When Dragon Little was only three and a half years old, one day Dragon Father’s dream brought the two of them to the peak of the Himalaya Mountains, in search of the Golden Key.
The top of the mountain was small and there was almost no room to stand. Snow was everywhere on the ground, and now it had begun to fall as well.
At the peak, a long plank had been embedded into the rock, stretching out five meters away above a sheer drop. At its very edge, the Golden Key lay inside a hook.
“Okay,” Dragon Father took off the bag on his back and started looking inside it. “I’m going to search my bag for a long rope. I think I brought one…” he raised his eyes for a second, and his breath stopped.
Dragon Little was already on the plank, which was slightly more narrow than her small legs. She had already taken a few steps.
“Holy cow!” he dropped his bag. “Joy! Joy! Don’t do this! Give me your hand and I’ll bring you back.”
She took another step away from him. Underneath her, an abyss kilometers deep lay waiting.
The wind picked up, as did the snow.
“Joy! Joy! You can’t do that! I forbid it! Get back!”
Dragon Little looked at him without expression.
As she looked into his eyes, she took another step on the plank.
“No, Joy! Stop it! Right now! Stop it!!”
And she took another step. True, Dragon Little had been walking the plank of Bonny’s Revenge since I had known her, always without fear, and often at great heights. But this was another matter, and Dragon Father justly feared for his daughter’s life.
“Stop it!”
And another step, all the time staring at his eyes without expression. I knew that no-expression of hers quite well. It was a defiant expression. It said, ‘You can’t tell me what to do’. Dragon Father knew it better than me, and he knew there was no way he could force her to do what he wanted at that moment.
“Now, Joy!”
And still she continued.
A few more warnings, and she reached the edge of the plank. She bent down and picked up the Golden Key.
“All right. Now you stay there, and I’m going to throw you some rope.”
She took another step, this time in his direction.
“No, Joy! Stay there!”
She took another step.
“For god’s sakes, it’s dangerous! I can help you!”
And another step.
“No! I forbid it! I! Forbid it!”
She looked into his eyes again, without expression, and took another step.
A few more steps, a few more warnings, and she was back on solid ground.
Dragon Father hugged her tightly for a long time. Then he separated, held both her cheeks and looked into her eyes. “Never. Do that. Again. Do you hear?”
She looked into his eyes without expression.
—Told by The Red Dragon