It Rains Gold in Downtown Lexington

A breath of fire licked the cave walls. The sudden burst of light illuminated the large space and reminded the dragon of its dilemma. Treasures that man could not possibly imagine lay in heaps upon heaps in the corners of the large cave. Well, I must say, the treasures could not be shoved in the corners, though the dragon tried his hardest. They lay sprawled about the room, leaving no living space for the creature. He paced the room, many times every day, thinking only about the problem he must fix. After all these years of hoarding away man’s most luxurious treasures, he realized that he had too much. 

“How can a dragon have too much?” You must be asking. Well, I wonder the same thing. I must admit I do not know how or why he decided he had too much. Perhaps It was because He now slept in a small part of the cave, due to the fact that the rest of his home was overflowing with gold and gems. Maybe he finally felt guilty when stealing from humans. For whatever the reason, he had found himself in a bit of trouble.

“This darn gold!” The dragon belated. “I simply have too much to hold! It lay all across the floor, in my living space. Now all I can do in this cave is sleep and pace! No room for gatherings, joy, not even laughter! Will I have my happily ever after?” The dragon often spoke in rhymes and rhythms. But only in his own company. These thoughts interrupt the dragon in everything he does. He can’t even sleep without thinking about his problem. If computers existed in the 1500 then I know the creature would have searched: “What is the opposite of stealing?” Though technological computers didn’t exist in that time period, the dragon used his other computer (his mind) to figure out this puzzling, perplexing, problem. 

“What is the opposite of stealing? If I figure it out, I can rid myself of this funny feeling.” The dragon stood at the mouth of the cave, excited to embark on this adventure. The dragon's long snake-like body stretched out as his head moved closer to the sun. I must say, this dragon was quite large. He was at least one-hundred seventy feet long and eleven feet wide. 

“That doesn't sound so big.” You might be saying. Well, if the dragon stood on the tip of its tail, then it would be seventeen stories tall, and almost three whole cars wide. So, he is a very large dragon. The dragon's legs, though short and thick, pushed away from the ground. The end of his tail slapped viciously on the rocky area. He was now in the air with his legs tucked under him. His red scales shimmered in the sun; his black mane was wild in the wind. He had no wings, however, he floated on a current of air, as if he were swimming. The dragon looked like a torpedo in the sky. Thin, fast, precise. His breathing grew heavy as he descended toward the lake, to refresh his parched throat. He managed to fly over the tall trees that blocked his path toward the water. His short front legs extended out as far as they could. As his front legs landed, his back legs extended and touched the ground. He walked, ever so slowly, to the edge of the river and drank. His neck craned over it. The water trickled down his throat, for a moment he wanted to drink the whole river. He drank more and more not realizing that something was lurking in the bushes, until he heard them rustle. He whipped around, his tail splashed the water. Quiet, everything was silent, but he could pick up the faint scent of another dragon in the bushes. He stalked them and finally howled:

 “Come out!” His voice boomed all around. I predict half of the world could hear his roar. Out of the bushes came a female dragon. She was at least eighty feet long and six feet wide. Though she seemed small compared to the massive one hundred seventy-foot-long dragon, don’t be deceived. If she stood on the tip of her tail, then she would be eight stories tall and almost two whole cars wide. Her scales were white and so was her mane. Her eyes were icy blue, and the end of her tail was thin and light colored. Her body was not shaped as a snake unlike the other dragon. She resembled the stacher of a cat or dog. Her body was also covered in spikes of ice. She had the most beautiful wings then anyone had ever seen in their lifetime. At the place where their wings connect to the body, they had ice spikes just like the rest of her. The ice tapered off very quickly while traveling down the wing, to reveal white wings with a blue hue to them. They were quite the sight. Long, elegant, graceful. Like pure white snow on the pure white hills in the pure white country. Her blue eyes filled with fear and concern, his red eyes filled with protection and distrust. What was going on inside their minds, I do not know. All I know is that their eye contact was held for some time before the female spoke. 

“M-my name is Akaina. W-what’s yours?” Neither dragon spoke for a long time until the bigger dragon said: 

“Name’s Koen. Don't you know better than to sneak up on other dragons?” Around other dragons he didn’t not speak in the ancient ways of rhythm. That form of speaking was “uncultured”. 

“I’m sorry. I’m lost.” She whimpered, “I came for water.” She trotted over to the edge of the river and began lapping up large amounts of water. Koen looked down at her. He felt some form of compassion. No, he couldn’t possibly have felt pity for the lost creature. Right? He got into his position to take off into the air, he pushed off the ground and flew straight up into the clouds. He could see the snow-covered mountains and the tall pine trees. He could see the snow gradually disappear as his eyes traveled down the mountain. From his position, he could see the river empty out into a lake that he had not noticed before. The sun reflecting off the water made it sparkle. What a beautiful sight that must have been. He scanned the area until he found an inhabited cave. He came back down to the ground to inform Akiana he found an empty cave that could be hers. 

“Oh, thank you so much!” She said excitedly. She moved in her position to take off in the sky. Her legs crouched down as her wings went straight up. She looked longingly toward the sky. As her legs pushed off the ground, her wings went toward the ground, and she blasted off into the sun rays with her legs tucked underneath her. Koen followed soon after. In the sun, her wings shimmered like diamonds and her eyes glowed with content.

“That’s it!” She shouted. Her right wing turned up and her left wings down to make a sharp turn toward the left. They came to the mouth of the cave. She landed gracefully on the stone floor. 

“This is it. Ta da!” She said with glee. Koen looked into the cave and noticed something very wrong.

“Where is all your treasure?” He looked at her, concerned. 

“Oh, I don’t have any.” She said still with a joyful note in her voice. 

“Why not?” His head tilted a little. 

“Well, I gave it all away.” 

“You what!” His voice shook the cave. “Why!” 

“Well,” The joy in her voice began to fade. “I started to feel I had too much. I didn’t know what to do with it all. Until one day I saw a human child looking for money. I heard the child say that it needed money for food. It couldn’t find any and I never saw that child again. So now I give what I have to those who don’t have enough, though I don’t have much.” Koen stared at her in awe. Was giving all, he had to do? Is giving the opposite of stealing? 

“Alright then.” He said, “Goodbye.” 

“Goodbye. Thank you again.” He looked back at her. Eyes full of light, wings full of elegance, soul as pure as the snow on the hill in the country. He left her in her empty cave and returned to his own. 

3 days later 

“Papa, do we have food?” The little boy said to his father in the village. 

“No son. We don’t have the money to buy it. How about you go into the woods and see what you can find.” His smile, even though he tried, was not one bit reassuring. The little boy went out into the woods searching for mushrooms, when he saw it. A massive dragon much bigger his house. They stared at each other for a long while. The boy saw the dragon had piles of gold in his hands and in his mouth. The dragon nodded and took off into the sky. The boy followed him to the village, when the dragon began to drop gold from the sky! Oh, what a blessing that must have been for everyone in the village!

“Papa!” The boy shouted, “That dragon is dropping gold!” 

“I see it, son!” The father said with glee. “It’s raining gold in downtown Lexington!”