The Dragon Rock

This story begins with
Once Upon A Time,
because the best
stories do, of course.
So, Once Upon A
Time, and imagine if
you can, a steep sided
valley cluttered with
giant, spiky green pine
trees and thick, green
grass that reaches to
the top of your socks
so that when you run,
you have to bring your
knees up high, like
running through water.
Wildflowers spread
their sweet heady
perfume along the
gentle breezes and
bees hum musically to
themselves as they
cheerily collect flower
pollen.
People are very
happy here and they
work hard, keeping their
houses spick and span
and their children's
faces clean.
This particular
summer had been very
hot and dry, making the
lean farm dogs sleepy
and still. Farmers
whistled lazily to
themselves and would
stand and stare into
the distance, trying to
remember what it was
that they were
supposed to be doing.
By two o'clock in the
afternoon, the town
would be in a haze of
slumber, with
grandmas nodding off
over their knitting and
farmers snoozing in the
haystacks. It was very,
very hot.
No matter how hot
the day, however, the
children would always
play in the gentle, rolling
meadows. With wide
brimmed hats and skin
slippery with sun block,
they chittered and
chattered like
sparrows, as they
frolicked in their
favourite spot.
Now, their favourite
spot is very important
to this story because in
this particular spot is a
large, long, scaly rock
that looks amazingly
similar to a sleeping
dragon.
The children knew it
was a dragon.
The grown ups
knew it was a dragon.
The dogs and cats
and birds knew it was a
dragon.
But nobody was
scared because it never,
ever moved.
The boys and girls
would clamber all over
it, poking sticks at it
and hanging wet
gumboots on its ears
but it didn't mind in the
least. The men folk
would sometimes chop
firewood on its
zigzagged tail because
it was just the right
height and the Ladies
Weaving Group often
spun sheep fleece on its
spikes.
Often on a cool night,
when the stars were
twinkling brightly in a
velvet sky and the
children peacefully
asleep, the grown ups
would settle for the
evening with a mug of
steaming cocoa in a
soft cushioned
armchair. Then the
stories about How The
Dragon Got There
began. Nobody knew for
sure, there were many
different versions
depending on which
family told the tale, but
one thing that
everybody agreed on,
was this:
< 2 >
In Times of Trouble
The Dragon will Wake
And Free the Village
By making a Lake
This little poem was
etched into everybody's
minds and sometimes
appeared on tea towels
and grandma's
embroidery.
The days went by
slowly, quietly and
most importantly,
without any rain. There
had been no rain in the
valley for as long as the
children could
remember. The wells
were starting to bring
up muddy brown water
and clothes had to be
washed in yesterday's
dishwater. The lawns
had faded to a crisp
biscuit colour and the
flowers drooped their
beautiful heads. Even
the trees seemed to
hang their branches like
weary arms. The valley
turned browner and
drier and thirstier, every
hot, baking day.
The townsfolk grew
worried and would
murmur to each other
when passing with
much shaking of heads
and tut tuts. They
would look upwards
searching for rain clouds
in the blue, clear sky,
but none ever came.
"The tale of the
Dragon cannot be true,"
said old Mrs
Greywhistle, the
shopkeeper.
"It hasn't moved an
inch, I swear," replied
her customer, tapping
an angry foot.
It was now too hot
for the children to play
out in the direct sun and
they would gather
under the shade of the
trees, digging holes in
the dust and snapping
brittle twigs.
"The Dragon will help
us soon," said one child.
"He must do
Something," agreed
another.
"I'm sure he will."
They all nodded in
agreement.
A week went by
with no change, the
people struggling along
as best they could.
Some were getting
cross at the Dragon and
would cast angry,
sideways looks at it
when passing. The
villagers were becoming
skinny eyed and sullen.
Meanwhile, the
children had a plan.
Quickly and quietly,
they moved invisibly
around town, picking
and plucking at the
fading flowers. With
outstretched arms and
bouquets up to their
chins, they rustled over
to where the giant rock
lay, as still as ever.
< 3 >
The boys and girls
placed bunches of
flowers around the
Dragon in a big circle.
They scattered petals
around its head and
over its nose, then
danced around and
around it, skipping and
chanting the rhyme
that they all knew so
well.
In Times of Trouble
The Dragon Will Wake
And Save the Village
By making a Lake.
The searing heat
made them dizzy and
fuzzy and finally they all
fell in a sprawling heap
at the bottom of the
mound. They looked up
at the rock.
Nothing happened.
A dry wind lazily
picked up some flower
heads and swirled them
around. The air was
thick with pollen and
perfume. A stony grey
nostril twitched.
"I saw something,"
cried the youngest boy.
They stared intently.
An ear swiveled like
a periscope.
The ground began to
rumble.
"Look out! Run!Run!"
The children
scampered in all
directions, shrieking and
squealing, arms
pumping with
excitement.
The rumbling grew
and grew.
The Dragon raised
its sleepy head. It got
onto its front feet and
sat like a dog. It stood
up and stretched,
arching its long scaly
back like a sleek tabby
cat. It blinked and
looked around with big
kind, long lashed eyes.
And then its nostrils
twitched and quivered
again.
The older folk were
alerted by the screams
and shrieks. The ladies
held up their long skirts
to run and the men
rolled their sleeves up
and soon the whole
town stood together in
a tight huddle at the
foot of the hill, staring
up at the large beast
with mouths held open.
"AHHHHH
AAHHHHHHHHH!!"
The noise erupted
from the Dragon.
"AHHHHH
AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
< 4 >
The families gripped
each other tighter and
shut their eyes.
"AHHHHH
CHOOOOOOOOO!!"
The sneeze blasted
from the Dragon like a
rocket, throwing it back
fifty paces, causing a
whirlwind of dust and
dirt.
"AHHHHH
CHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
The second blast
split open the dry earth,
sending explosions of
soil and tree roots high
into the sky like
missiles, and something
else too ...
The people heard the
sound but couldn't
recognize it at first for
it had been such a long
time since their ears
had heard such tinkling
melody. As their eyes
widened in wonder,
their smiles turned into
grins and then yahoos
and hoorahs.
Water, cold, clear
spring water, oozed,
then trickled, then
roared out of the hole,
down the hillside and
along the valley floor.
The torrent knocked
over a farmer's
haystack, but he didn't
care.
The river carried
away the
schoolteacher's bike
shed but she cared not
a jot. It even
demolished the Ladies
Bowling Club changing
rooms but they howled
with laughter and
slapped their thighs.
When the flood sent
pools of water out
towards the golf
course, filling up sixteen
of the nineteen holes,
the men just hooted
and whistled and threw
their caps up in the air.
What used to be a
dirty, brown dust bowl,
now gleamed and
glistened in the sunlight,
sending playful waves
and ripples across the
lake and inviting all to
share.
"HMMMMM," sighed
the Dragon sleepily, and
showing his perfect
movie star teeth.
"Seeing as I'm awake ..."
And he lumbered
forward with surprising
grace and style and
disappeared into the
cool dark water with a
small wave of a claw
and flick of his tail.
They never saw him
again.
After the families
had restored and rebuilt
the village, and set up
sailing clubs for the
children, and scuba
diving for the
grandparents, they
erected a bandstand
and monument in the
spot where the Dragon
used to lay. Every year
to mark the occasion,
they would bring
garlands of flowers and
herbs and arrange them
in a big circle. The
children would have the
day off school, for it
was known as 'Water
Dragon Day' and
wearing the dragon
masks that they had
been working on all
week, would skip and
clap and sing.
< 5 >
The Dragon helped Us
As We said He would Do
Hooray for The Dragon
Achoo, Achoo,
ACHOOOO!
And that is the end
of the story.