‘The Squashbuckler Diaries’ are the daily tales of Joy Shelley’s Life in the Dream. The ‘Lost in Dreams’ books will tell the story of what happens to her at ages 6, 9, 12, 15, and so on. The diaries tell us what happens before, after, and between the books.

#254: The Missing Red Dragon

When Dragon Little was only four and a half years old, their adventure brought on for me one of the worst days I have had in Dragon Father’s dreams. 

Dragon Father and Dragon Little came upon a mining planet in which the entire population of dwarves was enslaved by the Elf Overlord and his minions. 

As their adventure brought them deeper and deeper into discovering the atrocities of the world, my head begun to hurt. Images appeared in my head - memories of hundreds of years of being enslaved. Memories of myself as a child, beaten and wounded when I was but a baby and could be hurt the easiest. 

I wanted to cry. I wanted to escape Dragon Father’s dream, which I could easily do. But I was more afraid that my enslavers were searching for me outside his dream that I could not move. 

The sound of the whips made me cringe and I am embarrassed to say that I cringed and made myself as small as I could. 

My sharp dragon ears could not stop hearing all that was going on on the planet below me. And then I heard Dragon Father’s voice. 

“Joy, freeing this planet is a task too big, even for us.” 

“We can do it, Dad!” 

“You know who we need? We need Red!” 

I cringed even more when my name was mentioned. 

The sound of the horn resounded through Dragon Father’s dream. The horn was Dragon Father’s way of calling me every time he felt he needed me. 

He called me. But I could not move. 

They waited, then called again. 

I could not move. 

He called again and again and again. Each time he did, my anger was rising. It was he who was creating this slavery through the dream. It was he who was causing this pain. Even though he was not aware it was his subconscious that was creating the dream, it was still his responsibility.

With each call for me, my anger rose. 

And then, with one more long horn call, I rose, furious, and jumped, spreading my wings. 

I would end this. But not by confronting the enslavers. I would end it by confronting Dragon Father! 

It ist hard for me to remember how I had felt then. I must pause before I tell you what happened next. I will rest and tell you the rest tomorrow.

—Told by The Red Dragon

#255: The Red Dragon Vs. Justin

#253: Funny Joy