Short Story: The Dragon At The Foot…

Short Story: The Dragon At The Foot Of The Bed

This piece has not been edited by the ShortbreadStories team.

The dragon at the foot of the bed unrolled a scroll.

Nell couldn’t tell where the creature had come from, but there it was, a dragon in her very own bedroom.

She had only been in the room for a couple of minutes, getting ready to go to sleep. She had cleaned her teeth and brushed her hair, and lay down with her head on the pillow. It had been a funny day altogether; she had argued with her brother and when her mum told her off was sent upstairs to think things over. Well, she had thought things over and still felt she was in the right; her brother was wrong, added to which he had been horrible to her.

And then she heard a sound, like the sizzling a kettle makes after it has been boiled. She sat up in alarm, finding the dragon staring with piggy little eyes.

She hadn’t felt afraid, simply amazed, and wanted to ask if it was a boy dragon, or a girl. She quite preferred it to be a girl. Where did it come from, and how did it get into her room. Surely it was too large to fit through the door? But she was too polite to make that kind of observation. Besides, dragons were magical, and mythical, and irritated when small girls didn’t pay attention.

The dragon made a hissing sound, and then the sizzling sound she had heard before. Nell could tell it wanted her to pay attention, but how could she when her mind was so very distracted with the horrid names her brother had called her.

The dragon cleared its throat, and she wondered what language it would use. She didn’t hear the first word it uttered and was forced to chase behind the next several dozen.

“What?” She queried. “What did you say?”

The dragon made a deeper hissing sound before answering.

“I said I was sent to invite you to attend the Palace Ball.”

Nell had no idea what a Ball was, apart from those she threw or had thrown to her. Was it the same, she wondered.

“Why?” She asked. Not how, or when, or where, or even who.

The dragon stared. It’s piercing piggy eyes a deep shade of blue, and this made Nell wonder if dragons weren’t really flying pigs. She had heard all about flying pigs from her grandfather, but her mother had laughed at him so she knew his stories were made up. Granddad did a lot of making things up. Mum called him an exaggerator – or something like that. Nell liked her granddad; he smelled of spicy stuff and was full of stories, poems and songs. He gave her and her brother sweets and crisps, though he wasn’t supposed to, and he knew naughty words that nice people shouldn’t say.

The dragon made a snuffling noise, like a horse. “Well?”

“I don’t know.” Nell said. “I’ll have to ask my mum.”

“I expected that.” The dragon answered, and this time showed its teeth. They were exceptionally white, and she wondered how it managed to keep them so clean. They gave the dog special dental sticks to chew, otherwise his teeth would fall out, mum had said.

“Here’s a form.” The dragon said, extracting a piece of paper from a pocket in the red and gold coloured vest he wore.

Nell examined the paper carefully. “It’s blank.” She declared.

“Oh, you’re smart aren’t you? Of course it’s blank. It’s a universal form. Good for all occasions – just get your mum to sign, and we’ll do the rest.”

“We?” Nell asked. “Who’s we?”

The dragon made a snuffling sound again. “Did I say we? I meant me. It still slips out. There were more of us once of course, but so many have gone to a better place.”

The dragon looked sad for a second, and Nell felt sorry she’d asked him the question.

“Who will be at this Ball? And what is a Ball?” She asked quickly.

The dragon appeared mystified. “I can’t tell you that.” He said. “It’s a secret. Confidential and all that.”

Nell felt disappointed.

“Why choose me then? I’m no one special.”

“Oh, but you are. Look, your name appears on the scroll. It must be right.”

The dragon flashed the scroll he had unrolled in front of her for a second as Nell tried hard to catch sight of her name, but could not. The dragon rolled it up again.

“I don’t believe you.” She said.

The dragon made a sizzling sound, and this time a little bit of flame shot out from one of its nostrils.

Nell moved back in alarm.

“Careful. I don’t want to be burned to a crisp.”

“You mustn’t make me angry then.” The dragon answered.

Nell stared at the creature in distrust.

“I think you’d better leave. Mum will be up any minute to say goodnight and tuck me in. I don’t know what she’d say if she found a dragon in the room.”

“I do.” The dragon responded. “I know what mum’s can be like.”

Nell grinned. “Anyway, you didn’t answer me. Why am I on the list in the first place?”

The dragon rolled its piggy eyes. “It’s the prince. He likes to travel around in disguise, and whenever he meets someone he likes he writes their name down in a book he carries with him. Then when he’s back at the castle, he puts them all onto a scroll and sends me out. That’s how you came to be on the list.”

The dragon took a deep breath after saying all this.

“Does that answer you?”

Nell thought about it for a couple of seconds.

“Yes, but what did I do? I don’t remember being especially nice to anyone, or even meeting anyone like you described. Who is this prince, and where does he live?”

“I can’t answer that.” The dragon said. “Security and all that.”

Nell contemplated the dragon as she thought about what he’d said. She really wanted to believe him. The simple fact there was a dragon in the room, and able to talk, told her it could be true. Also she had seen princes and princesses on TV and knew they existed. The chances were this particular dragon must be telling the truth, but still she remained suspicious.

“What’s your prince’s name?”

“Nigel.” The dragon answered.

Nell had never heard of a prince Nigel and became practical.

“I don’t know if I can come to a Ball. I’ve got nothing to wear, and besides I’m not allowed out on my own.”

The dragon stroked its chin.

“We can take care of that – we’ve thought about everything. If you’ll kindly open your wardrobe door, you’ll find a dress which I think will fit you and will be suitable to wear to a Ball. And as to leaving the house, you won’t have to.”

Nell had already leaped off the bed, throwing open the door to her wardrobe to find inside a sparkly green and silver dress hanging there, which she quickly put on over her pyjamas. And with the dress came a pair of beautiful shoes that fitted like a glove. She felt so lovely wearing these items she did a pirouette before the mirror.

The dragon applauded. “Bravo Princess Nell.”

“I’m not a princess.” She smiled. “I’m ordinary.”

“Not tonight.” The dragon insisted. “Tonight you will be the Belle of the Ball.”

Nell still had no idea what a Belle or a Ball was, but it sounded pleasing.

“I still can’t go – not unless mum say’s I can, and I don’t know how to get there. You haven’t explained.”

“You’ll ride on my back – it’s not very far.” The dragon said.

“You said we wouldn’t leave the house.”

“And we won’t.”

Nell remained uncertain. “Mum will never let me do what you ask.”

The dragon snorted. “We’ll see. I think I can hear your mum coming upstairs. I’m going to hide, and when she comes in, ask her if you can go to the Ball tonight and get her to sign the form for you. I bet she will.”

Nell didn’t see how it would be possible, but settled beneath the covers as her mum came into the room. The dragon meanwhile had vanished, and Nell had no idea where he was hiding.

For some reason mum didn’t see the sparkly dress Nell was wearing, asking instead if she had calmed down and was sorry she had been so quarrelsome with her brother. Nell said she was, even if she wasn’t really, and then asked everything the dragon had told her.

Her mum found the prospect of Nell attending a Ball amusing after explaining that it was usually an event at which posh people wore lovely clothes and danced together like they did on TV, but she spoiled things by refusing to sign the blank piece of paper Nell presented her with, saying it was silly.

Despite Nell’s protests mum gave her a goodnight kiss and turned off the light. As soon as she had gone downstairs Nell threw off the covers to turn the light back on again.

“Dragon, where are you?” She called.

But there was no answer, not even a hissing sound. Nell looked everywhere; in the wardrobe, in each of her drawers, under the bed, and even behind the curtains but there was no sign of the dragon. And when she looked in the mirror she noticed she was wearing pyjamas again and no longer had on the lovely green and silver dress or the beautiful shoes.

Nell felt deeply disappointed, and sat on the edge of the bed dangling her feet until she felt too cold to wait any longer for the dragon to come out of hiding. Creeping under the covers she soon fell asleep. And in her dreams she found herself flying on the back of a dragon that took her over many pleasant lands and far over the sea, until they touched down in front of a beautiful palace where a handsome prince met her at the door.

“I’m so glad you could come.” He said.

She couldn’t be certain if she’d met him before, but he took her inside where other people were gathered, and the prince danced with her to lovely music until she felt so very tired from all her adventures that even in her dreams she could no longer stay awake, and was put to bed in a four poster bed with curtains that hung down on either side of her.

When Nell woke in the morning she was back in her own room again with the sun shining in through the window. Of the dragon there was not a sign he had ever been in the room, but the crumpled piece of paper remained where it had fallen on the floor. Nell picked it up, holding it up to the light, and there revealed like a watermark was a picture of a dragon. The dragon she had talked with at the foot of the bed, and Nell knew everything was true.

Nell smiled, hearing her mum call her down to breakfast.

“Mum.” She called. “I had the loveliest time going to the Ball. I want to tell you all about it.”

And she did.

© Desmond Kelly 18 & 22 & 23/4/2012