Dragon in Smiley Park
It was a regular summer day yesterday. There I was, driving to work, as usual. As I came to the stop sign where I normally turn left, I thought I saw something in the park up ahead on the right-hand side of the road. I stopped and looked. There definitely was something there.
I passed through the intersection and found a place to park. I got out of my car and stared at the park. Was I imagining things? I took ten steps into Smiley Park. It had turned into a land of mist. I turned and looked at the street. It was as plain as ever; completely visible, hard and cold even on this fine day. I turned back towards the park. It hadn’t changed since I first spotted it that morning. Looking down, I couldn’t make out my feet through the mist.
Without warning, my head jerked up. I didn’t know why I moved so suddenly. I just did. It was as if I had heard something without actually hearing it. I found myself looking far out into the distance, hunting between the trees through all the grounded clouds in the park. There it was. Majestically controlling the land around it, the dragon slithered along the top of the clouds.
I stood still. Should I run? Should I walk away? Should I walk towards it? What do you do when you spot a dragon? I hadn’t the time to figure that out. The dragon stood in front of me, smiling. My own breathing slowed until it was imperceptible by me or anyone else. I seemed to breathe at the same rate as the calm dragon.
The dragon hovered in front of me for what seemed like hours, smiling all the while. Then it coiled itself around me. I was terrified, certain it would eat me. But no. It coiled itself around me and left me with a sense of peace and well-being.
I blinked. I saw it flying at the far end of the park. I wished I could have made a more substantial contact with it. It’s not every day you run into a dragon, right? But it was gone.
I stood in the mist of Smiley Park for five minutes after that. I sighed. I wanted to stay there forever. I wanted to search for the dragon, follow it wherever it may go. Duty called. I had to get to work. I turned back to my car. Before I left to go, I took one last look at the park. It had returned to its normal state; there was no evidence of any mist having been there that morning, no evidence a dragon had come to visit us. How quickly the fog lifts, I mused.
Witness: Jack Blinkers