by Laurie Lovegood
It's been a month since we moved into our new house. It's also been a month since I found Topaz.
That fateful day a month ago, I was looking for my brother. We were in the middle of a nerf gun battle, and I was winning. He was angry about it, because he didn't understand how a thirteen year old girl could be beating him. I just needed to fire the kill strike, he just needed to fall to the ground in mock agony, and we'd be finished. As I walked past the trunk of the tree nearest me, I kicked a pile of leaves. Under the leaves, there was a shining light blue stone. It was
the length of my forearm and the width of my brother's head. And, to be clear, my brother's head is pretty big. I've always laughed about it with him.
I picked the egg up and slipped it into my backpack with the rest of my ammo. As soon as I slipped the backpack back over my shoulders, I was shot in the chest. My eyes widened and I looked down to see a nerf arrow stuck to my vest. I slowly grabbed it, feigning injury, and
looked up to see my brother behind the tree. I shot him once more and he fell down. That was the end of our battle.
I blew on the end of my gun, and dropped it into the basket next to the back door with all of our toys. I threw the vest in there, as well as the rest of the ammunition, without letting my brother see the inside of my bag. I left the backpack up in my room until after dinner, when I went up to examine the stone again. It was warm, even though it'd been sitting in my cold bedroom. I got into bed and laid the stone next to me.
The next morning, I could feel my bed moving, so I rubbed my eyes and woke up. I started to scream at what I saw, before I clamped my hand over my mouth. I didn't want to wake the rest of my family up, and the walls of the house were thin.
What I saw, curled up and seemingly sleeping, was a light blue dragon, the color of blue topaz. I reached my hand out to stroke one of its wings, and it woke up with a loud SCRAWWWWK. It
That fateful day a month ago, I was looking for my brother. We were in the middle of a nerf gun battle, and I was winning. He was angry about it, because he didn't understand how a thirteen year old girl could be beating him. I just needed to fire the kill strike, he just needed to fall to the ground in mock agony, and we'd be finished. As I walked past the trunk of the tree nearest me, I kicked a pile of leaves. Under the leaves, there was a shining light blue stone. It was
the length of my forearm and the width of my brother's head. And, to be clear, my brother's head is pretty big. I've always laughed about it with him.
I picked the egg up and slipped it into my backpack with the rest of my ammo. As soon as I slipped the backpack back over my shoulders, I was shot in the chest. My eyes widened and I looked down to see a nerf arrow stuck to my vest. I slowly grabbed it, feigning injury, and
looked up to see my brother behind the tree. I shot him once more and he fell down. That was the end of our battle.
I blew on the end of my gun, and dropped it into the basket next to the back door with all of our toys. I threw the vest in there, as well as the rest of the ammunition, without letting my brother see the inside of my bag. I left the backpack up in my room until after dinner, when I went up to examine the stone again. It was warm, even though it'd been sitting in my cold bedroom. I got into bed and laid the stone next to me.
The next morning, I could feel my bed moving, so I rubbed my eyes and woke up. I started to scream at what I saw, before I clamped my hand over my mouth. I didn't want to wake the rest of my family up, and the walls of the house were thin.
What I saw, curled up and seemingly sleeping, was a light blue dragon, the color of blue topaz. I reached my hand out to stroke one of its wings, and it woke up with a loud SCRAWWWWK. It
jumped off the bed onto the floor. I watched in wonder as it composed itself and climbed back onto the bed and into my lap, before curling up again.
I couldn't believe my eyes. Surely this was a dream. After all, dragons weren't real. I laughed at myself. Any second now, I would wake up from my dream, and not remember anything from it. I pinched my arm harm. "Ouch!" I muttered.
I looked at my alarm clock. 4:38 A.M. I had to get this dragon out of my room before someone saw it. I snuck out the back door with the dragon tucked neatly into my back pack. I scrambled up the treehouse we'd found built into the tree in our new backyard. The only difference between ours and a normal one was it was made of metal. I figured this would be more helpful than a wooden one, under the circustances.
I kept scraps of food from our meals in my pocket everyday, and then I would go to the treehouse and feed Topaz. I'd decided to name her after the stone she so brilliantly resembled.
It was three weeks after I found her that I made an error. I had my earphones in my ear, and I didn't hear my brother tell our mother that he was going to go check out the treehouse. He hadn't been in it since I told him there was a huge, hairy spider in there. (He was deathly
afraid of spiders.) I hadn't noticed his suspicions grow over the weeks. He didn't believe the same spider could have been there for weeks.
His scream upon entering the treehouse could be heard over my music, which was pretty loud. I scrambled outside after my mother, with a bad feeling in my stomach when I saw him running down the stairs. He was sobbing, and he couldn't speak right. Right at that moment, Topaz
stuck her head out the door, her head cocked to the side. I knew she didn't hurt my brother, she never would have, but he didn't know that.
I was afraid my mother would scream bloody murder, and try to get rid of Topaz, but all she did was smile. "I had a dragon when I was a girl. They aren't at all like they are in the movies, but no one tells their children about them. Actually, I thought they'd gone extinct. What's her name?" "Topaz," I answered, as my mother stuck her hand out for the dragon to sniff, like a dog.
At that point, one of the neighbor's children walked through the gate. She looked about my age. "Oh sorry to barge in, I just heard you talking about a dragon and -" she saw Topaz jump to the ground and squealed. "Oh, there it is! We've been looking for an egg this color that we lost about a month ago." She watched as Topaz ran over to me and rubbed against my legs. "Well, she seems to have taken a liking to you. I suppose you found her, and didn't know what to do with her afterwards. Not many people have dragons anymore, or have even seen them before. I can teach you about them if you like?"
I agreed, and picked up Topaz. I walked with the girl next door to her house. "The names Chris," she said. "Laurie," I replied.
All in all, I think Topaz was the nicest housewarming present I could have ever found. She helped me gain a friend, a pet, and a love of the new house, all on her own.
I couldn't believe my eyes. Surely this was a dream. After all, dragons weren't real. I laughed at myself. Any second now, I would wake up from my dream, and not remember anything from it. I pinched my arm harm. "Ouch!" I muttered.
I looked at my alarm clock. 4:38 A.M. I had to get this dragon out of my room before someone saw it. I snuck out the back door with the dragon tucked neatly into my back pack. I scrambled up the treehouse we'd found built into the tree in our new backyard. The only difference between ours and a normal one was it was made of metal. I figured this would be more helpful than a wooden one, under the circustances.
I kept scraps of food from our meals in my pocket everyday, and then I would go to the treehouse and feed Topaz. I'd decided to name her after the stone she so brilliantly resembled.
It was three weeks after I found her that I made an error. I had my earphones in my ear, and I didn't hear my brother tell our mother that he was going to go check out the treehouse. He hadn't been in it since I told him there was a huge, hairy spider in there. (He was deathly
afraid of spiders.) I hadn't noticed his suspicions grow over the weeks. He didn't believe the same spider could have been there for weeks.
His scream upon entering the treehouse could be heard over my music, which was pretty loud. I scrambled outside after my mother, with a bad feeling in my stomach when I saw him running down the stairs. He was sobbing, and he couldn't speak right. Right at that moment, Topaz
stuck her head out the door, her head cocked to the side. I knew she didn't hurt my brother, she never would have, but he didn't know that.
I was afraid my mother would scream bloody murder, and try to get rid of Topaz, but all she did was smile. "I had a dragon when I was a girl. They aren't at all like they are in the movies, but no one tells their children about them. Actually, I thought they'd gone extinct. What's her name?" "Topaz," I answered, as my mother stuck her hand out for the dragon to sniff, like a dog.
At that point, one of the neighbor's children walked through the gate. She looked about my age. "Oh sorry to barge in, I just heard you talking about a dragon and -" she saw Topaz jump to the ground and squealed. "Oh, there it is! We've been looking for an egg this color that we lost about a month ago." She watched as Topaz ran over to me and rubbed against my legs. "Well, she seems to have taken a liking to you. I suppose you found her, and didn't know what to do with her afterwards. Not many people have dragons anymore, or have even seen them before. I can teach you about them if you like?"
I agreed, and picked up Topaz. I walked with the girl next door to her house. "The names Chris," she said. "Laurie," I replied.
All in all, I think Topaz was the nicest housewarming present I could have ever found. She helped me gain a friend, a pet, and a love of the new house, all on her own.