Just Passing Time

So that story "Artist at Work" really sucks, eh? I agree. It's not too bad for a half, (how in the world can the word half be pronounced like it is?) but I really rushed to conclusion. Thing is, I wasn't that invested in the idea at the start and I just wanted to get it over with. Ah well, live and learn or learn and live, whichever.

I'm just back from getting my third cup of inspiration. I like the way the steam wafts from the blackness. Trouble is, the inspired ideas carried in the cup are disappearing in that soft smoke before they get to my brain. Do you think drinking faster would mean thinking faster? I hope not. The caffeine carrier is too hot to give that a go.

Let's see I've covered every issue known to man that starts with the letter F, food, family, films, friends, furry faces, folitics and the rainy feather, so I guess I will have to move on to something else. Pick a letter any letter, how about........W? Okay, let me see...I've got it! Wainscotting! What the hell is that anyway and did I spell it correctly?

(I'm not just killing time, I'm beating it to death with a dictionary.)

The greyness of the morning sky perfectly matched the hair but not the mood of our hero Sir Livingston Laughsalot, a misnomer if ever there were one. Livingston was more of a chuckle and grin guy than a belly belter outer who eschewed changing his name to Sir Chucklesalot only because of the clown implications inherent in the way that sounds. Livingston, on this day, was in search of dragons to mess around with because the whole dragon SLAYING thing gives him the willies and if you've ever had the willies, you know why Livingston gives them a wide berth.

Dragons, Livingston knew, were fun creatures at heart and a lot friendlier than Saints This-and-Thats who were all about running them through with their swords or, failing that, blasting them with their heat seeking missiles which was a clear violation of the weapons accords signed by them and seared by the dragons back in oh-twelve, gave them credit for. They would, in fact, play just about any game you could come up with if it involved flying, frying and scaring the crap out of passersby. What you needed to do, Livingston learned one day when he was too frightened to move, was exactly what he was doing then, stand your ground. If you did that and you displayed no weapons, the dragon would begin to make little feints and short runs like a puppy urging another to play. After that it was just a short jump to teaching the big green winged ladies and lads how to perform small tricks like play dead, barrel rolls and light my cigar from a hundred yards. Any dragon worth his salt could shoot a lick of flame thin as a pencil and they were not above showing off this talent if you encouraged them. Of course they could scorch an entire house if they wanted to, but in truth, they were pacifists and only fought in self defense. What they couldn't do was fly along while flaming so forget all those pictures where they are portrayed doing exactly that. I mean, come on, think about it. The fire would blow right back in their faces. The other thing you will never see happening is somebody riding on one. The dragon would shake them off easy as you would flick a bug from your arm with a fingernail. Take a close look at all the ridges on their backs and you can see they are not constructed for passengers. Besides that the down stroke of their wings is so strong it creates a vacuum that would suck any would be rider right off into space.

Livingston was in luck. One of his favorites, a dragon he had dubbed Fearful, because she was so shy at first, swooped out of the grey and landed before him. Fearful made an exaggerated dragon bow and, when seeing Laughsalot chuckle, knew the game was on. She tucked in her wings and scurried quickly into the nearby jungle. Flying is not allowed in drogon hide-and-seek unless you are playing with another dragon.

Livingston counted to the mandatory one hundred and then set off in pursuit of his pal. You would think that finding something as large as a dragon would be easy, but think about it, when was the last time you saw one? They have a way of walking lightly - perhaps using their wings to lift their great weight onto their toes without actually flying - and then folding themselves neatly into the jungle flora. To be fair, and to make their discovery a possibility, they leave behind small scorch marks on this branch and that and, of course, their distinct dragon scent lingers awhile in their wake. On this day though, while Fearful crouched in eager anticipation of springing out and startling Laughsalot into giggles, another entity prowled the jungle green and this one was not in search of fun.

Alrighty then. There you have that.