by Nan Sweet
Chapter 8
Carrie spent the day with the dragon curled up on her lap. She lay on the couch with a nest of pillows and blankets. The two watched television together once her mother had gone to work. Oddly, the little dragon seemed to know things. When Carrie was flipping through channels and an old Land Before Time movie was on, Sparky lifted her head and trilled.
“But it's an old movie.” Carrie said, “As old as my parents.”
Sparky's disappointed mewling made Carrie feel just the slightest bit sorry for the dragon. Finally, she said, “Fine, we'll watch cartoons.”
She flipped the channel back to the dinosaur movie.
Petting the dragon's head eased Carrie's worries with her mom and dad and everything that had been happening lately.
“I'm so glad you're here.” Carrie said.
She was surprised when the dragon licked her cheek with a sandpapery tongue and said, “Me too.”
The dragon's words had not been spoken aloud, but she somehow heard them just the same.
“You're too little to talk.” Carrie itched the top of the dragon's head with her fingernail.
“I can't teleport or breathe fire yet, but I can talk to your hearing nerves. Talk is easy because I remember myself before the egg.”
That got Carrie's attention and she paused the television. “What are you talking about?”
The dragon tilted her head. “About hearing nerves?”
“No, before you were an egg.” Carrie lifted her head a little to look down fondly at Sparky.
“Once I was the size of this planet and I flew through the universe to the most bitter places where even the ice is cold. Dragons warm themselves from the inside. It's very handy for cold.”
“How did you come to be tiny and inside an egg?” Carrie was petting the dragon's head the way she would a puppy. It felt soothing to have someone to care for.
“I don't rightly remember, although it had something to do with a star exploding. I suppose I wasn't being terribly cautious at the time.”
“But if a star exploded...” Carried cringed at the idea of the little dragon in the path of a fireball.
“Exactly...” The dragon nodded.
“Exactly what?”
“What you saw in your mind. Your imagination comes close.”
“Oh, sorry.” Carrie said, even if it wasn't her fault. “Do you want to talk about something else?”
“Would you have more of those tasty little frozen cubes?” The dragon's tongue shot out and licked from one end of her snout to the other.
Carrie had opened a package of frozen stew meat earlier. Sparky ate the whole thing, “No, I think we might need to go shopping.”
“It's okay. I can wait a while.”
The phone rang, and Carrie looked at the number. Her Dad! “Hi Daddy.”
“Hey Princess, I'm sorry I wasn't able to see you this weekend.”
“It's okay.” Part of her thought it really wasn't. Her mom was making things really hard. Every time Dad called, she'd make nasty comments about him while Carrie was on the phone, and when Mom answered herself, she'd start crying or yelling at him. Carrie hadn't seen his new place now that he was living across town. She asked hopefully, “Will I stay with you this Saturday?”
“I'm sorry, Baby. I'm so busy with getting settled in. The next few weekends aren't great for me, but we'll spend some extra time at Christmas, okay?”
Carrie's eyes filled with tears, but she made her voice sound happy when she said, “That sounds great.”
“Take care of yourself.”
“I will. You too.” With the connection gone, Carrie let the tears fall freely. Sparky rested her head on Carrie's knee and Carrie pet her scales, soft and warm, not at all what she would expect while she cried.
“He loves you.” Sparky's words made Carrie feel a little better.
“He's never said it to me.” Carrie sniffled and wiped a tear away from her cheek.
“He did. It's just been too long for you to remember. He's afraid you'll hate him, the way your mother does. It makes the words harder.” Sparky closed her eyes as Carrie scratched the scales behind her ear.
“Mom doesn't hate him. She's just upset, but she loves him. She has to.”
Sparky lifted her head and looked Carrie in the eye and in those ancient eyes, Carrie couldn't help but see thousands of years of wisdom. “Love is a fragile thing, Carrie. It can die in a cold heart. Your mother has only anger left for your father.”
Carrie felt a new flood of tears. She desperately wanted her parents back together. She'd been thinking through all sorts of schemes that might work. She'd even arranged a dinner between the two, only to have her mother cancel at the last minute when she found out what Carrie was doing.
Sparky was telling the truth. Carrie knew it, but she didn't really want to hear it right now. Sparky seemed to know that Carrie needed time to think and quietly lent her support by resting her head on Carrie's knee.
The phone rang at six. It was her mom who wouldn't be coming home right after work.
“I shouldn't be surprised.” Carrie said. She felt a longing for sleep, just to turn off her mind and not think about her troubles for a while. But Sparky was there and she didn't want the little dragon to get bored.
“It's okay. I'm tired, too. We can sleep early.”
They fell asleep little imagining the trouble they would find upon awakening.
