“You look like my shadow!” Dragon Little told her father.
“Huh?” He turned around.
This was at a time when Dragon Little was only five years old. Dragon Father allowed her to pilot Bonnie’s Revenge, their pirate ship, and try different tricks.
Following a particularly hairy fast turn, Dragon Little had looked behind to see that Dragon Father was okay. He was exactly between her and the suns. They were closer to the two suns than usual, which alarmed me just a bit, but they did not get too close.
“You look like my shadow!”
Dragon Father, his back to the suns, looked at himself. He no doubt looked normal from his point of view. But then he turned around and looked at his hand. “Oh! It does look like a shadow.”
He turned around quickly. “Joy. That’s called ‘a silhouette’. Now watch!”
He faced the suns and began to flap his wings. “I’m a bird! Look at me fly!” His silhouette flapped and flew, using his entire body.
Dragon Little laughed.
“Now look at this!” His profile was now to the side, and he bent his back and curled his fingers. “Nee-ha-ha! I’m a wicked witch!”
“Now me! Now me!”
“Okay. It only works if I’m here and you’re between me and the sun—I mean the suns. Let’s switch places!”
“Look at me!” she did her best to mimic her father. “I’m a bird!”
“Flap your wings more! … There you go! Beautiful!”
“Look at me! I’m… I’m a witch!”
“Oh, my god! Joy, the witch is here! What do we do?”
“Okay, now I’m… Now it’s your turn!”
They switched places.
“What am I, Joy?”
He walked around awkwardly, leaning more on one leg and keeping the other completely straight.
“Captain Badass!”
“Yes!”
“Do something else!”
And so the day went, spent in complete and utter fun. I could not see the silhouettes from my vantage point, but I enjoyed their happiness so much. It made me miss the innocent childhood I never had.
I was so happy for Joy, my little, perfect Dragon Little.
—Told by The Red Dragon