Sneaking Out

 

            Gwen thought she was going to die from the oppressiveness of the cave. She and her family had been stuck inside for a week because one of the humans had caught a glimpse of her and organized a dragon hunt.

            It didn’t matter how many times she told her parents that she was sorry. Dad was adamant about everyone staying in their magically sealed cave. As long as they stayed inside, no one would be able to find them.

            She rearranged her wings irritably. They had another week of hiding before Dad said that maybe they could go outside again. Gwen’s anger rose and steam came out of her nostrils. How could she wait that long? She needed to stretch her wings before they felt like petrified stone. She was so desperate to fly around outside that she decided she would sneak out tonight.

            As soon as Gwen made a plan to sneak out for a small flight, she felt her body relax. “Only a few more hours, and I’ll be out of here,” she whispered. She counted down the minutes until she would be free of this awful cave. Bedtime came slowly and Gwen couldn’t wait.

            A long time passed after lights out, but Gwen finally decided that it had been long enough since everyone had gone to sleep. Luckily, they each had their own little alcove to rest in, and Gwen’s was on the opposite side of the cave from her parents.

            After pretending to be asleep for at least an hour, she felt a little stiff. Just another thing that could be cured by flying, she thought. She slowly stirred from her alcove, and waited a minute for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Without fire, the cave was dark, even for dragons who had excellent night vision.

            Gwen slowly moved toward the cave’s exit, staying as silent as possible. She was congratulating herself on doing such a good job when she stumbled over a large rock. A huge “crack” rang out which echoed through the still cave.

            She froze, hoping against hope that her parents wouldn’t be woken up by the noise. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard her brother, Patrick’s voice. “Who’s there?” he called.

            “Shhh!” Gwen whispered frantically. “You’ll wake up Mom and Dad!”

            She heard Patrick yawn. “What are you doing, Gwen?”

            She debated telling Patrick her plan, but she knew he would tell on her if she didn’t. Patrick was a very protective older brother.

            “I need to get out of here and stretch my wings,” Gwen whispered to Patrick. “Don’t tell Mom and Dad, and I’ll let you come with me.”

            There was silence, and Gwen thought she had made a mistake by inviting Patrick. She had almost resigned herself to going back to bed when Patrick said, “Okay.”

            Her hopes rose as Patrick joined her. The cave’s exit wasn’t too far, but they had to navigate around several boulders and rocks strewn around the cave. Her heart leaped into her throat every time she or Patrick tripped over one of these. She knew they were making more noise than was wise, but the night sky was beckoning to her.

            Finally, Gwen and Patrick reached the cave’s exit. Gwen had never been so excited to see the twinkling stars in the velvet sky. She was just about to fly outside when she heard a most unwelcome sound.

            “Where do you think you two are going?” Mom said, appearing right next to Gwen.

            “Mom!” Gwen yelped. Quickly, she thought up an excuse. “We were just coming to look at the stars.”

            “Yeah, that’s right,” Patrick added.

            Mom’s eyebrow rose as she said, “Is that so?”

            With Mom’s eyes boring into hers, Gwen knew that she couldn’t fool her. She heaved a sigh and whined, “I’m so bored, Mom! I can’t sit here in this cave anymore!” She glanced over at Patrick. “This was all my idea. Patrick just wanted to come along.” Her shoulders sagged as she waited for Mom to dole out punishment.

            The punishment didn’t come. Mom smiled and said, “I feel the same way that you do, you know. I wanted to see if the dragon hunt was still on. Dad’s already outside, checking to see if the coast is clear.”

            Gwen flapped her wings happily at this news. “So, we can go outside?” Her voice rose in excitement.

            “Yes!” Patrick cried as Mom nodded her head.

            “Just wait for Dad to get back.” Mom eyed Gwen seriously. “Just so you know, there was no way you guys would have snuck out of here. You made a huge amount of noise as you stumbled around in the dark. Not to mention that our magic allows us to know when anything comes in or out of the cave.”

            Gwen hung her head sheepishly. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

            Dad appeared, landing just outside the cave. “Oh, good. Everyone’s here.” He smiled. “Who’s ready to go outside?”

            Joy flooded into Gwen as she shot out of the cave entrance into the night air. She took a deep breath of the free air as she beat her wings to pull herself higher into the sky. This was amazing! The week of being trapped in the cave melted away, and she felt alive.

            Her family joined her in the sky. She looked over at Mom and realized that she never had a chance of sneaking out of the cave. Dragons were very protective of their young, and Gwen was grateful. She felt safe when she was surrounded by her family. She just hoped they never had to endure another solid week of cave time.