With sword-fighting, laser pistols, swinging off ropes, and Dragon Father somersaulting in the air while fighting with two swords, Dragon Little and Dragon Father fought off the Red Pirates who tried to overtake Bonny’s Revenge.
The Red Pirates leapt over the railing to one side and onto their ship.
“That’s right! And stay out!” Dragon Father yelled at them, his tone as happy as I’ve ever heard him.
“Stay out!” Four-year-old Dragon Little shouted after them as well.
The Red Pirates’ ship moved away and began to sail quickly into the clouds.
“Oh, no, you’re not getting away that easily,” Dragon Father said what he always said when he was in a good mood and the villains were thinking they were getting away.
He ran to the wheel. “Joy,” he looked down at his daughter who had run after him, holstering her laser pistol. “Hold on to your butt!” And he pulled the wheel back.
Bonny’s Revenge slowly lifted off the ocean water, as Dragon Little grabbed her behind. “Like this?”
Dragon Father looked down at her and laughed. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Like this?” Dragon Little grabbed her behind in a different way.
He laughed again. He pulled back further and now the ship was gaining speed in the air. “‘Hold on to your butt’ means ‘get ready for action’.”
Dragon Little made a face. “No, it doesn’t.”
“Ah, yes it does.”
She shook her head confidently and repeated, “No, it doesn’t.”
“I’m the guy here who’s been speaking English for almost 30 years. Yes, it does.”
“Does not!” She still sounded more confident than he was.
“You know what?” he said, as the ship entered the clouds. “We can talk about it later.”
“It does NOT!” I heard her yell from inside the cloud.
“Oh, boy,” my sharp dragon ears were able to hear what he said under his breath.
And so the argument continued, until ten minutes later Dragon Father conceded that he was wrong and that ‘hold on to your butt’ meant holding on to one’s butt.
—Told by The Red Dragon