It had been a few minutes since Dragon Father and Dragon Little had left the dolphins.
The dolphins in the ocean disappeared as soon as Bonny’s Revenge left the earth, since Dragon Father no longer needed to dream about them.
Dragon Father left the helm and sat down on the railing next to the plank. 4-year-old Dragon Little was sitting on the plank itself, astride, legs hugging the plank.
She was not afraid to fall. She was too used to the plank and the steadiness of Bonny’s Revenge.
“So…” Dragon Father said. “Want to tell me what happened there with the dolphins?”
Dragon Little looked him in the eyes. “It’s Red, Dad.”
“Red?” he repeated. My ears perked up as I sat up far above them, in my hiding place. ‘Red’ was Dragon Little’s nickname for me. “We haven’t seen her in--”
“Remember when we went out to get ice cream with her?”
“Yeah…” he was not following. Neither was I.
“She told me… Do you remember what she told me?”
He shook his head. I sighed. I remembered what I’d told her.
“She told me that if I love someone, they die and don’t come back.”
“Oh… Huh…” Dragon Father was deep in thought.
“So I can’t touch the dolphins! I don’t want to love them! I don’t want them to die forever!”
“Huh…” Dragon Father kept thinking. “Hmmm… Okay… I get that.” He took her hand. “You know, I don’t know what Red meant. She’s mysterious, right?” Dragon Little nodded.
I smiled. Mysterious? Me?! If my cheeks could burn, I’m sure they would have. How did I achieve such a status? I’m just a lost, unlucky child, then an adult.
I did not know what to do with myself from embarrassment.
“So…” Dragon Father continued. “Regardless of what she meant, she does have a point. If we, like, took them as pets or something, and loved them… You know, one day a pirate may try to kill them. The life we live is too dangerous for pets or… anything.”
“Hmmm…” She frowned.
“I don’t think you’re responsible for their deaths, that’s silly. But let’s not have them as pets, okay?”
She nodded.
“Feeling better?”
She smiled and nodded again.
“Shall we go on adventure?”
She smiled and jumped to stand on the plank. “Adventurrrrre!” she yelled.
—Told by The Red Dragon