‘The Squashbuckler Diaries’ are the daily tales of Joy Shelley’s Life in the Dream. The ‘Lost in Dreams’ books will tell the story of what happens to her at ages 6, 9, 12, 15, and so on. The diaries tell us what happens before, after, and between the books.

#335: Bored, Part 2

Dragon Father’s anger was brewing inside him. My sharp dragon eyes could see it even from my high vantage point. 

I have seen him angry before. It was only a few times, but a dreamer can become very angry without anything calming him or her down. 

Now, for some reason, he was growing angry at Dragon Little’s boredom with adventure. 

Suddenly, he turned around and shouted at Dragon Little: “You do NOT appreciate WHAT you HAVE!” 

Dragon Little, lying down on the plank, sat up, already hurt at the tone.

“You have adventures!” Dragon Father yelled. “Every! Single! Day! Every single day you have adventures! Do you understand how much fun that is?” 

Dragon Little stood up on the plank. “It’s boring!” She shouted back at him. “You’re boring!” 

“You have robots and villains and giants and witches! You fly to other planets! Do you know how many people want to fly to other planets? Do you know how many people want to have adventures every day?”

Dragon Little opened her mouth to answer, but didn’t. Her face was growing red and her mouth turned into a pout. She was fighting back tears. 

“You don’t appreciate what you have!” he shouted. “You don’t! And that’s very sad!” 

Dragon Little’s pout turned into a lips clenched into a tight circle. She jumped down to the deck and, without saying anything, went to her cabin and slammed the door shut. 

Dragon Father looked surprised. 

Before he could react, the door opened. Dragon Little came out, stood in front of him, aimed a finger at him, and said, “You don’t appreciate what  YOU have!” 

She turned around, went into her cabin, slammed the door, and from my high vantage point, I could see through her cabin window’s curtains, fell on the bed and curled into a ball. 

Dragon Father stared at the door for a long time in anger. Then his face softened. 

“Shit,” he said. 

Tomorrow I will tell you what happened next.

—Told by The Red Dragon

#336: Bored, Part 3

#334: Bored, Part 1