Maggie and the Tiny Dragon

Nobody noticed that dragons started popping up again. As with other animals throughout history, they were not as big as their ancestors. In fact, they were very small. They could fit into a jacket pocket. They also had lost their ability to breath fire, although sometimes they would let out a few puffs of smoke when they were really angry. Apparently, they never had wings.

Maggie was the first person to spot one. Maggie was 13 at the time, and loved to crawl underneath the house to study bugs. The first time she disappeared under the house, she was four; her mother ended up calling the police. The whole town was looking for her, until she crawled out and wiped off the dirt. Her mother had been furious.

One of the times she crawled under the house, she spotted a little puff of smoke in a far corner. She was worried the house may be on fire, and pointed her flashlight in that direction. She was amazed to see a teeny dragon puffing smoke at a tarantula. She squelched the urge to scream, and climbed out.

She immediately ran to her mother, and told her all about it. Her mother simply stared at her, rolling her eyes. Maggie didn't like that reaction, so she grabbed a big chef's knife, and ran back outside, remembering to hold the knife correctly so she wouldn't injure herself. Then she dropped down, and crawled back under the house. The little dragon was still there, blowing smoke at the tarantula.

Maggie quickly crawled as close as she could, then plunged the knife toward the tarantula. The tarantula backed up, and the dragon hopped onto Maggie's back. Maggie was worried at first, but realized that the dragon wasn't hurting her. She crawled back out from under the house, and stood up. The little dragon hopped down onto Maggie's hand, and appeared to cuddle with her thumb.

Everything changed after that. Dragons began crawling out of their hiding places and making friends. They could sense adversity, and only made friends with good, noble people. Maggie was their queen, and they often held large dinner parties for their dragon friends. The food consisted mainly of tarantulas, but they allowed their human guests to bring their own meals.