Dragon's Food
by Bosley Gravel"You are the funniest-looking kid I've ever seen," Wyatt said.
Indeed, he was a funny-looking kid. His hair was wispy and white, his skin scaly and a bit leathery. He wore a straw hat with a wide brim. Wyatt stepped around him and examined the kid from the back angle.
"What's your name?"
"Noah."
"Like in the bible?"
"Yes," Noah said.
"Take off those sunglasses."
Noah obliged. Wyatt looked him in the eye.
"You've got eyes like a rabbit," Wyatt said with an air of authority.
"I'm an albino, that's why I'm funny looking."
"Oh," Wyatt said. "You just moved into the neighborhood, right?" Noah put his sunglasses back on.
"Yes," Noah said.
"I'm Wyatt."
Wyatt offered his hand. Noah shook it more firmly than Wyatt had expected.
"When you move in?"
"Yesterday."
"You are not going to like it here," Wyatt said, and pulled at a curl of his red hair. "It's a terrible place to live. There's no other kids except me and my brother, and now you - "
"I've got an ark." Noah said.
"An ark?"
"I've got pigs, and goats, and a very hungry dragon. All kinds of secret animals."
"Really?" Wyatt said and frowned at Noah.
"Yeah, but don't tell anybody."
"How?" Wyatt said. "Did you take a whole boat full of animals without your mother knowing?"
"It's not a boat, it's a special container."
"Oh, I see. A special container. Right."
They looked at each other grimly.
"We have to be friends," Wyatt said, "even if you are funny looking. My mom won't let me leave the neighborhood because she's at work all day, and I have to keep an eye on my brother." Noah scratched at his peeling arm.
"I could show you my ark. Then you wouldn't be bored."
"You really have an ark?"
"Sure I do."
"I don't believe you."
Noah shrugged.
"I don't care," he said. He turned and began walking away.
"Wait, wait," Wyatt said and followed behind.
"Don't go running off, I believe you. You've got an ark." Noah's face brightened and he turned his head. As he did so Wyatt glimpsed behind the shades, where the sun caught Noah's eyes and turned them a bloody pink.
"You want to see it?"
"Sure I do." Wyatt looked at his watch, avoiding eye contact, "It's six-thirty right now. Can you show it to me in less than an hour?"
"Probably. I've got to find it, though. It's packed in some boxes." Noah led the way, and they walked down the empty street.
"The thing about this neighborhood is it's only half-built." Wyatt said. "Look at all these houses, most of them are empty, and the rest aren't even finished."
Noah scanned the line of houses and rubbed his nose, flakes of skin falling like powdered soap.
They passed by a strip of unfinished houses consisting of black tar paper, insulation, and treated wood. Some didn't have doors or windows; others were merely staked out, the cement slabs still damp. Indeed, an enterprising vandal had scratched a W.J. on the corner of one of the slabs. Farther down the houses were complete but uninhabited, the tin realtor signs blowing in the breeze.
"I've lived here for a year," Wyatt said, "and they build these houses so slow. It seems like they'll never get done. Doesn't help that they only work about three days a week - "
"Are you scared of tigers?" Noah asked. Wyatt grinned a little, showing his two front teeth. After a full thirty seconds of thoughtm he spoke. "No, not a bit. I used to help my dad tame them."
"I had a tiger in my ark, but the dragon ate it."
They passed another strip of half-built houses.
"The dragon ate the tiger, but not the pig?"
"It was a baby tiger, and the pig is huge."
"Oh," Wyatt said, "I get it. What about rabbits?"
"The dragon ate them all."
"Do you have a dad?" Wyatt asked.
"Yeah, but I haven't met him. My mom says she made me all by herself. I don't believe her. She says it's my job to take good care of her. I think my dad left us before I can remember."
"My dad's dead," Wyatt said. "He fell into a machine at his job and it killed him."
They passed a strip of fully-built houses. Two of them had cars parked in the driveways.
"I'm sorry," Noah said.
"It's all right. I don't think about him much. But we used to have an airplane and we'd fly to China and get rice for supper. Sometimes we'd fly to Mexico and pick bananas and pineapples and coconuts."
"And tame tigers?" Noah said.
"Oh sure, sure, we did it all the time. We went to Australia and hunted kangaroos once." Wyatt said, "I used a real boomerang." They walked in silence for a moment, and took a turn down Crestmont street.
"Is your mom home?" Wyatt asked.
"Maybe. I don't know."
"She's not going to mind me coming over, is she?"
"No, she never minds me having friends over. Besides she doesn't like me spending so much time alone. I like it though. I'd spend all day in my room if she let me. I like to draw the animals in my ark."
"Sounds like you act weirder than you look."
"If you want to see my ark, you must act a little more civil."
"Civil?" Wyatt said.
"Yes, civil. It's not polite to make personal remarks."
"Personal remarks? You sound like my teacher."
Noah stopped walking and glared at Wyatt.
"Stop looking at me like that. Those rabbit eyes scare me, even if they are hidden behind your glasses."
Noah stopped. They walked for another half a block. The houses on Crestmont street were empty. Not a one appeared lived in.
"Which one's your house?"
"233, that one in the middle."
The shades on the window were pulled. It looked like the rest of the houses in the small cul-de-sac.
They went up to the door and Noah took a key from around his neck and unlocked it.
"Is your mom home?"
"I don't think so. Not yet."
The foyer was small and they both stood listening to Noah's voice echo through the house as he called to his mother. No reply came.
"I guess she's gone somewhere, or maybe she's hiding."
"Hiding?" Wyatt asked.
Noah flicked on a light switch, the room stayed dark and shadowy.
"The electricity still isn't turned on."
"Oh?" Wyatt said softly.
"Don't worry - we have candles," Noah said. He shut the door.
"Hey, what did you do that for?" Wyatts voice sounding almost desperate. It was twilight outside, and the house was filled with shadows.
"I can't just leave the door hanging open. Come on, we'll get the candles." Noah led him through the house. It was empty save a few boxes stacked against the wall. Noah picked a candle off the counter top and lit it with a match.
"There," he said, and took off his sunglasses, "I feel a lot better. I can't spend too much time in the sun. I get burned easy. Would you like a sandwich? I've got some in the cooler." He pointed to a red insulated cooler on the floor in front of the silent refrigerator.
"Sure." Wyatt said. Noah passed him the candle and went to the cooler and pulled out two large sandwiches wrapped in plastic. He balanced those on one hand and picked up two cans of Pepsi with the other. He kicked the lid closed with his foot.
"Come on, well go into my bedroom. Put your hand in front of the candle, otherwise it will blow out."
"I get it." Wyatt cupped his hand around the meager flame, "Where did you guys live before you moved here?"
Noah slipped through the darkness towards a pitch-black hall.
"Here and there, I've lived a lot of places," Noah said. They reached a door, and Wyatt opened it with his freehand. Inside the room was two more boxes, an air mattress, and six or seven more candles sitting on the floor. Noah set down the sandwiches down and lit the other candles. The light was enough to cause the shadows to flicker and churn, creating the feel of movement from all the corners. They sat down on the floor, after arranging the candles around the edges of the room so they could not be turned over by accident.
Wyatt saw a poster of a unicorn on the wall. Noah noticed him looking at it.
"I used to have a unicorn in my ark, but the dragon--"
"But the dragon ate it, right? I get it, I get it."
"Yeah, how did you know? The dragon has been eating up all the good animals lately. I tried to talk to it, but you know how dragons are."
"Sure do. Let's eat those sandwiches."
Noah handed him the larger one and a can of soda. Wyatt opened the plastic and took a huge bite. He chewed it, thinking, then opened his Pepsi and took a drink.
"Do you want to see the pictures of my animals?"
"Yeah, let's see."
Noah raised an eyebrow but got up and went through one of the boxes. His hand came out with a bundle of yellowed papers. They looked old, Wyatt thought, but that might just be the candlelight. Noah sat back down.
"Most of the animals are gone now. The dragon is getting bigger and hungrier every time I let her out." Wyatt took the pictures in his hands and looked them over. It looked like they had been done in charcoal. For the most part they were unremarkable. There was a billy goat with a fantastical set of horns, a badger, a sow, and several mythical creatures including a griffin, a dwarf and a dragon. The dragon was by far the most inspired piece of work. It stood on its hind legs and its face was feminine and frigid in an eternal snarl. A hundred needle sharp teeth dripped some something wet and slimy. Wyatt got a shiver looking at it, and wondered--just for a split second--if Noah indeed did have some sort of ark.
"Cool," he said and handed the papers back. "When can I see it?"
"The dragon?"
"Or the whole ark, whatever." he said. He looked at Noah, and for the first time noticed what a sad looking person he was. His face was prematurely wrinkled. His hair was so white and thin and hung an inch out of his hat. His ears were blistered, and those eyes . . . he admitted to himself that he was a little afraid of Noah.
"Don't say it," Noah said.
"What?"
"I know, I'm funny looking. I can't help it. I am what I am."
"I wasn't - " but Wyatt stopped himself. There was no reason to lie.
"Are you my friend, Wyatt?"
"Yes," he said, and forced himself to look into Noah's eyes.
"Good, because I can only let my real friends see my ark."
Wyatt crushed his soda can in his hand.
Noah got up and went the boxes and shuffled through it. He took off his hat and scratched his head.
"It's not where I left it."
"That's okay," Wyatt said. "Maybe next time. It's almost seven now." He looked down at his watch. It was only six-thirty. "Well, I guess I can wait."
"I think I remember, it's in one of those boxes in the other room."
"Don't worry about it," Wyatt said.
"Wait here. I'll find it."
A minute passed, Noah returned, and in his hand was a most remarkable ball. Wyatt's first impression was that it was an oversized softball painted with vibrant oil paints. Noah held it up. The candle light cast weird shadows on it, and Wyatt saw shapes of oriental ruins in the color of a peacock's plumage.
"Wow," Wyatt said. Noah handed it to him, and he took it in both hands. It seemed much too heavy for its size. He looked more closely at the shapes and saw that there were also pictures of minute size, intricately painted on, as if with brushes no more than two or three hairs. The focal point of the strange composition was a dragon in a cage, around the edges of which were monkeys, swine, a goat, several dogs, and a wild-looking griffin. The images were almost animated under the flickering of the candle.
"This is an ark?"
"Yes, my ark," Noah said.
"How?" Wyatt said. "I don't get it - "
"You will," Noah said softly. "Open it. It unscrews."
Wyatt turned it over in his hand, trying to find the seam.
"Just turn the top in the opposite direction than the bottom. It will open then."
He put his palms against the top and bottom and turned. He felt some hidden mechanism hum, like a whimper as the seal broke, a soft cool breeze on his wrists.
"It's opening!"
Noah was grinning.
"I told you."
Wyatt turned his hands over and the ball was split, a half in each hand. It was neither steel, nor wood, but stone judged from the purple and pink crystals on the inside of the halves.
Wyatt looked up at Noah.
"Where are the animals?"
"Shhh. Listen."
Wyatt held his breath. Faintly, he heard a parrot's cry, and then another replied. He heard a lamb bleat, and then the snort of a pig.
"I hear them, but I don't see them."
"You will," Noah said. "Look." He pointed to the edge of room. The carpet was being torn up in little patches as if an invisible goat was eating it.
"It's true, it's true! You do have an ark!" he said. "I didn't believe you."
Noah stood up and inhaled.
"I love the way my ark smells."
Wyatt felt something smooth and warm brush against his back but when he turned saw nothing. He stood up and looked at Noah, who had cocked his head, listening.
"Where's the pig?"
A hole appeared in the wall as if it had been kicked. The ball began hissing, Wyatt looked over and saw a white mist pouring from the two halves. A wolf yapped, and was cut short. Wyatt heard a sound like no other he had heard before: an insensible screeching, the grating of metal on stone, of fingernails on a chalkboard.
"What was that?" Wyatt asked, licking nervously at his lips.
"My dragon - "
"Close the ball."
Wyatt looked at him, and wanted to run. How could he have mistaken Noah for a kid? He was old and wrinkled. The skin on his face was rippled, his eyes only two deep grooves. It seemed the whole room was rocking and creaking, like they were in the belly of some great boat.
"Please, I'm scared!"
He felt something brushing against his ankles. He jumped back, and turned to find the door. The mist had spread about the room and the door was hidden.
"Please!"
Noah only grinned. A sharp pain starting caught Wyatt's attention. He screamed, afraid, and looked down to see an angry looking badger was gnawing at his ankle. He kicked it hard, a streamer of blood followed it into the mist.
"Please!" He ran towards where the door had been and tripped over something alive. He stood again. He saw a goat run by him with an amazing speed, a huge spiral of horn on its head.
Wyatt turned and ran into Noah, grabbing his shoulders. A splatter of guano landed on his hand.
The animals were everywhere, calling to each other, calling to Noah.
The dragon shrieked again.
"Close it!" He shook Noah.
"Sorry."
Wyatt felt the sharp hoof of an invisible beast come down on his foot. Noah pushed him away.
Through the mists, through the rank smell, through all the confusion, an ominous scratching, tearing, shredding, teeth-clacking sound came.
"Here she comes!" Noah yelled. "My most wonderful dragon!"
The dragon shrieked.
"Loaelia! " Noah yelled. "This way, my dear."
The dragon pierced the mists. She slithered across the floor, tiny wings running up and down her body.
"Loaleia, supper this way!"
She slithered further, seemingly riding on the mists, and came close to Noah. He raised his hand and rubbed behind the creature's ear. From a distance she would have been beautiful; her flesh was chameleon green, her scales like fine-spun metal, her face surprisingly human. She sat up like a dog begging for a bone. Her teeth dripped, some liquid that burned holes in the carpet.
"Don't let her eat me! Please!"
Noah looked at him, and for a moment pity crossed his face. He stepped over and touched Wyatt's shoulder.
"Sorry."
The heavy breath of the dragon covered him; the sharp cloud of methane displaced the oxygen in his lungs.
"Loaleia, eat it!" Noah turned his head, and backed away, as the dragon came down, the last thing Wyatt saw was the inhuman serpent eyes of the dragon were a bloody pink.
The lot was empty. Dusk came and a street lamp went on, illuminating the vacant lot. The ground was muddy; a hundred different types of animal footprints were embedded in the wet mud. Goats, dogs, split hooves...and the serpentine tracks of a dragon. Just off to the left was a ball of extraordinary color. An hour passed.
A tall man with a straw hat walked across the lot. He had a thick white beard. He picked up the ball, tossed it into the air, and caught it. He began humming, and walked off into the autumn night.
Large drops of rain fell, darkening the ground and finally washing away the tracks.
A full rainbow graced the early morning sky, and the shantytown was full of people. Noah made friends easily.
"You are the funniest-looking guy I've ever seen." Joseph said. Indeed, he was a funny looking man. His hair was wispy white, his skin scaly and a bit leathery. He wore a straw hat with a wide brim. Joseph stepped around and examined the old man from the back.
"What's your name?"
"Noah."
"Like that guy with the big boat?"
"Yes," Noah said.
"You hiding something behind those sunglasses?"
Noah took them off. Joseph looked him in the eye.
"I had a bunny once with eyes like yours," Joseph said, his face in a thoughtful grimace.
"I'm an albino, that's why I'm funny-looking."
"Oh," Joseph said. "You just moved in didn't you?"
Joseph offered his hand. Noah took it and shook it firmly.
"When you move in? Where's your gear?"
"This morning, and I don't have any gear, just my ark." Noah said.
"Your ark?"
"Yep, I've got pigs, and goats, and a very hungry dragon. All kinds of secret animals."
©Bosley Gravel
Bosley Gravel was born in the Midwest, and came of age in Texas and southern New Mexico. He has worked numerous dead end jobs, and now makes a living working on computer networks and various related activities. He has been making up stories from an early age, and from time to time they end up on paper. His website is here.