Dragon Dreams

Chapter 1: Encounters

That's when it saw me.

Its head froze absolutely still as it held my gaze for a few long seconds. I couldn't look away, though I tried. The blue dragon cocked its head slightly, still staring with apparent benign interest. Then I realized not only could I not look away, I couldn't move a muscle. I was mentally screaming at any part of my body to respond when I suddenly felt everything shift. The world around me was slipping away into a blur, except those piercing blue eyes. They stayed fixed on me as blackness quickly engulfed the periphery, closing in until...

My eyes snapped open. It was a weird feeling because I thought they had been open. I had just been staring at a blue dragon seconds before. Now I was staring at...nothing again. Just black. I then noticed the feeling return to the rest of my body. I was lying in the dark, in bed. My bed. I sighed audibly. It had all been just a dream, of course. "Of course," I thought bitterly, "dragons aren't real!" But I couldn't stay bitter as I remembered the amazing dream.

Usually I can only remember a dream for a very short time, and even then it's bits and pieces. But this was a different kind of dream. I had felt it. I had been aware of everything as it happened. It was so real, but reality had cruelly ripped it away. There was nothing to do but get out of bed and write it down. It was the most vivid dream I ever remembered having. The feelings of flying through the air were coming back to me, as were the sounds and scents of the mountain landscape. I could recall everything so easily it seemed impossible to me that it wasn't real.

I hovered the tip of my pencil over the paper in thought after writing the last of my dream. The image of the blue dragon was still burning in my mind's eye. I decided to do a quick sketch. It was not a big challenge; I loved drawing dragons and had done many sketches previously. But this one would be from memory rather than pure imagination. I got out my things and looked with excitement at the blank paper on my desk. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, conjuring a mental image of the mythical creature. Then I got to work busily sketching the dragon's head, limbs, wings, and tail. I worked for a few minutes, wanting to capture the compact power confined within its lithe frame.

Satisfied with my work, I sat back and rubbed my eyes sleepily. The dragon now stared curiously up at me from the paper. I looked away and went to take a shower. Thoughts swirled around like the steam as I stood there with water massaging my back. "I wish I could be back there by that lake," I thought wistfully. "I wanted to meet that dragon; I don't actually think it meant me any harm." The more I mulled it over the more I realized I wanted that life. The life of that dragon in the mountains. An existence that was free, fun, and a little wild.

I turned the water off and hung my head slightly, "Impossible!" I thought sadly, "Yeah, it was an amazing dream, but that's all it was: a dream." Mindlessly, I completed my morning routine and got ready for the day. It was a normal October morning in Tacoma, Washington where I lived. My house is just a couple blocks from the water in the northwest part of the city. I am lucky enough to have a beautiful view from my bedroom, so I paused and looked out my window to see the bay bathed in golden morning light. A glance at my clock then told me to stop staring and get out the door. I must have clomped down the stairs a little too loudly because my mom knew something was on my mind.

"Morning sunshine, did you sleep alright?" she said, greeting me in the kitchen with a kiss and a granola bar. "Here," she adds, "eat this on your way out."

"I'm fine, just had a weird dream," I replied.

"Oh," She said, "hurry up then, Alex is in the car already."

"Okay, bye Mom," I said as I grabbed my backpack off the table and walked to the garage, grateful she didn't press me about the dream. My older sister was waiting in the driver's seat as usual, texting and checking her makeup. She started the car without a word after I got in. Alex is a senior, and grudgingly serves as my chauffeur since we go to the same school. It's not a long ride so we usually don't talk about very much. I put on my headphones since it's always "my car, my music" with Alex. Just a few songs later she pulls into the school lot and we part for the day.

I always thought my high school was pretty awesome. The building itself is over a century old and used to be a hotel. It has a dark red brick exterior with lots of windows that look out onto the bay. I've always weirdly been into architecture, so I probably appreciate the building much more than most of its occupants. Inside though, it's just another high school.

The day itself was uneventful, but how could it possibly compare to the previous night's adventure? I went through the motions of going to class, my head still swimming with images from the dream. After I got home, not even an afternoon run could clear my mind.

That night I collapsed in bed, exhausted. I almost didn't have the energy to even take off my jeans before closing my eyes but I removed them grudgingly. In no time I had fallen asleep. This dream started with a sound, a hum. I was vaguely aware of the hum at first, but it quickly and steadily became louder and louder. The sound continued its crescendo into a whooshing roar in the darkness. Then the darkness tore down the middle and, suddenly, I was falling through the sky again. My awareness snapped awake with a crystalline sharpness as I experienced the vivid and familiar dream.

"Whoa," I exclaimed as I fell, "it's happening again!" I looked down through the sparse clouds and could make out a mountain lake growing larger as it rushed to meet me. Spreading my arms wide for a few more seconds of enjoyment, I then closed my eyes and torpedoed into the water with the same gentleness as before. Breaking the surface, I coughed and smiled. A familiar landscape of forested mountains encircled me. I swam to the nearby shore and again found a smooth rock to sun myself. However, this time I stayed vigilant, looking across the water and hoping again to glimpse something mythical.

"Enjoying the view?" chuckled a pleasant voice behind me. I jumped and whirled around so fast I tumbled off my rock and back into the water. I yelped and quickly righted myself, peering wide-eyed over the top of the rock. I blinked a few times and even looked away and back to confirm what I was seeing. The blue dragon stood a stone's throw away, its foreleg held in front of its face in an attempt to stifle a smile.

"Ha!" I cried in disbelief when my ability to make sound eventually returned. "You...you can talk? You're real and you can talk!" Well, not real in the strictest sense, but real in this world I had somehow returned to. These dreams were starting to amaze me more and more.

"That seems to be the case, does it not?" the dragon replied matter-of-factly. Its voice was almost human. His voice, I should add; the dragon was unmistakably a male. It sounded clear, warm, and almost indescribably familiar. "How about you come on out, I do not bite!" he added reassuringly. I stood up and stepped out from behind the large rock, still a little wary.

He stood still on the stony beach and watched me with what looked like mild interest mixed with amusement. His scales sparkled with dancing deep blue hues just like I remembered. I must have stopped in my tracks without realizing it because he let out a soft snort of laughter and closed the last few steps between us, swishing his tail as he walked. The dragon stopped and sat his hindquarters on the ground, scales flashing with each movement. After regarding me with his icy eyes for a moment, he smiled again and extended a clawed forepaw in my direction. "Rofar," he said cheerily.

"Josh," I responded while taking his hand—or claws, rather—in return, still a bit dumbfounded. "I just met a dragon," I thought calmly, "So...this is new."

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