By 3rd Grade Students at Stratford Elementary
May 2016
The dragon guarded her cave. Sam, the nine year old boy watched.
The dragon was the size of a refrigerator and she was rust colored, like steel. Running down the dragon’s back were fiery spikes. They were literally on fire.
Whoa! Storms of fire came out of her irises and blew back. Her spiky nose was dark red, her wings were a metallic gold and she had bloody fangs. Sam thought the wings might actually be gold, like real metal gold.
For such a dangerous looking dragon, her skin looked surprisingly squishy. Still, he didn’t think it was a good idea to touch her because she had spikes, very sharp spikes all over her wings.
The dragon smelled like burning coal. The smell made Sam freeze with fear. It reminded him of having been buried by a dragon when he was a very young boy.
The dragon began to howl like a wolf. Sam didn’t think the dragon was howling at him. Maybe the dragon saw something else. She wasn’t looking his way. She stopped her howling long enough to take a big bite out of a large, very dead elephant carcass.
Oooh. Ick. Gross.
Sam thought it was disgusting to eat an elephant. It might taste salty, but it was definitely raw and gross. And elephants were cool. He didn’t want anyone to eat one.
It was time to find out what the dragon guarded. Sam needed a plan. He thought his best plan was to sneak around to the far side of the cave, to climb to the top and try to sneak in through a hole in the cave ceiling. He set out. When he reached the far side of the cave he followed the curve.
Suddenly, something sharp stabbed him in the side. There were spikes all over the mountain. He fell to the ground. He needed help.
He crawled home. The dragon’s cave would have to wait. He bandaged himself and rested. For a full day he let himself heal. Then he packed up some dead meat and returned to the cave.
The dragon was still guarding. He threw some meat to one side. The dragon rushed to the meat.
Sam slid into the cave. The cave was dimly lit by torches on its walls. When Sam’s eyes adjusted, he saw a maze directly ahead. He followed it. It led to dead ends, which forced him to turn back and try again.
Finally, he reached the other side. When he left the maze, he was in another cavern. Directly in front of him was a box filled with shiny treasure.
Ahh! Treasure! That was what the dragon guarded. Sam smiled.
But suddenly, he heard the flap of large wings. He looked over his shoulder and saw the dragon, zooming toward him.
Oh no! He ran and the dragon followed.
Just when Sam thought all was lost, his friend, Frederick arrived with a sword!!
Sam thought he would attack the dragon, but instead he spoke in gibberish to the dragon.
“What are you saying,” asked Sam because weirdly the dragon was speaking back to Frederick.
“I’m talking in ‘dragon.’ This is Christina, the dragon. I’m asking her not to kill you. And I’m asking her to open the treasure and give us some.”
The dragon said more dragon words.
“Uh, she says no way,” said Frederick. “She wants us to leave now or else suffer the consequences!”
Sam and Frederick decided to leave the cave, at least for now. After a few hours they had a new plan. They would go back to the cave. They would hypnotize Christina, and they would steal the treasure.
They brought their hypnotist pocket watch to the dragon. Sam swung it back and forth.
The dragon snorted. She used her wind to slap it away and then she attacked.
Sam and Frederick fought back. Frederick had his sword. Sam had his fists. But Christina has fiery metal wings and fire streaming from her eyes. What could they do to beat her? It felt hopeless. But they would continue the fight.
To be continued!
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