Chapter 2

The next morning when the young couple came out of the bedroom, they found the two young dragons watching television. The local morning news was on before the gaudy network morning show came on.

One of the features of the local morning show was a short segment showing a cat or dog from the humane society. They were begging for people to adopt a pet. While Chuck and Fun were fixing a breakfast of oatmeal and toast, their pets were bombarding the two with thoughts.

Fun said, "Do you hear someone talking but no one is making any noise?"

"Is it like someone is trying to tell you something but can't make the words clear?" Chuck asked.

"That's it," answered Fun, "There's someone talking to me but no one is making any noise."

The two colorful dragons were sitting beside the couple as they ate. Flower had a very frustrated look on her face and kept making small noises working her mouth open and closed. Chuck looked over at her and said, "You know, look at Flower, I thinks she's trying to say something too me."

Fun replied, "Well if Flower is trying to talk then Pink is doing the same thing. Look at her, she's moving her mouth but nothing comes out. However, as she moves her mouth, I'm hearing something inside my head."

The couple held each others hand then held a paw that was offered to them by each of the small dragons.

Inside their heads they instantly heard voices. "You two need to take us to the television place where they show animals. I'll bet people would be interested in us there?"

Fun had a startled look on her face, I heard her say, "We can't show you off like that. People would want to find out what you were. Scientists would want to take you apart to see what you're made of."

Flower invaded both Chuck and Fun's mind, "If people try to open us up, we'll disappear. We were told not to breathe fire but I would let no one hurt you or Pink, I think I would break my promise."

Fun said, "See, we have a problem before we even start. I don't want either of you to leave us so we would have to have a place for people to come to adopt one of your kind. Then we would have to have a way to know that the people who take them are kind and loving toward their little dragon."

Pink spoke into their minds, "It's not supposed to be this difficult. You were supposed to just introduce us and people would instantly want to have us as pets. The dragon world wants to join the human world. We're tired of living beneath the sea and hiding from anyone who comes around. We want freedom too."

Chuck said to everyone who would listen, "You are kind of strange. You come in various sizes and a distinct color according to your size. Let's see, when you are playing, you sometime vanish then reappear across the room or on my lap. When you get scared, flames flash from your mouth then smokes curls up from your nostrils. Oh and a very disconcerting thing is to put you on a leash then have you float through the air instead of walking or running with us."

Flower snorted letting little puffs of smoke come from her nose. "So you think we're strange huh. You should see what some of the big dragons can do. You can pull their legs off then stick them back on in a new direction. One time one had his head and tail reversed so his tail stuck up in front and his head followed in the rear. It was really funny. The bigger ones are smart though. They can talk using their mouths better than we can while we can talk better using our minds."

"You talked fine yesterday. What happened?"

Flower and Pink looked at each other and just shrugged. Chuck and Fun heard them say, "It's what we're supposed to do."

The longer Flower and Pink talked to Chuck and Fun the easier it was for them to be understood by their humans.

Fun asked, "Is it good that you talk to your human friends or should you only talk to them when they need it. It's kind of spooky to be talking to you without moving my lips or hearing any sound. I don't even know whether Chuck hears me."

"I hear you fine Fun," Chuck answered but using only his mind. "I guess we've learned how to communicate with each other along with our new pets. Wow! We can communicate without talking out loud."

"Hmmmm," Fun thought out loud. "Are they pets, are they friends, are they now our family? This is going to get confusing."

Flower sat up straight and said, "Thank you for thinking we might be family but we are really just dragons. We're sort of an animal but a little less dependant on humans than most animal pets."

Chuck motioned to Fun, "Want to test the waters, metaphorically speaking that is. How about taking a walk around the island this morning and see how people react."

"They are going to want to pet them or even hold them. They are cute and cuddly looking," Fun said.

Chuck answered, "Worst case is our little friends will keep blinking out of sight or someone gets singed. I say lets give it a try."

The young couple pulled out the leashes and collars and offered them to the dragons. Both of the cute little critters put their own collars on then handed the humans the leash. When Chuck opened the front door to go out, Flower actually began hopping or walking along.

The only way to describe how a dragon walks is to say that it appears to be a cross between a big lizard and a frog. One step might be almost a leap that ends with the dragon landing on the front paws then gathering the body under itself with a couple of steps from the back legs then appearing to be ready to leap again. The other way they walked was like a big lizard walked except the tail didn't swish back and forth. The dragon would taken a dozen steps with all four legs, stop, look back and forth, side to side, blow a little smoke out of its mouth or nostrils then take another dozen steps. That is unless it gathers the back legs up under its body to prepare to do one of its frog hop/steps.

As Fun and Chuck walked along with the two dragons Fun said, "After watching these two walk, I understand now why they usually just float long with us."

Some kids were out in their yard playing as Chuck and Fun walked by. One of the little girls about six yelled, "Wow! Look at the funny looking dogs those people have. One is Pink and the other is Yellow."

All of the kids came running up to the dragons and stood near them. A little boy asked, "Can we pet them? Do they bite?"

Fun said, "Be gentle, even though they have coarse skin, they are very sensitive."

The little girl went up to Pink and just hugged the dragon. Pink actually smiled.

A boy went up to Flower and tentatively reached out his hand to touch Flower's neck. When Flower ducked its head so it would easier for the little boy to touch its neck, the little boy jumped back because the animal moved.

"It's alive," the little boy said. "I thought that maybe it was one of those stuffed toys that move on its own."

The little girl was still hugging Pink. She said, "I like you. You look like one of those dragon things in the fairy tale books. Are you a dragon?" The little girl sat down on the ground to look at Pink more closely. When she did, Pink sort of crouched down lower so the little girl would touch her more easily.

Another little boy came over and sat beside the little girl and began trying to pet Pink. Since Pink's neck has little rounded ridges from her head down to the tip of her tail it is a little difficult to pet a dragon. The boy began to trace his finger along the top of the ridges starting at the back of Pinks head. By the time he was only half way down Pinks back, Pink was giggling loudly.

"I think this pink thing is ticklish," the little boy said. "Where did you get them? Is there a pet store that has them?"

The little boy who was trying to be bolder with Flower finally laid his hand on top of Flower's head. Flower smiled and blinked her eyes very slowly indicating she enjoyed the touch. Then the little boy imitated the other boy and ran his finger over the slightly larger ridges on Flowers neck making Flower giggle too.

A woman came out of the house the kids were in front of and said, "Are those things safe? Don't let them hurt the kids. What are you doing with those things anyway? Are they toys, some kind of stuffed animal? Where did they come from?"

Fun said, "These are our pets. We were just taking them for a walk and the children wished to pet them. They don't bite so we let the kids pet them."

The lady cocked her head and said, "They kind of look like miniature dragons." She laughed a little and said, "If they shoot fire from their mouths they could be cocktail table lighters."

You could see one of Flowers eyebrows arch up when she heard the comment but she remained still letting the little boy touch her.

"Well it's time for the kids to come in for lunch. Come Billy you too, your Mom is letting you stay over here today."

As the kids got up to go into the house, Pink actually got up and began following the little girl. Once Pink reached the end of the leash, it then turned and looked at Chuck and Fun with a sad look.

Fun held her arms out for Pink who floated up into Fun's embrace. When Fun set her down, Pink was smiling again.

Fun said, "Well that wasn't too bad. The lady didn't panic or get upset. She didn't even wait around for us to answer any of her questions." She addressed the dragons who had resumed then funny walks, "You two did really good meeting new people."

In our minds we heard both little dragons say, "We like little people. Little people like us too. They are fun. They tickled us. I think we could play with them."

"Come on," Fun said, "let's walk into where the stores are and see what happens."

Stores on a small secondary tourist island are usually made up of drug stores that sell T-shirts and beer. These islands also have convenience stores that sell T-shirts and beer, a gas station that also sells T-shirts and beer. Then there is always the small grocery store, you guessed it, they sell T-shirts and beer. Then of course there is always a T-shirt shop that sells surf boards to people who will never see many waves on the Gulf of Mexico. Oh yeah, there are also the two stores that are ever present on a resort island. The head shop that sells cheap silver (pewter) cast pins and knick-knacks along with incense, water-pipes, rolling papers and of course the latest issue of "Rolling Stone." The other shop is the store with the large three letter sign. "Art." Then underneath it says, "Framing." The windows are full of faded water colors that should never be exposed to the sun. I've never seen anyone in the store. I wonder if

the owner is a ghost. Go figure.

We walked to the grocery store intending to get some greens and lettuce plus some regular food for us. As soon as we entered the store the only lady manning one of the two checkout stands said, "No animals. Come on, you two, you know better. Get those things out of here."

There was a pause then, "Hey, what are those anyway. Are they real?"

Fun and I were caught almost back to the door following the order to leave, with Pink and Flower heading in the same direction.

Fun said, "These are a new type of pet. They come from a secret island off the coast of Mexico. Aren't they cute? They are very well behaved and are fun to have around."

The cashier lady who was actually the store owner's wife said, "They are cute but don't look very cuddly like a cat or dog."

Because we were blocking the doorway, when the door opened and a very heavy set older lady tried to enter, we had to back up a little. "What are you doing with dogs inside the grocery store? Those are the ugliest dogs I've ever scene, my goodness. You young people are so cruel. You've died their fur Pink and Yellow. I'm sure that's not any good for them. I should report you to the S.P.C.A."

Pink and Yellow were both a little shocked at the big ladies vehemence and had reared back on their big tails with their eyes wide and their mouths open. The worrisome thing was the thin curl of smoke rising from our Yellow dragon's nostrils.

Fun acted quickly and picked up Flower and stood back so the lady could come into the store. As soon as she passed the four of us quickly left.

"We need some food for us and these guys," Fun said. "You stay out here with them and I'll go in and get what we need real quick. Go over under that tree and sit on the bench. That way people won't bother you."

She started toward the store then turned back, "I only have about ten dollars, do you have any money?"

I opened my wallet and gave her a bunch of twenties saying, "I got some money for that last welding job I did. It should last us a month or so."

Fun went into the store and Chuck took the two dragons on a leash to the bench. When he sat in the shade, the two dragons floated up to sit next to him. He had not even noticed that the two did their floating thing but a lady jogger came to a stop in front of Chuck.

The jogger asked, "Those are two of the cutest stuffed animals I've ever seen. Where did you get them?"

Chuck thought for a second then answered honestly, "They're not stuffed animals, they're a small animal found on an island off the coast of Mexico. They make good pets."

The jogger looked at them a little bit, "I saw them both just rise off the ground and sit beside you. Are you sure they're real and not some remote control toy."

"Okay, you got me. They're just remote control toys." He put his two arms out and gathered both of the dragons into him until they were hugged into his sides. This would have been the end of it except that Flower giggled from the intimacy.

"Did that thing just giggle?" The lady jogger asked.

"Your ears are playing tricks on you, no one made any noise."

"Can I touch your stuffed animals? Please, they are so cute."

Chuck said with a little frustration in his voice, "I already told you they were not toys but you wouldn't believe me. Go away. If you touch them then you'll know they are not stuffed animals. They are not toys. They are genuine unique pets from a small island off the coast of Mexico."

"Can I pet one of your unique animals then? The pink one is darling."

"Be gentle, their skin is very sensitive."

The lady reached her hand toward Pink who ducked its head to let the lady pet her. The lady was running her hand over the little rounded ridges Pink had on her neck when Pink and the lady giggled. "My goodness, this little guy looks like a miniature dragon. It sure is cute. Is it a good pet?"

"So far they are great pets. We haven't had them very long," Chuck said.

The local police car rolled up and stopped in the street in front of where Chuck was sitting. "Get those funny looking dogs off the bench. That's for humans to sit on not for a couple of ugly, funny looking dogs to be sitting on."

Chuck reached over and picked up Flower and put her on the ground then did the same with Pink. The officer glared at Chuck a second then addressed the lady jogger. "Jill you just go on home. Don't be soliciting out here. I'll run you in if I find out your selling your ass out here again."

"Oh go away Henry," the lady jogger said. "I'm just jogging, getting some exercise. I only stopped to look at these cute little things."

"Well you're not going to score anything off of that dead beat you're talking too. He's nothing but a beach bum that has a boat. Christ, he doesn't even live in a house. He lives on that boat he has."

Fun was walking up from coming from the store. "Henry, you don't know what you're talking about. Chuck lives at my house now. We're a couple and I'll have you know he's a good provider too. You see all these groceries, I didn't steal them and you know they're not cheap. Go away Henry, leave people be."

"Be nice Suzy or I'll tell your old man that you're being strange again out here. The last time I told him he almost had you committed. Well, one thing's for sure, you and Chuck deserve each other. Christ there can't be two stranger beings around than you two." Henry put his police car in gear and gave it enough gas to spin the rear tire then made his siren make a burp sound.

Fun asked the jogger, "Did you meet our new pets Jill? Aren't they cute?"

"I really didn't think they were real Suzy," Jill said. "Chuck kept telling me they were but I didn't believe him. They kind of look like miniature dragons. They do smile a lot though. It's like they understand what we're saying and they're laughing at it."