Dragon Dreams

Chapter 13: On My Mind (3/3)

I walked back to the place where we met and continued in the direction of his house. Staying far enough away so I couldn't be seen—even though there was nobody around—I leaned against a tree and waited for the boy to emerge. Before long, I heard the slam of his back door and looked up to see a wild-haired blur running at me. Wes lost no speed as he crashed into me and nearly tackled me in an embrace.

"You're back!" he exclaimed, arms still tight around my waist.

"Yeah, I am," I replied, patting him on the back. "It's good to see you again."

Finally letting me go, he looked up at me and asked, "What are we gonna do today?"

"First, let's get outta here and go back where it's more private. Then we'll think of something."

"Okay," he said, and we set off, heading deeper into the forest. "I, uh, told my mom about you yesterday. But don't worry, I knew she wouldn't believe me. She thinks you're im...ima...imagi...not real."

I snickered. "Imaginary, huh? That's fine by me. As long as she doesn't care about you wandering off like this."

"Nah, she knows I'll be fine. I'm always back for dinner."

We kept moving for a little while before I finally asked a question that had been on my mind. "You said it's just you and your mom, and I don't mean to be nosy, but what about your dad?"

He stopped walking. I could tell immediately I had touched a sensitive subject. "He...hasn't been around for a while," Wes said delicately. "He doesn't really get along with Mommy too good."

"I'm sorry," I said quickly. "I didn't mean to upset you. It's not my business anyway."

The boy sniffed quietly, looking at his shoes. "He never loved me like a d-daddy should. He would always s-say mean things to her, scream at her. And m-me too. He would get angry and he...he..." Wes let the words float away, rubbing his arms as if to dispel a chill. His already-small frame seemed to fold in on itself slightly. "I'm just happy he's gone."

"Hey," I said in a chipper tone, trying to cheer the kid up, "we don't need to talk about it anymore. Why don't we play a game or something? Do you like hide-and-seek?"

He looked up at me. I saw the momentary sadness, like the passing rainstorm from earlier, dissipate from his bold, blue eyes. A smile played on his lips as he nodded. To my relief, Wes seemed to regain his lively, youthful attitude.

"I'll count to fifty and give you a good, long time to hide. Ready? I want you to challenge me, kid!" I placed my paws over my eyes and started counting. Wes wasted no time running off to look for a hiding place; his footfalls were quickly lost in the noises of the forest all around me. "Oh yeah," I thought. "This is going to be fun."

We played hide-and-seek for a while. He could never hide from me for long because my nose could track him wherever he went, and my ears could pick up his giggles when I drew near. But I was no better at concealing myself because, well, it's pretty easy to spot a big, red-and-black dragon no matter how hard he tries to avoid detection.

"Found you!" he exclaimed as he knocked on the side of the dead tree I was hiding in. "Nice try, but your tail was sticking out."

"You got me," I sighed with resignation. "Just give me a minute to get out of here." I was a bit disappointed. This was my best hiding place yet, a big, hollow log just wide enough for me to squeeze inside. Apparently, not quite all of me made it in. With a series of grunts and awkward shimmies, I reversed my head-first crawl and extracted myself from the tree. I turned to see Wes doubled over with laughter, and I couldn't help but chuckle myself at the situation. We both took a moment to recover, which I used to stretch out my wings and return some of their feeling after the time spent stuffed in the tight space.