Dragons can be pets too

Everyone loves to have a pet at a certain age in their life. From dogs to cats, snakes to Komodo dragons. Yeah, who would have thought a dangerous reptile such as a Komodo dragon could be a pet? Well, meet my reptile loving, friend Lisa. She went overboard this time.

“So, he’s your…pet?” I came over to her house for her birthday, only to find out her new pet is a reptile. And worse, a dangerous, man-eating lizard! “Yeah, isn’t he gorgeous? I named him George. You know, after the heroic knight who slain the dragon?” I just stared at her with fear in my eyes. How could she keep this reptile as a pet? It was illegal and dangerous to keep this animal domesticated. “Lisa, that knight killed a dragon, he wasn’t THE dragon! Why do you have this animal anyway? A pet is supposed to be an animal you can hug or cuddle up with, not one that needs to be in an enclosure.” She rolled her eyes at me, partly because she knew I was right. Lisa loved all kinds of reptiles. When she was a little girl, her first pet was a Puff Adder named Harry and then in her teens, he died and she replaced him with Annabelle (a 5kg Egyptian crocodile). I feared that her love for reptiles exceeded my hopes for her to love more common domestic animals. Like a dog or cat, maybe even a horse.

Lisa grew up on a farm in the West Indies, there she had all types of animals native to the island. However, she decided to travel to the Galapagos Island to search for more unique and unusual pets. It was there she fell in love with George, her pet Monitor Lizard. A Monitor Lizard or Komodo dragon is lethal due to its poisonous venom and the poison found on its scaly body, if she touched him she could become seriously ill or worse…dead. I thought she might have a giant tortoise as a pet. They are found on the Galapagos Island, but as I knew Lisa, she preferred the more harmful and deadly reptiles. “How do you talk to him or feed him? You know you can’t exactly go near him.” She explained that she talks to him behind a barbwire fence and she feeds him by throwing massive chunks of bloody raw meat into his territory. I couldn’t believe I heard her talk so passionately about this creature. Out of all the animals in the world, she chose George. Well, I guess when they say; love is blind, they really meant it. Lisa was blindly in love with a dragon.

It was uneasy for me to stay with her. I felt that that creature was going to come in the house and drag me to his area in the hopes of having a delicious midnight snack. Lisa told me I was exaggerating and that he was completely harmless to her. But animals are unexpected, anything can frighten them and they would attack. “Where is the milk? I thought she put it in the fridge.” I couldn’t sleep due to my troubled thoughts. Milk was the best thing to calm my nerves and help me sleep better. But since it was five minutes past midnight, I heard some type of growl behind me. “Oh God, please let it be my imagination. And not that a hungry dragon stalking me.” I couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of this creature casually strolling up to me. I couldn’t look behind me, I was too scared that it was actually there. I heard more growling and then a stool, next to me, fell down. I shrieked at this sudden noise. It was close. It was really here and under my feet.

“George, I swear, I am not a tasty treat for you. Please return to your pen, please?” The dragon stopped growling and stood underneath my foot. I watched him carefully. He stood in his place and stared up at me with two big, slit eyes. He stood there and didn’t move. “Please don’t hurt me. Please?” He stuck out his tongue and smelled the air. He continued doing this for about five minutes before he walked to the other end of the table. I jumped out of my seat and screamed when he leaped onto the table. I immediately switched on the lights and stared in amazement at the animal before me. This wasn’t a lethal monitor lizard. This was a fluffy Black Persian cat with a Komodo dragon suit. “George, is actually a cat? Lisa tricked me! And I fell for it!”

After laughing hysterically, I returned to my bed and fell into a deep sleep. Her fluffy cat came to snuggle his warm body next to me. He resembled a puffed cushion and since he was warm, I hugged him tightly as the night was chilly. This was going to be a huge joke for Lisa the next morning. I just knew she was going to embarrass me with my fear of believing she really did have a pet Komodo dragon.

I woke up with a large yawn and a smirk on my face. Last night was my fault and Lisa tricked me into believing her. Who would have thought she would have a dark humor? I hurried to get ready for buying her a birthday present and I wanted to make sure she thought I forgot it was her special day today. My little pillow was still fast asleep on my bed, so I gently tucked the blanket around him. I loved cats, they were so cute and furry. This little one was certainly one of my favourite breeds.

“Why do you look so cheerful this fine morning?” Lisa was very good at pranking people and I was her next target especially last night. She knew my reason for smiling and yet she pretended not to know. “I found out that your pet dragon is nothing but a silly joke.” She looked at me with confusion all over her face. “What do you mean? George is real. He is a dragon.” I laughed abnormally loud at her little joke. “Well, last night, a Black Persian cat was dressed up in the dragon’s skin. Care to explain that?” She looked at her cat and sighed. “This was his Halloween outfit. I forgot to take it out and wash it, so he just continued walking around with it on.” “Yeah and you thought you could really get away with having a Komodo dragon as a pet. Well done, Lisa! Your unusual pet turned out to be nothing but a mere cat.” She became angry at my words and tugged me outside to her backyard.

We walked along a 3m, above ground level, bridge. I had no idea why she took me here, but I followed anyway to find out. We came to a large door and then some stairs. After my feet and knees hurt from all the walking and climbing, Lisa eventually turned around and looked at me with fury in her eyes. “You think I am joking?! Well, go ahead and look in the box to see if I am lying about George. Look!” I looked through the square box and seen below me a huge Komodo dragon with a wide nameplate, that said ‘George’. I stared at her with fear. Yesterday, she wasn’t joking. She really did have a Komodo dragon as a pet.