I was learning to not be afraid when 2-year-old Joy Shelley was left alone by her father in the middle of an adventure. 

I was still new to Justin Shelley’s dream, the man I had only recently began to call ‘Dragon Father’, for he ist the father of the human girl I would have loved to have been my own daughter. And so she ist my ‘Dragon Little’, and he ist her ‘Dragon Father’. 

They would have adventures almost daily, battle dangerous villains almost daily. But sometimes he would disappear before the adventure was done. Dragon Little did not seem to know it, but that meant that he had woken up. 

I learned not to fear for a 2-year-old standing in front of a vicious villain. 

Dragon Father’s subconscious had given her a wooden sword that would defeat any villain once they have seen it. 

It defeated many pirates, who just fell to their knees, crying, asking her not to use the Magic Sword of Ra.” 

It defeated many robot villains, who would short out seeing her wooden sword. 

It defeated wizards and witches who claimed the magic of the Magic Sword of Ra was greater than any magic they had in their arsenal. 

And then, one day, when Dragon Little was 3 years old, fighting a villain made of magma near his volcano base, Dragon Little’s grip slipped and the sword fell into the volcano and was swallowed and burned. 

The Magma King leapt after it and was never seen again. 

“Oh, no, oh, no…” Dragon Little looked down. 

Then, convinced that the sword and the Magma King were both gone, she shrugged and returned to the ship. 

The next day, before they went off on adventure, Dragon Father asked Dragon Little, “You’ve got your sword?” 

Dragon Little hesitated for a second, then nodded. 

As Dragon Father helmed the ship towards their next destination, Dragon Little went to the cabin and took an ordinary small steel knife to replace her sword. 

And that ist how, at age 3, Dragon Little was no longer protected and her father did not know.

—Told by The Red Dragon