A short story today for your enjoyment. Join Farloft and Darris as they rescue a little lost tyke.
Nakita sat on one side of the fence and the puppy romped around on the other side. The puppy was so cute it made the child’s heart sing. It was fluffy and white, with a patch of brown over one eye and ear. Nakita wanted to pick him up and cuddle him so very much. She had wanted a puppy of her very own, ever since the day she saw one in the window of the pet store in town. This puppy looked so much like that one.
She stuck her hand through the webbing of the chain-link fence and the little bundle of fur ran over to her and rubbed its head on her hand; just like it was her very own. This brought such a big smile to Nakita's face. When she giggled it licked her and whined with excitement. Its tale wagged so fast, it made its rump wiggle excitedly. Nakita could see it wanted to be with her as much as she wanted to be with it.
She tickled its soft ears. “Where did you come from?”
She looked up and down the long street she lived on while scratching under the puppy's chin. She looked at the little bundle of fur, her brow furrowing thoughtfully. Mommy and Daddy always told her not to go out of the yard, but they also told her the dangers of being hit by a car. The puppy was out on the sidewalk, very close to the street. Mommy always kept her cat inside to keep it safe. Nakita did not think she would want the puppy to get hurt. She decided she would just open the gate to their yard a little and coax the puppy in where it was safe.
She ran down to the other end of the fence and the puppy loped after her, its ears flapping in the wind. It stopped once to smell something, but when she bent down on the other side of the fence and slapped her hands on her legs, to get its attention, and called, “Come on!” It stopped sniffing and ran after her.
When she got to the gate, she lifted the latch and swung it open. The puppy ran in and did loops around her in the yard. When she clapped at him, he came to her and jumped up on her trying to lick her face. She laughed and hugged him. He was such a sweet little doggie.
The pup struggled out of her grip and yapping at the top of its voice it ran back out the gate and headed up the street. Nakita did not remember her mother’s warning about staying in the yard. Instead, she ran after it, passing through the open gate without the slightest bit of hesitation, running down the street after the energetic ball of fluff.
As they played together, the puppy led Nakita further and further away from home. Nakita kept trying to coax the puppy away from the street and before long, they found themselves wandering up on lawns and taking shortcuts through hedges. Eventually, they came to a park and the puppy ran in circles as Nakita played on the swings. She loved to swing. She went from the swings to the slide. She even managed to catch the puppy long enough to pick it up and cuddle the ball of fluff for a time. She loved the warm feel of its soft fur and thought she might take it on the slide, but he wiggled free again and ran under the roundabout to hide. Nakita went on the slide several times by herself. It was so much fun.
When she finally got tired and went to look for the puppy, it was not there. It was gone. She spent a long, long time searching for the puppy, but could not find it. It was gone. It had left her.
She sat down on the roundabout and cried. She cried because the puppy left her, but most of all, she cried because she realized for the first time, that she did not know where home was. She followed the puppy and did not pay attention where he was leading her. She was lost!
*****
Farloft and Darris, two very good dragon friends, were playing hide and seek in the clouds above Australia when Farloft heard Nakita crying. It was Farloft's turn to find Darris and while darting in and out of the clouds something caught his ear, so he stopped and hovered in the air, listening.
“Listen…” he called to Darris. “I hear someone crying.”
Darris, who had been hiding in a cloud nearby, poked his head out and turned an ear to listen. “I hear it too,” he exclaimed. "It sounds like a human child."
“We should go see if we can help,” Farloft suggested. He tipped his wing and sailed down in big lazy loops trying to locate the sound of the crying as he descended.
Darris rumbled in agreement and followed after Farloft, spiraling down from the opposite direction so that their paths crisscrossed as they descended.
Both dragons had exceptional eyesight and they scanned the city below doing their best to spot the child who was in distress.
“There!” Darris said and pointed a paw at a playground below them. “On the swing.”
Darris was much younger and had better eyesight than Farloft. He spotted a little girl with blond hair sitting and crying in the park.
The two dragons landed right in front of Nakita. She was not scared, because her Uncle had read books about dragons to her. But, she was very surprised.
“Hi,” Farloft said softly. “I am Farloft and this is my friend, Darris.” He pointed to Darris with a large green paw. “We heard you crying. Is there anything we can do to help?”
Farloft was very big, but he seemed very sweet and helpful. Darris had a nice grin on his face, which made Nakita decide to trust them a little. At least enough to tell them her story.
“I was playing with a puppy,” she said, as she dried her tears on her sleeve. “He led me here, but then he left and,” she sniffed, “I don’t know where ‘here’ is.”
She started to puddle up again because she knew her mother and father would be worried about her and it was never her intention to get herself lost!
“Don’t cry,” Farloft said soothingly and wrapped a wing around her. “Do you know where you live?”
“Do you have the address memorized?” Darris asked. “We dragons always memorize important numbers. We always know how many treasures we have in our hoards.”
Nakita’s mother did have her memorize her address and she rattled it off to the dragons. They both gave her a toothy grin.
“We know where that is,” Farloft said. “Come on, we’ll take you home.”
Nakita hopped out of the swing and Farloft scooped her up in his large green paws and placed her on Darris’ back.
“Hold on tight,” he told her, “and don’t worry. We won’t let you fall.”
Darris was very careful not to launch into the air quite as fast as he normally did. Farloft made sure he was right behind him and ready to catch Nakita if she fell. Nakita held tight to Darris’ mane of blue fur. It was long and wavy, and softer to the touch than it looked; but not as soft as the puppy's fur.
Nakita was fearless. She laughed and squealed in glee. Flying with the dragons was even more fun than playing with the puppy.
Once the dragons saw Nakita was not scared, they decided it would not hurt to take a few extra minutes to give the little girl a ride she would remember. They spread their wings and made a big loop over the Sydney Opera House.
“Faster! Higher!” Nakita begged the dragons.
“You like to slide?” Darris asked.
“Oh yes…” Nakita cried with delight.
“Okay…” Darris looked over his shoulder at her with one big sapphire eye. “Let go and I’ll slide you down my wing to Farloft and he will catch you.”
“That will be the highest slide you will ever be on,” Farloft said as he tucked his wing under Darris’.
They glided along with their wings locked in place. Darris tipped and Farloft tipped with him. Nakita slid laughing all the way down Darris’ long dark wing to Farloft’s deep green one, and on to his back. She grabbed his neck spikes and pulled herself up on his shoulders.
“That was the best slide ever!” she hollered against the wind.
“The BEST!” both the dragons agreed.
It was only a moment longer and a short few flaps of their mighty wings and they arrived in the street before Nakita’s home. Darris sat down on his haunches and lifted the child from Farloft’s back. Farloft scooted her through the gate and into the yard. He threw the latch and the two dragons sat on the other side of the fence just like the puppy had earlier in the day.
Nakita reached her arms through the fence and hugged each one of them.
“Thank you for bringing me home,” she said softly.
“You are welcome,” Darris said.
“Remember not to leave the yard next time, no matter how cute the puppy is,” Farloft told her. “You don’t want to get lost again. We might not be around to bring you home.”
“I’ll remember,” Nakita said, smiling. Then her smile faded into a sad little pout. She looked down. Darris rumbled in confusion and shot a questioning glance at Farloft before he arched his head over the fence and gently nudged Nakita's head with his snout.
"What is wrong, my dear?"
Nakita looked up into his caring blue eyes, tears welling in her own.
"The puppy is still out there, probably all alone. I miss him already. I wish he was here."
Nakita looked down again as Darris drew his head back to rest on his haunches, scratching his chin.
"Ohhhhh. I see. You really like that puppy, eh?"
Nakita nodded, but did not look up. Darris looked at her thoughtfully while continuing to scratch his chin. After a few moments, he smiled, rose to all fours and nudged Farflot's shoulder with his snout. Farloft smiled and nodded in silent dragon understanding. His golden eyes whirled with delight.
"Farloft will keep you company,” Darris said. “Wait here, I'll be right back."
Darris grinned a big toothy smile at Farloft. The dragons had a plan. Then the big blue dragon leapt into the air and flew off.
When Darris was out of sight, Farloft looked back at Nakita, who was studying him. He shrugged playfully and entertained her by blowing smoke rings in the air. It put a smile on her face. Some were heart shaped, and when Nakita stuck her hand through the fence, Farloft blew her an armful of smoke ring bracelets. The dragon had just blown the child a smoky crown when a flush of a sudden breeze came, followed by the sound of flapping wings. Darris landed on the ground gently, a small ball of fluff hugged close to his blue-scaled chest.
"Puppy!" Nakita smiled, trying to reach over the top of the fence for the bundle of fur.
Darris rumbled and smiled a toothy grin back as he reached over the fence with his paw and placed the wiggling ball of fur into the eagerly waiting hands of the little human. Farloft smiled his approval and Nakita instantly hugged the puppy to her chest, cooing to it. Then she looked up between Farloft and Darris, the biggest smile ever on her face.
"Thank you ever so much!" The puppy licked her chin and she went back to hugging and petting it.
Darris and Farloft looked at each other, each wearing the most satisfied grin a little girl might ever see on a dragon. They both extended their wings and bowed to her, before they turned and sprang into the air. They looked back and waved a wing at Nakita safely tucked behind the fence in her yard. Natika threw kisses at them as they flew off for their home in the mountains.
To the Rescue!
Nakita sat on one side of the fence and the puppy romped around on the other side. The puppy was so cute it made the child’s heart sing. It was fluffy and white, with a patch of brown over one eye and ear. Nakita wanted to pick him up and cuddle him so very much. She had wanted a puppy of her very own, ever since the day she saw one in the window of the pet store in town. This puppy looked so much like that one.
She stuck her hand through the webbing of the chain-link fence and the little bundle of fur ran over to her and rubbed its head on her hand; just like it was her very own. This brought such a big smile to Nakita's face. When she giggled it licked her and whined with excitement. Its tale wagged so fast, it made its rump wiggle excitedly. Nakita could see it wanted to be with her as much as she wanted to be with it.
She tickled its soft ears. “Where did you come from?”
She looked up and down the long street she lived on while scratching under the puppy's chin. She looked at the little bundle of fur, her brow furrowing thoughtfully. Mommy and Daddy always told her not to go out of the yard, but they also told her the dangers of being hit by a car. The puppy was out on the sidewalk, very close to the street. Mommy always kept her cat inside to keep it safe. Nakita did not think she would want the puppy to get hurt. She decided she would just open the gate to their yard a little and coax the puppy in where it was safe.
She ran down to the other end of the fence and the puppy loped after her, its ears flapping in the wind. It stopped once to smell something, but when she bent down on the other side of the fence and slapped her hands on her legs, to get its attention, and called, “Come on!” It stopped sniffing and ran after her.
When she got to the gate, she lifted the latch and swung it open. The puppy ran in and did loops around her in the yard. When she clapped at him, he came to her and jumped up on her trying to lick her face. She laughed and hugged him. He was such a sweet little doggie.
The pup struggled out of her grip and yapping at the top of its voice it ran back out the gate and headed up the street. Nakita did not remember her mother’s warning about staying in the yard. Instead, she ran after it, passing through the open gate without the slightest bit of hesitation, running down the street after the energetic ball of fluff.
As they played together, the puppy led Nakita further and further away from home. Nakita kept trying to coax the puppy away from the street and before long, they found themselves wandering up on lawns and taking shortcuts through hedges. Eventually, they came to a park and the puppy ran in circles as Nakita played on the swings. She loved to swing. She went from the swings to the slide. She even managed to catch the puppy long enough to pick it up and cuddle the ball of fluff for a time. She loved the warm feel of its soft fur and thought she might take it on the slide, but he wiggled free again and ran under the roundabout to hide. Nakita went on the slide several times by herself. It was so much fun.
When she finally got tired and went to look for the puppy, it was not there. It was gone. She spent a long, long time searching for the puppy, but could not find it. It was gone. It had left her.
She sat down on the roundabout and cried. She cried because the puppy left her, but most of all, she cried because she realized for the first time, that she did not know where home was. She followed the puppy and did not pay attention where he was leading her. She was lost!
*****
Farloft and Darris, two very good dragon friends, were playing hide and seek in the clouds above Australia when Farloft heard Nakita crying. It was Farloft's turn to find Darris and while darting in and out of the clouds something caught his ear, so he stopped and hovered in the air, listening.
“Listen…” he called to Darris. “I hear someone crying.”
Darris, who had been hiding in a cloud nearby, poked his head out and turned an ear to listen. “I hear it too,” he exclaimed. "It sounds like a human child."
“We should go see if we can help,” Farloft suggested. He tipped his wing and sailed down in big lazy loops trying to locate the sound of the crying as he descended.
Darris rumbled in agreement and followed after Farloft, spiraling down from the opposite direction so that their paths crisscrossed as they descended.
Both dragons had exceptional eyesight and they scanned the city below doing their best to spot the child who was in distress.
“There!” Darris said and pointed a paw at a playground below them. “On the swing.”
Darris was much younger and had better eyesight than Farloft. He spotted a little girl with blond hair sitting and crying in the park.
The two dragons landed right in front of Nakita. She was not scared, because her Uncle had read books about dragons to her. But, she was very surprised.
“Hi,” Farloft said softly. “I am Farloft and this is my friend, Darris.” He pointed to Darris with a large green paw. “We heard you crying. Is there anything we can do to help?”
Farloft was very big, but he seemed very sweet and helpful. Darris had a nice grin on his face, which made Nakita decide to trust them a little. At least enough to tell them her story.
“I was playing with a puppy,” she said, as she dried her tears on her sleeve. “He led me here, but then he left and,” she sniffed, “I don’t know where ‘here’ is.”
She started to puddle up again because she knew her mother and father would be worried about her and it was never her intention to get herself lost!
“Don’t cry,” Farloft said soothingly and wrapped a wing around her. “Do you know where you live?”
“Do you have the address memorized?” Darris asked. “We dragons always memorize important numbers. We always know how many treasures we have in our hoards.”
Nakita’s mother did have her memorize her address and she rattled it off to the dragons. They both gave her a toothy grin.
“We know where that is,” Farloft said. “Come on, we’ll take you home.”
Nakita hopped out of the swing and Farloft scooped her up in his large green paws and placed her on Darris’ back.
“Hold on tight,” he told her, “and don’t worry. We won’t let you fall.”
Darris was very careful not to launch into the air quite as fast as he normally did. Farloft made sure he was right behind him and ready to catch Nakita if she fell. Nakita held tight to Darris’ mane of blue fur. It was long and wavy, and softer to the touch than it looked; but not as soft as the puppy's fur.
Nakita was fearless. She laughed and squealed in glee. Flying with the dragons was even more fun than playing with the puppy.
Once the dragons saw Nakita was not scared, they decided it would not hurt to take a few extra minutes to give the little girl a ride she would remember. They spread their wings and made a big loop over the Sydney Opera House.
“Faster! Higher!” Nakita begged the dragons.
“You like to slide?” Darris asked.
“Oh yes…” Nakita cried with delight.
“Okay…” Darris looked over his shoulder at her with one big sapphire eye. “Let go and I’ll slide you down my wing to Farloft and he will catch you.”
“That will be the highest slide you will ever be on,” Farloft said as he tucked his wing under Darris’.
They glided along with their wings locked in place. Darris tipped and Farloft tipped with him. Nakita slid laughing all the way down Darris’ long dark wing to Farloft’s deep green one, and on to his back. She grabbed his neck spikes and pulled herself up on his shoulders.
“That was the best slide ever!” she hollered against the wind.
“The BEST!” both the dragons agreed.
It was only a moment longer and a short few flaps of their mighty wings and they arrived in the street before Nakita’s home. Darris sat down on his haunches and lifted the child from Farloft’s back. Farloft scooted her through the gate and into the yard. He threw the latch and the two dragons sat on the other side of the fence just like the puppy had earlier in the day.
Nakita reached her arms through the fence and hugged each one of them.
“Thank you for bringing me home,” she said softly.
“You are welcome,” Darris said.
“Remember not to leave the yard next time, no matter how cute the puppy is,” Farloft told her. “You don’t want to get lost again. We might not be around to bring you home.”
“I’ll remember,” Nakita said, smiling. Then her smile faded into a sad little pout. She looked down. Darris rumbled in confusion and shot a questioning glance at Farloft before he arched his head over the fence and gently nudged Nakita's head with his snout.
"What is wrong, my dear?"
Nakita looked up into his caring blue eyes, tears welling in her own.
"The puppy is still out there, probably all alone. I miss him already. I wish he was here."
Nakita looked down again as Darris drew his head back to rest on his haunches, scratching his chin.
"Ohhhhh. I see. You really like that puppy, eh?"
Nakita nodded, but did not look up. Darris looked at her thoughtfully while continuing to scratch his chin. After a few moments, he smiled, rose to all fours and nudged Farflot's shoulder with his snout. Farloft smiled and nodded in silent dragon understanding. His golden eyes whirled with delight.
"Farloft will keep you company,” Darris said. “Wait here, I'll be right back."
Darris grinned a big toothy smile at Farloft. The dragons had a plan. Then the big blue dragon leapt into the air and flew off.
When Darris was out of sight, Farloft looked back at Nakita, who was studying him. He shrugged playfully and entertained her by blowing smoke rings in the air. It put a smile on her face. Some were heart shaped, and when Nakita stuck her hand through the fence, Farloft blew her an armful of smoke ring bracelets. The dragon had just blown the child a smoky crown when a flush of a sudden breeze came, followed by the sound of flapping wings. Darris landed on the ground gently, a small ball of fluff hugged close to his blue-scaled chest.
"Puppy!" Nakita smiled, trying to reach over the top of the fence for the bundle of fur.
Darris rumbled and smiled a toothy grin back as he reached over the fence with his paw and placed the wiggling ball of fur into the eagerly waiting hands of the little human. Farloft smiled his approval and Nakita instantly hugged the puppy to her chest, cooing to it. Then she looked up between Farloft and Darris, the biggest smile ever on her face.
"Thank you ever so much!" The puppy licked her chin and she went back to hugging and petting it.
Darris and Farloft looked at each other, each wearing the most satisfied grin a little girl might ever see on a dragon. They both extended their wings and bowed to her, before they turned and sprang into the air. They looked back and waved a wing at Nakita safely tucked behind the fence in her yard. Natika threw kisses at them as they flew off for their home in the mountains.
Original art by Lady-Darkstreak of DA
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