Post by Unitedmoviemaker on Jan 29, 2013 14:00:47 GMT -5
Author's Notes: Well, I wrote enough to fill up an entire thread post. That means that this is going to continue Alex's journal from where we left off. I have really enjoyed writing this series. Now, I won't go into full detail (just in case there was that one misguided person who clicks on part 2 instead of part 1 ), but things have definitely changed for Alex. This is where new story possibilities have been opened.
If you have anything to ask or say to me, PM me! I will most likely acknowledge a (serious) message.
Thanks for reading! Enjoy! ;D
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Entry 27 – November 1, 2012
I woke up this morning with only one thing on my mind. It was on my mind all throughout the night. I was thinking of the creature. I was thinking how I finally was able to see what it looks like. Another thing on my mind was the visit we planned for today. I was really excited. The great thing was that I didn't have to wait till night. I went out in the afternoon. I climbed up my tree-house as I would for our regular night meets. I waited for the creature. I have to say: It did take the creature much longer to arrive. I'm not sure if we even set a time. I wasn't too disappointed or anything. The creature landed in a tree behind the tree-house. I climbed down to see the creature. The creature seemed to be hiding in the tree, most likely playfully. “Where are you?” I asked the creature. The creature happily sounded off. I walked closer to the tree to look up it. By the time I figured out the creature had left the tree, I heard a plop behind me. “Are you always going to jump behind me like that?” I asked the creature, as I turned around. I saw the creature with its ears up, this time, more visible. It looked like it was excited to see me. The creature slid its tail side to side across the ground. I wasn't as nervous around the creature this time, but I was still nervous. The creature tried to walk close to me again. I also backed away again. “I'm sorry, I'm just...” I sadly said to the creature with my head down. Strangely enough, the creature seemed to be okay with it. Was this its way of saying “it's okay.”? That's what I was guessing at the time. “We should head out away from here.” I said. The creature nodded and jumped into an autumn tree. I didn't plan where I was going to stop walking. I just continued on until I got to power lines. The creature had to come back down to earth because of this tree less place. It walked beside me. I sorta inched away from it as we walked. There was an audible buzz. Those power lines were active. “You gotta be careful around those.” I said, looking up at the lines. The creature nodded in agreement. I looked at the creature and asked “What? Have you run into the lines before?” The creature shook its head. “Okay, that's good.” I said, looking back up at the wires. I then looked around. I thought this would be a good place to meet during the day. I went ahead and asked the creature if it was okay with meeting there on a regular basis. I was surprised that it didn't hesitate to nod “yes.”. It was a good surprise. I checked my watch. It was about time for me to go back home to help make dinner. I told the creature I had to go home. The creature lowered its head sadly. I then said I would see it tonight. It instantly raised its head and looked at me. I guess it forgot that we were still meeting tonight. We parted our ways there. I saw it fly over the hill. The one where I got caught approaching the creature. I didn't stay to watch, I had to be somewhere. The rest of the night went as normal. I went back outside when it had gotten dark. The creature was on time this time. With that meaning it wasn't as late as it was today. I just stayed in the tree-house. The creature stayed up in a nearby tree (this time, one that I could see it in). I asked the creature about if it was okay with visiting during the day again tomorrow. It really liked that idea. The creature sounded glad at my suggestion. I think the day meet was a good change. Being able to see the creature is still a novelty to me. That is probably why I was still nervous to be close to it. I guess that will change over time.
Entry 28 – November 2, 2012
Today was sorta backwards for me. At least for some of the events that happened. Today was my brother's birthday. Nothing backward or strange about that. Although, it did cause me to change my schedule a bit. My family and I would go out for dinner to celebrate. So this meant I would pretty much be gone the whole night (and I was). The good thing about this was, because of the last few days with the creature, we can now meet in the daytime. Today, I had to make sure I mentioned to the creature that we weren't meeting tonight. I went out a bit earlier than last time, to make up for the few minutes I had with the creature yesterday (it seems like it was). The creature didn't take as long to arrive as last time. I can't really blame it, it was only the first time. I did think of something I should know about the creature. Its gender. I knew it was going to be a bit awkward, but it was something I needed to know. Just so I'm not calling it “it” all the time. The creature greeted me from a tall tree from on top of the hill. “Why are you up there?” I asked it. It seemed to be amused by my question. The creature jumped off the tree and glided towards me. I stepped back a few when it did this. That made me nervous. The creature landed and just stared at me with its big, green eyes. After I got out of the “greeting phase”, I then awkwardly asked if it was a male or female. I first asked male. I don't know why, I just did. The creature nodded. “Okay, that's just something I needed to know...” I said to the creature, slightly embarrassed. The creature looked a bit confused to why I was embarrassed like this. He (yes, he) tilted his head. “Don't worry, I'm okay.” I said to the creature. I then remembered something and snapped my fingers. “I needed to tell you something. I won't be able to meet tonight. I'll be away from the house with my family. I hope you're not too disappointed about that...” I said. The creature shook its head. “Are you disappointed?” I asked him. The creature shook his head again. “Okay, I'm just making sure.” I said to him, tilting my head forward a bit and pointing my finger at him. After this, we took a walk around the power line area. We climbed up the hills (to the opposite side of the big hill) and found a creek. The creature seemed to lead the way when he saw the water. He was thirsty. The creature ran to the creek and drank. I just hopped across the creek and sat on one of the larger boulders on the creek bed. The creature would occasionally look at me while he was drinking. Once he was done with his water break, we headed back to the rendezvous. It was time for me to leave. I admit, I didn't want the day to end. I told the creature I would see him the next day. He just sat where he was, watching me as I left. I'm not sure why he did this. The night went well. Our family stayed out almost all night. At least, until my brother got really tired. I'm really glad the creature and I agreed to daytime visits. It just seems friendlier than talking through the darkness.
Entry 29 – November 3, 2012
Today was a great day. The weather was practically perfect (a rare thing during this season). Another great thing was that I was home alone pretty much the entire day. This meant that I could visit the creature at my tree-house and for longer too. My mom had to go out for assorted errands. She told me she would call me when she was on her way back from the shops. Once she had left and was away from sight, I went to the backyard. I started to walk to the power line clearing until I heard some trees shake. At first, I didn't know where the sounds were coming from, but I then figured out they were close by. I think the creature was toying with me a bit. I don't really mind, he's done this before. I think once he knew I was on to him, the noises stopped. This sorta made me nervous, not scared, just a bit nervous. There was silence around me. A felt a sudden gust of wind behind me. I didn't really react quick to it. I turned around nonchalantly and found what I was looking for. I guess I should say: “who I was looking for”. The creature was behind me. He instantly snapped his head back, as if he were stretching out to smell me or something. I asked him, with a chuckle: “What are you doing?” The creature didn't look me in the eye, but sort of looked around shyly. I made a guess: “You were trying to smell me, weren't you?” The creature continued to look around shyly. I decided to change the subject. I asked if the creature wanted to hang out at my tree-house. He nodded at me with a grin. We then walked back to the two trees holding the shack up. The creature walked to the ladder and looked at the hatch entrance. He then looked back at me. “What? Do you want to see what's up there?” I asked, sorta confused. The creature nodded. “Well, okay.” I shrugged. I then went to climb up the ladder and open the hatch to the tree-house. I sat in my desk chair just watching the opening. The tree began to shake, but only a little bit. I then saw the creature's head began to slowly appear up in the house. “What do you think? It's not much, but it's more than some.” I said looking around the room, as the creature was doing. The creature began to sniff the floor planks and close walls. I awkwardly said: “Yep, we used quality wood for this tree-house.” The creature nodded. He then, without any indication, jumped down from the tree. I just sat were I was and chuckled a bit. I climbed down from the tree-house and looked for the creature. He went back to up in a tree and looked down at me. We went back to the clearing and stayed there until evening. The rest of the day and night went well. One thing I noticed was that the creature seemed to be doing less than he did before I first saw him. I don't know why. He could have been tired or something. Any guess is as good as mine.
Entry 30 – November 4, 2012
I had an interesting and exciting day today. As soon as I could, I went out back to meet the creature. I remember the times I would stay inside all day. It's now completely opposite it seems. I waited at the clearing. Soon enough, the creature ecstatically stomped the ground from a tree. He seemed to be in a different mood today, a happier one. I don't know why he was acting so joyful, but I definitely didn't have a problem with it. We stayed at the power lines for a few minutes before the creature tried to get my attention about something. He kept pointing his head towards the opposite tree line. I, at first, was a bit confused. I didn't know if I was supposed to be looking at something or going someplace. The creature then started jumping around towards where he was pointing. I then asked: “Do you want to go somewhere?” The creature nodded. “Okay, you're gonna lead, right?” I said. Again, the creature nodded. We walked to and through the tree line. The creature occasionally looked at me while walking. I would notice him looking at me and just grin back. We walked through the forest for a while until we got to an unexpected stopping point. Well, unexpected for me. We stopped at the side of a road. This was a popular road in my town. Not really the route 66, but still important. I looked both ways. There wasn't any traffic. The creature went ahead and crossed. I also walked across, frantically looking back and forth (as I usually do when crossing the street). I hurried away from the road, just in case there would be a person who would see us in their car. The creature ran ahead of me, still leading. In only a few more minutes of walking, our destination was revealed. A lake. Now, I have only seen this lake on Google Earth before, never in person. It almost felt like finding a hidden gem within my backyard. The creature went to the bank of the lake and drank. I just walked around the lake, getting a feel for the area. I was a bit tired from the walk, so I sat up against a nearby tree. After the creature's thirst was quenched, he decided to walk over to me and sit next to me. He sat more next to tree than me. I rested my head against the trunk and closed my eyes. After about a minute, I felt some warm air next to me. I opened my eyes and looked towards the source. It was the creature with his head close to me again. Like before, he had a guilty look on his face after being discovered again. “Were you smelling me again?” I asked with a laugh. The creature didn't look at me, but just looked around like last time. He then laid down next to me. I went back to laying against the tree, eyes closed. After being at the lake for a while, we decided to leave. I'm glad the creature showed me that place. I probably would never had seen it before. We got back to the clearing and split paths. Tonight, I noticed that the creature wasn't doing much like yesterday. He just stayed up in his new favorite tree branch. I wonder why he was like that. The creature seemed to be cheerful just this afternoon. I wish I knew what the problem was, then I would know what to do about it. I just hope it wasn't anything I did.
Entry 31 – November 5, 2012
Today I learned something about the creature and it wasn't even discovered while being with him. This morning I was eating breakfast and watching TV. There wasn't much on, so I tried to find the best possible show to watch. While flipping channels, I saw an advertisement for an upcoming event. It was a carnival that would be coming to my state next year. Every year there is a theme for this carnival. Strangely enough, the theme was dragons. In the ad, there were multiple clips of the dragons. I froze where I was. I could not stop thinking “What?!” The dragons in the advert matched the criteria of what the creature is: large reptile, wings, long tail, and fire breathing. Although, I don't really want to test him on that. I went up to my room almost immediately and did some research. With only a few minutes of Google and Wikipedia, I felt sort of stupid. Maybe I was thinking too logically or something, but something like this probably would have been obvious to someone else. So I guess I can no longer call my friend from the woods “the creature” anymore. I was pretty much stunned the whole day. When I went to visit (here it goes...) the dragon, I felt sort of strange knowing what he was after all this time. The dragon landed and greeted me, as he usually would. I greeted him back, just a bit awkwardly. He knew something was up. I could see him tilt his head and look confused. Of course, I had to tell him what I learned this morning. I said this “Well...I found out today that you are a dragon.” He nodded at me and smiled, seemingly like he was congratulating me. “I...didn't know that.” I continued. The dragon just shrugged at me. Moving on to a different subject, I asked “Alright, Mr. Dragon. What do you want to do today?” As soon as I asked that, he ran straight off in one direction. The dragon looked back at me and playfully roared a bit. I laughed a good bit as I tried to follow him. We ran around the clearing for a while. I kept chasing the dragon and he kept looking back making sure I didn't pass out. Once I got exhausted, we stopped at the creek for us to rest. The dragon drank while I laid against a boulder. Tonight, I noticed that the dragon was a bit more active than the last few nights. Maybe he was glad I figured out what he was. Could be. I just hope he's okay now, regardless of what got him back to his cheery self.
Entry 32 – November 6, 2012
Today was kind of a lazy day. I didn't do much exciting or anything. I was a bit tired throughout the whole day. That didn't change my plans with the dragon, of course. When the time was right, I walked over to the clearing with a bit less energy than usual. I sat and waited for the dragon. To my surprise, he didn't jump down from a tree. The dragon just walked into view. We both greeted each other. It seemed like the dragon was also tired. I knew this was the case when he kept yawning. “Are you tired?” I asked. He slowly nodded at me. I thought if the dragon wasn't really up for flying in the trees, he probably wouldn't be up for any kind of long walk. I asked: “Do you just feel like resting?”. He nodded again. “Yeah, me too. How about we head over to the creek and rest there.” I said to him. The dragon nodded and began to walk towards the creek. When we got to the creek side, the dragon basically collapsed on the ground. I sat down and rested for a while. I fell asleep for a few minutes (or at least I think it was only a few minutes). When I woke up, I looked over and saw the dragon was sleeping. He had his tail curved around his body to where his tail fin was beside his head. I stood up and stretched a bit. Even though I accidentally popped some bones loudly, the dragon stayed asleep. Suddenly, a rush of curiosity came to my mind. What if I took a closer look at him? I felt a bit hesitant at this idea. It seemed risky to me at the time. I eventually gave in to my idea. I crouched a bit close to the dragon. I looked at his face. He looked like he was enjoying his sleep with the smile on his face. I heard a tapping noise to the left of me. I turned my head and saw that the tapping noise was coming from the dragon's tail fin, which was patting the ground. At that moment, I felt a bit uneasy. I thought the dragon would be waking up soon, so I decided to sit back down. I fell asleep again, but I'm not sure for how long. When I woke up, the dragon was awake. He was drinking from the creek. I asked him: “So, did your nap help?”. The dragon nodded, this time more energetic. I was a bit more energetic myself. I stood up and stretched again. The dragon then started to walk back toward the meeting spot. “Hey! Is it time to go already?” I asked him. He looked back and nodded with a small roar. I checked the clock on my phone, he was right. Before I began to follow the dragon, I noticed something. Around the boulder I was resting up against were several large tracks. These had to be from the dragon. I was a bit confused at what this was about, so I started to walk back. I didn't mention anything to him on the way back to the rendezvous or when we left. I probably wouldn't know what to say or ask. Tonight, I still didn't know what to say. I talked about the day and what I did. The dragon looked a bit guilty when I asked about if he just slept and drank during the day. I wasn't going to mention the tracks yet, not until I thought of the best possible scenario. I made sure that we both left a bit earlier tonight. Even though we both got to see each other today, it wasn't really what I expected. We stayed out a bit longer than usual last time, so I thought making up for it would be the best thing to do.
Entry 33 – November 7, 2012
There never seems to be dull day with the dragon. Today, he literally kept me on my toes. When I met him at the power lines, he was happy and energetic. It seemed like he got a better rest last night than before. I too got a better night's sleep. After our usual greeting, the dragon began to act like he did a few days ago. He kept pointing his head in a direction and jumping around. I remembered the last time he did this, he wanted to lead me somewhere. So I went ahead and followed him. We walked sort of in the same direction as we did to get to the lake, but instead of crossing the road, we walked right along side of it. Soon, the road curved away and maintained elevation as we walked down. The dragon then led me away from the road. We kept trekking on until he stopped. Before me was something like a mini mountain. It looked like a big pile of rocks until I got closer. The mountain was tall for something that was in the middle of the woods. I guess this dragon has been around there plenty of times. He looked at me and looked at the top of the mountain, pointing his in a upward direction. “What, are we climbing this thing?” I asked confused. The dragon nodded with an excited grin. I wasn't opposed to this idea, so I went ahead and started to climb. Now, I'm no Everest conqueror, but I can climb. I was a bit worried of falling, but that's a normal fear. The mountain was a bit difficult to climb being with the large “rocks” that it was made up of. I had to be careful with my footing so I didn't twist my ankle or anything. At one point while climbing, there were two parts I could climb. A easier section and a more difficult one. I started to move towards the easier one, but the dragon jumped in front of me and shook his head. I guess he didn't want me to take the easy way out (or should I say “up”?). I had no choice but to climb the difficult side. I was a bit confused to why the dragon refused to let me go that way, I guess he wanted to challenge me. Challenge accepted. I was being challenged with the terrain on that side. There were much larger rock and wider crevices to get stuck in. Unfortunately, I got stuck in one of these crevices. I had slipped a bit and put my foot down. All my foot did was sink between two parts of the mountain. I tried to get out myself, but it just wouldn't move. At that point, I asked the dragon for help. He was standing on a flat spot next to me. When I asked for help, he nodded and put his head down. I didn't know what he was doing, if he was either examining my foot or just thinking. He then looked up at me and moved closer, still with his head down. “What do you want me to do?” I asked. The dragon looked back up at me and put one of his claws on his neck. “You want me to grab your neck?” I asked, in slight hesitance. He nodded at me and put his head back down. I looked down at my hands and then at the dragon's neck. I knew I had no choice but to have the dragon help. So I slowly reached for his neck and held onto it with just my hands. “Okay...I'm-I'm ready. Pull me out.” I said to the dragon. I was expecting him to pull my foot out slow and gently. That's not what happened, the dragon yanked my body away from the crevice like it was pulling me out of instant danger. I wrapped my arms around the dragon's neck almost immediately after he quickly pulled me. My foot slid out with no pain. “Alright! My foot's loose.” I said, a bit in shock. The dragon didn't stop. He kept moving backwards towards “the easy side” of the mountain, which was pretty flat. My body was being supported by only by my toes. So yes, I was on my toes. When he finally stopped, I fell on my knees. I stood up and backed away a bit. “Uh...Thank you. I couldn't have gotten out without you.” I said awkwardly. I tried to change the subject then. “How about we finish our climb?” I asked. The dragon looked at me and hesitantly nodded. We continued up the mountain until we got to the top. It was a pretty nice view from up there. When we started back down the mountain, I noticed the dragon seemed to be like he was a few days ago. Where he wasn't doing as much. He was like this all the way back to the clearing. It was almost like he was sad or something. Tonight, he wasn't any different. He just stayed up in his tree. Is this dragon bipolar or something? He was really happy just this afternoon. What happened? I didn't think to really ask him what the matter was. I just hope I can figure out why he's acting like this.
Entry 34 – November 8, 2012
Today was good, everything went well. Nothing went wrong. I didn't encounter anything weird or unusual. It just seemed like a regular day today. Which, my definition of “regular” is very different than everyone else's. I can thank the dragon for that. He's definitely made my life more exciting and interesting than it was before. When it was about 2:00 or 2:30pm (sometime in between), I went through the backyard and walked to the clearing. I was sorta hoping the dragon wouldn't bring me climbing again today. I just didn't feel to be in the mood at the time. After a few minutes of idle waiting, the dragon arrived. I heard him in a tree behind me and vaguely looked back. The dragon dropped to ground level and came towards me. I could barely hear him behind me. I didn't even turn around. Maybe that was a mistake on my part. Out of no where, I get knocked to the ground. I turned to the dragon and asked “What was that for?”. He had an apologetic frown on his face with his ears back. I saw that he also wasn't looking me in the eye, he was idly looking around. A thought came to mind. What if I just pretended that this didn't happen and sorta change the subject? I went ahead with this idea. “Ohhhhh...I get it. I'm it aren't I?” I asked the dragon. He looked up at me a bit confused with his head tilted. Before I could revert back and explain my proposal, The dragon slowly changed his expression to excited and perked his ears up. I couldn't help but smile when this happened. “Alright, how about a five second head start?” I suggested. The dragon was quick to deny this idea. I guess he wanted to make it a bit easier for me. That's okay. “Okay...GO!” I said, indicating the start of our game of tag. The dragon jumped and ran from me. He seemed to be giving me fair game, at least as much as he could. I chased him far away from our meeting spot. The dragon started running through the treeline (the treeline on my side, just further down the way). I hadn't really been in this section of the woods before. We were running up a wooded hill now. The dragon started to slow down just a bit, to compensate for me. When we got to the top of the hill, he had stopped and faced towards me. The dragon started to jump around, trying to dodge me. It was hard trying to catch him. After a few minutes of being crossed over a few times, I decided to change tactics. Instead of going either left or right, I went straight forward. I jumped forward and tapped his head. “Gotcha!” I said, feeling victorious. The dragon sat down and just stared happily. I then looked around to see where we ran off to. I didn't recognize any of my surroundings. I then thought I could use this disorientation for a good thing. “How about we explore this area? I haven't been here before.” I said to the dragon. He nodded neutrally. I guess he wasn't against it. We walked around the unknown section of the woods for a while. I found out how to get back to my house from where we were. Maybe the dragon and I can take a walk down that path sometime. Tonight was different. Different in a good way. The dragon wasn't acting like he was last night, which was a good thing. It was good to know he was back to his old self. I was thinking about mentioning the previous night to him, but it didn't seem to be relevant at the moment. I just hope I don't have to bring that night up to him. I would much rather him be happy and friendly.
Entry 35 – November 9, 2012
A lot happened today. The weather was pretty bad. I usually don't mind it when it rains, but today was different. I noticed the dark clouds when I walked outside. By the time I got to the power lines, I was getting worried about the chance of thunderstorms. Not long after my arrival, the dragon dropped onto the scene. We greeted each other as part of our tradition. The dragon didn't save much more time after that and began to twitch directionally. He wanted to go somewhere with me again. “Already? Alright...” I said, slightly confused at the dragon's timing. We set off to the left of the clearing (away from the large hill). I started guessing what location we were headed to. Was it somewhere I haven't been before? Was it a place I have? I then made the correct guess of where we were going when we arrived at the road. The dragon didn't take a right at the road, so this meant we were going to the lake. He stopped near the road and started to focus. His ears were twitching, so he must have been listening out for cars. After a moment of surveillance, the dragon gave me a nod and proceeded to cross the road. I looked both ways and frantically crossed as well. In a few minutes' time, we reached the lake. The lake seemed dull because of the cloudy sky. There wasn't any sunlight reflecting off the water, just the darkness of the storm clouds. I sat up against one of the nearby trees that was close to the lake. The dragon didn't follow me, he had a plan of his own. A minute or two after I sat down, I heard a large splash. I opened my eyes and nervously looked around. It didn't take long to see what the cause of that noise was. Apparently, the dragon decided to take a little swim in the lake. I knew for sure I wasn't going to take the plunge as it was too cold to swim. The dragon seemed to be really enjoying the water or something. Just the way he swam around seemed a bit more lively. I watched him as he swished around in the drink. Once he was finished, he shook off and walked towards me. Halfway in the dragon's trek to my tree, he started to walk a bit awkward. Once he got to me, he began to tweak his head back trying to reach something. The dragon started making a soft, high pitched growl. “What's wrong?” I asked him. He looked back at me sadly and then arched his head back again to reach somewhere. I stood up and got a better look at what the dragon's problem was. He seemed to be attempting to reach at a part of his back. Suddenly, the dragon gave out a short roar and slashed the side of the tree I had sat against with one of his claws. It then occurred to me what the problem was, the dragon had an itch. I asked: “You have an itch?” The dragon nodded at me sadly. At that moment, I felt like I needed to help him. “Do you want me to scratch it for you?” I asked, a bit unsure of myself. The dragon just stared at me with bright, pleading eyes. “Alright...” I said, a bit hesitantly. I reached out to scratch the dragon's back. I didn't remember where exactly he was trying to get to, so I thought I would scratch until he gave some indication that the itch was gone. It felt strange touching the dragon's scaly skin. I sorta scraped in a circular motion, so I could get the entire possible area where the dragon needed scratching. The dragon smiled at me as I was helping him. I felt glad doing this. It still felt strange, but the cause made up for that. After a few minutes of circular scratching, the dragon purred audibly. “Is that all you want?” I asked him. The dragon nodded, still with his cheerful grin on his face. Suddenly, there was a flash of lightning. A clap of thunder instantly followed. Both of us had been startled by the noise. “Sounds like it's about to rain.” I commented, looking up at the clouds. I just idly watched the clouds as I thought about the dragon. My thoughts didn't go too far on that subject as another one came to mind. A drop of rain hit my head. As second by second went by, the rain slowly increased in amount. More thunder and lightning followed. “We need to get out of here and away from these trees.” I said to the dragon. He quickly growled in agreement and took off to the right of the lake. The dragon looked back at me as I followed behind. We ran between the trees as the rain poured down harder and the thunder roared. The dragon ran down a large hill and turned sharply to the left. I slowed down and carefully walked down it. At the bottom of the hill, I discovered that the dragon led me to a cave. When I arrived at the cave, I saw that the dragon had already laid down. “This is a nice spot...” I said as I examined the interior. I sat down against the cave wall, opposite to where the dragon was laying. I should have been nervous and wanting to go home at that moment, but I wasn't. I felt sorta tranquil. I closed my eyes and just listened to the sounds. The slightly muffled sound of rain tapping the ground. The wind blowing through the trees. A few minutes later, the faint sound of a train horn blaring through the distance. I then open my eyes and look at the dragon, who looks back at me. I think about how our friendship came to be. Once the rain died down and eventually stopped, we decided that it was time to depart. We walked back to the rendezvous and split paths. The night went well. The dragon was still joyful as he was during the day. He stayed in a tree for a few minutes as I talked to him, but them jumped down. The dragon wanted me to join him on the ground as he climbed up my tree and popped his head up through the hatch doorway. I found it extremely difficult not to laugh and smile when he did this. Although, I think there's something I'm missing. Something I should do for the dragon. I can't really think of anything at time of writing, but it should come to mind eventually.
Entry 36 – November 10, 2012
The idea missing from my mind came to me this morning. Last night, I felt there was something I wasn't doing for the dragon. I decided I needed to ask the subject himself about this proposition of mine. At the usual time, I went to the clearing and waited for the dragon to meet up with me. I was hoping he didn't have any plans to take me anywhere and luckily, he didn't. When the dragon arrived and we both greeted each other, I just asked if we could take a walk down the new trail we found a few days ago. The dragon looked to be okay with that. As we started walking, I began to talk about other stuff. I'm pretty sure the dragon knew I had something on my mind. He just looked at me as I was talking. I didn't really know he was on to me until he ran up in front of me and sat down. The dragon stared with his ears slightly pulled back. He looked like was a bit worried about me. I finally gave up beating around the bush and said “I'm guessing that you know that there is something I really want to say.” The dragon nodded. “Alright. I wanted to ask you something, but I didn't really know what to say.” This is when the dragon looked to be confused. “I wanted to ask you if you would be okay if I gave you a name.” The dragon pulled his head back and looked even more confused. “Let's keep walking so I can explain this a bit more.” I said. The dragon nodded, still confused. I started to explain how it would be more personal if I called him by a name instead of “dragon” or “creature”. At some point while I was explaining this, I looked over at the dragon and saw he was now ecstatic instead of confused. That wasn't so hard. Wasn't it, Alex? We got to the end of the trail in only a few minutes. “So would you like me to give you a name?” I asked. The dragon nodded excitedly. From that time on, there was more spring in the dragon's step. I then had to say something: “There's one problem. I don't exactly have an idea in mind.” The dragon looked at me and nodded neutrally. I was glad he didn't just completely change moods. We walked back to the clearing as I tried to think of something. Tons of names filled my mind. Although, most of them weren't any good. Some names were from people I know. Including some of the infamous ones to me. I was still thinking hard when we got back to the power lines. The dragon sorta unofficially decided to lead me to the creek. I thought that would be a good place to sit and think. The dragon was able to get a drink while I thought of a name for him. I wanted to find a name that sorta suited him. A name that gave a certain ring. Because Bob doesn't sound like much of a dragon name. Then again, I didn't really know what to name a dragon. I started suggesting names. They were better than the ones I thought of initially, but still were not the right ones. It was about time to leave. We started walking back to where we meet and leave. While we were in that direction, the idea appeared. The right name had come to mind. I was so surprised I was able to think of a good name for the dragon. I just uttered it aloud. “Daniel.” The dragon looked at me, slightly confused to why I randomly said a name. “What do you think of the name Daniel?” I quickly asked him. The dragon thought it out and slowly became happy with the name. When we got to our departing spot, I finally asked “Do you like that name?” He nodded softly with a purr. “Alright, it's official, Daniel.” I said with sly smile. I left on that sentence. Tonight, I met with Daniel and felt very different than before. I wasn't lying when I said it would be more personal to call him by name. It definitely felt more personal. I'm glad this happened. I think I should have done this a long time ago, but this also seemed to be a good time as well.
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Thanks for reading! Enjoy! ;D
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Entry 27 – November 1, 2012
I woke up this morning with only one thing on my mind. It was on my mind all throughout the night. I was thinking of the creature. I was thinking how I finally was able to see what it looks like. Another thing on my mind was the visit we planned for today. I was really excited. The great thing was that I didn't have to wait till night. I went out in the afternoon. I climbed up my tree-house as I would for our regular night meets. I waited for the creature. I have to say: It did take the creature much longer to arrive. I'm not sure if we even set a time. I wasn't too disappointed or anything. The creature landed in a tree behind the tree-house. I climbed down to see the creature. The creature seemed to be hiding in the tree, most likely playfully. “Where are you?” I asked the creature. The creature happily sounded off. I walked closer to the tree to look up it. By the time I figured out the creature had left the tree, I heard a plop behind me. “Are you always going to jump behind me like that?” I asked the creature, as I turned around. I saw the creature with its ears up, this time, more visible. It looked like it was excited to see me. The creature slid its tail side to side across the ground. I wasn't as nervous around the creature this time, but I was still nervous. The creature tried to walk close to me again. I also backed away again. “I'm sorry, I'm just...” I sadly said to the creature with my head down. Strangely enough, the creature seemed to be okay with it. Was this its way of saying “it's okay.”? That's what I was guessing at the time. “We should head out away from here.” I said. The creature nodded and jumped into an autumn tree. I didn't plan where I was going to stop walking. I just continued on until I got to power lines. The creature had to come back down to earth because of this tree less place. It walked beside me. I sorta inched away from it as we walked. There was an audible buzz. Those power lines were active. “You gotta be careful around those.” I said, looking up at the lines. The creature nodded in agreement. I looked at the creature and asked “What? Have you run into the lines before?” The creature shook its head. “Okay, that's good.” I said, looking back up at the wires. I then looked around. I thought this would be a good place to meet during the day. I went ahead and asked the creature if it was okay with meeting there on a regular basis. I was surprised that it didn't hesitate to nod “yes.”. It was a good surprise. I checked my watch. It was about time for me to go back home to help make dinner. I told the creature I had to go home. The creature lowered its head sadly. I then said I would see it tonight. It instantly raised its head and looked at me. I guess it forgot that we were still meeting tonight. We parted our ways there. I saw it fly over the hill. The one where I got caught approaching the creature. I didn't stay to watch, I had to be somewhere. The rest of the night went as normal. I went back outside when it had gotten dark. The creature was on time this time. With that meaning it wasn't as late as it was today. I just stayed in the tree-house. The creature stayed up in a nearby tree (this time, one that I could see it in). I asked the creature about if it was okay with visiting during the day again tomorrow. It really liked that idea. The creature sounded glad at my suggestion. I think the day meet was a good change. Being able to see the creature is still a novelty to me. That is probably why I was still nervous to be close to it. I guess that will change over time.
Entry 28 – November 2, 2012
Today was sorta backwards for me. At least for some of the events that happened. Today was my brother's birthday. Nothing backward or strange about that. Although, it did cause me to change my schedule a bit. My family and I would go out for dinner to celebrate. So this meant I would pretty much be gone the whole night (and I was). The good thing about this was, because of the last few days with the creature, we can now meet in the daytime. Today, I had to make sure I mentioned to the creature that we weren't meeting tonight. I went out a bit earlier than last time, to make up for the few minutes I had with the creature yesterday (it seems like it was). The creature didn't take as long to arrive as last time. I can't really blame it, it was only the first time. I did think of something I should know about the creature. Its gender. I knew it was going to be a bit awkward, but it was something I needed to know. Just so I'm not calling it “it” all the time. The creature greeted me from a tall tree from on top of the hill. “Why are you up there?” I asked it. It seemed to be amused by my question. The creature jumped off the tree and glided towards me. I stepped back a few when it did this. That made me nervous. The creature landed and just stared at me with its big, green eyes. After I got out of the “greeting phase”, I then awkwardly asked if it was a male or female. I first asked male. I don't know why, I just did. The creature nodded. “Okay, that's just something I needed to know...” I said to the creature, slightly embarrassed. The creature looked a bit confused to why I was embarrassed like this. He (yes, he) tilted his head. “Don't worry, I'm okay.” I said to the creature. I then remembered something and snapped my fingers. “I needed to tell you something. I won't be able to meet tonight. I'll be away from the house with my family. I hope you're not too disappointed about that...” I said. The creature shook its head. “Are you disappointed?” I asked him. The creature shook his head again. “Okay, I'm just making sure.” I said to him, tilting my head forward a bit and pointing my finger at him. After this, we took a walk around the power line area. We climbed up the hills (to the opposite side of the big hill) and found a creek. The creature seemed to lead the way when he saw the water. He was thirsty. The creature ran to the creek and drank. I just hopped across the creek and sat on one of the larger boulders on the creek bed. The creature would occasionally look at me while he was drinking. Once he was done with his water break, we headed back to the rendezvous. It was time for me to leave. I admit, I didn't want the day to end. I told the creature I would see him the next day. He just sat where he was, watching me as I left. I'm not sure why he did this. The night went well. Our family stayed out almost all night. At least, until my brother got really tired. I'm really glad the creature and I agreed to daytime visits. It just seems friendlier than talking through the darkness.
Entry 29 – November 3, 2012
Today was a great day. The weather was practically perfect (a rare thing during this season). Another great thing was that I was home alone pretty much the entire day. This meant that I could visit the creature at my tree-house and for longer too. My mom had to go out for assorted errands. She told me she would call me when she was on her way back from the shops. Once she had left and was away from sight, I went to the backyard. I started to walk to the power line clearing until I heard some trees shake. At first, I didn't know where the sounds were coming from, but I then figured out they were close by. I think the creature was toying with me a bit. I don't really mind, he's done this before. I think once he knew I was on to him, the noises stopped. This sorta made me nervous, not scared, just a bit nervous. There was silence around me. A felt a sudden gust of wind behind me. I didn't really react quick to it. I turned around nonchalantly and found what I was looking for. I guess I should say: “who I was looking for”. The creature was behind me. He instantly snapped his head back, as if he were stretching out to smell me or something. I asked him, with a chuckle: “What are you doing?” The creature didn't look me in the eye, but sort of looked around shyly. I made a guess: “You were trying to smell me, weren't you?” The creature continued to look around shyly. I decided to change the subject. I asked if the creature wanted to hang out at my tree-house. He nodded at me with a grin. We then walked back to the two trees holding the shack up. The creature walked to the ladder and looked at the hatch entrance. He then looked back at me. “What? Do you want to see what's up there?” I asked, sorta confused. The creature nodded. “Well, okay.” I shrugged. I then went to climb up the ladder and open the hatch to the tree-house. I sat in my desk chair just watching the opening. The tree began to shake, but only a little bit. I then saw the creature's head began to slowly appear up in the house. “What do you think? It's not much, but it's more than some.” I said looking around the room, as the creature was doing. The creature began to sniff the floor planks and close walls. I awkwardly said: “Yep, we used quality wood for this tree-house.” The creature nodded. He then, without any indication, jumped down from the tree. I just sat were I was and chuckled a bit. I climbed down from the tree-house and looked for the creature. He went back to up in a tree and looked down at me. We went back to the clearing and stayed there until evening. The rest of the day and night went well. One thing I noticed was that the creature seemed to be doing less than he did before I first saw him. I don't know why. He could have been tired or something. Any guess is as good as mine.
Entry 30 – November 4, 2012
I had an interesting and exciting day today. As soon as I could, I went out back to meet the creature. I remember the times I would stay inside all day. It's now completely opposite it seems. I waited at the clearing. Soon enough, the creature ecstatically stomped the ground from a tree. He seemed to be in a different mood today, a happier one. I don't know why he was acting so joyful, but I definitely didn't have a problem with it. We stayed at the power lines for a few minutes before the creature tried to get my attention about something. He kept pointing his head towards the opposite tree line. I, at first, was a bit confused. I didn't know if I was supposed to be looking at something or going someplace. The creature then started jumping around towards where he was pointing. I then asked: “Do you want to go somewhere?” The creature nodded. “Okay, you're gonna lead, right?” I said. Again, the creature nodded. We walked to and through the tree line. The creature occasionally looked at me while walking. I would notice him looking at me and just grin back. We walked through the forest for a while until we got to an unexpected stopping point. Well, unexpected for me. We stopped at the side of a road. This was a popular road in my town. Not really the route 66, but still important. I looked both ways. There wasn't any traffic. The creature went ahead and crossed. I also walked across, frantically looking back and forth (as I usually do when crossing the street). I hurried away from the road, just in case there would be a person who would see us in their car. The creature ran ahead of me, still leading. In only a few more minutes of walking, our destination was revealed. A lake. Now, I have only seen this lake on Google Earth before, never in person. It almost felt like finding a hidden gem within my backyard. The creature went to the bank of the lake and drank. I just walked around the lake, getting a feel for the area. I was a bit tired from the walk, so I sat up against a nearby tree. After the creature's thirst was quenched, he decided to walk over to me and sit next to me. He sat more next to tree than me. I rested my head against the trunk and closed my eyes. After about a minute, I felt some warm air next to me. I opened my eyes and looked towards the source. It was the creature with his head close to me again. Like before, he had a guilty look on his face after being discovered again. “Were you smelling me again?” I asked with a laugh. The creature didn't look at me, but just looked around like last time. He then laid down next to me. I went back to laying against the tree, eyes closed. After being at the lake for a while, we decided to leave. I'm glad the creature showed me that place. I probably would never had seen it before. We got back to the clearing and split paths. Tonight, I noticed that the creature wasn't doing much like yesterday. He just stayed up in his new favorite tree branch. I wonder why he was like that. The creature seemed to be cheerful just this afternoon. I wish I knew what the problem was, then I would know what to do about it. I just hope it wasn't anything I did.
Entry 31 – November 5, 2012
Today I learned something about the creature and it wasn't even discovered while being with him. This morning I was eating breakfast and watching TV. There wasn't much on, so I tried to find the best possible show to watch. While flipping channels, I saw an advertisement for an upcoming event. It was a carnival that would be coming to my state next year. Every year there is a theme for this carnival. Strangely enough, the theme was dragons. In the ad, there were multiple clips of the dragons. I froze where I was. I could not stop thinking “What?!” The dragons in the advert matched the criteria of what the creature is: large reptile, wings, long tail, and fire breathing. Although, I don't really want to test him on that. I went up to my room almost immediately and did some research. With only a few minutes of Google and Wikipedia, I felt sort of stupid. Maybe I was thinking too logically or something, but something like this probably would have been obvious to someone else. So I guess I can no longer call my friend from the woods “the creature” anymore. I was pretty much stunned the whole day. When I went to visit (here it goes...) the dragon, I felt sort of strange knowing what he was after all this time. The dragon landed and greeted me, as he usually would. I greeted him back, just a bit awkwardly. He knew something was up. I could see him tilt his head and look confused. Of course, I had to tell him what I learned this morning. I said this “Well...I found out today that you are a dragon.” He nodded at me and smiled, seemingly like he was congratulating me. “I...didn't know that.” I continued. The dragon just shrugged at me. Moving on to a different subject, I asked “Alright, Mr. Dragon. What do you want to do today?” As soon as I asked that, he ran straight off in one direction. The dragon looked back at me and playfully roared a bit. I laughed a good bit as I tried to follow him. We ran around the clearing for a while. I kept chasing the dragon and he kept looking back making sure I didn't pass out. Once I got exhausted, we stopped at the creek for us to rest. The dragon drank while I laid against a boulder. Tonight, I noticed that the dragon was a bit more active than the last few nights. Maybe he was glad I figured out what he was. Could be. I just hope he's okay now, regardless of what got him back to his cheery self.
Entry 32 – November 6, 2012
Today was kind of a lazy day. I didn't do much exciting or anything. I was a bit tired throughout the whole day. That didn't change my plans with the dragon, of course. When the time was right, I walked over to the clearing with a bit less energy than usual. I sat and waited for the dragon. To my surprise, he didn't jump down from a tree. The dragon just walked into view. We both greeted each other. It seemed like the dragon was also tired. I knew this was the case when he kept yawning. “Are you tired?” I asked. He slowly nodded at me. I thought if the dragon wasn't really up for flying in the trees, he probably wouldn't be up for any kind of long walk. I asked: “Do you just feel like resting?”. He nodded again. “Yeah, me too. How about we head over to the creek and rest there.” I said to him. The dragon nodded and began to walk towards the creek. When we got to the creek side, the dragon basically collapsed on the ground. I sat down and rested for a while. I fell asleep for a few minutes (or at least I think it was only a few minutes). When I woke up, I looked over and saw the dragon was sleeping. He had his tail curved around his body to where his tail fin was beside his head. I stood up and stretched a bit. Even though I accidentally popped some bones loudly, the dragon stayed asleep. Suddenly, a rush of curiosity came to my mind. What if I took a closer look at him? I felt a bit hesitant at this idea. It seemed risky to me at the time. I eventually gave in to my idea. I crouched a bit close to the dragon. I looked at his face. He looked like he was enjoying his sleep with the smile on his face. I heard a tapping noise to the left of me. I turned my head and saw that the tapping noise was coming from the dragon's tail fin, which was patting the ground. At that moment, I felt a bit uneasy. I thought the dragon would be waking up soon, so I decided to sit back down. I fell asleep again, but I'm not sure for how long. When I woke up, the dragon was awake. He was drinking from the creek. I asked him: “So, did your nap help?”. The dragon nodded, this time more energetic. I was a bit more energetic myself. I stood up and stretched again. The dragon then started to walk back toward the meeting spot. “Hey! Is it time to go already?” I asked him. He looked back and nodded with a small roar. I checked the clock on my phone, he was right. Before I began to follow the dragon, I noticed something. Around the boulder I was resting up against were several large tracks. These had to be from the dragon. I was a bit confused at what this was about, so I started to walk back. I didn't mention anything to him on the way back to the rendezvous or when we left. I probably wouldn't know what to say or ask. Tonight, I still didn't know what to say. I talked about the day and what I did. The dragon looked a bit guilty when I asked about if he just slept and drank during the day. I wasn't going to mention the tracks yet, not until I thought of the best possible scenario. I made sure that we both left a bit earlier tonight. Even though we both got to see each other today, it wasn't really what I expected. We stayed out a bit longer than usual last time, so I thought making up for it would be the best thing to do.
Entry 33 – November 7, 2012
There never seems to be dull day with the dragon. Today, he literally kept me on my toes. When I met him at the power lines, he was happy and energetic. It seemed like he got a better rest last night than before. I too got a better night's sleep. After our usual greeting, the dragon began to act like he did a few days ago. He kept pointing his head in a direction and jumping around. I remembered the last time he did this, he wanted to lead me somewhere. So I went ahead and followed him. We walked sort of in the same direction as we did to get to the lake, but instead of crossing the road, we walked right along side of it. Soon, the road curved away and maintained elevation as we walked down. The dragon then led me away from the road. We kept trekking on until he stopped. Before me was something like a mini mountain. It looked like a big pile of rocks until I got closer. The mountain was tall for something that was in the middle of the woods. I guess this dragon has been around there plenty of times. He looked at me and looked at the top of the mountain, pointing his in a upward direction. “What, are we climbing this thing?” I asked confused. The dragon nodded with an excited grin. I wasn't opposed to this idea, so I went ahead and started to climb. Now, I'm no Everest conqueror, but I can climb. I was a bit worried of falling, but that's a normal fear. The mountain was a bit difficult to climb being with the large “rocks” that it was made up of. I had to be careful with my footing so I didn't twist my ankle or anything. At one point while climbing, there were two parts I could climb. A easier section and a more difficult one. I started to move towards the easier one, but the dragon jumped in front of me and shook his head. I guess he didn't want me to take the easy way out (or should I say “up”?). I had no choice but to climb the difficult side. I was a bit confused to why the dragon refused to let me go that way, I guess he wanted to challenge me. Challenge accepted. I was being challenged with the terrain on that side. There were much larger rock and wider crevices to get stuck in. Unfortunately, I got stuck in one of these crevices. I had slipped a bit and put my foot down. All my foot did was sink between two parts of the mountain. I tried to get out myself, but it just wouldn't move. At that point, I asked the dragon for help. He was standing on a flat spot next to me. When I asked for help, he nodded and put his head down. I didn't know what he was doing, if he was either examining my foot or just thinking. He then looked up at me and moved closer, still with his head down. “What do you want me to do?” I asked. The dragon looked back up at me and put one of his claws on his neck. “You want me to grab your neck?” I asked, in slight hesitance. He nodded at me and put his head back down. I looked down at my hands and then at the dragon's neck. I knew I had no choice but to have the dragon help. So I slowly reached for his neck and held onto it with just my hands. “Okay...I'm-I'm ready. Pull me out.” I said to the dragon. I was expecting him to pull my foot out slow and gently. That's not what happened, the dragon yanked my body away from the crevice like it was pulling me out of instant danger. I wrapped my arms around the dragon's neck almost immediately after he quickly pulled me. My foot slid out with no pain. “Alright! My foot's loose.” I said, a bit in shock. The dragon didn't stop. He kept moving backwards towards “the easy side” of the mountain, which was pretty flat. My body was being supported by only by my toes. So yes, I was on my toes. When he finally stopped, I fell on my knees. I stood up and backed away a bit. “Uh...Thank you. I couldn't have gotten out without you.” I said awkwardly. I tried to change the subject then. “How about we finish our climb?” I asked. The dragon looked at me and hesitantly nodded. We continued up the mountain until we got to the top. It was a pretty nice view from up there. When we started back down the mountain, I noticed the dragon seemed to be like he was a few days ago. Where he wasn't doing as much. He was like this all the way back to the clearing. It was almost like he was sad or something. Tonight, he wasn't any different. He just stayed up in his tree. Is this dragon bipolar or something? He was really happy just this afternoon. What happened? I didn't think to really ask him what the matter was. I just hope I can figure out why he's acting like this.
Entry 34 – November 8, 2012
Today was good, everything went well. Nothing went wrong. I didn't encounter anything weird or unusual. It just seemed like a regular day today. Which, my definition of “regular” is very different than everyone else's. I can thank the dragon for that. He's definitely made my life more exciting and interesting than it was before. When it was about 2:00 or 2:30pm (sometime in between), I went through the backyard and walked to the clearing. I was sorta hoping the dragon wouldn't bring me climbing again today. I just didn't feel to be in the mood at the time. After a few minutes of idle waiting, the dragon arrived. I heard him in a tree behind me and vaguely looked back. The dragon dropped to ground level and came towards me. I could barely hear him behind me. I didn't even turn around. Maybe that was a mistake on my part. Out of no where, I get knocked to the ground. I turned to the dragon and asked “What was that for?”. He had an apologetic frown on his face with his ears back. I saw that he also wasn't looking me in the eye, he was idly looking around. A thought came to mind. What if I just pretended that this didn't happen and sorta change the subject? I went ahead with this idea. “Ohhhhh...I get it. I'm it aren't I?” I asked the dragon. He looked up at me a bit confused with his head tilted. Before I could revert back and explain my proposal, The dragon slowly changed his expression to excited and perked his ears up. I couldn't help but smile when this happened. “Alright, how about a five second head start?” I suggested. The dragon was quick to deny this idea. I guess he wanted to make it a bit easier for me. That's okay. “Okay...GO!” I said, indicating the start of our game of tag. The dragon jumped and ran from me. He seemed to be giving me fair game, at least as much as he could. I chased him far away from our meeting spot. The dragon started running through the treeline (the treeline on my side, just further down the way). I hadn't really been in this section of the woods before. We were running up a wooded hill now. The dragon started to slow down just a bit, to compensate for me. When we got to the top of the hill, he had stopped and faced towards me. The dragon started to jump around, trying to dodge me. It was hard trying to catch him. After a few minutes of being crossed over a few times, I decided to change tactics. Instead of going either left or right, I went straight forward. I jumped forward and tapped his head. “Gotcha!” I said, feeling victorious. The dragon sat down and just stared happily. I then looked around to see where we ran off to. I didn't recognize any of my surroundings. I then thought I could use this disorientation for a good thing. “How about we explore this area? I haven't been here before.” I said to the dragon. He nodded neutrally. I guess he wasn't against it. We walked around the unknown section of the woods for a while. I found out how to get back to my house from where we were. Maybe the dragon and I can take a walk down that path sometime. Tonight was different. Different in a good way. The dragon wasn't acting like he was last night, which was a good thing. It was good to know he was back to his old self. I was thinking about mentioning the previous night to him, but it didn't seem to be relevant at the moment. I just hope I don't have to bring that night up to him. I would much rather him be happy and friendly.
Entry 35 – November 9, 2012
A lot happened today. The weather was pretty bad. I usually don't mind it when it rains, but today was different. I noticed the dark clouds when I walked outside. By the time I got to the power lines, I was getting worried about the chance of thunderstorms. Not long after my arrival, the dragon dropped onto the scene. We greeted each other as part of our tradition. The dragon didn't save much more time after that and began to twitch directionally. He wanted to go somewhere with me again. “Already? Alright...” I said, slightly confused at the dragon's timing. We set off to the left of the clearing (away from the large hill). I started guessing what location we were headed to. Was it somewhere I haven't been before? Was it a place I have? I then made the correct guess of where we were going when we arrived at the road. The dragon didn't take a right at the road, so this meant we were going to the lake. He stopped near the road and started to focus. His ears were twitching, so he must have been listening out for cars. After a moment of surveillance, the dragon gave me a nod and proceeded to cross the road. I looked both ways and frantically crossed as well. In a few minutes' time, we reached the lake. The lake seemed dull because of the cloudy sky. There wasn't any sunlight reflecting off the water, just the darkness of the storm clouds. I sat up against one of the nearby trees that was close to the lake. The dragon didn't follow me, he had a plan of his own. A minute or two after I sat down, I heard a large splash. I opened my eyes and nervously looked around. It didn't take long to see what the cause of that noise was. Apparently, the dragon decided to take a little swim in the lake. I knew for sure I wasn't going to take the plunge as it was too cold to swim. The dragon seemed to be really enjoying the water or something. Just the way he swam around seemed a bit more lively. I watched him as he swished around in the drink. Once he was finished, he shook off and walked towards me. Halfway in the dragon's trek to my tree, he started to walk a bit awkward. Once he got to me, he began to tweak his head back trying to reach something. The dragon started making a soft, high pitched growl. “What's wrong?” I asked him. He looked back at me sadly and then arched his head back again to reach somewhere. I stood up and got a better look at what the dragon's problem was. He seemed to be attempting to reach at a part of his back. Suddenly, the dragon gave out a short roar and slashed the side of the tree I had sat against with one of his claws. It then occurred to me what the problem was, the dragon had an itch. I asked: “You have an itch?” The dragon nodded at me sadly. At that moment, I felt like I needed to help him. “Do you want me to scratch it for you?” I asked, a bit unsure of myself. The dragon just stared at me with bright, pleading eyes. “Alright...” I said, a bit hesitantly. I reached out to scratch the dragon's back. I didn't remember where exactly he was trying to get to, so I thought I would scratch until he gave some indication that the itch was gone. It felt strange touching the dragon's scaly skin. I sorta scraped in a circular motion, so I could get the entire possible area where the dragon needed scratching. The dragon smiled at me as I was helping him. I felt glad doing this. It still felt strange, but the cause made up for that. After a few minutes of circular scratching, the dragon purred audibly. “Is that all you want?” I asked him. The dragon nodded, still with his cheerful grin on his face. Suddenly, there was a flash of lightning. A clap of thunder instantly followed. Both of us had been startled by the noise. “Sounds like it's about to rain.” I commented, looking up at the clouds. I just idly watched the clouds as I thought about the dragon. My thoughts didn't go too far on that subject as another one came to mind. A drop of rain hit my head. As second by second went by, the rain slowly increased in amount. More thunder and lightning followed. “We need to get out of here and away from these trees.” I said to the dragon. He quickly growled in agreement and took off to the right of the lake. The dragon looked back at me as I followed behind. We ran between the trees as the rain poured down harder and the thunder roared. The dragon ran down a large hill and turned sharply to the left. I slowed down and carefully walked down it. At the bottom of the hill, I discovered that the dragon led me to a cave. When I arrived at the cave, I saw that the dragon had already laid down. “This is a nice spot...” I said as I examined the interior. I sat down against the cave wall, opposite to where the dragon was laying. I should have been nervous and wanting to go home at that moment, but I wasn't. I felt sorta tranquil. I closed my eyes and just listened to the sounds. The slightly muffled sound of rain tapping the ground. The wind blowing through the trees. A few minutes later, the faint sound of a train horn blaring through the distance. I then open my eyes and look at the dragon, who looks back at me. I think about how our friendship came to be. Once the rain died down and eventually stopped, we decided that it was time to depart. We walked back to the rendezvous and split paths. The night went well. The dragon was still joyful as he was during the day. He stayed in a tree for a few minutes as I talked to him, but them jumped down. The dragon wanted me to join him on the ground as he climbed up my tree and popped his head up through the hatch doorway. I found it extremely difficult not to laugh and smile when he did this. Although, I think there's something I'm missing. Something I should do for the dragon. I can't really think of anything at time of writing, but it should come to mind eventually.
Entry 36 – November 10, 2012
The idea missing from my mind came to me this morning. Last night, I felt there was something I wasn't doing for the dragon. I decided I needed to ask the subject himself about this proposition of mine. At the usual time, I went to the clearing and waited for the dragon to meet up with me. I was hoping he didn't have any plans to take me anywhere and luckily, he didn't. When the dragon arrived and we both greeted each other, I just asked if we could take a walk down the new trail we found a few days ago. The dragon looked to be okay with that. As we started walking, I began to talk about other stuff. I'm pretty sure the dragon knew I had something on my mind. He just looked at me as I was talking. I didn't really know he was on to me until he ran up in front of me and sat down. The dragon stared with his ears slightly pulled back. He looked like was a bit worried about me. I finally gave up beating around the bush and said “I'm guessing that you know that there is something I really want to say.” The dragon nodded. “Alright. I wanted to ask you something, but I didn't really know what to say.” This is when the dragon looked to be confused. “I wanted to ask you if you would be okay if I gave you a name.” The dragon pulled his head back and looked even more confused. “Let's keep walking so I can explain this a bit more.” I said. The dragon nodded, still confused. I started to explain how it would be more personal if I called him by a name instead of “dragon” or “creature”. At some point while I was explaining this, I looked over at the dragon and saw he was now ecstatic instead of confused. That wasn't so hard. Wasn't it, Alex? We got to the end of the trail in only a few minutes. “So would you like me to give you a name?” I asked. The dragon nodded excitedly. From that time on, there was more spring in the dragon's step. I then had to say something: “There's one problem. I don't exactly have an idea in mind.” The dragon looked at me and nodded neutrally. I was glad he didn't just completely change moods. We walked back to the clearing as I tried to think of something. Tons of names filled my mind. Although, most of them weren't any good. Some names were from people I know. Including some of the infamous ones to me. I was still thinking hard when we got back to the power lines. The dragon sorta unofficially decided to lead me to the creek. I thought that would be a good place to sit and think. The dragon was able to get a drink while I thought of a name for him. I wanted to find a name that sorta suited him. A name that gave a certain ring. Because Bob doesn't sound like much of a dragon name. Then again, I didn't really know what to name a dragon. I started suggesting names. They were better than the ones I thought of initially, but still were not the right ones. It was about time to leave. We started walking back to where we meet and leave. While we were in that direction, the idea appeared. The right name had come to mind. I was so surprised I was able to think of a good name for the dragon. I just uttered it aloud. “Daniel.” The dragon looked at me, slightly confused to why I randomly said a name. “What do you think of the name Daniel?” I quickly asked him. The dragon thought it out and slowly became happy with the name. When we got to our departing spot, I finally asked “Do you like that name?” He nodded softly with a purr. “Alright, it's official, Daniel.” I said with sly smile. I left on that sentence. Tonight, I met with Daniel and felt very different than before. I wasn't lying when I said it would be more personal to call him by name. It definitely felt more personal. I'm glad this happened. I think I should have done this a long time ago, but this also seemed to be a good time as well.