Dragon Little and Dragon Father’s adventure brought them face to face with the Wicked Witch of the Northwest in her tower.
The Wicked Witch said, “Finally! You swashbuckling fools have fallen into my trap!”
Dragon Little, only 4-and-a-half years old, raised her hands and shouted. “No! We’re not swashbuckling fools! We’re squashbuckling fools!”
Dragon father laughed, then pointed a finger at his daughter. “A-ha! So you can say swashbuckling!”
“No, I can’t.”
“You just did it! Do it again!”
“No way.”
“You can say it! Say it again!”
“No way.”
The Witch looked at them confused, the moment having turned into something different from what she expected. “I can say squashbuckling.”
“No!” Dragon Father spun around with his finger aimed at her face. “Don’t you dare say squashbuckling!”
The Witch, surprised, took a step backwards.
Dragon Father turned to face Dragon Little again. “Come on, Joy, say squashbuckling! God damn it, no, say swashbuckling”
“Squashbuckling! Just like you said it!”
“Joy. You have to live. In a society. In a society you can’t choose your own words. Do you understand that?”
For some reason every time Dragon Little had refused to say ‘swashbuckling’ his way, Dragon Father had gotten more and more frustrated.
Dragon Little stared at Dragon Father without expression.
“If you don’t say squashbuckling--I mean swashbuckling. If you don’t say that right now, I’m going home!”
Dragon Little stared at him without expression for a long minute.
“Okay. I’m going home.”
And with that, Dragon Father left the tower, slamming the door behind him, leaving his daughter to face the Wicked Witch of the Northwest.
He spent the rest of the day on the deck of Bonny’s Revenge, fuming. Their pirate ship was docked on a beach nearby.
An hour later, Dragon Little arrived at the beach, the Wicked Witch at her side in handcuffs.
Dragon Father saw them coming. “Nice job, Joy.” he said. “Let me help you up!”
“I don’t need help!” she shouted.
And she didn’t. Within a few minutes, the two were aboard, and Dragon Little imprisoned the Wicked Witch of the Northwest within the Infinite Prison in the belly of Bonny’s Revenge.
—Told by The Red Dragon