Eru
the dragon.
Once upon a time, long, long ago in fact so long ago
that only the storytellers remember it.
There was a beautiful green and gold dragon called
Eru. She lived in a secret cave in the
side of a mountain with her grandmother.
The cave was so secret that only the dragons knew where it was.
Eru had lovely green and gold scales, flaring
nostrils, and a long spiky tail. She had
beautiful shiny wings that opened up in the rain like an umbrella and kept her
dry.
All of the other little dragons looked at her and
sighed.... some even wished they could be just like her because she could run
fast and fly very high as well as being very beautiful.
But Eru had a secret that made her very sad. She was a little different from other
dragons. She couldn’t breathe fire.
Every day Eru sat in the back of her cave where no
one except her grandmother could see her and huffed and puffed but not a single
flame appeared. Not a spark, not even the tiniest puff of smoke. Grandmother would say to her, “Don’t worry Eru,
it will happen all in good time”. Eru
was sad because she couldn’t toast marshmallows with her friends or play Catch
the Fireball all she could do was sit and watch and pretend that she really
didn’t want to play and she really didn’t like toasted marshmallows.
Poor Eru, she felt that she was so different that
maybe she wasn’t even a proper dragon at all. Maybe she was something
else. Grandmother dragon saw how sad she
was and asked her what was wrong and Eru told her about how sad she felt and
that if she couldn’t find her fire then she would never be a real dragon.
Grandmother dragon listened and an idea popped into her head. She told Eru
about a holy mountain where the dragon god lived, it was a place that was known
only to dragons and it would be there that Eru would find her fire. The holy
mountain was far away and Eru would have to go on the journey alone, it would
take her a few days to get there and she would have to travel through the dark
forest hat surrounded the holy mountain.
The following day Eru set out and it didn’t take her
long to get to the dark forest. In the
forest lived many strange looking creatures.
Hanging upside down in one of the trees was a small animal with teeth
and small wings. He looked a little bit like a mouse but of course a mouse
doesn’t have wings does he?
“Who and what are you?” asked Eru.
“Well, I was trying to have a nice sleep but if you
must know, my name is Ding and I am a bat”.
Eru thought to herself
“I’ve got teeth and wings just like Ding. Maybe I could stay here”.
Eru and Ding played together all morning and by
lunch time they were a little hungry. After lunch they felt a little sleepy so
Ding hung upside down on a branch but when Eru tried it the branch bent down
because she was too heavy and she bumped her head on the ground.
“Ouch” she said.
“Your a lovely friend Eru, but you’re not really a
bat are you?” said Ding,
“No” said Eru, “I’m a dragon”, and she gave a little
sigh.
Out of her mouth came a small puff of smoke. Eru
told Ding about her search for fire.
“I’ll have to be on my way” said Eru, “I won’t
forget you”, and she gave Ding a kiss on his nose. She felt a little warm
inside but still no flame came out.
The next day Eru woke under a big tree,
“Hello” said a voice.
Eru looked up and saw a strange looking creature
with beautiful colours and sharp claws.
“Hello” said Eru, “Who and what are you?”
“Squawk, My name is Tom and I’m a parrot” said the
colourful creature.
Eru thought to herself,
“I’ve got beautiful colours and sharp claws just
like Tom. Maybe I could stay here?”
All day they played together chasing each other
around the forest but by dinner time they were hungry. When they had finished
their dinner Tom said,
“You know Eru you are a wonderful friend and I’ve
enjoyed playing with you but you’re not really a parrot. What are you doing in
the forest?”
“No” said Eru, “I’m a dragon”, and she gave a little
sigh.
Out of her mouth came a small puff of smoke. Eru
told Tom about her search for fire.
Tom listened and then he said
“Eru, your fire is inside you, all you have to do is
believe in yourself and in time it will come”
“I’ll have to be on my way” said Eru, “I won’t
forget you”, and she gave Tom a kiss on his beak. She felt a little warm inside
but still no flame came out.
The next day Eru woke up in a clearing in the
forest. She looked up and saw the holy mountain a short distance away. She
thought of her new friends Ding and Tom and suddenly felt a great heat building
up inside her. She flew to the bottom of the mountain, she felt all alone and a
little bit frightened but then she remembered Tom’s words.
“All you have to do is believe in yourself”,
She thought of all her friends back in dragon land
and she thought of her grandmother. Up the mountain she climbed, higher and
higher. As she climbed she looked up and saw smoke coming from the top of the
mountain. It seemed to shine in the sunlight and it looked as if the whole
mountain was on fire.
She reached the top of the mountain expecting to see
the dragon god, she was shaking all over, but there was no one there, no dragon
just a big black hole.
“It’s a volcano” said Eru, “It’s just a volcano but
there’s no fire, it’s gone out”
Eru began to cry. Now as we all know dragon tears
are the most magical things in the world, Eru’s teardrops fell into the dark
hole and a tiny flame appeared from the hole.
Eru gave a huge sob and before she knew what had happened she sucked the
flame into her mouth and swallowed it. Oh dear.
Eru gave a little burp and out her mouth came a puff
of smoke followed by... a bright orange flame.
Eru nearly fell into the big black hole, “What was
THAT”, she said.
She tried to burp again, nothing happened, she
coughed, she sneezed, she jumped up and down, but nothing happened. She was
just about to give up when she remembered her grandmother’s words.
“Don’t worry Eru; it will happen all in good time”
“Well grandma, this is my time” shouted Eru and she
gave a huge blow and from out of her mouth shot a bright orange flame.
“Fire” she cried, “I’ve found my fire”
Eru jumped up and down in excitement and the more
she jumped the brighter the flame shone.
She stayed on the mountain top all night practicing and in the morning
when the sun came up she flapped her wings and headed back to dragon land. She
flew over the dark forest and looking down she gave a little puff of smoke and
blew a little flame just in case Ding and Tom saw her.
She arrived back to dragon land where her
grandmother and friends were waiting together with all the other dragons.
“There you are Eru” said the dragons, “Where have
you been? We were worried about you; the dragon god has been blowing fire all
night”
“That was me” shouted Eru in excitement.
“No it wasn’t Eru, everyone knows you have no fire”
replied the chief dragon
Grandmother looked out from the door of their cave
and smiled,
“All in good time” she thought.
“Was it like this” said Eru and she blew out a
bright orange flame,
Eru’s friends clapped their wings and shouted
“Dragon Fire”,
“No” said Eru, “Its Eru fire”
And that children is a true story, although it might
never have happened.
So if you’re a little different just remember the
words of Eru’s grandma and friends.
“Believe in yourself and one day your time will
come”.
Another fine tale, and well worth waiting for. Good to see you blogging again.
ReplyDeleteThis may seem a strange question, but did you name your dragon after Ériu, daughter of Emmas?
Best wishes to you and yours for the upcoming Solstice celebrations.
Regards,
Mak
Hi Makarios.
ReplyDeleteWell spotted, yes I did as she is a green and gold dragon I thought it would be nice to give her the honour of a name that is steeped in Irish mythology (ÉRIU) and a daughter of Emmas (of the Tuatha Dé Danann). I'm glad you enjoyed it and will be posting another one about Eru when she has grown a little. I wish you and yours all the blessings of the upcoming Solstice and a very Happy and peaceful Yule/Xmas.
What a nice puppet! And what a lovely message for children.
ReplyDelete"And that children is a true story, although it might never have happened."
I love that line.
Hi manbehindthecurtain. Thank you once again for your kind comments. I will keep trying to put a smile on peoples faces :)
ReplyDeleteSilentOwl.