Dragons
As they rock in a gentle rhythm together, a mother’s story drowns out the deadly storm above. The child sits quietly, eyes wide, and listens to every word.
The mother tells wild tales of a Dragon King, who sends out his dragon soldiers to destroy and plunder the countryside and the towns, both far and near. She tells of their evil hiss as they swoop down, setting fires and destroying homes. Monsters, too, are sent out, she says, to gather up peasants to work as slaves and to be used as food for the evil dragons. She tells of the poor Princess in her tiny kingdom, whose brave knights risk their lives to protect their families and their homelands, some riding on unicorns. Their daring deeds and fearless spirit make the child’s eyes shine. Each night, the old woman in the corner shakes her head at the tales, and whispers harsh words to the mother for filling the child’s head with such horrors. Each night the young mother just smiles, and thinks up new tales to tell, with thrilling horrors, but every story ending in triumph for the Princess and her brave knights.
One night, after the knights have once again defeated the evil Dragon King, the child asks a question.
“Mommy, is Hitler the Dragon King?”
“Yes, my sweet, I suppose he is.”
“And Daddy is a knight?”
“Yes, Daddy is a knight.”
"Dragons" is an attempt to write in the style of Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s Miniatures, for my college creative writing course. I really wasn't able to capture his style, but I hope that I succeeded in his way of showing something big through something small. I think this story shows what it is about fairy tales that I love. As G.K. Chesterton so aptly put it, “Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” You never have a fairy tale without some sort of villain and some kind of tragedy. The beauty of it is that even though bad things happen, good is not destroyed in the end.
God bless you all tonight,
Rae
Always loved this one.
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