The Squirrel and the Dragon: A Fantasy Short Story

Once upon a time, in a little cottage atop a tall tree in a little forest, there lived a little squirrel named Chestnut. Every morning, Chestnut loved to take her little basket and go on nature walks to collect little colorful flowers in the meadows. She would make bouquets and flower wreaths and sell them at the market square.

But one day, when Chestnut went on a walk to collect more flowers, she found a big black hill blocking her way. The big black hill was very strange, because instead of being covered with green grass, it was covered in black scales that shimmered in the sunlight. Another strange thing about the big black hill was that it moved up and down, almost as if it were breathing.

“I don’t know how this strange hill got here,” Chestnut said to herself. “But I’ll just climb over it.”

Chestnut clambered up the big black hill. It was a little difficult, since it kept moving up and down, but thanks to her determination, Chestnut managed to reach the very top.

“I did it!” Chestnut shouted. “I made it to the top of the hill!”

“I am not a hill,” the hill said.

Chestnut jumped. She was so frightened that she dropped her little basket, which went tumbling down the hill and onto the ground.

Suddenly, the hill shaked and trembled, and a big shadow loomed over the little squirrel.

Chestnut looked up in horror. Staring down at her with big red eyes was the black scaly face of a dragon! Chestnut was standing on the dragon’s back!

“Oh, please don’t eat me or breathe fire at me!” Chestnut said. “I didn’t know you were a dragon! I was only trying to walk on the path, but, um, well…”

The dragon looked down at the little dirt path, which only seemed like a line in the dirt to her. “My apologies,” the dragon said. “I didn’t realize I was blocking your way.”

“Oh, that’s quite alright. There’s no need to apologize.”

The dragon yawned and stretched her wings. “I was so tired the other day, I must’ve fallen asleep before reaching my mountain.”

Chestnut tilted her head. She had never seen a dragon up close before. She had only seen one or two fly overhead, high up in the puffy clouds, with their shadows darting across the meadows and the forest canopy as they passed. She had heard all sorts of horrible things about them, like how they burned down whole villages and kingdoms and reduced them to ashes whenever they were angry.

Now that she was talking to this dragon, who seemed to be in an agreeable mood, she couldn’t help but be curious. “What did you do that made you so tired? Did you burn down a kingdom?”

The dragon looked taken aback. “What? No! That would be awful.”

“Oh.” Chestnut lowered her ears, feeling a little embarrassed. “Then what did you do?”

“I burned down a forest.”

Chestnut’s eyes widened. “Not a forest.”

“Yes, a forest.”

“Why did you burn down a forest?! Forests are beautiful. They provide safety for us squirrels. And acorns. And walnuts. And chestnuts!”

The dragon nibbled on some grass. “Well, I didn’t mean to burn down the forest. At least not the whole forest. I was trying to burn down my cousin’s garden. Her name’s Gertrude. She’s a horrid little beast. She grows things she has no business growing. She takes pleasure in growing plants and trees of the poisonous variety. Of course, the plants she grows don’t affect us dragons, but they do a lot of damage to humans. She likes to sell poisonous plants to evil no-good humans who want to murder their unsuspecting victims.

“I’ve told her many times that she shouldn’t be meddling in such things, but many of us dragons have a weakness for gold and jewelry and anything that glitters and shines, really. However, I think Gertrude has become more of a hoarder with that kind of stuff. Very unfortunate. But what was I saying?”

“You were going to tell me how you accidentally burned down the forest,” Chestnut said.

“Oh, right. Well, I was burning down Gertrude’s garden of poisonous flowers, and her orchard of poisonous trees. After all, if I didn’t intervene, one of these days, a well-meaning human would hear about what she was up to and hire a knight to go slay her or something. But then a few stray sparks billowed in the wind, and made their way to the trees surrounding my cousin’s apothecary shop.

“Looking back, I should have been more careful, but I was so angry at Gertrude because she’s such a stubborn thing. But I guess I can’t blame her too much, because stubbornness is a part of our nature. Anyway, the fire was spreading, the forest animals were running, and Gertrude and I were flying to try and find a water nymph to help. We needed to put out the fire, obviously, but we dragons are only capable of starting them.

“Anyways, we managed to find the water nymphs, they helped douse the fire with water from the streams, but at that point, most of the damage was done, and everyone was mad at us. So Gertrude and I had to leave the forest or risk facing the wrath of the fae. Gertrude and I had a bit of a spat, and we parted ways, and I ended up falling asleep in this little meadow.”

“Wow,” Chestnut said. “You went through a lot.”

The dragon shrugged. “Eh, not really. Stuff like this is normal for us dragons. We’re a bit like mischief magnets sometimes. That’s why I like to stay at the top of my mountain most of the time. It makes it less likely for me to find trouble, or for trouble to find me.” The dragon yawned. “Speaking of, I should really get back home.” She stretched out her wing so that Chestnut could scurry off her back. “I did enjoy chatting with you.”

“Perhaps we could chat some other time?” Chestnut said. “Maybe you could stop by for a cup of tea and cupcakes?”

The dragon thought for a moment. “Well, I do like cupcakes. And I do like chatting. Alright, I’ll take you up on that offer. Same time next week?”

“That would be wonderful!” Chestnut said.

“Perfect! I’ll see you again, Ms…I’m sorry, what was your name?”

“My name is Chestnut. And what’s your name?”

The dragon laughed. “I don’t have one! My mother couldn’t decide on one. It made things a little confusing to me at first. But I suppose that’s a story for another time. You can just call me Dragon. I don’t mind.”

After the squirrel and the dragon said their goodbyes, Chestnut watched as Dragon beat her big black wings and soured higher and higher into the air, until she disappeared into the clouds.

***

For the next few weeks, Chestnut the squirrel and Dragon the dragon would meet up for tea and cakes and chat about their daily lives. Chestnut told Dragon about how she found a new flower to make into a flower wreath or add to a bouquet, about how her business was doing, and about the delicious acorns she managed to find and hide away for later.

Dragon told Chestnut about whatever trouble had managed to find her that week, whether it was noisy goblins trying to invade her quiet cave, or unruly relatives getting on her nerves. Her solution to all her problems was usually the same; She would breathe fire at them.

One day, as Dragon talked about how she managed to convince an ogre to let a poor knight go in exchange for helping him prepare for his family barbecue, Chestnut couldn’t help but feel a little sad.

Dragon took notice. “Why is your tail so droopy today?” she asked.

Chestnut sighed. “I wish my life wasn’t so boring. You always have such amazing and albeit crazy adventures, and great stories to tell. Meanwhile, all I do is sell flower bouquets and flower wreaths and go home to eat cupcakes and acorns and drink tea.”

“Huh. That’s funny,” Dragon said. “There are times when I wish my life was more boring. It gets tiresome ending up in some mischief every week.” She giggled. “Maybe we should switch places. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

For a moment, both Chestnut and Dragon imagined what it would be like to live the life of their friend.

Chestnut imagined being atop a mountain in a big cold cave all alone, while scurrying away from goblins and ogres and dragons. She wouldn’t have fire to protect herself from them, since she was only a squirrel.

Dragon imagined collecting tiny flowers, and having trouble putting them into bundles using her big claws. She already had trouble holding Chestnut’s tiny teacups and saucers. How would she manage to make tiny flower bouquets? Well, she could always make big bouquets and wreaths. But then the little critters would complain to her about them being too big, and then she would get angry at them, and then she would try to fix all her problems by breathing fire, which would only make things worse.

Chestnut and Dragon gave each other a look.

Switching places would not be fun at all.

Dragon sipped her tiny cup of tea. “Well, if you really want to do something different, I could fly you around in the sky for a little while.”

Chestnut’s tail shot up. “Really?! You would do that for me?”

“Of course! I can carry you in my paws, and we’ll fly over the meadows and forests for a few minutes.”

Chestnut was delighted.

She scurried up into Dragon’s paws, and Dragon took off into the skies.

Dragon flew over meadows filled with beautiful red and golden wildflowers, and over forests of trees with turquoise leaves, and clear streams that glistened in the sunlight. Chestnut watched the scenery in awe. Everything was so big when she was on the ground, but high up in the sky, everything seemed smaller. The stream that was too wide for her to cross looked like a small ribbon, and the big flowers she couldn’t pluck looked like the tiny wildflowers she could put in her bouquets.

Chestnut was able to reach her tiny paw out and touch the puffy white clouds. She saw flocks of geese, eagles, and falcons soaring through the skies.

Chestnut smiled from ear to ear. This was the most exciting thing that had happened to her in her whole life! Well, besides the fact that she had managed to befriend a dragon, of course.

Everything was going perfectly…until it wasn’t.

As Chestnut was enjoying the breeze on her tawny fur, a loud roar, like the sound of thunder, echoed through the skies.

Chestnut jumped and looked around. “What was that?!”

Before Dragon could say anything, a dragon swooped up through the clouds and flew right beside her. The dragon had green scales and bright green eyes. The green dragon was smaller than Chestnut’s friend, but that didn’t stop her from being pests.

The green dragon smirked, showing very sharp gold fangs. “What’s up, old hag?!” the green dragon said.

Dragon let out a low growl. “Go away, Emerald!”

“Oh, come on! Don’t be such a cold ember, Auntie! I’m only messing around.”

“Shouldn’t you be with your mother?”

“Mama told me to go hunting and to bring something back for dinner, so I’ve been flying around to find something big and fat to eat. Why, hello there! What’s that little critter you got?”

Chestnut squeaked and ducked her head. She hadn’t known Emerald for very long, but she already knew she would be a problem.

“That’s none of your business!” Dragon snapped. “Now leave. Go back to hunting.”

“It’s a squirrel isn’t it? I do like eating squirrels. They make a most wonderful snack when roasted and toasted. They’re like crispy chicken nuggets!” Emerald licked her chops. “Can I have it?”

“Absolutley not!” Dragon flew higher and higher and faster and faster into the sky to ditch Emerald.

For a moment, Chestnut couldn’t see the green dragon, and thought they were finally safe.

However, Emerald was very fast and very stubborn. Within seconds, she was right on Dragon’s tail. “Come on, Auntie. I’ve been hunting for hours! I need something to eat. Can I at least have the squirrel’s tail?”

“No! Especially not after the mess you made in my den the last time you visited. Now leave me alone! I won’t tell you again.”

Emerald snorted, and dark smoke puffed out of her nostrils. “Well, if I can’t have the squirrel’s tail, I’ll have yours!” With that, she nipped at Dragon’s tail.

Dragon’s pupils suddenly became very small. Her red eyes seemed to glow. Her nostrils let out a stream of black smoke.

Chestnut’s fur stood on end. If Dragon’s stories were of any indication, you never wanted to be in the crossfire when she was angry. If she could, she would scurry to her little cottage on the tall tree and hide in there. But she was in Dragon’s paws hundreds of miles up in the air. 

There was nowhere for her to go.

“Uh, Dragon,” Chestnut squeaked quickly. “Before you do anything rash, can you–”

Dragon didn’t seem to hear a word Chestnut said. She whipped around and spewed fire right at Emerald’s face. “GO AWAY!”

However, Emerald did not go away. She wasn’t unfazed by the hot flames, for dragons are practically fire proof. Instead, she spewed fire right back at her aunt.

Dragon cupped her paws tightly to protect Chestnut from getting burned. Then she bit Emerald’s tail and swung her around through the air, before letting her go.

Emerald went flying a few yards, before charging at Dragon.

The two dragons continued to fight. They bit and spewed fire at each other. But the more they fought, the more annoyed Dragon got. She got so annoyed that she swatted Emerald’s face with her sharp claws.

After getting a nasty scratch, Emerald finally backed off. She didn’t want to lose an eye. Without a word, she flew off to escape her aunt’s wrath.

Dragon snorted. “I’m sorry Chestnut. Sometimes my relatives can be a pain in the wing.” She licked her paws. “But at least you are safe and–” She blinked and stared at her paws.

They were empty.

Chestnut wasn’t there.

“Uh oh.” She looked down.

Falling down, down, down through the sky, faster and faster, was a little speck.

That little speck was Chestnut the squirrel.

Chestnut had been jostled around in Dragon’s cupped paws during most of the fight, but when Dragon had swatted at Emerald’s face, she had accidentally let her go.

Now Chestnut had her arms and legs spread out with the wind howling in her ears, and her bushy tail waving around like a flag. She screamed at the top of her lungs, as she got closer and closer to the little village below.

Dragon quickly tucked in her wings and dived. “Hang on, Chestnut! I’m coming!”

Once she was close enough, she snatched Chestnut up in her paws and spread out her wings, soaring above the little village, and casting a big shadow over it as she passed.

She flew back to Chestnut’s house and gently sat Chestnut down on a little rock. “Oh, I’m so sorry Chestnut! I got so wound up by Emerald, I didn’t realize I had dropped you! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Chestnut shook her head. Her eyes were wide.

“That’s good to know. This is all my fault. I should have never suggested flying you up into the sky. I know trouble has a way of finding me, and I still thought things would be fine. I’m so sorry. This was a horrible idea.”

“That. Was. Amazing!” Chestnut said.

Dragon stared at her. “It was?”

“Yes! I’ve never had so much fun in my life! Did you see me falling, Dragon?”

Dragon nodded.

“I was scared for a moment. I really was. But then after a while, the panic faded away, and I was struck by how beautiful everything was from so high up. And the wind was in my face, and the sun warmed my fur. The fall didn’t feel like falling so much as gliding downwards. Have you ever felt that way before? Like you were gliding down?”

“I have, actually. It does feel nice. But then I had wings, and I didn’t have to worry about–Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m great!”

Dragon sighed. “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”

“Can we go flying again?”

Dragon hesitated. “I suppose we could. But not today. Definitely not today. This has been a bit too exciting for my tastes.”

Chestnut and the Dragon enjoyed the rest of the evening in the meadow and chatted for a while, but eventually the discussions they had gave way to peaceful silence. They watched as the sun set. They watched as the moon rose, and the stars shone in the heavens.

“I like exciting adventures,” Chestnut said. “But it does make you appreciate the quiet moments more.”

Dragon nodded. “Indeed it does.”