Copyright – Danny Bowman
“Granda said it’s dragon. He fell asleep and the grass grew on him and he won’t wake up until the world ends.”
“Your Granda loved to tell stories; he told me that same one, too.” Patrick looked down at his son, who stared fixedly at the mound of grass. They’d spent a week in Ireland, packing up his father’s house.
“Did you feel that?” Connor’s blue eyes were huge. Patrick was about to ask him what he was talking about when the ground vibrated beneath their feet.
A few miles away, a delivery truck rumbled over the uneven back roads.
Vers Les Etoiles 
This sounds exactly like what a grandfather would tell a child. Good job.
janet
Thanks, Janet! When I used to go to ski school as a little kid they told us this one mountain range used to be a giant that fell asleep. I always loved that idea.
I’d hate to be skiing there when he woke up and got out of bed! 🙂
Especially when he used our little tepee warming hut to scoop us up like an ice cream cone.That’s a direct quote. Maybe I should have been more traumatized by this…
Okay… not gonna lie, was hoping it was a dragon, lol.
Maybe the truck was a red herring!
I don’t by a truck a few miles away shook the ground. Had to be the dragon waking from its slumber.
Haha maybe it was a really big truck. Carrying a dragon.
Oh, I’m with GE — I wish it were a dragon. Makes Jessica want to write a creepy dragon story.
I’m certain it was the dragon snoring… well almost certain. Nice work.
Thanks, Sandra!
Nothing’s better than the tales your grandparents tell you when you’re still young and innocent enough to pump that kind of wonder into your world. You brought along a fantasy and infused it with a real-life scenario that is both poignant and kind of sad. Well done.
Thank you! I wish my grandparents would have told stories this interesting when I was little. Although, the ones they tell now that I’m older are entertaining in a totally different way. Thanks for reading!
Hannah- There is a hill on the back highway into Boulder called Dragon Rock that is said to be a sleeping dragon. I still wait for it to move every time I drive past. Now I assumed the dragon awoke and it was the beginning of the end of the world. The earthquakes had started.
Oh, very cool! I haven’t been to Boulder but I like that a lot. It seems that even when I’m less open ended with my FF, they’re still open ended. I wouldn’t have it any other way! I like your interpretation.
Dear Hannah,
I hope Patrick never tells Connor what really made that rumble. At least not until he’s old enough to figure it out for himself. 😉 I could just see his big blue eyes, innocent and full of imagination. Nice one.
Shalom,
Rochelle
I think Patrick might have gotten a scare himself, to be honest. Thank you, Rochelle!
Ooh, but was it really the truck that shook the ground? Great story!
That IS the question! Thanks for reading!
For a moment there I thought that Granda’s story had come true -that it was an earthquake but heaved a sigh of relief to find only a delivery truck-a modern dragon? ;-)Cool take on the prompt Hannah:-)
Thank you! So glad you liked it. I like the idea of the truck as a modern “monster”!
🙂
Hi Hannah,
Lovely story and you worked so much into it, fables, family history, a death in the family. I really liked the way the story moved back and forth between myth and reality. Great ending. Ron
Ron,
Thank you so much–I was hoping I could get some good background in there without it bogging down. Glad you enjoyed it.
There are those days when reality creeps up and fail to deliver a dragon.. it can be both a bliss and curse.. but I guess most dragons are kind of unfriendly…
LOL…that was an enjoyable read!
Nice, I was sure it was a dragon. Great ending.
Thank you! I wanted a little bit of a twist at the end.
Good story and well written. Good dialogue. Since Patrick was no doubt told the same story by his father, I think he was probably startled as well. It no doubt left its mark.
Thank you–I liked the idea of it being a story that was passed down and them having the same reaction despite age/experience.
I do hope it was a truck and not a sink-hole opening up!
Oh no! That WOULD be a twist. Didn’t even think of that one.
Or was it a truck? Great story.
Exactly! Thanks for reading.
This one hooked me! It really was the dragon waking, surely! 😀
Glad to hear it! And I’m not going to be the one to say it wasn’t.
This is a really lovely story, Hannah. I love the magic between Connor and his grandfather. The mystery of the shaking earth adds another layer of magic. Really wonderful!
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
love the innocence in your young character…so wonderful when they are young and they listen to stories as you described with the wide eyes. very enjoyable story.
It’s nice to remember those days, isn’t it! Glad you like it, thanks for reading.
Hannah,
it kind of does look like a dragon. I hope Connor grows up to go excavate the hill and finds it’s a real dragon, although not Puff the Magic Dragon (thought that would really be a twist 🙂 ).
-David
In the next installation we see Connor and a buddy on a hill staring at it through a haze of smoke…