“I’ve just got to grab my sweater,” Suzy
said, running up her front steps, “I won’t be a minute.”
I
followed after her, walking in through the front door before she realized I was
behind her.
Turning
and almost running into me, she gasped. “You can wait outside.” she said.
What
had gotten into her? Suzy and I had been friends for years, and now she didn’t
even want me in her house? Before I could decide whether I should say something
or just wait obediently outside, a sound from the other room distracted me. It
was a strange scratching noise, coupled with a soft whining like that of a dog.
“What’s
that?” I asked.
“What’s
what?” Suzy looked at me with wide eyes.
“That
noise.”
“What
noise?”
“You
don’t hear a noise like a dog scratching on a door?”
“Oh,
uh, that’s just my puppy,” Suzy glanced behind her, towards the hall, then back
at me, “He doesn’t like being shut in.”
“You
got a puppy?!” I barely refrained from clapping my hands together. “I want to
see him!”
“You
can’t.”
I
was taken aback by the shortness of her tone. “Why not?”
“Um…
he gets nervous around strangers. He might bite you.”
“I
don’t mind. I just want to see him.”
Suzy
opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a loud growl—unlike anything
I’d ever heard from a dog.
“Was
that the puppy?” I asked.
“I
think he’s hungry.” Suzy bit her lip, “Look, maybe we should go to the movie
some other time. I should really stay home.”
“Can’t
I help?”
“No,
no, that’s ok. If you want you can go to the movie without me. I didn’t really
want to see it anyway.”
“Suzy,
what’s going on?”
“Nothing,
I--”
There
came another growl from the bedroom, and Suzy broke down.
“Oh,
Evy, you’ve got to help me!” she cried, grabbing onto my arm, “I don’t know
what to do with him!”
“Your
puppy?”
“It’s,
um, not a puppy.”
Without
further explanation, Suzy led me down the hall. She stopped before a door,
behind which was the source of the noise.
Slowly,
Suzy reached out a trembling hand and placed it on the doorknob. For a moment,
it seemed that was all she could do—she just stood there, hand outstretched,
unwilling to open the door. I was beginning to be frightened. What was in
there?
At
last, Suzy got up enough courage to turn the knob. She pushed open the door and
jumped backwards.
Out
of the room trotted… the most adorable little puppy I had ever seen. He had
floppy brown ears and a white nose and big dark eyes.
I
let out a squeal of delight. Then I turned on my friend.
“So…
what exactly is the problem?”
Jaw
slack, eyes wide, Suzy stood for a moment apparently in shock. Then she sank
down on the ground. The puppy hurried over and licked her face.
“Help.”
Suzy said.
“What
is it? He’s just a sweet puppy.”
“Evlyn,
I swear that sweet puppy was a--” Suzy stopped, stared at the puppy for a
moment, then squeezed her eyes shut, “I swear that earlier it was a dragon.”
I
would of course have thought she was completely insane for saying this if it
weren’t for the fact that, as she spoke, the puppy sort of shimmered and then,
in a pop!, he turned into a dragon.
I
couldn’t move. Where there had been an adorable floppy puppy, there was a scaly
lizard with large, fleshy wings. It was grey/green in color, and only slightly
larger than the puppy had been. Still, in spite of its diminutive size, it was
rather frightening, with sharp teeth and smoke curling from its nostrils.
“Suzy?”
“Yes.”
“That’s
a dragon.”
“Yes.”
“You see it too?”
“You see it too?”
“I
told you it was a dragon.”
At
that moment, the dragon lunged at me, biting into my shoe.
“Owe!”
I kicked and the dragon crashed against the wall. It did not look happy about
this.
“Run!”
Suzy shouted. I helped her to her feet and we scrambled down the hall to the
front door, the dragon hot on our heels.
♥/Kat!e
Today's Novel Idea Prompted by: "A friend's unusual pet." Courtesy of Fantasy Writing Prompts.
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