Dragon Father and Dragon Little were busy climbing the volcano to the supposed home of my ‘parents’. 

They were not expecting me, and I thought I should have a little bit of fun surprising them. 

I made sure I approached the planet from behind them. 

I entered the atmosphere and spread my wings. From this point on I would glide silently. They will not hear me come. 

I glided closer and closer. 

Dragon Little stopped to ask Dragon Father for water, turning to talk to him. For a moment I was afraid she would spot me coming towards her. 

She didn’t. 

A bottle of water appeared in Dragon Father’s hand, he gave it to her, and she looked forward again as they continued to walk up.

I changed the angle of my wings, allowing them to take more wind and slow down. 

I lowered my head and angled down, gliding right above the ground. I wanted to make sure they would not see my shadow either. 

I passed Bonny’s Revenge in the harbor and continued to glide towards them. I went lower and lower, my stomach only a centimeter or two above the ground. I slowed down. 

There they were, a few hundred meters ahead of me. 

I lowered my head so that it touched the ground. 

Fifty meters!

I slowed down as much as I could to a speed that’s only twice their walking pace. 

At the last moment, I lowered my head and my nose ‘bumped’ into Dragon Little from behind, raising her up and flipping her backwards into the air. 

I missed Dragon Father by a hair as Dragon Little screamed and flew backwards, flipping, and landing, as I had planned, on her feet on the back of my head. 

Her scream became a scream of joy as she realized what happened. 

“Red!” she shouted as loudly as she could. “You’re back! Red! You’re back!” 

Dragon Little jumped up and down as I flapped my wings and soared higher. 

“Red’s back!” Dragon Little danced. “Red’s back! Dad! Red’s back!” 

I finished a short rise into the air and landed next to Dragon Father. 

“Hello, Dragon Father. Nice to see you again.” 

“Always awesome to see you, Red!” 

“Red’s back! Red’s back! Red’s back!” Dragon Little danced on the back of my head. 

She would not stop dancing to even talk to me for five minutes. 

Tomorrow I will tell you what happened then. 

—Told by The Red Dragon