Talented young writer Caitlin, thirteen, shares a gorgeous short story to add a little magic to your bank holiday weekend! Read on...
I am here to tell you the story of the first dragon. Or at least, the first on Earth.
He was not so remarkable, to his own species, but to us, he seemed extraordinary. He was a pale blue, with the occasional white splotch. His body was long and serpentine, stretching into a thin whip of a tail. A single row of blue and white feathers ran down his spine, with a similar burst of quills at the tip of his tail. His four wings were like those of a bird of prey - long and sleek, built for speed and agility. They folded close to his sides, almost invisible against his scales, if you caught him in shadow.
Of course, he is far larger than anything we could easily imagine. One feather of his would bridge oceans.
All those long years, gazing at stars, creating religions based on them, making predictions of our futures using their paths - and we never looked closely enough at the moon. If we had, maybe we would have noticed the similarities between the moon and a simple egg. If we had dug a little deeper, gone beneath the surface, we might have found him. Curled inside, sleeping. Waiting. Not ready, yet.
The first sign back on earth was a kind of earthquake. But it was different - softer, muted somehow. While an earthquake is the violent shattering of reality in panic and screaming, what we experienced when the moon hatched was more like we were in a snow globe, being shaken slowly from side to side.
We gathered outside our buildings, staring into the night sky. The moon was huge and low, glowing a brighter white than we had ever seen it. It shook slightly, a hairline fracture appearing on the surface.
Of course, we panicked. Some ran. Some hid. Some just stood and watched, whether it be through the sheer inability to move or through curiosity. Inside his shell, the first dragon was scratching away at the inner wall. He started with a tiny horn on his nose, like a baby bird might. An egg tooth. Designed for breaking through the shell quickly and efficiently. Even with this, it took him hours before he managed to push away a chunk big enough for us to see a single bright golden eye.
After that, it was quite quick. He peeled away further and further, until he could crawl through the hole. He clung to the moon, seeing it as the only land. But without him, it was just an empty eggshell, and it fell into space and drifted from our vision. He hovered for a second, panicked, before heading our way. Then, even those who had been frozen before decided to move.
He landed on Australia, obliterating it completely and causing massive tsunamis along the coasts of Africa and Asia, as most of his body was submerged in the Indian Ocean.
Huh? I’m halfway through a lecture now, I can’t really talk - Oh.
Sorry, but I seem to have got the wrong time. Apparently this hasn’t happened yet in your reality.
This is why I don’t use time travel bracelets much, but you see, officer, I’d missed my train and needed a few more minutes - I must have put the wrong date in, changed the year a bit by accident -
Hey! Careful, I’m a respected researcher!
The researcher was dragged away in cuffs by a masked officer, and by the next day, anyone who attended the lecture had forgotten it completely, their heads filled with false memories of days well spent.
Except me. I wrote it down as he spoke.
Now, I have to go - I have a flight to catch. Sydney to London, one way ticket. I don’t feel quite safe in Australia any more.
To read more of Caitlin's stories, check out her Wattpad here: https://www.wattpad.com/user/SilkenStrand
Cathy says:
Wow... this is SO beautifully written, and so clever and original - thank you, Caitlin! Should we have more short stories on DREAMCATCHER? What do YOU think? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!
He was not so remarkable, to his own species, but to us, he seemed extraordinary. He was a pale blue, with the occasional white splotch. His body was long and serpentine, stretching into a thin whip of a tail. A single row of blue and white feathers ran down his spine, with a similar burst of quills at the tip of his tail. His four wings were like those of a bird of prey - long and sleek, built for speed and agility. They folded close to his sides, almost invisible against his scales, if you caught him in shadow.
Of course, he is far larger than anything we could easily imagine. One feather of his would bridge oceans.
All those long years, gazing at stars, creating religions based on them, making predictions of our futures using their paths - and we never looked closely enough at the moon. If we had, maybe we would have noticed the similarities between the moon and a simple egg. If we had dug a little deeper, gone beneath the surface, we might have found him. Curled inside, sleeping. Waiting. Not ready, yet.
The first sign back on earth was a kind of earthquake. But it was different - softer, muted somehow. While an earthquake is the violent shattering of reality in panic and screaming, what we experienced when the moon hatched was more like we were in a snow globe, being shaken slowly from side to side.
We gathered outside our buildings, staring into the night sky. The moon was huge and low, glowing a brighter white than we had ever seen it. It shook slightly, a hairline fracture appearing on the surface.
Of course, we panicked. Some ran. Some hid. Some just stood and watched, whether it be through the sheer inability to move or through curiosity. Inside his shell, the first dragon was scratching away at the inner wall. He started with a tiny horn on his nose, like a baby bird might. An egg tooth. Designed for breaking through the shell quickly and efficiently. Even with this, it took him hours before he managed to push away a chunk big enough for us to see a single bright golden eye.
After that, it was quite quick. He peeled away further and further, until he could crawl through the hole. He clung to the moon, seeing it as the only land. But without him, it was just an empty eggshell, and it fell into space and drifted from our vision. He hovered for a second, panicked, before heading our way. Then, even those who had been frozen before decided to move.
He landed on Australia, obliterating it completely and causing massive tsunamis along the coasts of Africa and Asia, as most of his body was submerged in the Indian Ocean.
Huh? I’m halfway through a lecture now, I can’t really talk - Oh.
Sorry, but I seem to have got the wrong time. Apparently this hasn’t happened yet in your reality.
This is why I don’t use time travel bracelets much, but you see, officer, I’d missed my train and needed a few more minutes - I must have put the wrong date in, changed the year a bit by accident -
Hey! Careful, I’m a respected researcher!
The researcher was dragged away in cuffs by a masked officer, and by the next day, anyone who attended the lecture had forgotten it completely, their heads filled with false memories of days well spent.
Except me. I wrote it down as he spoke.
Now, I have to go - I have a flight to catch. Sydney to London, one way ticket. I don’t feel quite safe in Australia any more.
To read more of Caitlin's stories, check out her Wattpad here: https://www.wattpad.com/user/SilkenStrand
Cathy says:
Wow... this is SO beautifully written, and so clever and original - thank you, Caitlin! Should we have more short stories on DREAMCATCHER? What do YOU think? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!
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