[ WP ] When everyone turns 18 , they receive a pet which is figurative of their personality . You 're the first person to receive a dragon ...

Maya expected an otter, or maybe a cat. Lots of people got those on their 18th birthday. She secretly hoped for something more obscure, like Will Cougan. Will lived down the road from her and around the blue fence, and when they were younger he had teased her quite a lot while they were waiting for the school bus. Last year, he waited patiently at the local Department of Familiars for over three hours before he was led to the Presenting room. He emerged with his new lifetime companion, a Polar Bear. The whole department *applauded*, because they had gone extinct over twenty years ago. 
 
 Maya sat in the waiting room, looking at pamphlets describing common familiars ( `` Cats do n't necessarily mean *laziness*, but also imply *curiosity! * Look at the benefits of your Familiar, and learn from what it can teach you about yourself!'' ). She tapped her foot a few times, looked at her watch, and wondered how long it was going to take. 
 
 There were two kids ahead of her. One girl left cradling a puppy and Maya nearly gagged ( loyalty and obedience was lame ). The boy after Obedient Girl went in and came out with nothing. Well, it *looked* like nothing. As he passed her she caught a glimpse of a wasp over his shoulder. Maya froze, knowing not to look him in the eye. He stopped and turned his head to face her. Her heart pounded. Her brain told her to cower. She instead stood and looked him straight in the eyes. 
 
 `` You know what wasps mean.'' he said, interested. 
 
 `` Viciousness. Sociopathy. Murder.'' Maya said. 
 
 `` They do n't teach wasp symbolism in school. How can you know for sure?'' he said, leaning in. 
 
 `` My mom was a wasp.'' Maya said. 
 
 `` Oh.'' he said. `` Cool. Hit me up sometime, we should hang out.'' 
 
 Maya thought the way he said that was a little too... *sideways* for her taste. Sure, familiars were n't a definite precursor to a person's path in life, but he seemed to know with certainty that he deserved the wasp. He knew he was going to stir up some terrible shit in the future, and *he did n't care*. 
 
 He walked away, and the buzzing went with it. Several officers met him at the front door and escorted him to another room. Maya sat down again, more calm, but also more nervous. She had n't thought about her mom in a long time. What if there was more of her mom in her than she thought? What if *she* got a wasp, too? 
 
 No, no she would n't. She would n't allow it. She did n't care what Familiar she got at this point, she vowed right there in that office to never let herself become like her mother. 
 
 `` Maya Faraday?'' a voice called out from the intercom. `` Room three is ready for you. I repeat-'' 
 
 Maya's heart suddenly jumped as she stood up again. The time was now. 
 
 An attendant in yellow gloves greeted her, and opened the door to room three. Inside was a blank grey room with no furniture or windows. She felt the soft glow around her more than she saw it. It was warm and enveloping, and she wondered if it was like this for everyone. Was it warm or cold for the wasps of the world? What about for the cats and dogs and polar bears? 
 
 The light in the room gradually brightened, but she was not blinded. Everything turned white. Maya thought about her mother and father. She thought about the wasps of the world, and flashed back to her father teaching her about familiars when she was ten. 
 
 *They're more you than you. * he told her as she petted his falcon. *They are more than our companions, they are our hearts. They are more than representations. They are our ideals, hopes, dreams, and weaknesses all wrapped up into a single package we all know deep down as absolute truth. The easy thing to forget is, everyone else knows that truth, too. The Familiars keep us honest. They keep us wise. They keep us strong. * 
 
 Maya smiled in wonder when her familiar appeared out of the white haze. 
 
 Ten minutes later, she emerged with her familiar pearched peacefully on her shoulder. The attendant in yellow gloves backed up, shocked, and nearly fell backwards over his desk. In all his years, he'd never seen such a thing. Two officers looked to each other, unsure of what it meant. The eyes of the three other kids waiting in line became wide with wonder, surprise, and awe. 
 
 Sitting proudly on her shoulder was a baby dragon. It was silver with gold tufts, and had huge claws that were more gentle than an infant's grip. It stretched its wings and nuzzled its long snout against Maya's short hair. 
 A desk clerk stepped up to her. He passed her a clipboard. 
 
 `` J-just sign here, miss.'' he said. 
 
 `` So... what do dragons mean?'' she asked. 
 
 The clerk looked down, then darted his eyes back up to her shoulder a couple of times. 
 
 `` Nothing.'' the clerk said. `` I mean, there has never been a dragon Familiar in the history of the world. Not one. Dragons do n't exist.'' 
 
 Maya's dragon screeched at him, almost in laughter. 
 
 `` There's a first time for everything.'' Maya said. 
 
 She walked off and showed off her familiar to anyone who wanted to see it. She let strangers pet it as she walked past the wasp boy. He grinned at her with a mean, eerie smile. He was already in handcuffs. 
 
 `` We both got fliers. We're meant to be *free*.'' he said quietly. 
 
 She never answered him, because in a way he was probably right. 
 
 The clerk returned to his desk after she left the building and picked up the phone. 
 
 `` Sir? I have some news.'' he said. `` We have a Mythic.''
