::bumps discreetly::

::sends clouds of dust everywhere::

::sets about reinflating this silly thing::

oohh, sankies

::checks the stock behind the bar and wipes down glasses::

::knocks on Gary's trailer::

::sets about rousing Candide and making sure she shaves::

::shuffles feet::

whaddya want from a dragon?

::snorts::

Ooh, the bouncing castle! I've not been here for way too long!

*covers quills*

*bounces*

Yalahii!!

::snuggletumbles Sahi::

yeah, i figured i was a bit overdue lol.  i only wish i had a story to share.  i haven't written one since the Ren Faire.

lol... maybe i'll end up having to write another one after the visit to the Faire this year :D

lol... with a plastic tumbler stuck to her foot? <G>

"But I'm scared."

"That's understandable; it can be a scary thing."  Candide buckled and adjusted her seat belt and glanced at the little purple dragon, newly perched in the driver's seat of Candide's Beetle.  Mooey's tail lashed furiously at its end as she stretched to reach the pedals.

"Why do I need to drive?"

"Because driving means having independence.  It means you can work anywhere, shop anywhere, visit anyone you like."

The answer fell to deaf ears the moment the question was asked.  Our little dragon friend had immediately fallen into a fantasy of racecar driverdom, glaring intensely at the track as she masterfully cornered turns and sped past everyone to the win.  She jerked the steering wheel this way and that, voicing the humming engine and squealing tires.

She stopped abruptly, letting her hands fall into her lap.  "I can take the bus."  She stared out the window, smoke trickling from her nose.

Candide tried hard to stay reasonable.  It had been a battle to get Mooey this far and didn't want to let her own frustration cause the dragon to take steps backward.  "The bus doesn't go everywhere and it only runs certain times.  If you run a little late, missing the bus will make you very late."

Mooey swung her feet within the ample room between her seat and the pedals.  "So I just won't go anywhere."

"What fun is that?"

The little dragon finally turned her gaze to Candide.  Her expression was grave.  "What fun is careening into a wall... or running over an innocent squirrel?  He's just going about his business, brining nuts home to his family, and all of a sudden, SPLAT!  Squirrel butter." 

Candide bit the inside of her cheek.  "That's why you have to learn to be a careful driver.  Trust me, once you get going, once you know how it feels, you'll be more comfortable.  Then, it's all about practice.  I had to practice, too.  And I was scared when it was all new to me.  But once I tried, I learned."

Mooey let her head fall against the window.  "I wish I had big wings, then I wouldn't need to drive.  I could fly like a dragon should."

Poor Mooey, thought Candide,   This must be where the real heel-digging lies. She was indeed a runt as dragons go, and the stumpy wings she did have were like rudimentary decoration, like they'd been stuck on as an afterthought because oops, a dragon is supposed to have wings, afterall.  Candide thought uncomfortably for a few moments before speaking.

"I know, sweetie.  I can't even imagine what it's like for you.  But I do know that for people, being able to drive a car is almost as good as having big wings.  I can't give you big wings, but I can teach you how to drive if you'll let me."

Mooey blinked a few times at Candide.  She stretched up in her seat to see over the wheel and out the window, then looked back at Candide.  "Promise you won't yell."

"Cross my heart."  And she did.

The little dragon squinched her eyes shut and took a few deep breaths, then a few more, even deeper.  She gripped the wheel so tight her hands shook and reached her foot to the gas pedal.

"Mooey."

"WHAT?!"  She curled up into a ball on the spot, eyes glazed with fear.

"Two things.  One, you should really only drive with your eyes open."

The little dragon blinked again.  "Yeah, I guess that one does make sense.  What's the other thing?"

"No matter how hard you step on the gas..."

"...Yeah?"

"The car won't go anywhere if you haven't started the engine."

The purple tail flushed pink and lashed against the door.  "See?  Maybe I really shouldn't do this.  I'm no good at it."

"Oh, little one..." Candide sighed.  This was turning out to be a long first lesson, and they were still in the driveway.  "Just try, ok?"  She reached over to scritch Mooey's favorite spot at the back of her neck.

Mooey purred in the way that dragons purr, the vibrations rattling the car windows.  She began to relax.  If Candide thinks I can do this, she thought, then I'm going to be ok.  Candide's the best mom ever.

Her tail fell limp and she took one more giant breath, then reached for the key.  She glanced at Candide for reassurance, who smiled warmly and nodded, then turned the engine over.

The Beetle came to life with a snicker and a growl, then settled into a low grumbly hum.  The little dragon's eyes flew wide for a moment and she knit her brows at Candide, who motioned toward the road.  Mooey wriggled her fingers around the wheel and felt her heart begin to race.  Candide talked her through each step, shifting into drive, applying the gas and brake a few times on their way down the long driveway.

"How's that feel?"

"Still quite scary, thanks."  The car jerked to a stop and jolted to a start again.  Candide adjusted her wig.

"Well, you're doing fine.  Just use a little more finesse."

"But I wanna make sure it starts and stops."

"It still will, just step slowly instead of all at once."

And so the two trekked, Mooey's tail quirked in concentration and Candide praying silently to herself that our little dragon friend would relax so she would stop slamming on the brakes.  Once they made it to the end of the driveway, Candide showed her how to put the car in reverse.  They drove back to the beginning and began anew, this time much smoother for the initial practice.

Upon reaching the outlet to the road again, Candide looked at Mooey and said, "How do you feel about making a right turn?"

"Not well, thanks for playing."  Mooey looked as nervous as she had at the beginning of it all.

"C'mon, you've been doing great.  This is the next step.  Just creep up slowly, look both ways, and turn when it's safe."

Mooey's expression spake "Easy for you to say" and she white-knuckled the wheel.  She crept forward at a snail's pace and stopped a little too far into the road.

Candide looked up the road and down.  "That's too far out, but you might as well go anyway; it's all clear."

With that, Mooey pulled up the emergency brake, took off her seatbelt and dove into the back seat.  "See?!" she wailed, "I can't do it!  I went too far into the road, and now it's all messed up and if someone was coming, they could've hit the car, and I just shouldn't be behind the wheel.  It's not safe!"  She tried her hardest to wedge her head in the split in the backseat.

Candide thanked her lucky stars for being both tall and limber as she reached her leg across to the gas pedal and edged the car back up behind the curb.  As calmly as she could, she instructed, "Mwyaren, remove your head from the seat and get back up here."

Our little dragon friend knew she was in trouble when she was called by her full name, and knew the trouble would grow bigger if she didn't do as she was told.  She skulked back into the driver's seat and sat trembling, awaiting her scolding.

Candide took a breath and said quietly, "Everyone messes up when they're new.  The idea is to make it not new, and you can only do that by spending time at it."

Mooey ran a finger over the bumpities where your fingers go on the steering wheel.  "But I made a bad mistake."

"Well, there are worse mistakes to make in a car, but now you know what not to do."

"Yeah, I know not to drive."

Candide tried not to roll her eyes in exasperation.  "No... you know to drive not as far into the road when you're making a turn.  Now you know, so let's try again."

Mooey knew this was not merely a suggestion and prepared herself to drive again.  She crept the car forward, stopping a few feet further back from where she had before and looked to Candide for approval.

"Good."

Allowing herself to finally exhale, the dragon turned the wheel to the right when she was ready, but did not straighten in time.  The car trundled up onto the curb and into some hedges, and the little dragon dove into the backseat again.  Candide decided it best to call it a day and try again tomorrow.

~*~*~*~*~

A few weeks and many mutually-aggravating lessons later, Candide took Mooey to her road test.  There had been a lot of crying and a couple more dives into the backseat, not to mention some meetings with the curb and a near-miss with Mr. Squirrel, but she had come a long way. 

However, for all the practice, she was still scared.  What if she did something stupid and caused an accident?  What if she failed?  She'd be letting Candide down so badly.  What if she never, ever really got the hang of it?  Candide had been encouraging her more with stories about how she could go to her favorite coffee house all on her own, the one that Candide didn't like so much and so never wanted to go to.  Or how she could finally visit her penpals who lived far away.  Or go shopping for shiny things any time she wanted to.  It sounded to Mooey that for all the fear she had about driving, it was also something that would give her so much freedom and allow her to have so many adventures.  But still, what if...?

They pulled into the park where the test began and took their place in line.  Mooey shuffled and wriggled and drummed and cried, and after what seemed like hours, it was her turn.  Candide got out of the car and Mooey got into the driver's seat.  The inspector got into the passenger side with her computer-in-a-briefcase and set to putting her paperwork in order.  Mooey looked with wonder at the contraption as the inspector entered information by poking it with a little stick.

"When you're ready," said the inspector, "you can pull away from the curb and go up to the light."

Mooey nodded, turned the engine over, and started out.  In her nervousness, she jolted the car forward, and in her effort to make up for it, she took far too long to slow the car to a stop, making her first day's snail pace seem like light speed.  Then, when turning at the light, Mooey drove into the intersection too far, it seemed, according to the inspector, who yanked the wheel out of her hands and scolded her for not turning sooner.

Mooey was asked to bring the car back around to the beginning, where she was told everything she did wrong, that she needed more practice and to come back another day.  She was given a ticket to show her everything she'd done wrong, and that ticket was very long indeed.

Once home, Mooey stayed in her room and cried for three days.  She was never going to be able to drive, to have all the independent adventures that Candide had told her about.  She was just no good at driving, that's all, and shouldn't bother to waste anyone's time by trying again.  She cursed her useless wings and vowed never to leave her room again.  She was both a failure as a dragon and now, as a person.

Candide gave her time to feel her feelings, then coaxed her back out.  They would try again, and keep trying until it stuck.  "I want you to be able to have this, little one.  It means so much."  Mooey was very reluctant, because she didn't want to waste Candide's time, but Candide insisted.  Mooey needed time to finish her feelings, and Candide gave her that time.

~*~*~*~*~

In a few weeks, Mooey was ready to try again, and Candide had a new plan in store.  No more up and down the driveway; Candide took Mooey straight to the big roads.  And the next day, they went to a bigger road, then a bigger one the next.  Soon, the little dragon saw that the trials on the driveway were nothing to be scared of, and eventually even saw that driving on the big roads was not much scarier as long as she kept her eyes open to everything. 

Her confidence grew, and within a couple of weeks she was driving with ease.  She was still a little scared, but already knew that Candide was right:  she only needed to spend the time.  Mooey began to fill her mind with plans of what to do first (and next and next still) when she passed her test this time.

Soon came the new test.  They pulled into line, same as before, only this time our little dragon friend was calmer in her seat.  She did not fidget or cry, but did drum her fingers a little.

In a few moments, the inspector came to the car.  Mooey couldn't believe it:  it was the same mean lady from the first test!  She would show her...

"When you're ready," said the inspector, "you can pull away from the curb and go up to the light."

Mooey took the stretch of road smoothly, and that same turn where the inspector grabbed the wheel last time was taken with grace.  Mooey flowed along with traffic until she was asked to make a turn into a little community, where she was told to make her turns and parks.  With those done, they went back to the beginning.

Mooey just knew she passed this time.  There had been no scolding or grabbing, and the little dragon's driving had been much less erratic.  She wrung her hands in anticipation.

The inspector printed out a long ticket, and Mooey's heart sunk.  "Your parallel park was too far from the curb..."

I failed...

"...but that will come with practice.  You passed.  Keep this with your permit until your license comes in the mail."

The inspector stapled the ticket to the permit and handed it to Mooey.  She read it quickly and saw that it was so long not because of an explaination of everything she'd done wrong, but to inform everyone who read it that it was the same as a license.  Mooey would have hugged her if she wasn't still mad at her for the first time.  She did, however, make sure to hug Candide.  She was so thankful.

Once home, Mooey hid in her room and cried for the day.  Not out of sadness, but rather out of sheer giddiness and relief and not knowing what else to do with herself.  Her world as she knew it had bloomed multifold.  She could go the places she wanted to go, when she wanted to go to them.  She could go to one place one day and many the next.  She could bring a friend or go all alone. 

She wriggled her wings with delight and beamed at the walls.  This was almost as good as having big wings, and it was certainly good enough.

[ January 03, 2007: Message edited by: Happy Mw Year ]

*huggles the little dragon*

Congratulations!

Yalahii.

thanks, actually, i was just going to come bump the room up m'self.  i've invited my writers' group to check out the site, with specific emphasis on little purple dragon stories :)

::sips daiquiries and watches Em do impressive aerial stunts::

*bounces through*

Yalahii.

*sneaks a sip*

Oh, yummy. :)

*gently moves the flopped flupi to a nice lounge chair*

*bounces around mindlessly*