once upon a time

there were four little red and gold dragons

one went off to a round faced singing boy, who set it on the piano and composed happy music to charm the world. the dragon learned to sing and chirp and hum along, and had a beautiful extroverted life ahead of him, constant giggles and deep reflections running through the notes like ripples on a pond.

one went off to a bright little boy with numbers and building blocks dancing around his head, and together they built many spaceships and solved many riddles, pausing occasionally to explain to others the fun and rules ( and changing the rules when profitable.)

and one sibling went off to a quiet boy who thought like a ninja and enjoyed green things, and who had been wanting a dragon for quite a while, being of a dragonish talent himself. he taught the dragon how to speak different languages and move invisibly, and they spent a pleasant amount of time doing that in their own good company.

but the fourth dragon got tucked into a hoodie pocket of a thoughtful sort of girl and carried off on all sorts of adventures. sometimes the two went to photo club and learned all about apertures and focus, and sometimes they wrote stories together, with the door shut on the world so they could find a little peace and a better storyline.

and in the end, all the dragons chose exactly right, and while they looked near identical, they each shared unique moments with unique owners and, over the years, shape shifted to look a little more like them in tiny but pleasing ways.

the end