“Oh, my my my,” Suzy rocks Joy as Joy cries into her grandmother’s hug. “Joy, how long have you thought the Red Dragon is dead?” 

Joy cries. “On my birthday,” she says. 

Ah, when we couldn’t summon the Red Dragon, and when she talked about how ‘Red’ was one of the things that made her sixth birthday fun. 

“She has to be dead!” 

“Well, you know,” Suzy says. “She could be dead, that’s true. But can I tell you something?” 

Joy nods, her head buried in Suzy’s chest. 

“Are you sure you want me to tell you something?”

Joy nods again, and I can hear the crying slow down. 

“I want you to look at me, because what I have to say is important.” 

Joy takes a step back and looks at her grandmother. Joy’s face is full of both vulnerability and determination, a combination I have rarely seen in anyone. She wipes the tears away because they bother her rather than because they show that vulnerability. 

“I think,” Suzy says slowly, “that although it’s reasonable to think that maybe you’re right, it’s also reasonable to think you’re not. Can I tell you why?” 

Joy nods again, waiting. 

“From what I’ve seen over the last year, there are a lot of things that we don’t understand yet about how the dream works. I mean, just recently Charlie just appeared on Bonny’s Revenge instead of in his dream, right? That’s strange. We never thought that would happen, right?” 

Joy nods. 

“So maybe we don’t know everything. Something else could have happened to Red, and maybe we’ll find her today or in a few months or in two years, and she’ll be alive and she’ll be happy to see you. Maybe, right?” 

Joy nods. What Suzy said makes sense to her and to me. We really don’t know so many things about how things work here. 

“Are you feeling better?” 

Joy jumps to the helm and Master Mind moves away. “Let’s go find a live dragon!” she calls out. 

“Maybe we will and maybe we won’t,” I remind her. 

“And maybe we will,” she reminds me. 

“And maybe we won’t,” I remind her again.

“And maybe we will,” she says. 

I open my mouth to make my point clear when I catch Suzy looking at me angrily. “And maybe we will,” I say. 

Suzy nods at me. We’re off to search for a live dragon!

(To be continued…) 

—Told by Grampa Walt