Part One

"You know, dragons are really beautiful animals!" Samira's seven year old brother said. "Maybe they are but there is no such thing as a real live dragon anywhere in this world" Samira said. "Yes there are, and even if you haven't seen any dragons, the Chinese people always believed in them!" "It is just part of their culture, as dad said last night, and he also said it is just a myth" "A myth, I do not know what you mean - but I know for sure they are real" "Just because you saw a picture of a dragon in the book and also watched them in a cartoon that does not mean they are real" "I saw one last night, I really did!" "Yeah, right - you really really have a very good imagination" "I may even have one somewhere!"

Samira felt she had to leave her brother at once; otherwise he would carry on with his imaginary story about the existence of dragons. She walked outside the house still thinking about what her brother was talking about but at the same time she was trying hard to dismiss from her mind all the stories she heard about dragons, no matter how nice and beautiful her brother thinks they are!

She looked around and noticed that the sky was clear and it was a sunny warm day. Then she remembered her mother telling her that if she has to go out then she must put her coat on to keep her warm as well as her scarf, as it was a very cold January - ah, and must tell everyone in the house where she is going to!

"This is impossible" She said to herself "as I feel very warm and I am only wearing my T-shirt. As she looked down to check her shoes, to her amazement she realised she was not wearing any, not even her favourite blue socks!

Naked feet and just a T-shirt with short pants and at the same time she felt very warm in January? There must be a mistake - hold on, maybe it was something to do with global warming, as she heard it from her father last week while they were watching the news on TV.

"I must go back and put my socks and shoes on" She said to herself.

Samira turned round to go back to her home when to her surprise she thought she had lost her way, as she could not see the house anymore!

"I must have walked a long way and got lost" "Where is our home?" "How can I go back?" Samira started to panic and wondered if she would ever find her way back to the house!

Then just as she started crossing the road trying to find another way, she heard a deep voice saying to her "Do not worry, you will be fine!"

She looked back but no one was there! She looked left and right but no one was there either! She looked in front of her but still no one was there!

"Maybe it was someone else talking to another person!" She said to herself.

As she turned the street corner, she heard the same voice telling her the same thing.

"Who is there?" "Who are you?" Samira shouted impatiently.

"Just come here and you will see me"

"Where? Anyway, my parents told me never to speak to strangers, so just go away

and leave me alone"

"I am not a stranger!"

Samira replied in her usual disbelieving and sarcastic way "Yeah, right!"

"OK, it is up to you but I am standing behind the big oak tree in front of you"

Samira looked around with a worrying look on her face, trying to spot the Oak tree and sure enough there it was big old tree about twelve meters away from where she was standing!

Too many questions were racing inside her head, whether she should go there and have a look or not! May be it was a trick, or someone trying to hurt her or even want to kidnap her, after all her father was a rich and famous man, she thought!

"Come on, you will be fine" Samira heard the same voice trying to encourage her come close to the tree.

Samira turned round, trying hard to look from a distance to find out what was behind the tree!

Oh, she saw something there! But she was not sure what it was! It looked like a branch of a tree. "Hey, hold on" she said to herself "it is moving! Yes, it is moving from one side to another - how strange, how really odd!"

"Show me your face and tell me who you are before I come any further" Samira said.

"I can do better than that" The voice said.

As Samira was still turning round trying to see more of this mysterious thing behind the tree, she quickly replied "How?"

"I can show you the way back to your home"

"But first you must tell me who you are and show me your face"

"Deal"

Samira replied excitedly

"Deal"

No sooner than both of them agreed on the deal, something did move out from behind the tree - something a bit strange that wasn't clear to Samira. It looked like a big animal with big legs and two smaller arms - or they looked like arms - with wings, big eyes, two large nostrils and brown rocky skin.

"Strange, but it looks familiar, not sure where I have seen that kind of animal before?"

"People call me "dragon" and I live not that far from here"

"This is crazy - is someone trying to make fun of me, I know there is no such thing called dragon" Samira quietly said while wondering who might have organised this trick to fool her!

"Did my brother tell you to wear such a silly costume and pretend to be a dragon?"

"No"

"Yes he did!"

"No, No No!"

The dragon suddenly moves quickly forward toward Samira, crushing tree branches and causing damage to the ground. Samira was able to see the dragon very clearly as it looked very real, and that was what made her frightened. For Samira, this was no longer a joke, but something dangerous and scary!

Samira ran fast, but the dragon was always one step in front of her, the more she ran, the closer to her side the dragon was! Samira was crying as she was running trying hard to save her life from this huge dragon that was so close to her that she was able to hear the loud noise of every breath he took in and out.

"Come here boy!"

She heard someone calling the dragon; it was a child's voice. The voice was so familiar to Samira that she refused to believe in her mind that her seven years old brother was calling the big dragon just like the way he calls his own little puppy! "Help me" Samira cried.

"Do not worry, he is harmless" "Is that you? I can not believe it! What are you doing here? My God, am I dreaming?"

Just as she was trying to finish her words, Samira suddenly felt that everything was getting darker around her, and at the same time slowly everything went silent, in fact life as a whole stopped, from movement, to sound to light.

Well, let us have a break here and then later we can go to Part Two.

* * * * *

Part Two

Did you think that was the end of the story in part one or just the beginning of it?

If you are wondering what happened to Samira and her brother, well both of them are in good health and happily chatting to each other - right now!

If you think part two is the beginning of the story and not the end of it then you can go now and have a cool drink and come back and read the rest tomorrow!

If you think the whole story has really ended, then please do not read anymore, just close your eyes and go to sleep, if you are already in your bed, if not, then get ready to go to bed before you completely forget about Samira, her brother and the dragon!

Questions from You

"So, where is Samira now?"

She is in bed, just like you right now, if you are reading this story in bed!

"Where is her brother?"

Oh, he is in bed too!

"What about the dragon?"

The dragon is sleeping too - Did you think that dragons do not sleep? They do, just like us!

"How is it possible to have a real live dragon in our modern times?"

Well, there are many dragons today, just as there always used to be on the planet earth, maybe there are even more now than ever before! We do not call them dragons anymore, as they have changed their appearance in order to adapt to their changing environment. These were descended of the original flying dragons are actually from the prehistoric giant lizards, which are referred to as "dinosaurs". Dinosaurs with wings existed alongside other types of dinosaurs. Today we call them "birds", just as in ancient times, many thousands years ago; these flying dinosaurs were named as dragons.

"Are you trying to tell me that the dragon in this story was only a bird and not a real dragon?" No, that is not the case. The dragon in the story was a real dragon; the difference here is that this dragon was described as he used to look like before his ancestors decided to gradually change the way they looked!

"Why did things go dark and silent for Samira?"

They went dark and silent because Samira fainted; as she was "mistakenly" frightened by a friendly harmless bird, sorry, I meant a dragon!

"How did Samira eventually arrive back home safely?"

With the help of her brother, the dragon picked her up and carried her back home safely.

"How old is Samira?"

She is ten years old.

"Was Samira's brother more knowledgeable about dragons than her?"

No, as Samira a little older than him, then she would have known more about things -including dragons- than her brother. Her brother met the dragon before Samira met him and that was why he seemed more confident about the dragon.

"Please send my regards to all of them"

Thank you - your kind regards will reach them all right now!

Oh, they do send their own regards to you as well!