“Did you receive any news yet, Dad?”
5-and-a-half-year-old Dragon Little was asking about the ‘news’ that Dragon Father would always get during the morning. He would often announce news that someone had reached him from a certain planet asking for help, or news of a certain crime that they must foil.
Dragon Father shook his head, leaning on the railing, watching Dragon Little finish her usual breakfast of pizza and carrot juice.
“Can you check again?”
Dragon Father looked up at the sky. Then, after a few seconds, said, “There’s no news.”
“Please check again. Pleeeeeze. Pleeeeeze!”
Dragon Father looked at her. This ‘pleeeze’ expression was new to me and no doubt to him.
He concentrated again, then, appearing calmer than he usually ist, said, “There’s no news. No robberies, no heists. Maybe It’s a pirate holiday or something.”
“A pirate holiday?!”
He waved his hand. “I was kidding. There’s no pirate holiday. How about we do something else instead?”
“Pfah!”
“Want to go to the trampoline stairs?”
“Pfah the trampoline stairs!”
“You? You hate the trampoline stairs?”
“Never liked them!”
Dragon Father smiled. For a second I believed Dragon Little and could not understand why she suddenly hated what had been one of her favorite pastimes when her father was away. Now I understood that this was her way of saying she didn’t want to do it.
“How about a trip?”
“Pfah trips!”
“How about…”
“Oh! I love trips!”
“Oh, you love trips now?”
“I know where we should go.”
“Uh huh?”
“Let’s go to Red’s home. Let’s go to the planet of the dragons!”
Dragon Father perked up and so did I. Oh? What’s this?
“That’s a great idea! The dragon home planet! We’d never been!”
Oh my my, I thought.
“Yai!” Dragon Little jumped up and down.
“Let’s go!” shouted Dragon Father and ran to the wheel.
Oh, dear, I thought. This will not end up well for them.
Tomorrow I will tell you what happened next.
—Told by The Red Dragon