“Is that good, Lass?”
It was only a few days after I had entered Dragon Father’s dreams, still hiding, still licking my open wounds.
It had been less than a week since I had been considered a slave. It had been less than a week before Dragon Father and Dragon Little ended my slavery and freed me.
Both Dragon Little and Dragon Father were new to me, even though I had fallen in love with the sweet, powerful and little Joy Shelley that I was already getting used to calling ‘Dragon little’.
From my high vantage point, I could see through the curtain to Dragon Little’s cabin, and I could see Mary tuck her in. Mary was the creation of Dragon Father’s dream, and fortunately so since she kept her alive when Dragon Father was gone from his dream.
“Thanks, Mary.” Dragon Little was in her pajamas (a clothing that would not last for more than a few weeks) lay on her back and made sure the blanket reached all the way up to her chin.
“Say, Joy,” Mary said. “Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?”
I did not see Dragon Little’s expression.
“How about… a policewoman?” tried Mary.
I saw Dragon Little shake her head.
“A… firefighter?”
Dragon Little shook her head.
“An… astronaut?”
She shook her head.
“A… Princess?”
“Blah!”
“Then what do you want to be?”
“I want…” Dragon Little began and then trailed off.
“You want…?”
“I want to be free!” She said suddenly.
And high above in my vantage point, away from seeing eyes, I immediately began to cry. I cried for me, who would never feel free. And I cried for her, for I knew that this little girl could never hope to be free either.
I cried and could not stop for 24 hours.
—Told by The Red Dragon