Dragon in the Dishwater, Ch 3
Dragon in the Dishwater
Chapter 3
Copyright 2007 comidacomida
"Eric, honey?" he heard his mother's voice call through the blackness.
Somewhere, far off, a pounding pain throbbed through the bleary haze and Eric
wished strongly that he hadn't begun to regain his senses. He groaned.
"Eric... can you hear me?" his mother called again. It wasn't the first
time that her voice sounded unpleasant to him but, with the last vestiges of
comforting unconsciousness fading, it was certainly the most painful.
"Ow." he mumbled, his own voice causing the pain in his skull to ache all
the more.
"You took a pretty nasty bump on the head, Eric." Dr. Marlow's voice spoke
up, and Eric tensed.
"I'm fine." he gritted, blinking several times before his vision began to
focus on two bleary shapes.
"Dr. Marlow said that he was getting ready to leave when he heard a thump
from upstairs." explained his mother, resting a hand on his arm, "He went up to
check on you and he found you on the floor."
"Well, I guess he does help people, doesn't he?" Eric attested
sarcastically.
"I'll see you again on Tuesday." the doctor mentioned to Eric's mother,
resting a hand on her shoulder before he left Eric's blurred sight.
"Thank you again, Doctor Marlow... thank you... very much." Eric's mother
called after the doctor before turning back to look at her son, "Eric... Doctor
Marlow carried you down here and laid you out on the couch. He called me at
work and stayed here until I could get back." "He'll just put it on your
bill... psychiatrists are some damn expensive
babysitters." Eric grumbled, slowly moving to sit up. He groaned, clutching his
head as he sank back down to the cushions of the sofa.
"He cancelled two appointments to stay here and make sure you were
alright, Eric... I think you should give him a little more respect than that."
"Remind me to write him a thank you letter." the young man replied flatly.
Eric's mother just sighed, standing up as he watched her take off her
coat. If she were back then it really was late, and Eric had lost the whole
afternoon to the insanity she brought into the house. Gritting his teeth, he
slowly sat up again, and winced at the pain in his head while planting his feet
firmly on the floor. The young man remained there for several minutes as he let
his spinning head slow down.
"Ground Beef Helper?" his mother inquired from the kitchen.
"Yea... whatever." Eric replied, slowly moving to stand. It only took a
moment before he sat back down on the couch cushions, blinking several times
before his vision stopped spinning. The blurriness in his gaze cleared after a
few minutes and he tried again, this time with much greater effect. The young
man stood once more, balancing on his feet as he let his head readjust to the
new position, and he made his way slowly into the kitchen to rummage around one
of the cabinets for something to help with the headache. His search continued
as a frown spread its way across his face. "The pain killer is in the
medicine cabinet in the bathroom." his mother
volunteered, not even looking up from the pan that was slowly browning the meat
for dinner.
"What's it doing there?" he demanded numbly, "It's always been in the
kitchen."
His mother shrugged in response, "It shouldn't be in here... medicine
belongs in a medicine cabinet."
Eric snorted at that, "I'll believe that when you put the sleeping pills
there too." and he made his way to the bathroom to sift through the bottles of
pills before finding the pain killers. He popped two of the pills and went back
to the sofa, collapsing onto it, longing for the headache to abate. He was
blessed shortly thereafter with sleep, and the comforting numbness of
unconsciousness took over once again.
* * * * * *
Eric's stomach awoke him, grumbling in protest at being empty. The young
man slowly gauged his ability to stand, moving deliberately from position to
position checking for dizziness or pain; thankfully he did not encounter any.
Eric stood, again testing his ability to balance, and was pleased to note that
he had no difficulty. His stomach gurgled again as he smelled the familiar
scent of the industry-generated, packaged sauce mix that flavored the meal his
mother had prepared. He wandered into the kitchen, seeing the pan still on the
stove.
Glancing at the microwave, Eric paused; he had not realized that the
microwave's clock had started working again, and he clearly saw the listed 11:03
lit. Not having his watch on him, Eric didn't know if the clock was accurate,
but he paid it no more mind as he grabbed a plate from one of the shelves and
scooped a good helping of the Ground Beef Helper onto it. Leaving the pan and
spoon on the stove, Eric took a fork out of the drain board and headed straight
for his room.
Friday nights meant he didn't have to worry about school the next day, but
it also meant two days at home with his mother... a thought that was bearable
only because Eric knew that his mother was scheduled to work overtime and
wouldn't be around. While most of the students his aged looked longingly
towards each and every weekend, Eric only really found enjoyment in the ones
where he had the entire house all to himself.
Eric opened the door to his room, his brain shaking off the last remnants
of its unplanned vacation. He flipped on the light using the edge of the plate
in his hand and he paused, half inside the room and half outside it. With one
hand on the doorknob and one hand on his dinner plate, Eric stared into his
bedroom. He looked at the opened toy chest and bits of shell strewn about the
floor.
Setting his plate on the dresser beneath the light switch, Eric slowly
shut the door behind himself and slid into his room. From his place at the
entryway, Eric looked first around the carpet at his feet. The events of
earlier in the afternoon began to come back to him and his heart race started
speeding up.
He moved away from the door, stalking slowly into the room, purposefully
dragging his feet across the carpet, remembering seeing that lizard peel itself
away from his bedspread and its color changing with barely a pause for shading.
He spent so much time carefully seeking that he didn't even pay attention to the
videogame playing on the TV. It wasn't for another thirty seconds until it drew
his attention; he hadn't left the TV on.
Looking to the videogame console, Eric's eyes traced the wires from the
television to the game system, and from the game system to the controller placed
on the bed... on the bed directly in front of a greenish lizard the size of an
amply large cat. Remaining silent, Eric watched as the creature used nimble
digits on its talons to manipulate the buttons-- it was actually playing the
game!
Awestruck, Eric's eyes alternated between watching the screen of the TV
and watching the small reptile work the controls. The lizard wasn't just
playing the game... it was playing well. The young man's throat tightened as he
watched the game play out across the screen; the animal at the controller was
getting close to Eric's most dreaded part of the game and, as with many times
before, Eric tensed as the missile warning sound began to issue forth from the
game.
Hands clenching as if seeking a controller, Eric took an involuntary step
forward, eyes still glued to the screen. It was as if the lizard were
completely forgotten, everything going in slow motion as the game took on a
whole new light-- the dreaded missile had not hit the F-16. In the many times
Eric had played that mission, he had never seen the missile miss.
Eric continued staring as the jet completed an expert series of jinx
maneuvers, alternating hard right and left hand turns before the MIG came into
clear view within the crosshairs. Eric's fingers reflexively clenched for
buttons that weren't there, and two missiles streaked without error to the
target; an explosion consumed the opposing aircraft.
The young man released an exhilarated breath of relief, having finally
seen the completion of the objective. Though he himself had not done it, there
was a sense of satisfaction about watching the MIG burst into flames. Eric let
out a cry of relief and success, but the young man suddenly froze in place.
Slowly turning to his right, Eric stopped as he saw the lizard staring at him.
The reptile was about a foot and a half tall as it stood there, if
standing were the right term. The creature was perched on its hind legs,
partially sitting on its tail, or just using it for balance like a tri-pod. Two
small horns, more bumps than any real protrusions, poked up from its head. Fan-
shaped ears emerged on either side of its head next to the small horn bumps.
The creature watched Eric, those two ear sails flickering.
Its slightly smaller forelegs were tucked up against its body, talons
crossed, almost reminiscent of a young boy folding his hands across his sternum
while being reprimanded... but the lizard was not looking down, rather, its
large, amber eyes were staring right at him, large, diamond-shaped pupils
looking directly into his face.
The small beast blinked once-- not what Eric would consider a normal
blink; its eyes closed horizontally instead of vertically, a clear membrane
sliding across them rather than what would be considered a real eyelid. "Um...
hi." Eric noted, slowly sliding further away from it on the bed.
"Hi." the creature responded.
Eric paused for a moment, completely at a loss for words. He sat facing a
reasonably large lizard which had just responded to a greeting. He blinked
twice before his brain started up again, and he realized that it had probably
just made a sound that he had mistaken for a greeting in return to his own.
"Did you just..." he began, pausing for a moment, watching the way the
lizard watched him, "Did you just do that on purpose?"
The lizard did not respond, except to slide down to its rump, tail curling
around its lower legs as it remained gazing at him. Eric rested his hand atop
his head, gripping his hair in confusion "I can't believe-- I thought I heard
you talk." He looked down at the reptile, "But... you just beat that game level
of F-16 Gulf Attack... that couldn't have been an accident."
The lizard blinked in response, the clear skin sliding out from the corner
of its eyes before withdrawing out of sight. It didn't respond to Eric's
inquiry, and the young man let out grunt and stood up. "I can't believe this."
"Can't believe what?" the lizard inquired.
"I can't believe I'm talking to some lizard, expecting it will--"
Eric froze in mid-sentence, turning numbly to gaze at the creature, mouth agape.
"Talk back?" the reptile offered.
"You CAN talk!" Eric gasped, disbelievingly.
The lizard nodded in an entirely humanlike mannerism, "Yep."
"But-when-how-what-do you..." Eric failed to generate any cohesive
sentence.
"Oh... wait, real fast." the reptile interjected, looking back to
the TV screen before and manipulating the game controller. Eric followed its
gaze to the television and watched as the little creature selected the save game
option. For a moment, Eric faltered, still perplexed by the turn of events but,
at the same time, the young man somehow had the presence of mind to be concerned
about his own game being saved over. He let out a breath as the lizard selected
a second save game slot, leaving his game untouched.
The reptile took its talons away from the controller, "Okay." it noted,
turning back to regard Eric. The creature folded its talons again across its
body and looked up at him, clear lids sliding out over its eyes again as it
blinked in its own, exotic way. "I think we started off best with 'hi'." it
revealed a row of small, pointed teeth... a gesture Eric realized must have been
a smile.
"You can talk..." Eric ventured again, repeating his previous statement as
his brain failed to overcome the earlier surprise.
The lizard nodded, "Yes."
"And play videogames."
"Yes. Games too." The lizard grinned, the tip of its tail beating
back and forth on the bed. Eric, who was standing by that point, reached out to
grab the chair at his desk and move it closer to the bed. He took a seat on it
as the reptile moved closer to the edge of the bed before sitting down once
more, neck craned up so the two were face to face regarding one another.
After several long seconds of silence, Eric, at length, finally asked,
"What... are you?"
"I'm a dragon." the creature responded.
"A dragon?" Eric inquired, incredulously.
"A dragon." The small reptile confirmed, tip of its tail still tapping
back and forth on the bed.
"I didn't think dragons existed." Eric offered honestly, unable to think
of anything else to say.
"We do." The dragon confirmed, as if its existence were not proof enough,
"Well... I do. I don't know if there are other dragons out there anymore."
"If dragons exist, how come no one else has ever seen them?" Eric asked,
incredulously.
"Humans used to see dragons, but they haven't for a awhile..." the dragon
offered, glancing from Eric to the Ground Beef Helper on the plate resting near
the young man's door, "It's a long story... maybe one we can share over dinner?"
the creature grinned.
"Do dragons eat Ground Beef Helper?" Eric questioned, slowly standing, and
walking backwards to where he left his plate.
The dragon shrugged, "Not sure," it replied honestly, "I don't think I've
ever had it before... but it smells like food."
Eric started a half-sarcastic laugh, but cut it short as he brought the
plate back to the dragon, "It's close to food, but I wouldn't call it good
food." the young man attested, offering the plate to the dragon.
The dragon looked up at him, then to the plate, "You left your fork on the
dresser." it noted matter-of-factly, glancing past him to where the utensil
remained, resting on the wooden panel next to Eric's door.
"You use a fork?" Eric inquired, surprised at the remark. He stood up,
moving to get the fork for the dragon before it replied.
"No," the reptile noted as Eric came back to the chair, "But you do... and
we can't share dinner if you don't have your fork."
"Share?" Eric asked, not sure he understood, though the concept was simple
enough.
"Right... you have some and I have some. Isn't 'share' the right word?"
the dragon cocked its head to the side, tilting it like an inquisitive dog.
"That's what 'share' means, yea." Eric responded flatly, "But, why?"
The dragon continued to look at Eric with its head cocked, eyes blinking
as it surveyed him, "What do you mean, 'why'?" it asked at length, "You are
hungry, and I am hungry. There is food, so we can each have some." the dragon
explained in an almost surgical manner, its train of logic seeming so basic and
straight-forward that Eric was left wondering why he had asked the question in
the first place, "Is that okay?" the dragon inquired.
"I... I guess so." Eric relented, and he sat the fork down next to the
plate as he watched the dragon lay down beside to the dish and survey the meal.
After several seconds the dragon used a forepaw to scoop portions of meat and
noodles closer to the edge of the plate, and then nimbly snatched them up in its
muzzle. Eric was so enraptured with watching the creature eat that he nearly
forgot that he was still hungry. It took a powerful gurgle from his stomach to
remind him of that fact, and he finally picked up the fork which had laid unused
on the bed.
The young man gingerly speared a noodle from his side of the plate and
farthest from the dragon. At first, Eric hen-pecked around the dish, taking
single pieces of pasta but, as the lizard seemed undisturbed by his actions, he
slowly began to move into a more normal eating method. Soon enough, surprising
himself, Eric was eating as if the dragon weren't even there. Finished, Eric
sat back from the empty plate. He reflected on the fact that he hadn't eaten
since noon, and it only made sense that he was hungry. The dragon, however,
took time to lick the sauce off the plate.
"That was good food." the dragon noted.
"It's okay, if you call it food." Eric replied callously.
The dragon turned to him and cocked its head to the side, "If we ate it
then it's food, right?"
"You can eat stuff that isn't food." the young man countered. He wasn't
exactly sure if it was worth arguing the point, but-- Eric paused, "Never mind."
he quickly noted, "Yea... it's good enough."
The dragon remained looking at him, and blinked again in its strange way.
Eric shuddered, "Ugh... what IS that?" he demanded.
"What is what?" the reptile asked, blinking again.
"THAT!" Eric insisted, "Your eyes! You don't blink right."
The dragon cocked its head to the side, and Eric began to look away before
the dragon quickly blinked, scaly lids swiping cleanly across its eyes,
descending from its brow like a human would blink.
"What is--" Eric paused, "That was a blink... so what the fuck was the
other thing?" he questioned.
The dragon frowned slightly and looked straight at him, "This..." the
dragon slid its clear eyelids out from the corner of its eyes in a horizontal
blink, "is clearing my eyes." it explained, "and this..." the dragon closed its
scaled eyelids downward, "is a blink."
"So why not just blink like normal all the time then?" Eric asked flatly.
"Normal for you isn't normal for everyone." the dragon responded simply.
Eric thought of any number of snide retorts, but he paused before making a
verbal jab. Despite the obvious conversational "poke" made at him by the
reptile, he couldn't see the use of getting into an argument... especially since
the creature had claws and teeth. Even if it was only 1/6th his size, it was
better armed. He decided to try a different approach.
"So what's the difference?"
The dragon closed its set of translucent eyelids and kept them closed,
peering out at him from behind them, "These are nictitating membranes." it
explained, "They help me keep my eyes clean and clear but still allow me to see
if I have them closed in water or when I'm flying."
Eric stopped in mid-thought, "Flying?" he inquired, "You can fly?"
The dragon shrugged, "Not now. I'm still too fresh out of my egg... but
when I am able to fly I can have them closed all the time so my eyes don't dry
out. And, when I want to close my eyes-" the dragon shut his scaled eyelids,
"The 'normal' eyelids I have can keep light out." Eric didn't miss the dragon's
accentuated use of the word 'normal', but decided not to comment.
The young man let out a deep breath, "Weird."
"Not to me." the dragon responded.
"How would you know what's normal and weird? You hatched less than a day
ago." Eric retorted.
"Just because I hatched today doesn't mean that I didn't exist before I
hatched." the dragon offered, "Dragons can spend a long time in their eggs, and
it isn't like we're unconscious."
Eric pondered that a moment. Was this dragon able to learn while it was
in its egg? Did the dragon pick up understanding from the world around it even
before it hatched? How was it able to know how to speak if not for some kind of
understanding imparted to it before it broke free of its shell?
"So that's how you were able to know how to play that videogame." he
accused.
"Oh..." the dragon perked, ear sails rising, "No... I read the manual."
"The manual?" Eric paused.
"Right. It tells you how to play." the little lizard explained.
"I never read the manual." Eric admitted.
"That's why you always died on mission three. You're supposed to press
down and R1 to release a flare. That helps you evade the missile." the dragon
offered.
"Wait." Eric insisted, standing up from his chair as he put a hand to his
forehead, "Go back a minute." he turned again to look at the dragon, "You read
too?"
"Yes." the dragon admitted, "is that 'weird' too?"
"Most people spend the first years of their life learning how to read."
Eric stated, "but you knew how to within the first hours?"
"I'm not a human." the dragon reasoned, "Dragons know a lot of things when
they first hatch."
"Okay... so not weird for a dragon, but weird for a human." Eric offered.
"That's fair." the dragon agreed.
"So that's how you know how to read." Eric pondered aloud.
"Right."
"And how you know about forks and dressers and videogames." he offered
"Yes."
"And that's how you know how to speak English." Eric further ventured.
"Yes, and no." the dragon admitted.
"What do you mean 'yes and no'?" Eric asked.
The dragon lay down on the bed, rolling over onto its back as it rotated
its sinuous neck so it could continue looking at Eric right-side-up. "It isn't
very easy to explain... humans don't really have an equivalent to it."
Eric sat back down on the chair beside him, "So how do you know how to
speak English?" Eric pressed.
"I remember it from before." the dragon answered.
"Before what?" Eric asked.
"Before I became an egg." the dragon offered cryptically.
Eric raised an eyebrow, "Before you were an egg? What kind of shit is
that? How can you be something before you're an egg?"
The dragon slowly rolled back over so it could sit back up. It cocked its
head to the side and slid its translucent eyelids closed, "Why do you use those
words?"
"What words?" Eric demanded, "And why are you changing the subje--"
"I answered your question." the dragon interrupted, "I said it was hard to
explain." it retracted its clear eyelids, "The offensive words; why do you use
them?"
Eric raised an eyebrow as the dragon looked at him. He said nothing for
several moments as the reptile continued to watch as if waiting for an answer.
The young man finally rolled his eyes, "God... you sound like my mom."
The dragon blinked with its scaled eyelids and cocked its head the other
way, "You said I did not answer your question, but I think you didn't answer
mine."
The dragon continued to stare at him, and Eric could feel a sense of
frustration begin to rise within him. The creature was so clueless. For being
so smart it really had no idea how life worked or why--
"You do not have a reason?" the dragon inquired.
"Because I want to." Eric answered bluntly, "I can use them, so I do...
okay? Fuck. Shit. Ass. Cock. Bitch. Damn. Cunt. Shit." Eric crossed his
arms over his chest in frustration.
The dragon sighed and lowered its head to the mattress, "You said Shit
twice." Several seconds of silence passed wordlessly in the room. Eric's upper
lip quivered for a moment, and his stomach began to convulse, and, suddenly, he
could no longer hold back the laugh.
Eric laughed long and hard. Though he couldn't quite figure it out; there
was something about the strange situation that couldn't be classified. The word
'absurd' just didn't do it justice, and he could do nothing but laugh. As he
slowly regained his composure, he sat up, looking to the dragon who was still
sitting up, gazing at him with head cocked slightly to one side.
"I guess I did." Eric responded wiping a tear away from one eye, "People
don't always know why they do things." he offered at last, "So... I guess... I
don't know why I curse. You're not 18 yet, so I guess I should be keeping it
rated G, right?" he noted snidely.
"No." the dragon replied, "You don't have to change for me... I just
wanted to know is all."
Eric shrugged, "Whatever."
The dragon scooted closer to the edge of the bed and looked up a Eric as
the young man sat back into his chair, "When I said I knew some things since
before I was an egg, that's because I remember a time before I was an egg." it
tried explaining, "Dragons do not live like humans, and we don't die like
humans... we hatch and we expire, but we aren't born and we don't die."
"I think you lost me." Eric noted flatly.
"Hmmm..." the dragon contemplated for a moment, "It's like waking up for
us is hatching, and expiring is like going to sleep. Between the time we expire
and we hatch is like being asleep. Humans remember what happened before they
went to sleep the next day, and dragons remember what happened before they
expired during their previous lives."
"So you're some kind of Jesus-Lizard." Eric deadpanned.
The dragon cocked its head to the side, "No." it blinked its translucent
eyelids.
"That was a joke." the young man offered.
The reptile flicked its ear sails and blinked its scaled eyelids, "You
were not smiling when you said it." the dragon noted, "sometimes humans are hard
to understand."
Eric shrugged in response, "So... you're saying that you remember things
from your past lives?"
"Yes. The times I have been out of an egg have not been past lives, but
they have been part of my time on the earth." the dragon answered.
"And have you been around humans before?" Eric asked, many unpleasant
images of housebreaking a dragon going through his mind.
"A few." the dragon replied.
"And?" Eric probed.
"And what?"
"I mean... what's it like?" Eric questioned.
"Why are you asking me? You should know what being around your own kind
is like." the dragon countered.
"That isn't what I meant!" Eric objected.
"Then what do you mean?" the dragon used a hind-talon to scratch behind
one of its ear sails.
"I mean... are things different? What's it like meeting different humans
all the time? How long between dying and hatching? What does it feel like?
How-"
"Those are a lot of questions." the dragon interrupted.
Eric nodded, stopping in the middle of his thoughts as he contemplated his
own questioning. Before earlier that night, Eric had never thought such a thing
as a dragon could exist, let alone that he would meet one and have it in his
bedroom. The entirety of the situation was almost overwhelming, but the
simplicity of talking to the down-to-earth reptile felt almost easy.
"Okay... well... how about, 'Do you have a name?'? Is that an okay, or do
I just call you 'dragon'?"
The hatchling grinned at that, "I've been called worse."
"Now it's your turn for skipping an answer, huh?" Eric countered, grinning
likewise.
"I have met many humans and they have given me many names." the dragon
replied, "Some of them I liked more than others, but they are all me."
"So what should I call you?" Eric asked.
"Hiraeth." the dragon answered.
"Heeeer-aith?" Eric tried to pronounce the name.
"Yes."
"That sounds kinda Spanish." the young man noted.
"It is Welsh." Hiraeth explained.
"You mean from England?" Eric asked.
The dragon snorted, "No. Wales and England are not the same country.
They are not now and were not back then."
"Okay." Eric shrugged, "So what does it mean?"
The dragon cocked its head to the side, clear eyelids blinking, "What do
you mean?"
"Does your name mean something?" Eric asked, "A lot of names have some
kind of meaning... does yours?"
The dragon nodded after several moments of pause, its eyes gaining a far
off quality to their gaze, "Yes."
"What does it mean?" Eric inquired.
"There is no exact translation in English... but it means a powerful grief
over losing someone or something." Hiraeth answered.
"How would you get that as a name?" the young man questioned.
"It's a long story." The dragon replied.
"I just spent six hours unconscious; I'm not going to bed anytime soon."
The little dragon grinned at that, "Alright... but remember: you asked me
to tell it."