How the Dragon Came To Be - A Just-So Story

How the Dragon Came To Be

 One day, high up on the mountain, there was a lizard. She wanted to fly, but knew that she couldn’t, and if she tried, we would fall to her death. So, she decided to go to the magician at the very tip of the mountain, who she knew could help her. 

The little lizard crawled all the way up the mountain, panting and sweating and hoping the magician would help her. When she went to the magician’s secret cabin, the magician laughed. He was sitting in a rocking chair in front of the fireplace, holding a mug of snail guts. “You silly little thing!” He exclaimed, and the lizard growled. “No one gives orders to me!

The lizard was not discouraged. She would get those wings and fly as high as she wanted! “Well, how about we bargain?” She asked angrily, and the magician stopped rocking his chair. “Make a deal.” 

The magician tapped his chin. “Very well,” he said. “A deal shall be made.”

The lizard grinned. She was very persuasive. “Now,” she said. “What if I had to breathe fire?” She made a shivering motion. “I hate fire.” That was not true. The little lizard loved fire. She loved the way it danced, the way it smelled, the way it felt. But, if she was a winged lizard, she would breathe fire. That would only make her scarier. 

The magician cackled. “Yes, yes!” He clapped his hands together. “That is just perfect,” He almost dropped his cup of snail guts on the floor. “You will carry the burden of fire!”

The lizard licked her lips. “I shall have claws, sharp pointy claws,” she said. “If I’m not careful, I’ll impale myself.”

The magician threw the snail guts into the fire and laughed so maliciously, the little lizard thought he might have a breathing difficulty. “Oh, little lizard, you are planning the death of yourself.” 

The lizard knew she wasn’t. “Okay, cast the spell,” she said and imagined fluttering wings and a fire-breathing mouth and talons the size of bananas. She grew and grew and grew. She felt strong. Powerful. Menacing. Her head broke through the top of the roof, and she smiled. She was a dragon. Setting the magician’s hut on fire, she flew into the night, soaring over mountains and valleys, but the magician escaped. 

Nobody knows where the lizard went next. All they know is that she wanders the Earth, looking for the magician and his evil staff.