The morning went like normal, with addition of trying to wake up Pat early enough for the trip to the zoo. He didn’t wake up till 9:30 and that was because I had to roar into the game room. It was pretty funny, Pat didn’t think so.

“Come on, it was only a little one.” I said.

“It was loud enough to give me a heart attack.” said Pat as he grabbed his chest.

“Oh, you’re fine. Come on, it’s quite a drive to St. Louis and we have to get going early.”

“Okay, but no more roaring.”

It was tricky to figure out a way to fit four humans and an 8’ dragon into one car. I wished we still had the Oldsmobile, that thing was huge. All we had was my truck, Dad’s GMC Sierra and a Kia Sophia. We decided that the only way this could work is if I took my truck and Pat, while everyone else rode in the GMC. It was fun to squish back into my truck, it’s not that bad. I like driving, so getting back behind the wheel was always enjoyable. That passing scenery was great; I even had my window rolled down with my arm out. That must have been something, a red sleeved arm with claws sticking out a pickup’s window on the interstate. Other drivers sometimes caught notice of me, I got some stares. All I did was tip my hat and continue driving.

We all got to the zoo and parked next to each other. The zoo was not too crowded, but nobody was in the parking lot, lots of cars, but no people. Good thing I guess. As we walked up to the entrance, I saw the man inside the booth straighten as he saw me.

‘Here goes nothing.’ I thought.

“Five adults.” Dad said to the man.

“Why is that guy wearing a costume?” asked the man while pointing at me.

“What? You don’t like my coat?” I asked as I tugged on my coat’s collar.

The sight of my mouth moving as I talked with the addition of me flexing my wings was enough to make the guy’s eyes as wide as dinner plates.

“Don’t worry about him, he’s harmless.” Dad said.
“Yea, all we want is to visit the zoo.” said Sam.

“Please,” I said as folded my claws together and tried to look as genuine as my draconic face allow, “I promise I won’t make any trouble.”

“Okay, fine. You can come in, I just don’t want to hear about you eating anything you shouldn’t or burning anything down.” he said.

“That won’t be a problem.” I happily replied.

We all got our hands stamped; the booth attendant was a little put off when I stuck my claw under the glass. Then we were off in the zoo itself, I swear it always takes my back to being a kid. It rarely changes, there’s just something constant about the zoo. We went to see the otters first, Mom loves them. Then it was on to the monkey house. It’s nice that they put glass instead of leaving the old bars. It always reminds me of Dad’s friend Roland’s story of the time a chimp took a dislike to him and a rather large splat on the glass appeared right at his head. You have to admire a monkey’s aim. The monkeys seemed to take exception to me and take to their trees as I walked along. They made a lot of hooting noises too. They calmed down after a while, but they wouldn’t come too close. I just went about my business and they seemed to understand that after a while. The marmosets didn’t seem to care that I was there. The gorillas have their own exhibit. They thankfully didn’t do much either, they just kind of stared. Really creepy now that I think about it. After that, it was on to Red Rocks. It’s always fun to watch cats sleep, not like I could do that at home (ha ha). I just leaned over the rail and watched the lions rest on a rock.

“Have you ever seen them do anything else?” asked Pat as he leaned over the rail next to me.

“That one’s taking a crap.” I said with a big smile.

“Ah dude, that’s nasty.”

“When you gotta go.”
     
They didn’t seem to care that a dragon was watching them. It must be pretty boring for them, it’s not like they could be taken out for a walk. Tiger’s were sleeping, as usual. These are not performing animals, so it’s to be expected. The giraffes were neat, one of them leaned over the rail tried to lick some kid. It was pretty funny. The antelopes seem to enjoy running around their enclosure. Camels were just camels, they do indeed bite. It was my right wing, which hurt, but thankfully it didn’t break the scales. Mom just had to have picture of us with them. When she asked me to move a little to the right, which was what the thing was waiting for. It hurt for quite a while; I swear that camel was looking at me like I owed it money. The zebras just seem to eye the crowd. I even got spit on be lama, joy.

“Awe, you’re kinda cute.” I said while looking at a white and black lama.

Then it reared its head back and hocked a big wad of spit right on my muzzle.

“Ewwwe.” I said as I scraped the stuff off my face.

“That has to be funniest thing I have ever seen!” Sam laughed.

“Yea, it’s not every day you see a dragon get spit on by a lama.” Pat snickered.

After that it was on the birds. We had to stop to look at the map to see where to go. I was standing under a tree when I felt a sharp pain on the end of my tail.

“Ow!” I yelped as I turned around to see a small boy who was probably twelve. “What did you do that for?”

“You felt that?” he asked as his eyes grew wider by the second.

“Yes.” I said, a little frustrated, as I rubbed my aching tail.

“Oh my God, you’re a real dragon.”

“Yes, I am. You know, it’s not wise to stomp on a dragon’s tail.”

“My older brother put me up to it, he told me to see if you were wearing a costume.”

“Well I’m not and you should not do something just because your brother told you too. It could end up getting you in trouble.”

“Please don’t eat me.” the boy pleaded while falling on his knees.

“Relax, I’m not going to eat you. I would never eat a human.” I said with a smirk.

“Really?” said the boy while standing back up.

“Really. Now go back to your family and please don’t stomp on my tail again.”

“I promise I won’t.” said the boy as he ran off to a family that was looking at the tigers.

I could see the boy talking to his brother. He just kept pointing at me every so often till they started coming over to me. They even had a little girl following them, could only be their little sister.

‘Oh great,’ I thought, ‘all I need is to entertain children’s questions.’

“Listen,” said the older (not by much) brother, “I don’t care how you look, but there are no such things as dragons. There is now way you are a dragon, you’re just a guy in a costume.”

“You’re sure about that?” I asked while walking right up to him. Man, he was short. He couldn’t have been over four feet tall. I must have been a skyscraper compared to him.

“Yea, I bet I can find the zipper on you.” he spat back with a look on his face like he knew everything.

“You’re welcome to look.” I said with a draconic smile as I took off my coat and stuck out my arms into a T-pose.

That kid looked me over, poking, patting and prodding me. Sam and Pat just watched with huge grins on their faces. The little girl walked up and tugged on my right wing. She backed quickly away because of what she felt.

“Uh, Jerry, I think he’s real.” she said in a frighten voice.

That must have gotten their parents attention because they started running over when they saw the children around a rather large reptile.

“Jerry, Don, Jane, get away from that thing!” yelled the mother.

This got my parents attention and they walked over too.

“Hey now, I resent being called a thing.” I said with a sour look.

“It’s just a guy in a costume Mom.” said Jerry.

“I don’t care what he is, you should not be poking him.” said their father.

“It’s not a costume Mommy,” said Jane, “He’s a real dragon.”

“She’s right, he is.” said Don.

“That’s ridiculous, dragons don’t exist.” said the mother.

“Your mother’s right, that is not a dragon.” said the father.

“Hate to burst your little bubble, but I am.” I said while pulling my coat back on.

“No, you’re not. You can’t be a dragon.” said the father.

“Look into my eyes and tell me that.” I said as I leaded down to be eye level with him. The air escaping my nostrils blew right into his face and I opened my mouth into a little smile to expose my teeth. I could see his expression change as he came to realize what was standing in front of him.

“Y-y-you’re really a d-d-dragon.” he stuttered.

“You are correct sir. Pat, tell the man what he has won.” I said in my game show host voice as I stood back up.

“A first class, round trip to Brownpantsville. Enjoy the wonderful, steaming beaches.” Pat said in a very impressive announcer voice.

“Oh my God,” said the mother in shock, “you’re a dragon. What are you doing here?”

“Visiting the zoo, what else?” I replied.

“I mean why are you here, with humans?” she asked.

“I wasn’t always a dragon, in fact last week I was human.”

“What? You were turned into a dragon? How?”

“By a small rock that I accidentally crushed.”

“Wow, you mean I could become a dragon too?” asked Don.

“Yes, it’s possible, but I don’t recommend it. It’s a lot of hassle.”

“Where did you find this rock?” asked the father.

“A cave in southern Missouri, but there was only one rock so its empty now.”

“Ah man, I want to be a dragon.” said Don.

“No, you don’t.” I said very seriously, “I been a dragon for a week and I miss all the little things I used to take for granted. I have to get reoriented to the world and the world to me. I’m dreading the day I have to go back to college. I don’t know what I’m gonna do, but I’m going to do my best. That’s all I can do. Be thankful for what you have. Because when it’s gone, you’ll appreciate what it was.”

“He’s right,” said Mom, “This is something you don’t want. It’s hard for me to look at him without remembering the man he used to be. But he is my son, nothing can change that.”

“He’s my big brother,” said Sam, “and he always will be.”

“He’s still a good friend of mine, that’s hasn’t changed.” said Pat.

“I don’t know what I would do in your places.” said the father.

“I hope you never have to find out,” I said, “Now we all have a zoo to explore, so let’s get back to having fun.”

“You said it mister dragon.” said Jane.

“So, I guess I should apologize to you or something.” said Jerry.

“You were curious, that’s nothing to apologize for.” I replied, “Just try to be a little more open minded, it is the key to finding the truth in things.”

“Man your philosophical.” said Sam.

“I know. Don’t you just love it?” I said with a huge grin on my muzzle as we walked away.

The bird house was neat, all the exotic birds. They didn’t seem to mind me. The flight cage was also fun to walk through. After all that, it was lunch time. We went to Lake Side Crossing. Pat had three corndogs and a large Dr. Pepper. He and I share a liking for Dr. Pepper and I had one too, but I had six corndogs. I put only mustard on mine. The man behind the counter was a little frighten when he saw me, but he calmed down when all I did was order my food. Giving him the money was a trip. When he saw my claws, he recoiled a bit. He eventually took the money from me when Pat told him not to be a sissy. Mom and Dad ordered after me and got Philly Cheese steaks and large Pepsis. Sam got a two corndogs with ketchup and a large Mt. Dew. We picked a table and sat down. I really enjoyed my lunch, corndogs are tasty.

“You’re really inhaling those corndogs there Big Red.” said Sam.

“I am not.” I replied, “I can taste them just fine”

“Sure. It’s just every time I look over, another one is gone.”

I just grunted back at her and took a drink from my Dr. Pepper.

“Look Mommy, it’s the dragon again.” I heard Jane yell from across the pavilion.

“Oh, great.” I said with a sigh and planted my head on the table.

“Hello again.” said the mother, “I don’t think we said our names.”

“No, I don’t think so either.” said Mom. “Well then, I’m Kris. This is my husband Al and our daughter Sam. The dragon with his head on the table is Ethan and that is his best friend Pat.”

We all said our “Hi”s, mine was more of a huff.

“Well my name is Clare,” said the mother, “and my husband George. You should already know our children, Jerry, Don and Jane.”

They said all their “Hi”s, Jerry said his with a grunt.

“Well now that is out of the way, we can get to know each other better.” said Clare.

We all talked for a good hour, well the parents talked. We were pretty much left to make conversation on our own. I mostly just sat there and ate my corndogs till Don decided it was a good idea to start asking me questions.

“What’s it like to be a dragon?” he asked, full of curiosity.

“Cool.” I said dryly.

“What’s it like to fly?”

“Amazing.”

“What’s it like to breathe fire?”

“Hot.”

“Did it hurt a lot to turn into a dragon?”

“Yes.”

That answer seemed to get all the new people’s attention. They all turned to look at me.

“What? It did.”

“How bad?” asked Clare.

“You don’t want to know.” said Mom. “I asked him that and I didn’t like the answer.”

I just nodded.

“I’m so sorry.” said Clare.

“It’s no big deal. Just go back to your conversation.” I said.

They just went back to talking and pretty soon it was just like before.

“Well, that was interesting.” said Clare after another ten minutes. “Well, we better get back to exploring the zoo. There’s still so much to see.”

“Yea, we better get going too, it’s already passed 1:00.” said Mom.

“Then we’d better get moving.” Dad said.

After all that, it was on the perhaps the funniest place for me to be, the reptile house.

“Going to visit your relatives there Big Red?” joked Sam.

“Very funny Sam.” I replied as flat toned as I could.

I always liked the reptile house, lizards and reptiles are a favorite of mine in case you hadn’t figured that out already (ha). Now the zoo was crowded to begin with, but people must have thought I was a promotion stunt or something along those lines because nobody seemed to pay any attention to me. But the reptile house had a load of people in it and the sight of a large, red dragon walking through the door was enough to get most of their attention. All I did was tip my hat and walk about my business. I stopped at ,ironically, the komodo dragons. They were just lying there until I showed up. They got up and started moving around the pen, like a threat was nearby. I guess they didn’t like me. I was about to walk away when a teenager stopped right in front of me. This kid had to about fifteen.

“Hey, shouldn’t you be in a cage?” he told me in a very demeaning tone.

“Huh, I guess I should’ve have seen that one coming.” I said with a smirk.

To more of his friends lined up on either side of me.

“You know, I think this costume is pretty lame.” said the one on my left.

“Yea, I bet this loser is paid to wear it.” came from the one on my right.

“Listen, I don’t like guys in costumes. I make it my mission to see they suffer.” said the first kid.

“Why would you do that? Some people are only trying to make ends meet.” I said.

“Like you?” he asked.

“No, I’m just visiting. Now if you excuse me.” I replied.

“Not until I beat you out of your costume.” I yelled as he threw a punch.

His fist hit me square on my gut, but my scales took the blow. He withdrew his fist in pain.

“Ow!”

“You shouldn’t punch a dragon, scales can be quite hard.” I said smugly as I pulled up one side of my black shirt to show him more scales.

“Get him!” he yelled.

With that, his friends jumped on me from either side. The one on the right latched on to my neck and the left one grabbed my left arm. They tried to drag me down. It was pathetic; they didn’t even feel all that heavy. The one that started all this kicked me in the left leg. It started to buckle, but I fought back to stand. This naturally drew the attention of quite a crowd. I needed to end this quickly.

“Your attempts to bring me down have only served to annoy me!” I roared, I seemed to scare more than a few people.

I grabbed the one off my neck and threw him to the ground and used just the arm that he was clinging on to pick the second one up off the ground to bring him up to my face. With a huge draconic smile that showed off all my fangs, I said.

“Would you mind letting go?”

He let go of me and dropped to the ground at my feet.

“Thank you.” I said then let out a deep chuckle.

“It’s just a costume guys.” said the first kid.

“You would be saying that if you saw what I just saw.” said the guy as he scrambled away from my feet.

“Pathetic. You are simply pathetic.” I laughed.

“I teach you to make fun of me.” as he threw a kick at my leg again.

This time, I grabbed his leg and pulled it out from under him. Holding him upside-down I looked right into his eyes.

“Now, all I wanted was to visit the zoo with my family and friend. You just had to ruin my fun. I’m going to put you down and you’re going to leave, do I make myself clear?” I said in a very steady tone.

I guess looking at me that close, he finally understood what I was.

“Okay! Okay! Just don’t hurt me.” he said hysterically.

“Please, like I ever would hurt a human.” I said as a laid him on the floor.

He and his buddies ran out the door.

“That takes care of them.” I said as I straightened my hat and coat.

Everyone was looking at me. I must have put on a good show.

“Thank you St. Louis, I love you, Goodnight!” I yelled without stretched arms as I walked away.

I heard several people talking behind me as I walked into the smaller area with really low lighting. Mostly it was people trying to make sense of what just happened. As I leaned down to see a snake in a very small box, a small boy hopped up onto the bench next to me to get a good look at the snake too. He didn’t seem to mind me.

“I think the tongue thing snakes do is cool.” he said.

“Big deal, I can do it too.” I replied.

“No you can’t.” he said turning to me.

“Yes, I can.”

“Prove it.”

With that I stuck my thin, forked tongue out and did the same thing snakes do.

“See.” I said with smile.

“Cool!” he said as he ran to his mother. “Look Mom, that dragon can do the tongue thing too.”

“You talked to it?” she said surprised.

“Yea, he’s cool.” he replied.

“You could have been hurt by that beast.” she told him.

“Oh Mom, you worry too much. Come on, go meet him.” he said as he pushed his reluctant mother toward me.

“Cory, I don’t think this is a good idea.” she said.

“He’s cool, you’ll see.” Cory replied.

Now this was a sight, a small child pushing his mother toward a dragon. I could not stop myself from smiling.

“Mom, this is the dragon.” he said as he motioned toward me.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Miss.” as I held out my claw.

She looked it over for a minute before she gently took it.

“Jessica.” she said with a tremble in her voice.

“Ethan.” I replied.

“That’s not a very dragon like name.” she said.

“That’s because I was not always a dragon.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Yes. Last week I was a normal man.”

“Wow, I never would have thought that.”

“It’s okay; I’m just trying to reclaim my life.” I said.

“I can see that now. I sorry for what I said.” she said sadly.

“The beast thing? It’s okay, I get that a lot.” I said with smirk.

“Still, it wasn’t right to call you that.” said Jessica.

“Well, we both have a zoo to explore and I don’t want to be the reason you guys didn’t all you wanted to see.”

“Yes, I have to take Cory home soon. He has to visit his grandmother’s tomorrow.”

“Then you better get going. Bye.” I said.

“Bye.” she said.

“Bye mister dragon.” said Cory.

After a while at the reptile house it was on to The Living World science museum. I like that place, it has the giant squid in it. Then the Rivers Edge, rhinos where resting and so was the elephants. Hippos where just wading around, the cheetahs where running around for some reason, so they were really cool. Then on the unimaginatively named, The Wild. There where bears, gorillas, penguins and Mom’s otters. She got to see them again and I got to be creeped out by the gorillas again, fun. The penguins where cool, sliding around and playing in the water, the rock hoppers were just cool looking. Now it was on to the bears. They’re cool; they’re just big, furry mountains of muscle and fat. I would not want to fight a bear. Unfortunately, some kid, had to be around ten, decided that to railing was a fun place to have a balancing act. His mother saw this right after I did and she screamed. That turned out to be a very dumb idea. The boy lost his balance and fell the wrong way. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I had to do something. I ran as fast as I could toward the bear pit, so fast my hat blew off. I bailed over the railing, grabbing it with my left claw and caught the kid with the other. My boots ground against the cement wall. I had a good grip on his right arm.

“Hang on kid!” I yelled.

All this activity made the bears really agitated. To make things worse, they were grizzly bears. They started to thunder over toward us. All I could do was wrap my tail around the kids waist and pull him up to my chest. I wrapped my free arm around him and kicked off with both legs. I had to pull up fast, or the bears might get us. I flapped my wings as hard as I could; we missed them by only a few feet. I flew us in a circle and landed about ten feet from where the kid fell. It was then I realized the kid had closed his eyes the whole time. When he opened them and saw me, he panicked and ran to his mother.

“Mom, Mom, a monster!” he screamed as he hid behind her.

“Jeffery! Your foolishness nearly got you killed. That monster just saved your life.” she scolded.

She began to walk up to me, with Jeffery clinging to her leg.

“Thank you, I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here.” she said.

“No worries, I just did what I thought was best.” I replied.

“Well, I still think you are very brave for what you did. You’re that dragon I have been hearing about, people were talking about you around the zoo.” she said.

“I’m just visiting; I don’t want to cause a fuss.”

“I’m glad you were here, I don’t care what anybody else thinks.” she said.

“Thanks, I’m glad I could help.” I said as I went to tip my hat, only realize it was gone. All I could do was nod.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Ethan. Yours?”

“Vicky.” she replied.

“Nice to meet you.” I said as I held out my claw.

She took it with confidence and shook hard.

“Thank you so much.” Vicky said.

“Here’s your hat Eth.” said Sam as she handed me my hat.

“Thanks.” I said as I slipped it on then turned to Vicky, “Your welcome.”

It was off to the gift shop after that. The walk there was interesting. The people at the zoo were all talking about me. It seemed that the original idea that I was wearing a costume had worn off. That stunt at the bear pit pretty much confirmed what I really was. People would either cheer when they saw me or avoid the daylights out of me. It was a strange mix. We made it to the gift shop. The usual trinkets were there. I was looking over the stuffed animals. Sam was looking at the binoculars, trying to see if they were any good. Mom and Dad were finding anything they could keep as a reminder of this trip and Pat was trying to find anything that was worth the money.

“I think I’ll get this.” said Pat.

“A zoological book on African mammals?” I said with a raised eye ridge, forcing my hat to raise up on one side..

“Sure, why not?” he replied.

“It’s your money.” I said as I rolled my eyes.

“Hey, look. A red lizard plushy.” said Sam from across the shop.

“What?” I said as I turned to look.

“It looks just like you, well with a blue underbelly and no wings.” she replied.

“Cute.” I said with a smirk.

“You should get it, it would be the perfect souvenir.” said Mom.

“I really don’t think so.” I replied.

“Oh, come on.” said Pat.

“Get it, don’t be a pansy you big lizard. Look it squeaks.” Sam said.

“Fine, I’ll get it.” I said as took it from Sam and walked up to the counter.

“I guess this one thing will do.” I told the cashier.

“S-s-sure thing sir.” he stuttered.

I paid for my plushy and shoved it into my pocket along with the receipt. Sam got her a decent set of binoculars, Mom got a puzzle game, Dad got a St. Louis Zoo mug and Pat got his book. We walked out of the shop and were assaulted by the media. There were all the local news stations and a bunch of radio people.

“There it is.” yelled one of the reporters.

The words “oh crap” were still making their way out of my mouth when I was assaulted with questions.

“Dragon, dragon, is it true you rescued a small boy from the bear pit?”

“Hey, did you assault three unarmed kids in the reptile house?”

“Were you attacked by those kids?”

“Did you harm the bears in any way?”

Their questions just drowned out together, there were so many. I could not take it anymore.

“Enough!” I roared.

Everyone stopped talking.

“That’s better, to answer your questions. Yes, I did save a small boy from the bear pit, but he did not hit the ground. I caught him as he fell. I did not harm any of the bears. I was attacked by the three boys in the reptile house, but I did not harm them. I simply persuaded them to leave.”

“Where did you come from?” asked a reporter in the back.

“I have told that story enough and I am too tired to tell it again tonight. All you need to know is I am not a threat, I just want to live my life in peace. Now that is all the questions I will answer, goodnight.” I said and I started to walk away. Every reporter behind me went nuts trying to get more out of me. The questions just kept coming, but I ignored them and just kept walking.

We eventually got to our trucks. The media was right behind us, still trying to get more. We just piled in and drove away. I turned on the radio only to hear myself talking. The DJ was decidedly negative about me.

“If you ask me, this a really bad thing. Dragons were not known to be a cuddly bunch. They were monsters, plain and simple. I mean look at that thing. When he roared, he show us what he truly was, a beast. That thing is less than human. I can’t believe people have allowed that thing to run around as it pleases. I mean come on, dragons can’t be trusted.”

“Well you can’t please everyone.” said Pat.

“Yea, but I can get my say.” I replied as I fished my cell phone out of my pocket.

I knew the stations number,105.7 The Point, I liked this station because it played alternative rock. I didn’t like the DJs, they talk too much and were full of themselves.

“What are you doing?” asked Pat.

“Getting my say.” I replied as I hit the call button.

“Looks like we have a caller, this is 105.7 The Point, you’re on the air.” said the DJ.

“You seem to be quite down on dragons. I mean come on, they’re cool.” I said.

“Yea, they are cool looking, but I don’t want one on the street.”

“Even if that dragon saved a small boy from be killed by bears?”

“Just because he saved one boy doesn’t mean he’s a good guy. It could be baiting us in, trying to make us trust it and then wham, we’re up to our necks in dragons. We don’t even know where this one came from, there could be more of the scaled beasts out there.” said the DJ.

“Well, I just thought I would offer my opinion on the matter. I think the dragon is a good guy and is genuinely trying to be accepted. He went to the zoo to show people that he was not a threat and just another guy.” I replied.

“But he’s not just another guy, he’s a monster.”

“A monster is defined by its actions, not its looks. There have been human monsters.” I pointed out.

“Yea, I’ll agree there. But this thing has a nature to kill us. Are you willing to let this thing run loose, what is it eats a family member? Will you be so giving then?”

“You really think that the dragon has a nature to kill humans. What gave you that idea? He was at a zoo with a group of humans. If he had a nature to kill humans, then you think he would have started by now.”

“That’s just it. We don’t know how long this dragon’s been around. He could have been eating us and just started to go on a diet or something.” the DJ argued.

“That’s pretty weak, I really don’t think a dragon can just go on a diet randomly and then get a group of humans to follow him around.” I said smugly.

“You seem to be pretty knowledgeable about this. Do you know something the rest of us don’t? Were you at the zoo today?”

“Yes, I know far more about this then any of you. I was at the zoo today. Care to put two and two together?” I taunted.

“Am I talking to the dragon?” he stammered.

“Bingo, I guess you figured it out. That’s right it’s me, Ethan, the one and only dragon. You have the privilege be the first to interview me. So go on, ask away.”

“Well, I guess I have to ask where did you come from?” he asked, clearly shaken.

“Ah, that story. Well it all happened last week. I was down south with a bunch of friends and then I found this rock. I accidentally crushed the rock and I turned into a dragon and I have been fighting to reclaim my life ever since. So, your whole nature to kill humans thing is out the window. I would never kill a human since I was one once. And as for other dragons, I have never seen one. I’ve been a dragon for a week, that’s all.”

“Well, I’m glad you called to clear that up. I guess we can all sleep better knowing that.” the DJ said with tinges of fear still in his voice.

“Thank you. I just wanted to tell you guys that before I went to bed. Now if excuse me, my phone is running of minutes. Goodnight.” I said as I pushed the “End Call” button.

“Well, that was interesting; I really didn’t think he would call me. I guess we now know a lot more about him and with that we can understand him better. I apologize if I offended him, I’m sorry for what happened to him and I hope things get better. Let’s get back to the music shall we, here is Mudvayne with Happy.” said the DJ.

Pat and I listened to the song and smiled our way to the gas station. I hopped out and went to fill up the tank when I read the pumps were pre-pay only.

‘Dang.’ I thought.

I walked into the station and the lady behind the counter stiffened up when she saw me.

“Twenty dollars on pump number 3.” I said.

“Y-y-y-your that d-d-dragon aren’t you.” she sputtered out.

“Yes, I am. Now could you please take my money so I can get my gas so I get home. I had a long day.”

“O-o-okay, just don’t hurt me.” she said.

“Oh come on, I’m not going to hurt anyone.” I said as I put the money on the table.

I walked out the doors and started to fill up the gas tank. I just leaned against my truck. It was getting dark out and I just wanted some sleep. The rest of the drive home was normal. I pulled in the driveway and Pat got out only to get in his car.

“I will see you later good sir.” he said.

“You too, take it easy.” I replied.

I walked in the door and went to my room. I took off my hat and coat and put them on my chair. I changed into my night wear and crawled into bed. What a day, it was fun. It was also a huge headache. The world now knew about me, now I just had to wait to see what they did next.