Yes, I was going home. After 8 years of being gone, I was finally going home. Not that I was excited. No, in fact quite the opposite. With every mile that I got closer to my home planet, I remembered more vividly the reason that I left. It was infested with these dragon things, that ATE PEOPLE. That’s right, ate people. Whole. That’s why I left the day I was officially an adult. I know that had disappointed my mother since my four older brothers had gone to work with the guards on the city wall. But thing was that that guards were the people that got ate most often, so I decided that would not be the profession of my choice. So I left on the first ship out, and became a doctor. A nice safe profession where the chances were that you would stay in one piece.
However, as the giant space cruiser began it’s descent into the earthlike atmosphere of my homeland, I realized that being a doctor would not protect me from the dragon’s very sharp teeth. But my mother had called, and I could never really refuse her (except for the whole leaving home for 8 years thing). Besides, she had sounded urgent. So home I had come.
“Thank you, we hope you’ve had a good trip today, and that you have a pleasant experience here during your stay.” A voice rang out over the speakers.
“And we hope you don’t get eaten.” I muttered under my breath as walked out of the ship.
I blinked rapidly a few times as my eyes adjusted to the sparkling sunlight. Geneva was one of the farthest planets in the galaxy, but it certainly was one of the most beautiful, with its beautiful blue skies and green everywhere you looked. Out of nowhere there was jolt in the sky as a giant red creature slammed into the force field that protected the city. It shook its head once and then started in for another charge. One of the guards suddenly appeared and pulled out a long stick. It shot out a blue string of electricity at the thing. This was enough to send the dragon away this time. As always, I breathed a sigh of relief that the dragon didn’t get through, and that the guard didn’t get hurt, because as opposed to popular belief I did care very much about my brothers, and somehow I associated every guard with them.
“Ricky, Ricky! Over here!”
I turned to see my mother running over to me. She threw her small arms around me and held me tightly.
“Hey momma, how are you?” I asked, returning the hug.
“Oh excellent, now that my baby boy is here. I hope your trip was good. I know it’s long, but don’t worry. We’ll get you in a nice nap before the family dinner. Everyone’s so excited about you being home. We’ve missed you so much. Oh step back and let me get a good look at you.”
She gave a good hard look as she scanned me up and down.
“You always were so tall, but so skinny. You don’t eat enough. But don’t worry I can fix that.”
She talked like that the whole way home, which I didn’t mind. I love my mother. And if she’s not talking that means she’s mad at you. So I would rather have her talking.
It did feel good to sleep in my old bed though, under the same roof, where I had spent my first 18 years. However, I didn’t get to sleep near enough, because a mere hour later, my mother was back in my room asking if I would go next store to borrow something that we would need for the dinner.
“Sure, momma.” I said, knowing full well that she had enough vanilla extract. She just wanted me to go next store to see Alyssa. Alyssa was the youngest of 5 girls. Conveniently enough, her four older sisters had married my older brothers, so my mother was convinced that we needed to be together, even though quite frankly she got on my last nerve. Any time I saw her, I got the same lecture about being a coward for leaving, blah, blah, blah. She did have captivating eyes though…
I knocked twice on her door, and when she didn’t answer, I quickly turned away. But right, when I thought I was home free, the door opened. Luckily before I could say anything, she threw the vanilla extract at me and slammed the door. Not quite the welcome I was expecting, but hey, I wasn’t complaining. It was still weird though. I quickly put it out of my mind though. I had bigger things to worry about like getting through this family dinner… and not getting eaten.
Before long, all my brothers started arriving with their families. They were all tough looking with big muscles and quick smiles. However, they also had a lot of scars, which just reaffirmed my commitment to not be a guard. Dinner was actually very nice. I got to spend some time with my nephews and nieces and laugh with my brothers about old pranks that we had pulled off. Eventually though the topic turned to my father. My father was the best man I ever knew. He had died when I was 8 years old. A dragon caught him, and I had been there. They told me I was lucky to still be alive. But I doubt you could call it lucky. I still had that nightmare. For my brothers, my father’s death had inspired to become guards to protect people from ever having to suffer that, but for me it had just made me want to leave. My brothers just couldn’t understand that. But they hadn’t been there. They didn’t see it.
Mid-argument though, all of the buzzers went off. That’s a very bad thing. They all raced out the door towards the walls. Then the public alarms went off. That’s a very very bad thing. The dragons had gotten in. Quickly, I began to shuffle my family into our basement, one person after the next, until everyone was safely inside. Just when I was about to think that I would survive the night without being eaten I heard a scream. Cursing my luck, I ran to the window to see Alyssa stand outside with a dragon a few yards away. Stupid girl.
Without thinking, I grabbed the nearest object and ran out the door. As I watched the dragon began to step closer and closer toward the girl. Not knowing what to do, but knowing I couldn’t let her get swallowed whole, I began shouting to the get the dragon’s attention Then I remembered that these things can’t hear. So I threw the object in my hand. It was a vase. I had to be the worst rescuer in the world. Somehow it did the trick, and turned the dragon towards me, and began to advance in my direction. I began to slowly back up knowing I was running out of luck. It grew closer and closer until it had backed me into a corner. I pressed my self up against our power converter, knowing it was just a matter of seconds before I became dragon food. At least, I thought it would be relatively painless. After all, you did get swallowed whole. It’s not like you get swallowed piece by piece or anything. The dragon reared back its head to strike and at the last minute I did the only thing I could think of.
I ducked.
The next thing I knew I was being thrown into the air about twenty feet and landing hard. My next thought was that my arm hurt. Wait, my arm hurt! If my arm hurt, I couldn’t be dead. Dead people’s arms don’t hurt. Slowly, I opened my eyes to see a very burned up dragon in front of me. Of course, it had bit into the power converter, not me! It had missed, and then exploded. That’s why I wasn’t dead! Suddenly, Alyssa was in front of me, looking oddly enough very pretty.
“Are you alright?” she asked shakily.”
Was I alright? Was I alright? Of course, I was alright. I wasn’t dead. How much better can you be than not dead? No, I wasn’t dead. Life was great. So I did something impulsive. I kissed her. Right there. For a long time. And you know what? She kissed me back.
“I always kinda liked you, ya know.” I told her.
“Yeah, I know.” 1
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Author notes
i wrote this one day for no particular reason. It was probably one of the easier stories i've ever written... please tell me what do you think could make it better?
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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this is great, is there a sequel to it. i really enjoyed it. i would love to read more.
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