Ted
clutched his binoculars as he waited breathlessly for another hoot of an owl. He
had to make sure that he had really heard it the first time. Yes! There it was!
He hurried over a small stream as he drew closer to the sound and searched the
trees above him.
Finally!
Hours of stumbling around in the dark had paid off! A large, snowy owl was
perched on a branch high above the ground. Looking through the binoculars, he made
certain that it was indeed a snowy owl before logging it in his bird book.
Maybe he could even capture a picture of it before it flew away.
He
carefully took his camera out of his backpack and searched for the owl through
the lens. As soon as he snapped the picture, the great bird took off through
the forest. What a beautiful bird!
Glancing at
his watch, he was startled to discover that it was almost midnight. Ted was
familiar with these woods, so he wasn’t worried about getting lost, but he hadn’t
expected it to take him so long to find the owl. Quickly packing up his backpack,
he started back through the forest.
He had just
reached the trail that would take him back to his car, when he spotted an
orange glow that seemed to be coming from the treetops to his right. Curious,
he brought up his binoculars to see what it was.
What he saw
nearly took his breath away and made him wonder if he was even more tired than
he thought. Was that… a lizard of some kind? Fiddling with the knob on his binoculars,
he brought the creature into focus. It was like a dragon the size of a bird. It
was perched calmly on a branch, just like the owl had been.
As Ted
watched, the creature opened up its orange wings and flew off into the night.
Its scales were glowing and looked like a beacon, calling back to Ted.
Forgetting
how late it was, Ted immediately started after it. If this was real, he had to
get a picture of it. No one would believe him when he said he had seen a dragon
in the forest. Heedless of branches tearing at his clothes, he ran as fast as
he could, trying to catch up to the orange light.
The forest
grew closer around him, and the glow grew fainter. He willed his legs to move
faster as he forced himself past dense bushes. He realized he would have to
give up when the glow completely disappeared. Bitter disappointment threatened
to overtake him until he spotted a clearing just ahead.
With one
final effort, he exploded out of the bushes that were holding him captive.
Breathing deeply, he looked up and saw… a dragon. This wasn’t the small
bird-sized dragon that he had seen through his binoculars. This dragon was at
least ten feet tall and staring right at him.
Ted nearly
collapsed when the dragon spoke. “Why are you following me?” There was anger in
his voice and in his eyes.
Ted gulped.
“I-I-I thought you were…something else.”
“What
exactly did you think I was?” Menace filled the clearing as the dragon waited
for Ted’s answer.
Ted could
feel the blood leave his face. “A f-f-flying lizard of some kind?”
A low growl
sounded deep within the dragon’s chest and turned into a scornful chuckle. “You
see a glowing dragon, and you think I’m a lizard?”
“Well, you
were smaller back there!” Ted felt panicked. Had he upset the dragon? How was
he going to get out of here?
The dragon
continued to chuckle and laugh, and the feeling of menace disappeared, replaced
by the dragon’s good mood. Ted looked back behind him, wondering if he could
safely escape while the dragon continued to laugh. His legs felt like lead,
however, and he stayed where he was, unable to move.
Finally,
the dragon’s laughter subsided. The look he gave Ted was still full of
merriment as he said, “My name is Keef, and you know what I am now, right?” Ted
nodded mutely, unable to say anything else. Keef continued, “Well, what’s your
name then?”
Finding his
voice again, Ted said softly, “Ted.”
“Ted,
consider yourself lucky. No one else has been able to see me in over 500 years.
It looks like you have the gift of dragon sight.”
“What’s
that?” Ted asked curiously.
“It means
you and I are destined to work together, because you’ve been born with magic.
It appears that I am meant to be your teacher.”
There was
so much in this statement that Ted didn’t even know how to respond. He just
stared at Keef in disbelief.
Keef didn’t
seem to be bothered by this. He spread his great wings as he prepared for
flight. “When you are ready to accept your destiny, come and find me.”
“How?”
Keef drew closer and touched a
great claw to Ted’s chest. Ted couldn’t move because he was frozen with fear.
Thinking that he was about to suffer death by dragon, he didn’t notice what was
actually happening to him. A warmth spread through his chest that radiated
outward to the rest of his body. When Keef stepped back, Ted was amazed at how
alive he felt. His entire life now felt as though he’d been asleep through it
all.
Keef’s eyes
glowed red as he said, “At the start of your magical journey, I give you an
awakening of your talents. When you are ready to continue on this road, use
these talents to summon me, and I will come.”
With those
final words, the great orange dragon lifted himself up into the sky with his
powerful wings. He headed off to the east where Ted could see that it was
nearly sunrise. Had he been here all night?
Exhausted,
Ted stumbled his way back through the woods to his car. It didn’t seem to take
nearly as long as it should have. He barely remembered driving home, or throwing
himself on his bed. He had a lot on his mind as he decided what on earth he was
going to do. His last thought before he fell asleep was, “Maybe it wouldn’t be
so bad to learn magic from a dragon. I bet magic would help me find more birds.”
With that thought, his mind was made up—he would go seek Keef again in the
forest.
