Dragon Little and Dragon Father had snuck into the Evil Magician’s lair while he was away. When Dragon Little was two years old, I was new to Dragon Father’s dream and everything about their lives astonished me. I was surprised to see that every day a new villain would appear and they would battle him. I was surprised to see how much Dragon Little enjoyed herself, and pleased to see that he was teaching her how to defend herself even though he probably did not know the dangers that awaited her outside his dream.
“All right, we hide here, and when he comes back, we jump out and yell ‘A-ha!’.”
“A-ha!” she echoed in her 2-year-old way.
“And then we draw our swords and fight him! Okay?”
She nodded.
“Let’s see if you can find a good place to hide.”
“Here!” She pointed to a chair.
“He would be able to see us behind the chair. Let’s find a place where he wouldn’t see us!”
“Here!” She pointed to a spot underneath a small table.
“Hmmm… That’s a good place, but I can’t fit. Good idea, though! How about here?” He pointed to a curtain. “Let’s hide behind the curtain!”
She nodded, excited.
“Okay.”
They hid behind the curtain, and it was only a few minutes until the Evil Magician returned.
He closed the door behind him, put his cloak aside, when suddenly Dragon Little called out in a sing-song voice: “We’re hiding! You’ll never find us!”
“Joy, Joy, Joy,” Dragon Father came out of the curtain. “That’s not how you hide!” He pulled out his sword at the Evil Magician who was simply staring at them. “A-ha! Prepare to be defeated!”
And the fight began.
—Told by the Red Dragon