[ TT ] Dragons are real , they 've been dormant in the deep for thousands of years and now they began to emerge

Now that he was unemployed, Mr. Robbin had no time for fun, or pranks, which is what he called the horse that appeared on their back stoop one gray October morning. He hadn ’ t put his glasses on yet. But he could tell by the blurry brownness of the thing, and the whinnying grunts, that it was clearly a horse. The creature was somehow shoved between the two iron railings of the back porch concrete steps, his broad flat head facing the door. 
 
 There was just enough room for Mr. Robbin to open the back door, which swung directly into the horse ’ s nose. He stepped outside. The horse wheezed as the door hit its face. Mr. Robbins stared up at it ( its head was just above his ) in disbelief and his broad cheeks turned an angry pink. 
 
 “ What -- what? Is this a joke? A joke, it must be a joke. And I don ’ t have time for this. ” 
 
 Nell Robbin, Mr. Robbin ’ s daughter, peered out from the window, her eyes wide. The creature on the porch wobbled gently back and forth and then sighed in frustration. She could tell the horse wasn ’ t going to go anywhere, although that didn ’ t prevent her dad from shouting at it. 
 
 She could also tell that it wasn ’ t a horse. 
 
 “ Get out of here. Shoo! Go on, get out of here! ” Mr. Robbins stepped back inside, grumpily slamming the screen door behind him, “ Ugh. ” 
 
 “ Dad, that ’ s no horse, ” Nell said quietly. Nell was a tall, gangly eleven-year-old child with a cowlick in her hair that made her bangs stick up on the side. Her father helped her do her hair in the morning. He did as best as he could, but lacking any hair himself he hadn ’ t very much practice. Nell was dressed for school in leggings and a long baggy dress. 
 
 Her father continued shouting, so Nell grabbed his shoulder. 
 
 “ Dad! It ’ s not a horse! ” Nell said loudly, “ Put on your glasses! ” 
 
 She ran to his desk, plucked his horn-rimmed spectacles from the mess of papers, and shoved them at him. Walter grimaced and put them on. He was dressed in a raggedy t-shirt and sweatpants, but with his glasses on he looked a little like a proper teacher again. In fact, he looked more intelligent with his glasses on. 
 
 “ It's-it ’ s-buh....wuh.... ” Her father stammered, ruining the effect, `` What is THAT?'' 
 
 “ It looks like a dragon, ” Nell replied. 
 
 The creature, whatever it was, was a dull sort of coppery colored reptile, with wings tucked tightly against its back. And it had human-like eyes, except that the irises were fluorescent yellow. It blinked at Nell through the screen door and grunted in frustration. 
 
 “ Whatever you are, get off my porch! ” Mr. Robbins yelled at it. 
 
 In response to her father ’ s sputtering, the dragon hung its head low across the metal railing, and its long neck wilted like a thirsty flower stem. It began to struggle, jerking from side to side. The porch railings creaked but held steady. 
 
 Nell ’ s father ’ s hands dropped to his sides, hanging loosely. His eyes looked dull and sad. Unemployment did not suit him. When he ’ d still been a teacher, his eyes were bright and he ’ d been quick to smile. But after the town ’ s grade school closed and consolidated with the city school, the light seemed to fade from her father ’ s eyes more each day. Even his anger at the dragon didn ’ t have much of a spark. 
 
 “ Where did this… creature come from? Who did this? ” Mr. Robbins said, his voice cracking. He glanced in the direction of the Gusky boys ’ yard. The Gusky ’ s were notorious troublemakers who lived next door. Of course, this thing looked like a dragon, but it surely was n't real. Maybe this was one of their tricks. 
 
 Nell stuck her head out the back door, although she did n't step out. She just stuck her long pointed nose out, one dark eye peering down like a raven ’ s. 
 
 “ Dad, I think he ’ s too stuck to move himself. He ’ s huge! I don ’ t know how he could have fit himself in there without help. And he ’ s not going to get out of there without us helping him. ” She said. Someone must have pushed, pulled, and shimmied the dragon forward between the two metal railings. He was as snug as a pillow in a too-tight pillowcase. The railings bulged out a bit, following the curves of the creature ’ s broad rib-cage. He appeared strong, even frightening, but the dragon must have been quite weak. Throughout his struggles, the black metal railings hardly shook at all. 
 
 Mr. Robbins wagged his hands in frustration, and then went back inside. He walked to the front of their house, out the front door and went around. Now that he was gone, there was enough room for Nell to stand on the porch, and she stood there and looked at the dragon. She nervously put a hand against his forehead and pushed. To her surprise, the scales were n't slimy. They were warm, and rough like sandpaper. 
 
 On the other side, Mr. Robbins nodded at his daughter and grabbed the creature ’ s large and scaly tail, and pulled. 
 
 Their combined efforts made the dragon come unstuck with a great PLOP, like the sound of a cork escaping a bottle. The impact shook the dragon enough that he fell heavily on his bottom, huffing as it landed. He flapped his wings, but they did n't seem to do any good other than stirring up a lot of dust. 
 
 Mr. Robbins fell backwards, scrambling out of the way. The dragon regained his balance, stood up, and promptly deposited a pile of manure on Mr. Robbin ’ s shoes. 
 
 “ Ergh, ” Mr. Robbins said, staring at the steaming mess on his shoes. 
 
 “ I apologize, ” the dragon said, “ Thank you for your help. ” 
 
 Its voice was deep and sort of throaty. There was also an atonal two-tone quality about it that was grating on the ears. 
 
 Mr. Robbins gave a cry, like a wounded animal, and turned pale. He stared up at the dragon in awe and then scrambled to his feet, wiping his dirty shoes on the grass. 
 
 “ I woke up this morning, ” the dragon continued, “ We were asleep for a long time…too long. And the caverns where we heaped together for safety were too crowded, so I tried a transportation spell back to my home. But it's been too long. How long? I do n't know. And… apparently, things have changed quite a bit, because my cave is gone. And your cave entrapped me with its iron claws. ” 
 
 He pointed a single claw at the porch railings, and curled a lip. 
 
 Mr. Robbins sidled towards the other entrance of the house. 
 
 “ Nell -- get back in the house. I ’ m going to call Animal Control, ” Mr. Robbins stammered. He fled back across the yard, going through the door on the other side of the house. The door slammed behind him, reverberating the porch railings. Nell decided to ignore her father ’ s command, and stepped a little closer. She hadn ’ t put her shoes on yet, and the sidewalk felt rough and cool against her bare feet. 
 
 The dragon turned around. It surveyed their small fenced in yard, and then strolled over to the garage. Nell's father had pulled the car out into the driveway to fill the tires earlier this morning. The garage door was left open. The garage was empty. The dragon marched in and looked around. 
 
 “ This… what is this place called? ” 
 
 “ It ’ s a garage, ” said Nell, who had followed a few steps behind the dragon. 
 
 “ Garage Cave will do for now, ” the dragon said. It blinked slowly, and some tension around its eyes relaxed, “ Dark and cool in here. It will work. ” 
 
 “ It will work for what? ” Nell ventured. 
 
 “ A meeting place, ” the dragon said, “ Now that we ’ re awake, I have to gather the Coven. Two dragons, two wyverns, two drakes and two wyrms. One of each gender. I ’ m, of course, the male dragon ambassador. Wake me up when the others arrive. ” 
 
 With that, he curled his stout body around and tucked his nose beneath his tail, rather like a dog. Within minutes he was softly snoring. 
 
 Nell stared at him. She found herself smiling. A dragon in the garage was exciting, to be sure. Not only that, but this was a great excuse to miss school. 
 
 She pulled one of the lawn chairs down from its hanging place on the garage wall and sat down to wait.
