\u201cYou\u2019re not real! You\u2019re not real!\u201d Gabriel kept repeating through his tears. The little dragon playfully blew a few smoke rings on his nose.
\n\u201cLook at this! So, these don’t exist either, do they?\u201d
\n\u201cNo!\u201d the little boy sniffed grumpily. Raul puffed a tiny flame out.
\n\u201cAnd this?\u201d
\n\u201cNo, that doesn’t exist either! There is no such thing as dragons!\u201d
\n\u201cBut you can see me and talk to me. The teacher talked to me and most of the children talked to me as well. How could they do that if I don\u2019t exist?\u201d
\n\u201cI don’t know…\u201d Gabriel’s fear seemed to have subsided a little. \u201cBut if you do exist, you won’t eat me, will you?\u201d
\n\u201cPerish the thought! I would never eat you. Come on, I’ll take you back to school. The others must be very worried by now.\u201d
\nThe little boy hesitantly stepped out of the door of the house and stood facing the dragon. Raul lay down on the ground and waved his head towards his back.
\n\u201cFancy flying around a bit?\u201d
\nGabriel’s eyes lit up. Obviously, he wanted to fly! He sat on Raul’s back between the two giant wings and held on to the dragon’s neck.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ll go slow, so that you don’t fall!\u201d” “The city was beautiful from up there. The cars really did look like tiny beetles, and the people resembled tiny scuttling ants from above. Raul descended between the buildings so that Gabriel could see better. But then children and adults walking in the street started screaming.
\n\u201cA boy\u2026 flying!\u201d
\n\u201cLook, there’s a little boy in the air!\u201d
\n\u201cLook Mum, that little boy is riding a dragon!\u201d A little girl tugged at her mum’s sweater, but the adults could not see Raul at all. To them, it seemed as if Gabriel was just flying around on his own.
\nThere was a huge commotion. Soon the sound of a siren pierced the air.
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that? Oh no! Raul! That\u2019s a fire truck. It must have come for us!\u201d Gabriel shouted in the confusion. The dragon took a sharp turn, but the driver of the fire truck skilfully followed the manoeuvre.
\nThey were almost back at the school, but the truck with its siren blaring trailed close behind.
\n\u201cSlow down, boy! We’ll get you down, don’t worry!\u201d Shouted one of the firefighters, who had climbed out onto the roof of the fire engine. ” “\u201cI\u2019m fine, Thank you!\u201d Gabriel called back laughing and held on even tighter to the dragon’s neck. The school building was already in sight, and in front of it stood the whole class, with the teacher at the front.
\nRaul landed just as the firefighters came around the corner. Gabriel jumped off the little dragon’s back.
\n\u201cThat was awesome, Miss! We flew around the neighbourhood, and then a fire truck started chasing us, but eventually we managed to ditch them, and then Raul slowed down and…\u201d
\nHe couldn’t finish his sentence because the fire truck, from which three firefighters in full gear jumped out, had stopped next to them with a loud screeching of breaks. They looked left and right in confusion, then one of them turned to the teacher and after a pause said:
\n\u201cExcuse me, ma’am, but have you seen a little boy flying around here? Ten minutes ago, we received a report of a child in the air, and we followed him for a while, but by the time we arrived he had vanished.\u201d
\n\u201cI saw something similar, but I thought it was just my imagination running away with me,\u201d responded the teacher with a wink. Meanwhile, the little dragon got close enough to the firefighters to even sniff their helmets, but they didn’t notice him.” “Laughing, Emma wriggled her way forward through the crowd of children and looked straight at the firefighters and proclaimed:
\n\u201cYou must have been imagining things! There are no such things as flying children!\u201d
\n\u201cBut we saw\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cSo how could a small child fly? On the back of a dragon, or what?\u201d
\nLaughter erupted. The firefighters scratched their heads and climbed back into their fire engine. Meanwhile, the driver had turned off the siren.
\n\u201cWell, then, it\u2019s a false alarm,\u201d they said and drove off. The teacher looked at the children.
\n\u201cNow let’s get back to the classroom… Gabriel, I have to call your parents to tell them not to come here because you\u2019ve been found. What an adventure!\u201d
\nIn the safety of the classroom, one of the little boys, who could not see Raul in the morning, asked:
\n\u201cMiss, does Raul have green and blue scales? And does he have a double tail?\u201d
\n\u201cYes!\u201d
\n\u201cThen I think I can also see him now!\u201d
\n\u201cMe too!\u201d
\n\u201cAnd me, too!\u201d Shouted all the other children, who hadn\u2019t been able to see the dragon in the morning.
\n\u201cThat’s great!\u201d Laughed the teacher. \u201cNow I can show everyone what prehistoric creatures looked like! And, of course, Raul doesn’t have to be afraid of not existing!\u201d” “Raul really enjoyed all the attention from the children. More exciting things had happened to him in one morning than in his whole life up until that point. After all, there really wasn\u2019t anything at the Glass Peak of the Rocky Mountains. But here\u2026
\nAfter class, Emma got back into the rolling beetle with her mother, and the little dragon accompanied them all the way home. Emma did not stop talking for the entire journey, as she explained the whole story: the disappearance of Gabriel, the firefighters, the exciting palaeontology lesson. Her mother listened in disbelief.
\nBefore going to bed, Emma ran out into the garden to wish Raul goodnight, who had again settled down for the night in the little wooden cabin in the garden.
\n\u201cRaul, you\u2019ll stay with us for a while, won\u2019t you? You can sleep here in the garden, and you can come with me everywhere I go, I’ll show you the whole city. I could even fly on your back…\u201d
\n\u201cOf course, I’m staying. Finally, something is happening to me. And now I know that I really do exist!\u201d replied Raul with a smile.
\nEmma’s Mum watched her daughter from the kitchen window, standing by the cabin in the garden, talking to someone. Then, suddenly, she saw what looked like greenish blue scales glistening in the sunset.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1026,"template":"","class_list":["post-1028","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n