“When someone dies, my little Dragon Little, they do not come back.” 

We had eaten our ice cream, enough for a dragon as big as Bonny’s Revenge. Dragon Little, that beautiful human child, lay on the soft cloud at the edge of the amusement park in the sky and felt her stomach. She had just complained about a stomach ache, but I could not let that change what I had to explain to her. 

I lay on the cloud as well, on the side, wings by my side, the end of my mouth close enough for her to touch. 

“Do you understand?” I asked. “Not even heroes can bring them back. Not you. And not even your father, who can do so many impossible things.” 

I knew I was not clear enough. I knew I had to make the laws of the dream clear to her, without telling her how I know or who she really was. She would need this information if she would survive in the future. 

“Dragon Little… sometimes creatures or aliens you fight and die - sometimes those do come back.” 

She turned around to look at me, her eyes crinkling. “They do come back?” 

“Well… they can… not always.” If your father dreams that they do, I wanted to add. But she was not yet prepared to know she was living in a dream. 

“Then why doesn’t Mary come back, Red?” she asked, and her voice was so innocent. I was sad to break some of that innocence. But it had to be done.
Dragon Father was sitting cross-legged a ways off, looking at us. He was listening, too. He didn’t know it was a dream, either. I wondered what he would learn from what I had to say. 

“Because, my dear dear Dragon Little, when someone you love dies…  They never come back. Never. And nothing can ever bring them back.” 

“But why?” Dragon Little was not crying. She had cried enough that morning. 

“Yeah, why?” Dragon Father stood up. “Why doesn’t she just come back?” 

“It is the way it is. It is how the world works. When you love someone, Dragon Little, when you love them, then their death is final.” 

Dragon Little looked down. She did not cry. She seemed to understand. 

“That’s not fair,” she said calmly. 

“It isn’t,” I agreed. 

“I want her back.” 

“I know.” 

Dragon Father took a step towards us. “Joy, I--” And then he vanished. 

He had been with us for hours, having fun. It was time for him to wake up.

Dragon Little looked at me. 

“Can I give you a ride back to Bonny’s Revenge?” I said. 

She nodded.

We were both sad as she climbed atop my head. I am sad now, thinking about it. 

I will continue to tell you what happened tomorrow.

—Told by The Red Dragon