before the force of the tail rapidly sling shots your lunch back up towards your mouth. If you’re lucky it stops as a hard knot in the top of your throat. Today, Windi was not lucky.
After a few choking sounds and a couple coughs Windi managed to speak “Okay, that is definitely going down in the ‘Cons’ column on my list for debating Life on a Dragons tale.” Dragon flashed a small apologetic expression with a little shrug of the shoulder but Windi was pretty sure he wasn’t all that sorry. “Can we find a place to rest? My tummy doesn’t feel good and I don’t want to lose my breakfast too” Windi practiced her coy smile, batting her eyelids she put her hands together against the side of her chin and tried her best to look adorable. But Dragon wasn’t even looking, he seemed to be intently gazing down and circling back around like he does when he…..
“Oh No, it’s Tuesday” she instinctively closed her eyes and covered her face.
Just then Dragon suddenly dropped straight towards the ground with incredible speed like a missile locked on to its target.
“Why do Dragons have to eat?” Windi asked herself rhetorically. Keeping her face covered Windi struggled to think of a safer place to go to.
“Exotic Island? The beach on a warm summer day? The top of a mountain with the mist rolling in?” Windi shook her head and started over. “Ugh, let’s try Christmas. Yes, Christmas”
——————-
I’m so excited I can’t sit still. We are all gathered around the tree on Christmas morning. It’s my 2 year old brother turn and he is reaching under the tree for my present that I specially picked out and wrapped for him.
Wait; let’s do a 5 year old brother.
Yes, that would be more fun.
My 5 year old brother snags up the present and flashes me a big smile. He has recently been able to read names and he was scrounging around under the tree all last week checking tags. I think he has an idea already of what I picked. With an enormous grin on his face he rips into the present eagerly.
——————–
The thrashing about often made it difficult for Windi to keep her face covered and eyes closed. She tried so desperately not to connect but as a helpless passenger bound to the end of a feeding Dragons tale the frenzy began to force her eyes open. She held on tight and stubbornly pinched her eyes closed again. “Ugh! Go to a happy place Windi. Think Christmas, Christmas, Christmas……..”
Just then the bellowing voice of her angry mother broke abruptly through her imagination.
“Windi!!! It’s dinner time and if you don’t get your butt in her in the next 30 seconds to set the table I’m coming out to that tree to get you.”
Opening her eyes she began to hastily unbind herself from the large tree branch she had been perched in out in the front yard. Frantically she spoke to herself “Oh no, my imagination went wild on me AGAIN and I lost track of time.” After releasing herself she quickly climbed down the tree. Brushing the leaves off and adjusting her hair she quickly tried to look presentable. Shrugging she told herself “At least my mom yelled right when my adventure was turning south. I’m not sure I could have handled much more of a Dragon feeding frenzy”. Giggling she skipped off towards the house.
I hope you enjoyed Windi’s first Adventure
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