Third Completed Story

 I've completed my third story since deciding to actively write again. Much like the others, I don't have a title for it and it is very much unfinished. It took me three days, and I'm rather proud of it. I already know how I'm going to make it better, and that's something that's new to me. As I finish more stories, I'll have to come to terms with my fear about editing my own work. I've honestly never really done it. Sure, a word or a sentence here and there. But I've never bothered with a full piece. I'm going to do it though. I'm going to edit the shit out of this story and all my other stories, and I'm going to be a better writer for it. But for now, here's a story about dragons.... sort of:

A little girl sat down next to an old man who had a box in his lap. "What's in the box? A turtle?" She asked, swinging her legs back and forth. "Of a sort," said the old man. He smiled and leaned down closer to the girl. "Dragons," he whispered in a conspiratorial tone. "Dragons?" The girl said, he faced bunched in disbelief. "How are dragons like turtles? I'm six and even I know dragons don't have shells. And even if they did, they don't exist!" She looked down at the box again. "And your box is too small. There's no way more than one dragon could be in that box." The old man's smile grew bigger at the little girl's sound deductions and irrepressible charm that only an incredulous child had when they knew they were being swindled. He wondered to himself if kids were getting smarter younger, or if he was just dumber at that age. "My, my, such a bright young girl," he said, "surely you don't know of ALL the animals on this planet. You're far too young to have gotten so much knowledge." She puffed her tiny chest out and lifted her chin up in the air. "Mommy says I'm smarter than most kids my age," she said proudly. The old man laughed. "What is your name, child?" "Alice. What's yours?" "My name is Yorik. Though I used to be called the Dragonmaster." Yorik rubbed his hand lovingly on the top of the box. Alice shook her head, "No you weren't. There's no such thing as a Dragonmaster." She crossed her arms. "Besides, you said they were turtles." "No, child. I said they were turtles if a sort." He wagged a finger at her in mock reprobation. Then, tapping the box with that finger, said, "These dragons are the turtles' ancestors." "What does that mean?" She asked, her curiosity piqued. "It means they came before turtles. They're the grandparents, in a sense. Though not directly." "If there are really dragons in there, then open it so I can see them." Yorik sighed, "I'm afraid I can't do that, young Alice. These are dangerous creatures. And small, as well. Why, some of them are no doubt younger than you, child. If I were to open this box, they all would surely fly out at once and go everywhere!" He waved his arms above him wildly for emphasis, causing Alice to giggle. Yorik himself chuckled. "How many are in that box?" Yorik thought a bit about it, rubbing his chin. "Well, now... I suppose there's about seven in there." "Seven?! No way! Now I KNOW you're lying!" Try as she might to sound angry, Alice was having too much fun talking to this crazy old man. "How could they all fit in there? My shoes wouldn't even fit in that box." "Well, I believe I told you these were young dragons." "Yeah, but even then they'd all have to be the size of a gerbil or something." "Perhaps they ARE the size of gerbils. You certainly don't know much about dragons. Why, you don't even believe they exist. All you know of dragons you've learned from Disney movies, right?" Alice nodded. "Have you ever seen a baby dragon in a Disney movie?" Alice shook her head at first, until she remembered one movie. "'Mulan'! 'Mulan' has a baby dragon!" Alice said, sure that she had the truth of it Yorick let out a belly laugh. "My child, that was just a dragon made small so they could sell toys of the same size. That was no baby. How else do you explain Mulan's getting older and not the dragon? Dragons age just as humans do. They just live a bit longer." "Like turtles?" He nodded, "Like turtles." Alice sat for a moment staring off into space, deep in thought. Finally, she turned to him and said, "What do they look like?" "Each and every one is unique. But they do share some traits." "Some what?" Yorick laughed again. This old man laughs an awful lot, Alice thought. "It means they do look the same in some ways." "Like how?" "They look like lizards who swallowed something far bigger than they should have been able to, and it sits just above their hind legs. That's the part that makes 'em look like turtles. The skin around that area is rough to the touch and it's a bit hard, just like the shell of a turtle. You could knock on it and you'd hear a sound, but I wouldn't do that if I were you. They don't like it very much when someone taps them there. They tend to bite those that do in a quick snap, like a snake." He curled a hand and make quick snapping motions."THP! THP! Just like that, you lose your hand!" Alice giggled. "Why do they have it?" "The large belly? Well, that's a secret that only Dragonmasters know." "Why is it a secret?" "Fear," he said solemnly. "That's just silly. What would we have to fear from something so small?" "My child, men fear many things that are far smaller than these. And it's all for the same reason: they do not understand them." "So why don't you make them understand? Wouldn't that be better than keeping them secret?" "Yes, it would. But most men are not ready, and even fewer are willing, to acknowledge what is right in front of them and they will resort to violence to prove their point. That is why we keep them secret. For now. We dragonmasters seek out those who are willing and able, and we bring them into the fold. But that is a dangerous and very difficult task. There are only four of us right now. I am the  oldest. I've come across so many who were willing but not able to take that last leap." "I believe," Alice said. Yorik smiled and said, "Yes, child, I can see that you do. But, are you ABLE?" Alice jumped off the bench, puffed up her chest, and flexed her arm muscles, raising them for maximum effect. "Yes! I am able!" She proclaimed loudly. Yorik reared his head back in laughter. "You are so young and full of life. I bet a million thoughts race through your head every second." Alice was confused by this last bit, and she tried her best to not let it show on her face. She wanted to see dragons. She wanted to be a Dragonmaster. He let out a mournful, tired sigh which perplexed Alice even more. Yorik reached into his jacket pocket and took something out, but Alice could not see what it was. "What's that?" "It is the passing of a happy burden that I have been fortunate to carry for much of my life. My child, I pass this burden on to you. I knew from the moment I saw you that you were the one to carry on this work." He brought his hand to his mouth and swallowed its contents, wincing a bit. He leaned his head back for a moment. He lifted the box and set it gently on Alice's lap. Yorick's body went slack as Alice was looking at him, still not quite understanding what just happened. She looked at the box in her lap and saw a single tear splash silently onto its top, quickly absorbing into the cardboard. Slowly and with great reverence far beyond her years, she lifted the flaps of the box up just enough so she could peer inside with one eye. Inside she saw what looked like hundreds of pieces of paper all folded and creased. The flood of fury that coursed through her tiny body was unlike anything she had experienced. The old man had tricked her! Taking a flap in each hand she jerked the box open. Hundreds of origami dragons laid on their sides, flattened. Confused not just by this but by her emotions, too, she gently plucked a dragon from the top of the pile. It was black which faded into red at the wings and  it had purple eyes. On its tail was a string. Alice pulled the string and the dragon popped open to three dimensions. She let out a thrilled gasp. How someone could know how to fold paper into such a shape was beyond Alice's comprehension, but its beauty was so apparent that even she could understand. On the bulbous part of the dragon was layers of masking tape, with a slit down the middle. The adrenaline rush she got in the face of such odd beauty caused her hand to tremble. She heard something jostling about within it, coarse and scratchy. If she hadn't been aware of her own shaking, she would have thought the dragon was alive. She probed the slit, trying to force it open, but there was almost no give. She pulled the string again. The dragon's wings opened upward and a paper flame shot out of its mouth. She noticed that its belly looked different. Turning the dragon to face her, she saw that the slit in the belly had opened about an inch. Inside was a folded piece of paper. Reaching in with two fingers like fleshy tweezers, she snatched the paper from within. She placed the dragon back in the box and unfolded the paper. On the paper was a drawing of a tree overhanging a calmly flowing river. There was also a quote written just above the part of the river that went horizontal: "Be the change that you wish to see in the world." She didn't know who Mahatma Ghandi was, but she understood his words plain enough. It was just like what Yorick had said to her. She looked at the other dragons in the box. They were each different colors from one another. She rifled through them. Plucking one from the middle, she looked at the dragon. This one was yellow with blue wings. She tugged once on the string at its tail, popping it open. She pulled the string again, and a paper flame shot out and its belly opened up. Carefully reaching inside she grabbed the paper with in. Breathless, she placed the dragon aside, and opened up the piece of paper. On it was a drawing of a bonsai tree and Avery happy, very bald, and very fat man sitting on a hill next to the bonsai tree. This was written just above the man's head: "Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth."- Buddha. She didn't quite understand what that meant, but she had a feeling she'd figure it out eventually. She repeated the whole process again. This time the dragon was purple with orange wings. The piece of paper had an amazingly life-like drawing of an odd-looking woman. The quote was to the drawings left:  "Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that is all who we ever have." - Margaret Mead. Alice contemplated what these three ideas meant for her and the world at large. She desperately wanted to open another dragon, but she recalled what Yorick had said, about the world at large not being ready for such things as dragons. Perhaps these ideas were the reason. She knew what she had to do, and she understood why Yorick shared the dragons with her. She stood up as the thrill of a new purpose gave her goosebumps. She only hoped it would not take her as long as it took Yorick to find someone ready and willing to receive these ideas. She walked out of the train station, grinning the widest grin the world had ever seen.