Toby

As I drank my coffee, trying to get my brain to realize my body was actually out of bed and moving about the apartment without it I heard her giggle.

"Uh! She's doing it again!" I grumbled as I made my way down the hall to Addy's room. "Same thing almost every morning for the last 2 weeks."

Her door was open a bit, so I peeked in and there was my beautiful, amazingly intelligent daughter sitting on her bed talking and giggling with absolutely no one.

"It's normal for children to have imaginary friends." they said. And when they are an only child and of a single parent just adds to the psychic stretches of a young mind.

Melinda! Always thinking she is such an immature psychologist. No, that's not the right word. What was it? Amateur! That's the word! Come on coffee!

As I watched my daughter through the crack in her door, I couldn't shake the feeling it was more than that.

"He knows your here and that you don't like him." Addy said.

As she turned to face me the hair stood up on my arms and I shivered. For just a fraction of a moment I was sure I saw movement at the window as I opened the door, but as I walked to the window, I could see it was closed and the fact that we live on the seventh floor pushed its way through the foggy mush that was my brain this morning. I decided to play along.

"Why does he leave every time I come in the room?"

“Because he knows you don’t like him, and he doesn't like that you don’t like him.” She was so matter of fact for so early in the morning.

“Addy, how can I like or not like someone I don’t even know? I’ve never seen him, and I don’t even know his name.” There comes the thinking power!

“He just knows stuff.” She shrugged at me.

“What kind of stuff?” I pushed.

“You know? Stuff. Like he knows funny stuff. He tells me stories of long times ago and places far away. He also told me that you would never understand and that’s why you don’t like him.”

“Well now, I would certainly like the chance to make up my own mind instead of a total stranger telling you what I might be thinking.”

“Mommy, we both know you’re really not thinking too much this early in the morning. I wish you could find a job that would let you sleep at night and go to work while I’m in school and stuff.”

She seemed so small right then, and my heart ached to make her world a better place.

“I know, Baby Girl, but right now I would really like to meet your friend. Do you think you could arrange that for me?” I asked as I sat on her bed and took her in my arms. I like to think it made us both feel better.

“I will ask him. I will tell him you really want to meet him.”

“Are you sure?”

The low growl of a voice came from directly behind us and before I knew what I was doing I had my daughter in my arms and we were standing in the corner of her bedroom.

The first thing I noticed were the talons on his feet, then his wings fold neatly by his sides and finally the mouth full of razor-sharp teeth as he spoke. I was frozen as my now fully coffee generated mind screamed for me to run.

“I asked if you are sure you want to meet me.” He hissed.

“Mommy! You’re squishing me!” Addy squealed as she squirmed her way out of my arms.

Amazingly enough I was still frozen in place watching my precious daughter fling her arms around the dragon’s neck. Yes, I said dragon. Not the ginormous mythical creatures of lore, well, yes, mythical creature, but he was small in stature. I realized I was staring my daughter’s imaginary friend in the face, the real life, honest to goodness face. I am now trembling all over and he’s just lounging on her bed as if it was made for him.

“I” Was the most intelligent thing I could get out of my mouth.

He laughed at me! An honest deep belly laugh that made my mind shatter.

“Focus Stacey! Just focus!” But the more I tried to wrap my mind around the fact that my daughter was hugging the neck of a dragon the more I could only utter the word “I”.

“Mommy, you have to relax. His name is Callimar, and he is my friend. I call him Cal.”

“How…” There! I found another word!

“How what Mommy?” Addy asked, truly perplexed by my reaction.

“She wants to know how I am sitting here in her reality. How I came to befriend her little girl. How is only her first question. Her first of many.” Callimar answered.

I remained in the corner but now I was able to manage to nod my head and sputter, “Why?’

“Ah! And now we have the second question. Let me start by saying I have lived here for what you would consider a long time. I found the building when it was young and there was a small boy living here in a very bad situation. I befriended the boy and helped him along his growing years until he was too old to believe in me. I knew I had found a new calling of sorts. Seems there is always at least on child in this building that needs a fried and I am usually able to fill that void.”

“M m my daughter has a void?” I stammered.

“Oh come now.” He huffed. “Surely you already know that answer."

“B b but how?” I sounded like a stammering idiot.

“How can you see and understand me? Well, I’m not quite sure but my guess is that your connection with your daughter is very strong and through your love for her and her love for me we are connected in some way.

The fog began to clear in my head as I tried to make sense of what he was saying.

“I have never had a friend quite like Addy, here. She is as unique as her situation. Her situation isn’t a bad one, yet I was able to pick up on the fact that she needed me.” He was thoughtful for a moment and when he spoke again he made a suggestion I never questioned.

“I can take you away from here. I can take you both to place where you don’t have to work at night and you will have Addy by your side every waking minute and dreaming beside you through the night.”

“Oh! Yes! Mommy please!!” Addy squealed.

“But I have to work.” I protested.

“No, you will never have to work another day in your life, at least, not what you consider work.”

“What do you purpose?”

“Are you willing to come with me?” He smirked.

“YES!! Yes! Mommy please say yes!!”

“Ummmm, yes?”

With my answer Addy started jumping up and down screeching, “We’re going with Cal! We’re going with Cal!”

“Wonderful! Pack a light bag and meet me on the roof.”

I threw some clothes in a duffle bag and Addy grabbed my hand and started dragging through the halls to the emergency stairs.

When we got to the roof there was Cal but he was huge! Just like all the dragons I had read about as a child. His wingspan had to at least fifty feet across.

“How…” I stammered.

“Are we really going to start that again?”

Addy was already climbing on his back.

“Addy! Be careful!”

“Easy Momma,” Cal snickered, “she knows what she’s doing.”

As I followed my daughter on to a dragon’s back, I realized that meant she had done this before. I started to ask another stupid question but Cal spread his massive wings and with a light down stroke we were gone.