In the Garden
Miho had invited Naomi to join her and a friend for afternoon tea in the garden, and Baron had still not yet returned, so Naomi went out to the garden....
There sat the Fairy Queen and her friend....
Her friend was a dragon!!
'Of course a Fairy Queen would be friends with a dragon!' she thought.
Nothing seemed impossible in this world anymore....
'How wonderful!' she thought....
....as the dragon turned to notice her. "Well, hello there!"
"Naomi, I'd love for you to meet Winston...."
"He's one of my oldest and dearest friends..."
" And Winston, this is Naomi."
"She arrived with Baron last night."
Winston sprang up, and took Naomi's hand....
"It's so lovely to meet you, my dear.."
"Won't you join us for some tea?"
Babysitting
So Naomi sat down with Winston and Baron's Mother....
...and Winston poured her some tea.
"How long have you known Baron, if I may ask?"
"Ever since he was a wee baby."
"Yes. Winston was with me when I found him."
"Yes, and whenever Miho had to go away anywhere...."
"... I'd come and baby sit...."
"Oh my!! A dragon babysitter!"
"Yes, but with some adult supervision, of course..."
"What do you mean with 'adult supervision'?"
"Well, you weren't more than a 'child' yourself at the time."
A Boy and His Dragon
Naomi was enjoying tea out in the garden with Miho and Winston, listening to Winston's stories about Baron when he was little.
"Have you tried one of these? They are amazing!"
"Well, not that one, but this cream puff looks delicious..."
"I can't even imagine how wonderful it would have been growing up with a dragon as a friend..."
"We had a lot of fun together," continued Winston. "Baron loved playing chess...."
"...so we'd often have a game..."
"But what he really wanted to do was fly...like me. He was small and light enough for me to carry, but Miho wasn't too sure it would be safe, so only let us fly around the castle gardens at first..."
"Once she realized that we knew what we were doing, and that it was perfectly safe, we were allowed to go out on adventures together."
"We'd go flying over the countryside..."
"... stopping to watch any wildlife we'd come across..."
"Then off we'd go again..."
"Sometimes even as far as the distant ocean..."
"And most times we'd bring along some marshmallows..."
"Baron loved it when I'd roast marshmallows."
"...although sometimes they'd end up a little overdone."
Walking with Winston
Miho had excused herself since she had a few things to attend to, so Naomi and Winston took a stroll in the castle gardens....
"Baron was so lucky."
"I can't even imagine growing up having a friend like you."
"I always thought I was the lucky one. You see, there were no other dragons around...."
"...so it could be rather lonely. There was the Fairy Queen of course, but I missed having friends more my own age...like Baron and Prince Lawrence...."
"We'd often go out on adventures together..."
"I'd fly, and they'd be on their horses...."
"But we couldn't go quite as far as when Baron was younger...."
"Because their horses would need to take a rest every now and then...."
"It all sounds so wonderful."
Naomi sighed...."I wonder when Baron will be back? He's been gone an awful long time..."
Winston took her hand......
""I'm sure he'll be back soon."
'Speak of the Devil...."
"...here he is now."
Baron Returns
Baron had finally returned.
"I'm so sorry I was gone so long....... That took way longer than I expected."
"I see you've met Winston."
"Well, I think the two of you probably have a lot to talk about, so I'll leave the two of you alone. It was lovely to have met you, my dear."
"It was an honour to have met you as well. And thank you for a lovely afternoon. I hope we can visit again some time soon."
Baron took Naomi in his arms....
"I'm so sorry I was gone so long. It was never my intention to leave you on your own all day..."
*Next - Baron's Story
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