The Poet's Desk V: A Dragon Story

lady

The first line of this 'short short' was taken
from the novel The Little Prince by St.-Exupery.
The little prince in my story could be any little
prince, and no copyright infringement is intended
upon the original work.
je

V. A Dragon Story
for Claire

And he lay down on the grass, and cried . . .

   Suddenly a wise and loving Dragon happened along and found the Little
   Prince weeping in the grass. Carefully, so as not to frighten the child, he
   folded his great wings around him and drew him close, rocking him gently
   and crooning words of comfort.

   "Why do you weep, Little Prince?" the Dragon finally asked. The boy
   looked up at the Dragon with tear-filled eyes. He smiled a bit as the
   Dragon blew gently on his wet cheeks to dry them.

   Quietly he studied the Dragon's eyes to see if it would be possible to trust
   his broken heart to anyone, let alone to such a magnificent creature. Finally
   the Little Prince whispered, "Because I feel so small, and so alone."

   The Dragon smiled a toothy smile and held the boy close to his scaly chest
   for a long, long time. Then looking at him, he softly said, "Small . . . perhaps,
   but I promise you, you shall never feel alone again."

   Gently he drew one of the boy's hands to his chest wherein lay an immense
   heart, filled to overflowing with love and compassion. Slowly, ever so slowly,
   he placed a dragon paw over the heart of the Little Prince.

"Henceforth," said the Dragon, "there will be such a oneness between us
that when one weeps the other will taste salt."

   Together they sat, holding one another through the warm sunny afternoon
   and into the star-studded evening, hearing nothing but the quiet rhythm of
   two hearts which had begun to beat as one.

And the Universe smiled . . . .

Jane Ellen