“My life is very dull,” thought Colin, as he sat at the window and looked out at the houses across the road. “Why can’t something exciting happen to me like the things that happen in storybooks?”
Suddenly, he saw a lot of smoke coming out of a bush and sat up. Something must be on fire! He ran out and looked into the bush. There, he saw a small creature, with tears running down the creature’s nose.
He found the creature looked like a baby crocodile. He was green-brown and scaly with a pale yellow belly.
“Are you a crocodile?” asked Colin, “And why are you crying and weeping?”
“I’m not a crocodile,” said the creature, sounding offended, “I’m a dragon!”
“Oh! But dragons don’t cry. They blow flames!” said Colin looking very knowledgeable.
The dragon sobbed out, “That’s the trouble! I’m unable to blow flames, only a lot of smoke! Waaaa…h!”
“OK; ok! Just keep quiet now!” said Colin as the baby dragon howled, “How can I help you?”
“You’ll help?” gulped the baby dragon, “How?”
“Is there a school for dragons anywhere?” asked Colin.
“Oh, yes! There is,” came the reply.
Colin learnt that the creature could reach the school if he sat on a log and rubbed it with a piece of green silk. Now, he had to find a log first and a piece of green silk.
“You’d better hide in the bush, while I check all this,” said Colin. He went home and looked into his mother’s sewing box. In it, he found a piece of green silk. Armed with this, he went into the backyard.
His house was situated at the foot of a hill. Behind the house rose a small wood through which flowed a stream. He went up and soon found a small tree that had been felled recently. It would be difficult to carry. He went back home and got a rope to tie around the log and drag it.
He brought the baby dragon, whose name was Smokey, making sure that they were not seen. Dragging the log to the stream, he put Smokey on it. But Smokey didn’t want to go alone. So, he sat beside him and rubbed it with the green silk. The log took off downstream. Soon they came to a clearing that seemed to be on fire.
There were several dragons. It was the school! Colin waved Smokey off and got back on the log, hoping he could get back home! He had had enough excitement!
