“There’s the palace!” 

By the time Backwards Day was about to end, Dragon Little had fallen in love with it. 

Dragon Father and Dragon Little were approaching a hidden palace hidden between two snow-capped mountains on a nameless planet. 

Dragon Father was helming Bonny’s Revenge backwards, standing behind the wheel rather than in front of it, facing the back of the ship, and steering it in the opposite direction of what he is used to. 

Dragon Little, finally excited after their last fight with the Jolly Pirate and his minions, was at the Crow’s Nest atop the mast, guiding her father. 

“Over there!” she pointed. “They have a landing bay for flying ships!” 

From my hiding place, far above them, my sharp eyes saw clearer than hers. The bay was a massive cave, built for ships ten times their size. It was a dark tunnel that led deeper into the cave, where ships no doubt landed. Ships of different sizes could be seen parking in the border between the shadow inside and the suns’ light outside. 

“Moving in,” Dragon Father moved the wheel. 

“Wait, wait, I want to do it!” 

Dragon Father looked up, not understanding. But in a second, Dragon Little had leapt out of the crow’s nest, grabbed a rope, and allowed it to bring her down to the deck, near the wheel. “I wanna park! I wanna park! I wanna park!”

“But… You’ll have to park backwards.” 

“I wanna do it! I wanna do it! I wanna do it!” 

By this time, at age 4, Dragon Little knew how to pilot the ship. Dragon Father had no choice in the matter, since at age 2.5 she had tried it herself, and she could do it every time he wasn’t there, every time he was awake. 

But she had never flown the ship backwards. 

He tightened his lips, then said, “All right.” He moved aside. “Do it!” 

“Ha haaaaa!” 

She replaced him standing behind the wheel and looking at the back of the ship. 

“First thing, slow down…” 

She pulled on the wheel, and the ship sped up. 

“No, slow!” he shouted. “It’s backwards!” 

“Right. Backwards.” 

She corrected, and the ship slowed down. 

“Slow it down more. More than usual.” 

The ship sped up again. “Backwards, backwards,” she hit her head, and tried again. 

The ship slowed down more. 

“Okay,” he peered over the side. “Now to the right just a bit…” 

She moved the wheel, and Bonny’s Revenge turned left. 

“Other right! Other right!” he yelled. “It’s backwards!” 

She shook her head and exhaled. Her 4-year-old face scrunched up and she turned left. 

“More right… Good… Just a bit to the left… Now remember it’s backwards and slow down just a tiny bit more…” 

So far she had done everything perfectly. Sweat began to appear on her brow. She shook her head but did not waste a hand gesture wiping it away. 

“Slow down more… More….” 

Bonny’s Revenge entered the bay and was out of my sight. I could only hear them with my sharp dragon ears. 

“You’re close to the wall!” Dragon Father said calmly. “Move left.” 

I heard the ship scrape against the mountain wall. “Left left left!” he shouted. 

“Ah! Sorry!” I heard Dragon Little, followed by a metal crash. 

“Holy cow. Park park park!” 

I heard Bonny’s Revenge softly touch the ground and stop. 

I heard Dragon Little run to the side of the deck. “Is that your ship? Aw, I’m sorry I destroyed it!” 

There was some angry muttering, and then Dragon Little added, “You really need a stronger ship!” 

“Come on, Joy,” I heard Dragon Father say. “They’ll be fine. Let’s go find the bad guys.” 

“Ha haaaaa!”

—Told by The Red Dragon