literature

Dragon Days Ch 11

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“Elsie stop worrying!  My parents will love you.”  I said again trying to comfort her.

We had been flying since 10:00 for an hour or so to my parents house in Santa Barbara. An idyllic beach town two hours north of LA.  I drank in the city, it was still the same.  The main street lined with shops that lead to the beach where it turned into Stearns Wharf.  To the east was the aptly named East Beach but today, all the attention on the other side at West Beach.  The majority was fenced off in the plastic orange construction fence where the fireworks were launched from and further along the beach sat the harbor.  The waves crashed along the sea wall and the sandspit, a stretch of sand and rocks that wrapped around to shelter the many boats it contained.

James had left an hour before us in his car so we could arrive at about the same time.  On the last stretch Elsie had been worrying and it was starting to drive me nuts.  We had already landed in the driveway and where walking to the house.

“I don’t doubt that they will, but what about you?”  she said.

“Oh.  I hadn’t thought of that.  But I’m not just going to leave and never talk to them…”  I began to trail off.

I looked back at Elsie.  She had her arms crossed and she was staring at the ground.  I walked up to her and hesitated, I don’t know why but I did, before I wrapped my arms around her.

“I’m sorry. You know how my brain works, I just blurt thing out sometimes.”

She was still mute.

“Please just forget it.  I know that that’s what you did,  but you had your reasons, so please just forget about it.”  I pulled back a bit and grabbed her shoulders, “Now come on, I need you happy and smiling when you met my parents.”

She looked up at me and started to smile, right before punching me in the chest.

“Why can’t I ever be mad at you?”

“Because I’m the best therapist of all time?”  I teased.

We left it at that and continued up to the door.  I could smell burgers and ribs grilling in the back and a few people talking.  I stopped in front of the door then I knocked once, rang the doorbell that sounded like it came from 7 Eleven, then knocked twice more.  It was me and my cousins special knock.

Speaking of wich, guess who opened the door.   Trace was a foot taller than I was, so he opened the door only toend up staring straight at my stomach.  He was about 6’4” and looked almost identical to James except for blond hair and green eyes.

“Umm, can I help you?”  He said extremely confused.

“What?  So I’ve gotten taller than you and now you can’t remember me?  That’s sad.”  I said baiting him.

He looked even more confused than before.

“I’ll give you two guesses who I am, and to be nice two clues.  How could I have known the secret code for our club?  And who was it that kept sniping you every time you respawned during the last airsoft op?”

His eyes went wide and he asked reluctantly, “Edge?  Is it you?”

“Took you long enough Trace.  Now can we come in?  I smell ribs.”  I said sniffing the air.

He looked confused again, “Define ‘we’.”

“Well me and Elsie of course!”  I said turning around, only to see nothing, “Oh come on! Where is that girl?”

“Wait, girl?  You have a girlfriend?” he asked, stifling a laugh.

I ignored him and looked around,  thermal vision really helps with finding people but I still couldn’t find her.  Just then I heard Trace scream from behind me.  I spun around expecting someone to be attacking him but instead, I saw Elsie lying on the roof with her head hanging over the edge looking into the doorway.  Trace was on the ground rubbing the back of his head.  He must have tripped when Elsie scared him.

“Elsie!  What are you doing?  What is it with you and roofs?” I asked quietly.

I had to only take a few steps before I was at the door and helping Trace up.  Once I had him on his feet two people appeared behind the door.  One of them was Stephen, one of my other cousins, he was standing in a karate stance with both hands up.  The other person was my dad, I looked exactly like him before but now it was hard to see, he stood at the door with a grill scraper and smelled like smoke which meant he must have been grilling.

My dad, taking authority, looked at Trace questionially, “What the heck is going on here?”

“Don’t worry Nathan,” Trace said with a chuckle, “Edge’s girlfriend spooked me pretty good that’s all.”

I stepped over to where Elsie was hanging over the roof and put out my arms.  She looked at me and smiled as I smiled back before grabbing my wrists.  I bent over, pulling Elsie off the roof and into the air where she opened her wings to make a perfect, and exaggerated landing.  She came and stood behind me as I walked up to the doorway.  I stopped just before coming in and waited for them to invite us in.

I stood for half a minute before I decided to ask, “So are we gonna have to play 20 questions or can I just come in?”

Stephen stepped up and put out his hand.  I smiled and grabbed his hand and gave him a hug.

“Your taller.”  He said

“And your not.”  I replied with a smirk.

He shook his head and left, leaving only my dad.  If you want to know something about my dad, He is a regular guy but sometimes he’ll say something a bit off topic.  Like here for example.

“So your name’s Elsie, am I right?”  He asked.

“Yes sir.”  She said with a giggle.

“Well hopefully you can whip my son into shape, because lord knows I’ve tried.”  He said.

“Dad!  Come on, please stop.”

“OK fine.  Well come on in, I gotta get back to the grill, I don’t want to burn the ribs.”  He said with a smile.

He made his way to the back yard while Elsie and I followed Trace and Stephen back to the living room.  I was surprised to see a new face sitting on the couch.  As we approached she stood up and offered a hand.

“Hi I’m Clare.” She said.

She was about 5’10”, wearing a T-shirt with some logo I couldn’t identify along with a pair of Billabong board shorts.  She had shoulder length black hair and blue eyes.  Her tanned skin suggested that she likes to be outside allot.

“Edge, nice to meet you.”  I said taking her hand.

“And I’m Els...”  She cut off mid sentence.

She took a step back and hid behind me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her.

“Listen, out back.  I can hear my parents.”  She whispered.

I flicked my ear towards the back yard and I heard my Dad talking to my Mom.  She gasped when he told her about me and in the brief moment between her gasp and the sliding glass door being flung open I heard a new unknown voice.  Before I could investigate further, my Mom burst into the room.  She was looking festive in a stars and stripes sundress.  A few grey strands in her brown hair betrayed her actual age and she was at eye level with Clare and about the same skin tone as well.

“Is it really you Edge?”  She asked, her voice faltering.

“Yes Mom, it’s me.”  I replied as calmly as I could.

She closed the distance between us in one step and  wrapped her arms around me.  I hugged her back.  A few seconds passed before she let go and began inspecting me.

“Are you alright?  Did it hurt? What happened?  How did it happen?”  She asked frantically.

I grabbed her shoulders to calm her down, “I’m fine Mom please.  I’ll tell you guys all about what happened but first, there is someone I want you to meet.”

I swung around and turned her to face Elsie, “Please don’t freak out again, this is my girlfriend Elsie.”

Before my mom could respond or put out her hand, a gasp came from behind me.  I turned and looked.  Two new people, a man and a woman, were standing in the doorway.  They were older, the woman's hair a dark shade of grey and the man’s head was half bald.  Their skin was still dark however, and both of their eyes a different shade of blue.  The woman’s mouth was agape slightly, partly covered by her raised hand.  For some reason they looked hopefully at Elsie who seemed to shrink and attempted to hide behind me.  My mom glanced curiously at Elsie before addressing the guests.

“Oh, where are my manners.”  She said wiping a tear from her eye, “This is my youngest son Edge.  Edge, these are Clare’s parents, Richard and Dianne Hunter.”

I wasn’t paying attention, I was holding Elsie who was beginning to tremble slightly, “What’s wrong?”

“Edge,” She said slowly, “Those are my parents.”

“What?”

“What did she say?”  The woman apparently Dianne asked.

“She said you’re her parents.”  I told her.

Dianne seemed to perk up at hearing this, “Is it true?  Are you really our Elsie?”

“Yes mother, it is me.”  She said bitterly.

Her mom appeared to be ready to run to her as my mom had done but she caught the anger of her reply and stopped herself.  Elsie still stood behind me, using me as a shield from her parents who stood by the door holding each other.  We stood there for a few seconds as I looked from person to person before I spoke up.

“I have an Idea.”  I said getting everyone's attention, “Why don’t we all go out back so that Dad can be involved in the game of 20 questions that we’re gonna inevitably play.”

“That’s sound perfect.”  My Mom said, “Come on, Everyone out!”

Everyone shuffled outside to the patio and took a seat in the folding chairs that surrounded the folding table set near the BBQ.  There was enough chairs for everyone except me and Elsie.  My mom tried to grab some more chairs but I stopped her as I settled down on the grass.  Elsie paced nervously behind me until I wrapped my tail around her leg and pulled her next to me.  She sat down and leaned against me.  I could feel her heart thumping in her chest and I draped my wing over her in hopes of calming her down.  I felt her muscles relax and her heart rate slow down as she calmed down.

“So Edge.”  My Dad began, “Have you told James about this new development?  You know how he is about dragons and I’m sure he’ll want to talk to you.”

“Actually he’s been staying over for the past few weeks so he already knows.  He must have questioned me like a thousand times over the time he’s been over.  Matter of fact, he should be here soon, I bet him $20:00 that I would beat him here after he got a hour head start.”  I said smiling.

“I’m surprised he even bet you that!  He should have said an hour and a half.”  Stephen said.

“Well now that that’s sorted what about you sweetie.  You must tell us everything.”  My mom said.

“Well It was back in...”  I began.

“Hold it, you tell us everything.  Don’t cut out the bad parts for me, I want to hear it how it happened.”  My mom said, cutting in.

“I won’t mom”

I started to tell them everything.  From the point where Elsie attacked me all the way to now.  I left out the time when me and Elsie had our little private flight but I went into great detail about the rest of the adventures that transpired.  I was finishing up when I heard a car pull up in the driveway.  I finished telling my story and before anyone could start asking me questions I told them someone was here before jumping into the air as the doorbell rang.  I flew over the house and saw James spot me and silently curse to himself.  I flew down and landed next to him.

“I see you beat me.”  He said.

“Yep, come on, everyone's out back waiting for us.”  I said.

“OK then.”

He was reaching for the doorknob when I grabbed him by the arms and opened my wings smiling evily, “Over the house we go!”

I jumped into the air and climbed twice as high above the house before circling once and hovering above the back yard.  I descended slowly, my wings pumping hard against the summer air until I felt the ground make contact with my feet.  I folded my wings in and let go of a rather startled James who still wasn’t quite sure what just happened.

“James was at the door.”  I said.

“Edge Drake Carter!  What were you thinking?”  My mom exclaimed,storming up to me.

“What?  He wanted to go on a flight.  I just never told him when.”

“It’s ok mom.”  James said, “I did ask him to take me flying once but a little warning next time would be great!”

“Oh, come here James.”  My mom said hugging him, “I’m just glad he didn’t drop you.”

“Mom, I wouldn’t have picked him up if I couldn’t carry him.”  I said pouting.

“Oh, shush you three.  Let’s deal with the other current situation we have here.”  My dad said motioning to Elsie and her family.

I realized he was right, I should be trying to help the situation not escalate it and judging by my mom’s reaction she felt the same.  I lowered myself down next to Elsie, before giving a quiet apology to her.  We sat in silence waiting for someone to start talking.  I looked between Elsie and her parents, almost able to taste the tension in the air between them.

“Els-” Her mother began.

“Why?” Elsie asked forcibly.

“What was that?” Her father asked tentatively

“Why?  Why didn’t you come back like you promised?” She yelled, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“We-  We weren't in our right mind back then.”  Her dad began, “We did intend to come back but...”

“But what?”  Elsie growled.

“But things came up.  Things we could have and should have ignored to be with you.”  Her mother answered.

“What about me?”  Clare added, “Why did you never tell either of us about each other?”

“Because... because...” their mother started before she began sobbing.

“Because,”  Her husband continued, “We weren't sure how you would react to one another.  We were more scared about it ourselves and as we said, we weren’t thinking clearly.”

“But that appears to be no reason why you shouldn’t have brought them together”  I said.

“Edge!”  My mother said.

“No, no, he’s right.  There should have been no reason why we did what we did but what happened, happened.  We just hope you’ll be able to forgive us.”  He said.

Clare didn’t answer until many minutes went by before she forgave them.  Elsie’s answer was wholly different.  She stood up, looked from her sister to me then her gaze lingered on her parents before she jumped into the air.  She flew away towards the mountains faster than I had ever seen her fly.  Her mother turned and buried her head in her hands crying.  I knew there was only one way to fix this.  I walked up to Elsie’s mother and set my hand on her back.

“I’ll go talk to her.”  I said before jumping into the air.

I spotted a dragon flying over the beach and ignored him.  I searched the sky and found her white scales contrasted against the green mountains surrounding Santa Barbara.  I descended and flew low over the city, attempting to keep out of sight.  I followed her over the mountains and watched as she landed in a clearing halfway down the side.  I spotted another clearing a little bit higher up the hillside and landed there, deciding to proceed on foot.  As I reached the clearing where she landed I found her curled up on top of an exposed rock. i could hear her sniffling quietly.

“You know, You have to try harder than that to get away from me.”  I said.

She looked up trying to hide her tears, “I wasn’t trying to.”

“Then what?”  I asked stepping closer, “Just need some time to yourself?”
 
She nodded her head slightly.

“OK then, You know the way back.”  I said getting ready to take off.

“No! Wait!”

She jumped from on top of her rock, landing practically on me before wrapping her arms around me.  I hugged her and wrapped my wings around the two of us.  She pushed her head against my chest and didn’t hide the crying this time.

“I’m so confused!  I don’t know what to do.”  She sobbed.

“Forgive them?” I offered calmly.

“Why should I?”  She snapped back.

“Because they’re sorry and they know they messed up.  Not only that but they know how and why they messed up and they changed.  Most importantly, they are actively trying to make it right again.  And what about your sister, how would she feel if you just left?”  I asked.

“Abandoned.”  She replied.

“Exactly, so come on, why don’t we try this again and go back.  I’m not saying it’ll be easy or the smoothest thing ever but I think we should give it a try.” I offered.

She stayed in my arms for several minutes contemplating what she should do.

“Let’s do it”  She said reluctantly.

We jumped into the air and glided back to the house.  As we got closer Elsie began to drop back, most likely prolonging what she thought she would never have to do.  I spotted my mom standing in the backyard waving me in and I descended but waited for Elsie to catch up before landing.  Surprisingly, she landed first but didn’t move until I joined her.  She reluctantly stepped forward to where her parents still stood and forgave them.  She looked uncomfortable as her mother ran up and hugged her.

The whole rest of the day went by as well as it could.  Elsie stuck to me the whole time in the hopes of avoiding her parents.  We watched one of the many marathons on TV and chatted until night fell.  It was late in the evening when we left the house and headed to the beach.  Every year they shot fireworks off from a fenced off area of the beach near the harbor and every year that I can remember I’ve watched the fireworks from the beach.  Elsie and I went off on our own while everyone else drove to the beach.   We flew around, looking for a good place to watch the fireworks from.  We didn’t search for long because I remembered the Sandspit that wrapped around the harbor.  no one was there and the tide was going out so almost all of it would be dry.

We flew down to the main beach and got in line for one of the many food stands that lined the road running along the beach.  After the long wait we ordered some burgers and slushies and ate our food on top of one of the beach front hotels.  As we ate I examined the familiar scene.  The sky was darkening and the streetlights were already on.  Thousands of people lined the beach and walked around.  Some new local band was playing on a temporary stage set up near the wharf, the music being broadcast through a grid of large speakers.  Every now and again the MC would come on and request that all dragons would not fly over the fireworks launch zone.  And that brought a question to my mind.  Where where all the dragons?

I scanned everywhere and was barely able to spot them.  A group of 15 or so dragons, mingling at the far end of East Beach.  I was surprised that there were that many in town but actually, once I thought about it, most of them were probably from out of town.  It would be nice and go chat but I decided not to as we finished eating and glided to the street to drop our trash into one of the many cardboard trash bins before flying over the small stretch of water back to the Sandspit.  We landed in the sand and I continued a long tradition of making a sand couch.

I began by digging a shallow square and and pushing the sand away from the launch zone to create a little pillow.  I laid down in it and wiggled around to shift the sand around.  Once I settled down I motioned for Elsie to do the same but she layed down on top of me setting her head on my chest.  We layed there and talked  for a while until something caught my eye on the beach.

A chinese lantern.  Someone had lit a lantern and it floated gradually into the sky.  We watched until it disappeared into the and a couple minutes later another one went up.  The process repeated a few more times but there was one that couldn’t get off the ground.  It hovered along the ground in the fenced off area, everyone hoping it would lift.  Suddenly someone hopped the fence and ran up to it, lifting it into the air.  Everyone began cheering as it slowly ascended higher into the air.  I let out a roar and Elsie did the same, it’s funny how some random guy running up and lifting a lantern into the sky could make everyone so excited. probably more excited than the fireworks soon to be fired off.

We didn’t have to wait long for the first firework as it went off with a hollow whump.  Two seconds later it exploded and echoed against the mountains, the burning barium producing a bright green glow.  Three more went off one after another, exploding in red, white, and blue.  I watched and was able to hear the music the fireworks were timed to playing from the street.  The explosions beat on my chest, adding to the excitement of the colors and shapes.  The fireworks continued for about 18 minutes when the last one was fired after a rather dismal finale.  Everyone on the beach began to stir and start back to their homes but I stayed where I was.  Elsie was pushing herself up when I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her back down.

“Wait for a sec.”  I said.  

“Why?”

“Just wait, trust me.”

My suspicions were confirmed as a series of whumps echoed across the water.  A few seconds later the real finale began.  One after another, sometimes four at once the fireworks exploded in flashes of light.  So many went off in such a short time it was over in almost a minute, leaving everyone clapping and cheering.  Elsie stood up and helped me to my feet.

“How did you know they weren’t done?”  She asked.

“It’s happened before, an unimpressive finale followed by a brief interlude then the real finale.” I explained.

“Oh, ok I see.”

We flew back to my parents house and landed in the back yard.  No one else was here yet so we let ourselves in and relaxed on the couch for the short amount of time we would be here before flying back.  They must have been smart and waited until most of the people were off the beach because it was nearly half an hour before they pulled into the driveway.  I gave them a few minutes to get settled.

“Sorry to eat and run,” I said putting some leftovers back in the fridge, “but we should leave soon if we don’t want to get home by midnight.”

“I’ll get back by midnight regardless.” James groaned.

“Oh, do you really have to go?  Can’t you stay the night?”  My mom asked.

“Thanks but not this time.” I replied.

I left Elsie to sort it out with her parents while I said my goodbyes.  Many hugs ensued during the few minutes before we left.  Elsie came back a little teary eyed but not at all angry, maybe she sorted it out with her parents. We said our final goodbyes and stepped out the door.

“Ready to go?” I asked her.

“Yep.”  She replied and jumped into the air.

We flew back, following the winding highway through the night.  Neither of us talked, I didn’t have anything to say and Elsie was probably still processing what had happened.  I kept my eye on her the whole flight, she appeared only slightly affected but I was still worried there was something more.  We reached the house fairly quickly after stopping off at a gas station for some snacks and landed in the driveway.

“Ahh, home at last.”  I said walking to the door.

I unlocked the door and waited for Elsie to pass before closing and locking it again.  I followed her to our room and closed the door behind me.  Elsie was already settled among her nest of blankets and laying her head down.  I kissed her on the forehead and was slipping under my own covers when I felt something curl around my ankle.  I looked down and found the tip of her tail wrapped around me.

“You’re not getting away that easily.”  She teased, gently pulling my foot towards her.

“Alright, I’m coming.” I said.

I grabbed the blanket off my bed and draped it over her.  She released my foot, her tail slithering underneath the cover.  I dropped down to all fours and wriggled my way under the cover with her.  I wiggled into a more comfortable position curled loosely around her.

“That’s better.”  She purred.

I idly lay there, running my fingers through her black hair.  I guess she was holding up alright after all.  We lay there, listening to each other's heartbeats in our little cocoon and soon she was asleep in my arms and I quickly followed after.
Woo! Chapter 11! Took me a while to bang this out but here has been a lot of crazy stuff going on for me lately. Either way, I got it up so enjoy=D

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GlacierIceDragon's avatar
...crazy stuff like Elise and her parents XD