Last dragon

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It was a well spring evening in the year 1856 when the thing happened. The evening was hot and sticky, and little came out of the tavern nearby. But the few that made there way out did so with a rush to get back in. It was one of these people in particular that would mark this night, forever.

Wendy Smedley, a local seamstress, in her early twenties, had just left her favorite tavern that evening, when she came upon her house. She had left her valuables in the house and instead carried a small leather bag with a few coins, and a valued pair of leather gloves. She stopped outside her door and began fishing around in her bag to find the house key.

While searching, she felt a small tap on her shoulder, and turned around quickly to see where it originated. Seeing nothing to the side of her, she continued to look behind her and notice a large shadow resting on the ground, with what seemed to be small sparkling red eyes. What it was, she would not know for a few seconds, as is was then when a small voice tapped her shoulder again. This time she was not so rattled and spun around to see what the source of the tapping was, this time facing a very large dragon.

Wendy was not only shocked at the lack of mental processing time it took, she was also furious that he stood in her way and did nothing to move out of her way, as she practically dropped her small bag of valuables to the floor. The keys fell out of the handle and rolled under the fellow's foot, as he moved to get the bag that the key could be found in.

"Excuse me, Lady, but I must get this bag."

She was angry at his bluntness, but mainly at the fact that he had stopped her from being able to retrieve her valuables. "Just wait. I dropped the key."

"I must, er, get this bag. I am sorry. I lost a bet. Please. It is important."

As she picked up her keys to move them out from under her dragon friend's foot, she looked at him again, his red eyes and wings that were larger than she could see. As she looked up and down the length of him, she saw him in her mind, the dragon that had run past her house earlier that week. They were different sizes, but she could tell they were the same. It was him. She whispered.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was talking out loud. I'll, um, I'll explain later."

The dragon nodded and turned to face her, his body shifting his head from side to side to adjust to her size. He turned back to the open door and shouted: "Pizzeria! Pizza for a dragon!". Nothing happened. He spoke again: "Pizzeria. Pizza for a dragon. Get in my way and I'll blow your house up." He began moving carefully toward the door, waiting for the shouts of response.

Wendy watched as the dragon moved back towards her house, stooping slightly to look under the door. She saw that and ran outside, shouting to him. "Wait! There's a hole there." She pointed to a small hole that was cut out of the door, to allow for leeway for a person to walk by, making it seem as though the door was open when in fact it wasn't.

"Ah. Good." The dragon said, and he crouched down to work under the door. Wendy decided to pull out her father's old pistol, and she aimed at the dragon, but only to scare him off and no more.

The dragon turned to look up at her and asked, "What is that?" "Nothing," she replied as a response. "Move on. Move along. You can have the bag, but let me! I need that bag!" The dragon didn't move.

"While I am friendly, I will not let you keep that bag. I need that bag." He said, with his long tongue sliding out of his mouth and pulling the bag underneath the door. "How are you?" He asked.

"Fine. I was just scared. I called the dogs on you. I'm sorry. I never expected that." She looked at the dragon in a new light. It was definitely the same dragon that had run pass her house, a few days before, but she now knew he was friendly.

"You could have killed me. I was taking out the garbage." Wendy said, "I'm sorry. I don't know what you are, but I was in shock. Right now, I'm scared. I'm sorry."

It turned to her, those red eyes shining. "I am the dragon that lives under your window and that I have been watching you. We have a long history." She heard his tail swish behind her. "I have not fed in some time. I believe I will move to your street, close and observe you. You are my friend. I will care for you."

He turned and didn't look back. Wendy saw he wasn't going to run away. She was surprised, to say the least, but knew the dragon's intention, which was the main focus of her attention. Once the dragon was out of sight, she ran back inside her house and retrieved her bag. She then made a note to lock the door next time.