Joy Shelley, the girl I have come to call Dragon Little, was only a few weeks past being four and a half years old when I saw her do something I have never seen her do.
Her father, Justin Shelley, the one I call Dragon Father, had disappeared at the end of another fun adventure. Another prisoner had been added to the villains in the Infinite Prison in the infinite corridor in the belly of Bonny’s Revenge.
Dragon Little sat on the plank and stared glumly at the ocean.
Then, suddenly, she jumped up to a standing position on the plank, and walked back to the deck. She walked down the stairs which led to the Infinite Prison and out of my sight.
But my sharp dragon ears could still hear every step and every breath she took.
I heard her take the keys to the cells and I rose slowly from my sitting position. If she was planning on releasing a villain, she might need my help.
I heard her walk past the prisoners - after all, I knew how many steps it took to reach the last one.
Then she walked that distance again, away from their prying eyes.
I heard her unlock a cell and open it.
I heard her go in.
I heard her close the door.
I heard her lock it.
I sat back down but I could not understand what she was doing.
She sat down on the ground and waited.
A couple of hours passed before she stood up, unlocked the door, stepped out of the cell, and locked it again.
She walked back and hung the keys before climbing back out into the suns’ bright lights.
She sat on the plank again and stared glumly at the sea.
“Nope,” she said softly.
She did not speak again until she went to sleep a few hours later.
—Told by The Red Dragon