Thecity1.com begins a feature series to showcase original stories and story endings by young writers and to inspire others to write. The age range for submitting is eight to 16. No horror/violent stories will be accepted.
Writers must submit their first and last name, age, and a phone contact. None of this information will be published. Therefore, writers must submit an original pen name to be published.
Writing will be posted on thecity1.com Home Page and Facebook. Email stories to webmaster@thecity1.com.
The first story is “Dragon Flower” by Violette Lumière du Soleil.
Chapter One
I was swirling–no, dangling!–in a cage with my arms bound in chains behind me, with a full view of the city below. When I looked up, I almost screamed. I was hanging on a chain around the neck of a big, black dragon! It was smashing buildings and setting the city aflame. Suddenly, a blazing piece of roofing flew right at me.
I woke up in a cold sweat. I was terrified. Dragons haven’t existed for hundreds of years! It just didn’t add up.
I jumped when someone knocked on my door. “Mistress Zenia?”
“Yes?” I called.
“Work starts in half an hour,” the voice said. “Best get dressed.”
On my way to the nursery to tend to the children, something caught my eye. In the courtyard a lonely flower was growing. I walked over and examined it; I decided to pick it. As I did, a tingling sensation rippled through me. It startled me.
I looked around and, finding nothing, proceeded to the nursery with the curious feeling that someone, or something was watching me and the flower.
Chapter Two
By evening, all of the petals had fallen off the flower, leaving the red, bud-like part in the middle. At supper, the maids all said I appeared to have strange behavior. Could it be the flower? I still felt a little tingly from that morning.
I needed to ask Madam VienSwa a few questions. Maybe she knew something about my dream and the flower. I made haste to her bedchamber. I knocked, and she welcomed me in.
“Have you ever heard anything about a black dragon?” I asked.
“Oh, yes. Would you like me to tell you the story of when I was a child?” I nodded.
“I lived in this very village; it was a bright and happy place. Then one day, a great Evil came to the village. Destroyed everything in its path, it did. Went on for days. Nothing was left. Then came a wizard. The Evil tried to stop him, but the wizard turned him into a seed, capturing him in his last form: a dragon.”
There was silence. Then Madam VienSwa said, “But the wizard buried it, so there ain’t nothin’ to be worried about, Child.”
I stood up shaking, thanked her for the story, and walked to my bedchamber. I wanted to check on the flower, make sure it was safe. Once at my room I took a deep breath and opened the door.
The sound of screaming rang through my ears, as I saw the disaster my room had become. Everything was burned to ashes, some things still smoldering! In place of the flower was the shadow, the dragon, the Evil. And, as it (he?) picked me up, I realized the screaming voice was my own.
Chapter Three
It was my vision all over again. Like déjà vu, but this time, I knew it was real. Me, in the cage, my prison. The city set aflame, people screaming. The Evil, my captor, doing the burning. I saw the maids and shouted, “Help! Help!”, but they didn’t hear me. I was alone with the Evil.
Wait. I thought, “Where was the flaming piece of roofing from my dream?” Then, almost as if I had called it, it came at me. But, as I looked closer, I saw that it wasn’t coming at me, it was coming at the chain link connecting my prison to the dragon’s chain. The link broke, and I fell.
When the cage hit the ground, it shattered, freeing me. I knew that it was no accident.
I saw Madam VienSwa hiding behind a wall, that–surprisingly–had not been knocked down.
“I know how to defeat the Evil,” she said to me.
“How?” I asked. “We don’t have the wizard anymore!”
Then her face took on an expression that I had never seen before.
“Child,” she said. “I am the wizard.”
THE END