Dellian: Imagination Avenue by Sally P. Rozelle

Dellian was so quiet and peaceful at night. All the houses were dark, except for the occasional reading lamp. Savanah looked at her wristwatch. 11:05pm. She took a left on Imagination Avenue and then gasped. There was no one outside the gates keeping watch for all the dragons and other monsters out there!

Savanah bolted across the street and burst into her house. The family’s Winder was in the living room, floating near the floorboards looking for rats. Savanah’s mother, Ruby, was in the kitchen, brewing a dragon stunning spell. “Mom!” cried Savanah, “There are no guards by the gates!” 

Ruby turned pale. “No guards!” 

“What should we do? We don’t want any dragons coming into the—” 

A loud growl cut Savanah off. Ruby dropped the spoon and ducked behind the boiling cauldron with fear in her eyes. Savanah, seeing that her mother was useless, realized there was no one else to help her.

Savanah ran into the living room, opened the window, and cast a cloud message to the Dellian Dragon Patrol. No one answered. What now? 

Lights outside were turning on. Frightened witches and wizards dashed about. Some cowered behind lamp posts, hiding in the shadows. Others cast blocking spells, trying to protect the town from the family of dragons that had begun to wander into homes.

Savanah sprinted back into the kitchen to see a fluffy baby dragon in her path. What should she do? If she hurt it, the mother dragon would come and finish her off. Savanah had an idea. What if she changed her shape to look like a baby dragon? She tapped her watch.

Immediately, Savanah looked like a baby dragon. The true baby dragon moved aside to let her pass. Ruby peeped out from behind the cauldron and let out a shriek. There were two baby dragons in her kitchen! With a tap at her watch by her talon, Savanah was human again. Ruby sighed in relief, and then realized that there was still another dragon behind her daughter. The dragon turned and plodded into the living room. Ruby exhaled. She knew she had to be strong for Savanah. “We need to fight the dragons! They’ll kill us all!” 

Savanah wondered if her mom was exaggerating. The only dragon in the house was playing with the Winder, and she had to admit, it was kind of cute. Savanah tried to remember what she had read in the book Questions Your Parents Won’t Answer About Dragons. Were dragons really vicious? They were only animals; like everything else, they had to protect their families and friends. Why did the village start to fight them without knowing what the dragons wanted?

Ruby picked up a flask full of dragon stunning potion and, despite her fear, ran outside. Savanah, hesitant, followed. Magician Koop and Magician Kent were fighting the mother dragon, who was standing in front of her babies. The Sorceress Flanie was battling two teenage dragons, and the rest of the villagers were attacking the biggest, strongest dragon Savanah had ever seen. 

Well, maybe she could help stop this fight. Savanah tapped at her watch. Instantly, she was a child dragon. She plodded up to another child dragon, who was watching the fight from behind a dumpster. Savanah asked in dragon tongue, “What are we doing here?” The other responded: “Momma wanted to find a new nest for us. Remember?” Savanah snorted an “oh, right” and ran towards Magician Koop. He yelled and pointed his wand at her. Savanah tapped her watch with her talon and transformed back into herself. Magician Koop’s spell hit her in the chest. It was a dragon stunning spell, so she was not harmed by it. But if she had been a second slower in her transformation, she would have been stunned.

Magician Koop realized what he had almost done and yelled to the villagers, “Let her pass!” 

Savanah tapped her watch again. She moved toward the big dragon, and spoke in dragon tongue. “I am not your kind. I am a magician. Changing forms is my magic. We did not know you were only looking for a new nest. We are sorry. Can we make a treaty with you? Can dragons and magicians be friends?” 

Smoke sprouted from the dragon’s snout as he responded, “If my children are safe, yes.” 

“Let me speak to my people.” Savanah changed back and walked over to the wizards and witches. She gathered them all and told them about making a treaty with the dragons. “All they want is a new place to live. We are hurting their children, and if we can all be friends, everyone will be happy.” They agreed. 

“…and they lived happily ever after.” Ruby closed the book. Felipe, her dragon, was sleeping at her feet. Fluffy, Savanah’s dragon, was snuggled up against the soft rug beside the fire. On this cold Beepil’ evening, dragons were magician’s best friends. Especially fluffy ones.

Glossary:

Dellian--------a small village in the wizarding world

Winder--------ghost-like creatures, harmless, eat rats, live in old houses

Beepil’--------a Winter month