Mountain of the Dragon

 

            “Can we go down now?” Archie’s hands gripped the seat as he tried not to look out the window. His brother, Jake, thought it would be fun to drive up the mountain in their truck. The problem was, there weren’t really any roads. Archie felt like they were hovering above an abyss.

            “Just a little farther. The view should be spectacular from up here.” Jake grinned reassuringly.

            “I don’t think the truck can take much more of this.”

            Sighing, Jake said, “All right, all right. Let me turn around.”

            Archie chanced a look out the window and felt his stomach drop. It was a long way back down to the road they had left. Why had he let Jake talk him into this?

            Archie didn’t relax until they reached the dirt road. Just then, the truck started to rock violently back and forth. “What’s happening, Jake?!” he shouted.

            Jake’s face was panicked as he shouted back, “It’s not me! It must be an earthquake!”

            Instead of slowing down, Jake was accelerating down the mountain. Looking back, Archie saw why. The mountain was crumbling behind them and something else was rising up through the debris—something huge with metallic green scales. His mouth fell open as the thing opened up its huge wings and gave an earth-shattering roar. “It’s a dragon!” he yelled.

            Jake’s lips and knuckles were white as they continued racing downhill. By the time they reached the highway, the shaking had stopped, and they could no longer see the dragon. With trembling hands, Jake pulled the truck over to the side of the road, and both boys stared back in silence—dumbfounded at what they saw.

            The mountain appeared to be unchanged. There was no dragon coming after them, and there was no damage from the massive earthquake that they had experienced. “What just happened?” Archie asked in shock. He went outside to get a better look. As he went to close the door, he noticed a small lizard with metallic green scales.

Completely unafraid, the lizard scrambled right up his arm and said, “Hello, Archie.”

Archie’s brain felt fried. “W-w-what?”

            “My name is Ajax, and I’ve been waiting for you to ascend the Mountain of the Dragon.”

            “Why?” Archie stared back at Ajax incredulously.

            “You have power and great potential. With my help, you’ll be able to do amazing things.”

            The other door slammed shut, and Jake asked, “Who are you talking to out here?”

            Ajax slithered into Archie’s jacket pocket and Archie said, “Uhh, no one. Let’s go home before anything else weird happens.”

            “Right.” The two boys got back in the truck and started away. They agreed not to tell anyone about their experience—who would believe them? Archie patted his jacket pocket. He didn’t tell Jake about the lizard. They had experienced enough weirdness for one day.