A Letter to Jackie

Dear Jackie,

Did you know that there weren’t always dragons in the valley? We came out of the sea; rose from the ocean. Initially on land, we lived in caves, which was rather claustrophobic because of our large size and wings.

Several scouts went out to find a place where we could live and grow. They must have found a place, but somehow, I got left behind when they left that fall. Perhaps I was frolicking by the sea and was not aware that the others had gone. You know how I love to frolic.

At first, I was lonely, but then you came along, my rascal friend. You were fearless on our many adventures. I think that I was more scared of you than you were of me when we first met each other You didn’t even flinch when I roared and released smoke from my nose and flames from my mouth.

Didn’t we have fun together traveling on the boat we built just you and I? I tried to tell you we didn’t need a boat, that I could float anywhere—but you seemed to think it was important. You want to your house and brought back the sheets from your bed for the billowed sails. Those sails did get us a lot of attention and respect, especially from royalty and pirates who saw us sailing. Still, you liked to ride on me, even with the boat. You felt like a feather whenever you rode on my tail. I liked having you perched there.

I don’t know where the idea came from that I had magical powers. I am certain that you are the one who started that rumor. You seemed to think my ability to breathe fire and dive down to the depth of the ocean and then fly in the sky was a series of magical feats., Truth is, everyone in my clan did all those things all of the time. So diving and flying and fire were not that significant to me—I was raised that way.

I still have the box of all the things you brought to me: string, wax, marbles, and shiny pennies. I used to take them out and think about our adventures, but now it makes me to sad to look at them. At least I don’t have to look at our boat because it sank years ago. I wrapped myself in the billowy sails until the scales on my flesh shred them to threads that blew away.

I know why my clan had to leave the caves and that they did not mean to abandon me. They must have faced many dangers out in the world. Humans do not seem to like fire- breathing, roaring, giant lizards that can fly. I thought I would die of loneliness, and then you came along—the first real friend I had ever known—the only friend I ever knew.

Now I sit on the sand, looking out to sea, with no one to play hide and seek, or cross swords, or frolic in the autumn mist. After you disappeared, I noticed for the first time how cold it became in winter, and I curled up and hibernated in my claustrophobic cave,

I have one question for you Jackie: Where did you go? Why didn’t you ever come back to me? As quickly as you showed up there by the sea, you were gone. Gone from Cherry Lane; gone from Honey Lea; gone from by the sea.

I was even more alone than before. No dragons, no little boy. No one who would romp with me. One of the pirates who had lowered their flags when they first saw us told me years ago what happened to the other dragons.

It was hard for me to comprehend what he was telling me about a giant object that fell from the sky. My first thought was that it had harmed you as well, but the pirate seemed pretty sure only us dragon—which he called dinosaurs, were impacted by the ball of fire that fell from the sky and caused infernos hotter than any dragon’s breath. Large craters appeared in the landscape.

It does not matter how magical you feel or how close to the sea you live or how much you love to frolic. When your best friend leaves you, you no longer feel like roaring. Any courage you once had has disappeared. I can see the smoke of the fires in the distance and wonder if there are other dragons still out there, maybe living in the craters. If they were all wiped out, then why am I still here?

After the pirate left, I cried a lot. Then I went back into the cave alone. Exhausted from grief, I slept, for eons…for millennia. There were more years and more tears than I could count. I lost all of my green scales from grief—leaving me bald; my skin smooth. That must have been what happened to my family and why the pirates thought they were something other than dragons.

I hope you are okay, my old friend. I hope your family has not gone extinct like mine. I hope humans are not reduced to fanciful stories created by imaginations who never really knew you. We knew each other, loved each other. I am just a dragon without scales, without magic, without others like me or humans like you. I may never frolic again, or roar again. I may not have a friend perched on my tail or bringing me fancy gifts. But I did have all of that once and am grateful for it.

I don’t know if there will continue to be kings and queens and pirates or little boys. But I do know that life is precious and short and that the planet if fragile. I do not know what, if anything, comes next. I just hope it has a Cherry Lane, a Honey Lea, and best friends who will frolic by the sea.