Dragon Father and Dragon Little looked over the railing. Bonny's Revenge, their flying pirate ship, orbited the Planet of the Gorillas.
"Their base is over there," Dragon Father pointed. "Are you clear on the plan?"
Dragon Little, 4 years old and already adept at fighting villains, nodded.
"Good!" he slammed his hands together. "Let's do it!"
He took a step towards the wheel and vanished.
Dragon Little sighed.
This happens every so often. Her father sometimes disappears even a short while after he appears. She did not know it at the time, but that is an indication he wakes up.
Dragon Little went to the step before the wheel and sat on it. She sighed again impatiently.
Usually, when he disappears early on, he reappears.
After a minute or two, Dragon Father reappeared on the deck, in the same position, looking in the same direction as he always does.
"Dad!" she ran to him.
"Ah! Joy! You're up! Great! Have you eaten?"
Dragon Little nodded, looking slightly confused, since he is the one who had given her her breakfast a few minutes ago.
"Okay. Good. Listen, I've just gotten a radio call on a huge space bird coming in this direction, threatening to--"
"But Dad! What about the Planet of the Gorillas?"
"The what?"
"The Planet of the Gorillas! The evil--"
"Joy, this is much more important!"
She nodded, accepting his words. He continued, "The Space Bird of Fire is threatening to destroy the entire solar system if we don't stop it!"
"How do we stop it?"
Her father laid out the plan and they set off to steal the Golden Egg that was the Space Bird of Fire's only weakness.
As they approached the planet, Dragon Father said, "Okay, let's talk about how we break in."
She nodded.
He disappeared.
She sighed.
She returned to the step and sat down.
She waited, tapping her right leg and sighing.
Within a couple of minutes, Dragon Father reappeared at the same spot, in the same position.
"Dad!"
"Joy, thank God! You'll never believe what I heard? A band of space pirates are about to pull off the greatest heist the galaxy has ever seen!"
"But Dad, what about the Space Bird!"
"Joy, concentrate! There's a heist we have to stop! Got it?"
She nodded unenthusiastically.
"Let's set sail for the Vault Planet!"
He ran to the wheel, grabbed it, and disappeared.
Dragon Little sighed again.
She looked sideways, and decided to sit on the plank this time. Hanging above endless space, her legs hugged the plank as she sat on it and waited.
Dragon Father reappeared within three minutes, with another new mission.
And so it was for three more times before Dragon Father did not disappear and stayed for a few hours.
—Told by The Red Dragon