Dragon Dreams

Chapter 19: Left Unsaid (1/3)

"There you are." Jackie's chair was thrust back as she quickly stood up from her seat at the kitchen table. "We were wondering where you went. Is there something you want for lunch? I've got more sandwiches if you want."

Neither Jackie nor Wes had seen when I left, so they didn't yet know the circumstances of my disappearance. They had both been sitting around the kitchen table, probably just finishing their lunch. An untouched place setting occupied my usual spot next to Wes. My emotional state had calmed significantly, but I felt a dull throbbing in my head, and I had to focus on keeping my breathing nice and even. They probably wanted an explanation from me, but I intended to omit anything that could cause alarm.

"I'm not hungry," I mumbled. I didn't elaborate.

Jackie fingered a lock of long, black hair. "Did your call work out? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I got through to them. But, uh, it didn't exactly go how I wanted. Just...I mean...my best friend didn't take it very well. So I had to...get away for a bit. I was just out for a walk to clear my head. I didn't want you to be all worried about me, though. I'm sorry if you were."

"Oh, no, that's fine," she said. "You don't have to apologize. The call, though—I'm sorry it wasn't what you imagined. But we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"Hey, are your arms okay?" Wes asked. "They look kinda scratched up."

"Oh, yeah," I replied casually, looking down to see the roughed-up patches of scales, a result of my frantic clawing back at the waterfall. "They're fine. I just slipped and fell while I was out there. Pretty clumsy of me, but I'm okay."

"Good, because I don't know dragon first-aid," Jackie quipped.

I forced a smile. "I'm pretty tough," I said, rapping my knuckles on a chest plate. "It'd take more than a little stumble to cause real damage. Like, a lot more."

"I bet," she grinned, and then her face shifted back to the look of mild concern it wore when I walked in the door a minute ago. "You sure you're not hungry?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Really. I just, uh, I think I need to call my sister real quick. The way I left earlier, I would just feel better to talk to her again."

"Do whatever you need to do." Jackie started to busy herself in the kitchen, clearing the table and putting condiments back in the fridge.

I dug my phone and stylus out of my backpack and dialed Alex's number as I walked out into the backyard. She picked up almost immediately.

"Josh, I'm so sorry about what happ—"

"Are Mom and Dad in the room with you?" I interrupted.

"What? No. I'm upstairs, in my room. Why?"

"I, uh, I want to...well, I have some things to say to you. Just you."

"And? Let me guess, you don't want me to tell Mom and Dad?"

"You can do whatever you want with what I tell you. I'm sure they'd get all worried hearing this from me, and I don't think I can deal with that. I just trust you'll know what to do. I'm not feeling too great right now, as you can imagine, but I saw how you had my back."

She took a breath, probably thinking about what she could say to make me feel better. "You know Scott will come around, right? He just needs time."

"That may be," I replied. "But that's not what I called you about. Things are going to be a bit different for a few days. I've been talking to that other dragon, Rofar, who wants to help me. I'm going with him to meet some more dragons and learn some stuff about what exactly it means to be one of them."

A silent pause followed. "You're sure about this?"

"Yeah. It's happening. I'm meeting him tonight, and I wanted to tell you because I'll be out of touch for a while. Well, not a while, but, you know..."

"Shit, Josh," she exclaimed, more uncertainty in her voice than anger. "I don't really know what to say, and I guess you're set on doing this. I'm not trying to talk you out of it, I...I really don't know. This has just been so weird for the past week. I guess it can only get better after what happened today. So, you should do whatever you think is best for you. Just don't, you know, drop off the face of the earth or anything, okay? We'll figure this out together, all of us."

"Thanks. And thanks again for what you said earlier. That's how I know it'll be okay. I know you'll take care of Mom and Dad. It's been a weird week for me too, trust me."

"Yeah, well, I'll talk to you soon. Make sure you learn how to breathe fire and not fly into power lines and all the useful stuff."

I gave a hollow laugh, appreciative of her effort to cheer me up, even if it had little effect. "I will. Give my love to everyone."

The phone beeped as I disconnected. Hanging my head, I exhaled deeply as I stared down at the blades of grass sprouting between my talons. "At least Alex knows what's going on. She'll know how to keep our parents from worrying too much. I'm just tired of being the subject of everyone's anxiety." Well, there was nothing I could do about that. In any case, I probably concerned myself too much with the feelings of others when I needed instead to keep a close watch over my own mental health.

With the call completed, I stepped back inside the house to find Jackie and Wes still in the kitchen. I returned my phone to my bag and approached the table, not sure what to say. Jackie was drying dishes with a washcloth while listening to the radio, nodding her head slightly to the music. Wes sat on the floor while Winter rubbed against his legs; the cat purred and nudged the boy into giving her a satisfactory petting. However, when she heard the first click of my claws on the kitchen floor, she made a beeline for the back hallway and vanished around the corner.

Wes looked at me pleadingly when he noticed I had returned. "Hey, Josh, can we go back out in the woods? I'm gonna miss being out there with you."

An image of the deer's body flashed in my mind's eye. It's belly gaping and empty, teeming with insects and reeking of death. What was wrong with me? I had to use all my self-control to keep my expression steady and avoid raising suspicion. Quickly dismissing the thought, I said, "Okay, sure. If your mom says it's okay, we'll go on another little adventure."

"It's fine. You two go and have fun." Jackie mussed her son's hair and shook her head. "I still can't believe you were out there every day last week playing with a real dragon, and I had no idea!"

"Awesome!" Wes exclaimed. "Let's go." He scrambled to his feet and ran to put his shoes on.

I smiled and called after him, "I'll meet you in the yard."

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