When Dragon Father appeared on the deck of Bonny’s Revenge, he found Dragon Little above him, standing in the crow’s nest.
He put his hand on his forehead as if driving anxiety away.
“Uh, Joy, what are you doing?”
“I’m learning to do backflips!”
He exhaled. Then said calmly. “Say what, now?”
“I’m going to learn to do flips in the air like you!”
Dragon Father clenched his lips then released. “Joy, doing that could really hurt you. You could hurt your back! Remember?”
“That’s why I’m doing it above the water!” she yelled down at him. “I’m going to jump into the water and do backflips on the way!”
“But… But jumping into the water from a great height can really hurt you!”
“I’ll be fine! Look!”
And she jumped. The beginning of the jump was perfect: She spread her arms and her legs were together.
Then she tried to flip in the air, succeeded in only turning a bit, and would clearly have crashed face first into the ocean.
But Dragon Father ran to the railing, jumped on it, and caught her in the air.
Dragon Little in his arms, he twisted in the air to land on his back, which protected her when they landed in the water.
Once they emerged from the water, Dragon Little yelled at him. “Dad! I was fine!”
He released her. “You are not fine! You could have broken your neck! The water is not soft from a great height, it’s solid! You can break something!”
They climbed back to the deck.
“Let’s do it again!” she began climbing the mast.
“Stop it! It’s dangerous! When you’re older, Joy!”
She looked at him defiantly. “Then I’ll do it when you’re not here!”
He bit his lips.
“All right. All right. Let’s do it again. But only only only if you promise to never do it when I’m not here.”
She nodded.
“I need you to say it.”
“I promise.”
“Okay.”
And that is how they spent their day: Dragon Little climbed up to the mast and jumped, each time trying to improve. And each time, Dragon Father would leap off the railing, catch her, and block her fall into the water with his body.
At some point, as he was about to jump into the water again, Dragon Father muttered to himself, “Is this how other parents raise their kids. I don’t think so!” And then he jumped.
—Told by The Red Dragon