“Grammy are you pulling my leg? Did Buttercup really fly to Great Grandaddy Norman? What did she say? Wait is Buttercup a she? What did he say?” Hermonia was squirming in excitement and eagerness. Her emerald green eyes flashing with unanswered questions.
“Hold on, I’m getting to that. All in good time my sweet.” replied Rachel ruffling the blonde hair of her only grandchild.
Hermonia sat back on her heels and tried to wait patiently for the story to continue. Rachel and Roland could feel her interest and excitement rolling off her in waves.
Roland resumed telling the story and Hermonia focused all her attention on him. “Norman simply stared in stunned silence as Buttercup approached. As you can imagine, the size of the dragon was many times larger than that of a seven year old. He waved and couldn’t help but smile in return when Buttercup dipped her head in return of the gesture, being sure to keep her movements to a minimum to prevent harming the tiny creature in front of her.”
“And then like all intelligent, exuberant, excitable, and eager youngsters all the questions Norman had for the beautiful creature in front of him started to spill out all at once. Buttercup, being a dragon after all, didn’t speak the same language and she simply let the questions and words flow over her like air rushing over her head when she was flying around. Norman didn’t seem to know that there was a language problem nor did he stop to consider how odd the situation was a seven year old talking to a dragon over looking the sea.”
“Grandaddy, how did Buttercup understand Norman?” Hermonia’s tone was serious, completely baffled by the language barrier.
“It seems that Buttercup was amazing at learning new languages and after listening to your great grandaddy speak non-stop for a couple of minutes she could understand him. When Norman paused to take a deep breath he got the shock of his life when he heard Buttercup speak to him.”
“Buttercup,” spoke the dragon. Her voice was deep and rumbled.
Her breath washed over Norman like a warm summer breeze, instantly warming him. This was the best day of his entire life. If nothing else ever happened to him, Norman knew that today was going to be the greatest day he ever experienced. “My name is Norman, you can call me Norm. I am very pleased to make your acquaintance. I have so many questions but I have watched you all my life and I think you are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Hermonia’s eyes were quickly sneaking glances at the skeleton just behind her. The large skull looked terrifying to her, although she was never scared when she looked at it. Hermonia wondered what she had looked like when she was alive and flying around.
Roland looked at Hermonia and knew the time had come to describe the dragon. “By this time, the villagers had begun to come out of their houses and looked around the village. One of the children suddenly screamed and pointed and all the eyes of the village followed the trembling finger of the child. The eyes of the village were all shocked at what they saw, Norman the Strange was having a conversation with a dragon!”
”Norman the Strange? Grandaddy that is mean.” Hermonia’s voice was filled with hurt and outraged at long forgotten hurts.
“I know precious but that’s what the villagers called him. He said it never bothered him and I believed him. He knew he was different than the people around him and so their cruel words didn’t hurt him.”
“You knew Great Grandaddy Norman?” she shrieked. She sprang to her feet and began dancing about before flinging herself at Roland.
“I meet him several times before Grammy and I were married. In fact, he danced at our wedding all those years ago.” Roland’s voice was peaceful and fond.
“He was a wonderful man Hermonia. We will tell you all about him later. This story is about Buttercup and Norman’s first meeting remember?”
Hermonia nodded her head in acknowledgement and settled into Rachel’s lap to continue listening to the story. Rachel resumed the story, her voice low and rhythmic.
“The villagers just stared at the site before them, the huge dragon and the strange boy from the village that none of them understood. The pair on the cliff seemed oblivious to the pointing and terror of the villagers, and truth be told, neither of them cared.”
“Beautiful?” Buttercup rumbled in response, confusion evident in her voice.
“It means I think you are lovely to look at and are incredibly majestic in flight.” Norman said sincerely and almost reverently.
“It is difficult for me to talk to you here without knocking you into the sea. Would you like to go for a ride and we can talk someplace else?” Buttercup quizzed.
“Norman vigorously shook his head in agreement and when Buttercup lowered her head he eagerly climbed on and settled down behind her neck. He hung on for dear life and was overjoyed when he felt the wind begin to rush past his face. The large wings of Buttercup easily soared through the air climbing ever higher into the sky until she reached gliding height. But as soon as Buttercup started to glide, high above the clouds our of reach and sight of any villages below, she felt the tiny creature clinging to her neck begin to shiver uncontrollably.”
Hermonia shivered in sympathy and tried to burrow deeper into Rachel’s lap. Rachel wrapped her arms around her and Hermonia instantly settled and resumed listening.
“Buttercup aimed her large head at the speck of land far below the clouds. Her large wings made quick work of the vast distance and soon she was coming in for a landing in a large sun drenched meadow. Buttercup lowered her head and Norm climbed down and stretched his limbs. He was chilly but flying had been so exciting. Looking down on clouds, knowing he was far above the villagers that didn’t understand him was peaceful. Norm sat down and looked at Buttercup. She had laid down curled into a ball, much like Norm’s cat back in the village, with her head on her front legs looking up at Norm expectantly.”
“Grammy, what did Buttercup look like?”
“Well, Grandaddy said that she was the color of a pale yellow sunrise with eyes the color of the sea. Her wings were streaked with orange and rose making it look like her wings were streaks of fire staining the sky when she flew. Her face was a beautiful yellow and cream color. Grandaddy said that Buttercup was the single most beautiful creature he had ever seen, with the exception of your Great Grammy and his children and grandchildren.”
“Grammy,” Hermonia’ voice was slightly reverent with awe and slightly sleepy, “Buttercup sounds like a princess.”
“Well, my sleepy sweet, she was in fact the oldest of the dragon’s so I guess that is a kind of princess isn’t it?’
Hermonia sprang from Rachel’s lap, “I will not go to sleep until I know what Buttercup and Great Grandaddy Norm talked about. Imagine Grammy, talking to a dragon!”
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