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Blog of the Bartender



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Response #1: hoopanaholler

It was gorgeous day, the sun was causing dapples of shade under the trees and a soft breeze rippled the leaves above me. Reluctantly, I stepped out of the gracious woods and started across the field at a lazy pace, stopping occasionally to pick up a stone or an interesting piece of grass. This was a day I had stolen just for myself, no responsibilities, no time table to meet and no one to interrupt me. A great glorious day just for me was a rarity in my life and I wasn’t going to rush a moment of it.

During a moment of pure exhilaration I did a quick twirl with my arms outstretched to the sides, my head tipped back, and laughed. Before I could stop I stepped on something that felt like slippery oil under my feet and fell to the ground. My searching eyes found the culprit that had gotten in my way. It appeared to be an iridescent scale hidden in the tall meadow grass by my left arm. Cautiously I picked it up, held it to my nose and sniffed, ran my fingers lightly across it and then rubbed my fingers together. It didn’t feel, smell or look like anything I had ever encountered before. My imagination went wild. Hefting it up and down, side to side and then twisting it I decided it was very light for its size. Where had it come from and how did it get here?

Closing my eyes I began to compose the scene. A large pterodactyl had flown over the field carrying a leviathan which he had killed for his dinner and the scale, which had been loosened when it had been captured, floated to the ground. Uncaring that he had lost something that had no meaning to him he continued flying toward his aerie where he would enjoy the fine dining that his prey would offer him. Yes, this could have been what had happened.

My mind started conjuring another scenario as soon as I finished with that one. A group of traders had traveled across the field in the spring. The item had been lost as they gathered up their goods to continue on their way. The item was of such light weight they did realize that they had lost it before they unpacked the merchandise at their destination. Having no idea where they had misplaced it the leader shrugged and determined to retrace his steps after the meet. The value of the item was too great to not search for it but they needed the money that the rest of the items would bring too much to leave before selling them. No, this version would not work. The grass it had laid upon was long and tipped over under the item, if it had lain there since spring that spot would have been bare.

If this had been a fairy tale the answer would have been easy, the scale would be from a dragon flying over the field. This was real life though and dragons did not exist. I decided to close my eyes and rest in this pleasant haven before getting up and continuing my sojourn. I fell into a restful doze while my mind turned over how the item I found had ended up in the meadow.

Over head a flash of rainbow color soared low over the field. “I know it fell off some where near here. I have to find it before some magician does. Of course Magicians were few and far between in this day and age, but they did exist and he had no desire to be enslaved by one. We dragons have been so careful to keep ourselves hidden that to have a scale as fresh as this one would set off a hunt that would rival the largest hunts ever held. Stupid men would once again blame us for the evils that befell them and magicians would be crawling out of the woodwork to get their hands on pieces of a dragon. I have to find it before someone else does.” Seeing the woman resting in the field the dragon changed the direction of his flight to avoid waking her. He didn’t need a sighting to accompany the scale. That surely would bring disaster.

As the sun began its descent from the horizon I awoke and picked up my curio. I didn’t know how it got in the field but I figured it would make a pretty knick knack on my dresser. All in all it had been a great personal day and I couldn’t wait for the next one.

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