The dragon never died

 Once upon a time there was a huge green dragon that had just got up after a long period of hibernation. He had been sleeping so much time that he didn’t remember who he was or what purpose he had. He only knew he felt starving and lonely.

As he didn’t know what to do, he went out of his enormous cave and walk through the woods until he reached a farm zone. All the animals were very scared and they run away. At first he was surprised, but then he thought “I must be very evil and that must be my food, that’s why they hide from me”. So he took two chickens and went to sleep because he felt really tired.

The next morning he still felt tired and went to feed on some rabbits. Every day he did the same. He tried with sheep, cows and wild goats, but it was always the same.

After some days, the farmers started to worry about their livestock and went to see the king to ask for help. He decided to accept to help not because his generosity, but because he didn’t want to run out of the supplies provided by his citizens.

Then, all the men went to the woods searching for the mysterious creature that had eaten the animals. They were all shouting and making a lot of noise and the dragon wasn’t able to sleep. He felt terrible because the only moment he could feel safe and relaxed was having a nap and when he was awake he only heard his stomach asking for meal and had and awful feeling of emptiness, as if something was missing. So he decided to go to the city and make the same fuss.

At once, all the women, kids, elders and disabled people run away and hid themselves. The dragon went through the only door big enough for him, the palace. There, he found the princess, a brave woman who stared at him furious and started to yell at him. While all the king servants were running and screaming, she gave him orders to be quiet. Suddenly, he had a familiar feeling and he was afraid of it. So he took that girl and went far away. He found a new cave where no one could disturb him.

The princes realised she had made a mistake and started to cry. The dragon didn’t understand why it made him sad and started to get seriously ill. He was exhausted with a sorrowful look. “What should I do now?” He felt powerless because he couldn’t be able to satisfy his appetite.

 Meanwhile, all the bravest men in the village started to look for the princess. The king had promised to offer his daughter’s hand to her saviour. But she already had a lover, he wasn’t a knight, but he wasn’t afraid of the dragon because nothing could scare him more than losing his love. So he searched without hesitation and with no rest. As soon as he saw the huge hole, he realised that it should be the place.

The dragon was asleep, so the lover went to his princes and said: This is for you, I was sure I would find you” And she gave her a rose and a kiss. Then he turned to the dragon, who opened the eyes but didn’t move. The creature was so depressed that he didn’t have aims to defend himself.  He was going to kill him. “Wait!” Shouted the princess “Please don’t kill him. I think he is smart… and lonely.” She went to him and gave him the rose. Then she stroked him softly.

It suddenly came to him, that feeling when the princess was shouting was the memory of his mother bringing him up. They were from an ice age, with no life and no food. His mother told him to hibernate. They didn’t have enough food for them both, so his mother had to sacrifice herself and he was fed before hibernation with all the supplies. That rose was full of love, like the love of his mother. She must have died alone, knowing her child would be safe. He started to cry…

Some time after the princess married her lover, the dragon became their guard. He also helped the farmers to take care of the animals to apologise for his misbehaviour. And the funny thing is that he discovered why his stomach was always empty. He was from a vegetarian species which was not able to digest meat. Everyone forgave the dragon and love and peaceful reigned among that village.

Time has changed a lot of things. The Earth is less peaceful, there are wars all over the world, and there are lots of mean or evil people. But the magic of the rose comes every year, a rose that means goodness and true love. We have created a scaring story to the kids, about a dangerous dragon, but, in fact, it’s all about love. And it will never change.