7 – As the Son of a Dragon (2)
“Did you enjoy the meal?”
“Yes.”
“The carrot wasn’t bad either, right?”
As I walked through the never-ending corridor, I saw that it was getting dark outside.
The last sunlight spread with a pink color in the sky painted purple.
Distracted by that sight, my mother gently lifted me into her arms.
“Wow – “
“Now, can you see better?”
“Yes. hehehe.”
I rested my hand on my mother’s neck and watched the setting sun.
It was too realistic to be called magic,
And it was beautiful.
Having time to leisurely watch the end of the day with my own two eyes was truly nice.
Our house was always busy and filled with scoldings if we were lazy.
But now –
“The twilight that I’ve seen too much of, for some reason, seems a bit more special today.
Is it because there’s someone to watch it with me?”
“I like it too.”
It was nice to have a mom who could see things we both enjoyed.
Always smiling and gently patting my head, my kind mother.
“Well, shall we continue to my room then?
It’s not really good to stand in the hallway for too long.”
Holding onto my mother’s embrace, I bid farewell to the disappearing sun.
Before the gradually rising stars and moon revealed their forms.
“Hmm?”
As I opened the door and entered, it was none other than my room.
In the darkness, the figure stumbling around was none other than a pillow.
I greeted it as it waved its hand on the bed.
“Hello. Seeing you again?”
“Have the two of us become friends already? hehehe. well…”
With a snap, a little spark appeared on my mom’s flicked finger,
and with it, the candle in the room was instantly lit with a red glow.
“Well then, before bedtime, shall I tell you the old story we promised earlier?”
“Yes!”
The blanket gently wrapped around me as I sat on the bed.
And in order to enter its embrace –
“Hmm, hmm, hmm!”
I hugged the pillow that was wriggling around with both arms.
With a thud, it gently bumped my forehead,
and then I turned my body to face my mom.
“But before that – if you’re thirsty or need to use the bathroom,
now is the chance.”
“No, I’m okay.”
“Okay then. I will start the story of the young dragon now,
so listen well, alright?”
Sitting in her place with me in front of her, my mom’s hand flared up a small flame.
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It grew bigger little by little, and it didn’t take long for it to take the form of a dragon.
“Wow, it’s a dragon!”
The mother, with a slight smile, coughed once and
brought a finger to her mouth.
“Now the story begins, so be quiet and listen well.
Sshh –
Once upon a time…”
***
Long, long ago, there lived a dragon.
From the moment of its birth, it had no mother or father.
Being alone and searching for its parents,
it received no reply upon its return.
The hungry dragon grew by eating various things.
It swallowed tasteless meat
and voraciously consumed vegetables that were not properly seasoned.
But one day, magicians came to find it.
Those who worshipped the dragon and followed it.
They gave the young dragon food and taught it language and magic.
However, when the dragon had learned all the magic, they grew old and withered away.
They left a message, saying to go and explore the land of humans, beyond the east.
Using its learned magic, the dragon transformed into a human and traveled to the libraries, studying.
Searching for who it truly was and who its mother and father might be.
But one day, the dragon stumbled upon a passage in a book.
Sometimes, the dragon would disregard eggs that seemed unlikely to hatch,
and miraculously, the young dragons that were born would even get devoured.
Or they would be captured by evil magicians and used as ingredients.
Because of this, the dragon wanted to say that it was alive and desperately searched for who its mother and father were.
Crossing mountains and seas, searching through the records in libraries.
Approaching the disciples of teachers and asking them.
But there was no one who claimed to know.
Even adventurers said they could count the times they had seen a dragon on one hand.
But even that was just a misconception of a species resembling a dragon.
And then, one day…
Father came to the dragon.
Father despised dragons, especially children.
Not only did he hold his nose because of the scent of humans,
But he also abandoned the child, ashamed that the child was still alive,
With a warning never to seek his parents again.
…
Shh, be quiet.
The story isn’t over yet.
So, could you please focus a little more?
Be patient.
So,
Um.
So, the dragon cried for a while.
Far away from humans,
Crying without doing anything else.
…Before the rumor spread that a red dragon had burned down a village.
People knew the red dragon very well.
Until a few years ago, the dragon that desperately searched for something was the red dragon.
They said it wasn’t a pitiable dragon.
But it had spent years hiding in its den, crying.
How can it light a fire?
And how could a dragon that had relied on humans for survival do such a thing?
But people didn’t believe it.
Don’t get too angry, Russell.
It’s just a story, after all.
So, won’t you listen until the end?
Those who had lost their families fell into sorrow and cried out.
They threw stones, held up knives, and pointed them at the grieving dragon.
The unjust dragon ended up spitting fire.
To drive away the people.
Without knowing how foolish and naive that idea was.
Since then, the dragon could no longer go near humans.
It spent its whole life running away, being called a wicked dragon… and becoming a destiny of being able to do nothing but hide.
That is the end of the story.
Don’t cry too much.
Your pillow is getting messed up.
…Why is the story so sad?
In this world, there can never only be bright stories.
Just as there is a bright side, there is a dark side.
Just like there is light, there is darkness.
That’s how it is.
From accepting and acknowledging that as natural –
It is the first step to understanding the world, and magic.
…Just relax, it’s okay.
I will never abandon you.
Didn’t I promise you?
To become your family.
I won’t even think of waking you up until you die, so you can rest assured.
…Wow, you really are a child with many tears.
You remind me of someone.
Huh? No, it’s just… a fleeting thought of the past.
…
You must have been very tired.
Well, today was a really busy day.
Sleep well.
And truly… thank you.
For crying for me.
***
The old story that my mother used to tell was truly sad. Perhaps I too was abandoned by my ‘mom’ and ‘dad’, so it was scarier and harder. But at least my mother was by my side. Even now. “Are you here?” My mother’s room was always in front of my door, without needing to pass through a long hallway. If I had any questions while reading a book, I could ask her. And when I got hungry, my mom would bring me snacks. She was always warm, always comforting. Even if my magic didn’t work well, there was never any scolding. Even if I wrote something wrong, there was never any anger. Sometimes, when I woke up late, my mother would just stroke my head. “It’s okay not to work too hard. It’s alright to take it easy sometimes, you know? If you’re tired, we can go for a walk together… Or how about watching what mom does?” The more time passed, the tighter my mother hugged me. She enjoyed spending time together. And I liked that too, that kind of mother. At first, it was very frightening, but now I knew that her tail was soft and warm. I knew that her wings, which covered the sky, became a blanket that occasionally covered me. And her yellow, shining eyes, are always smiling, not anymore. So as I grew up, I gradually forgot about ‘mom’ and remembered my mother instead. The mother who had never been by my side slowly faded away, and the one who is by my side now became real. My hair used to be brown, but now I think it’s closer to red.
But the eyes are gray,
Because my mother can change the color of the eyes with a magic that she uses to become human.
So I decided to practice harder.
Read more books,
Write more words,
And practice magic harder with my mother.
But still, I couldn’t use magic for some reason.
Even though a lot of time had passed.
A year had passed,
And this year had passed.
Even in the year when it had been five years since I had been with my mother, I couldn’t use magic.
Even though I heard my mother’s comforting words saying that it’s not something that happens quickly, and that it’s okay.
“Russell.”
“Surely if I say the spell like this, it should work, right? It’s the same as what my mother writes.”
“Russell!”
“Yes?”
Eventually, on a day when I stayed up all night,
Until I received a scolding from my always kind mother.
“Just because you’re anxious doesn’t mean anything will happen.
You are only fourteen now.
It took me over 30 years to master magic even though I had three teachers.
I still can’t get along well with ice and earth.
But you complain that it’s taking too long.”
Taking away the pen,
Roughly tidying up the paper that I had been densely writing on.
But at least, there was my mother’s gentle touch that softly caressed and hugged me.
“You have been studying much harder than me for five years.
It will definitely work, so don’t worry too much.
Okay?”
As I received that touch, I quietly shed tears.
Despite being fourteen years old, I ended up falling asleep in my mother’s bedroom. I clung to my mother’s tail as she stroked my head.
