I was late, as usual. There’s something about mornings that just refuses to let me wake up. I think I’m cursed with dark magic.
I ran to catch the bus, but it pulled away from the stop just moments before I reached it. Resigning myself to another day late for work, I sat down to wait for the next bus.
Five minutes passed and I was ready to just call in sick. Again. I pulled out my phone to check the time. 7:43. The bus ride took fifteen minutes, plus an extra five minutes of running from that stop to the office. I certainly wasn’t going to make it.
I sighed and looked down the street, hoping to see my bus approach. All I saw, however, was a large dragon gliding just above the road, coming directly at me.
Not again.
I ran. Most people would run away from a fire breathing menace, but not me. Nope, I’m the fool who runs straight at it. I dropped my briefcase and threw off my suit coat. If nothing else, I would keep that from being burned to a crisp. I’ve lost far too many articles of clothing that way.
Bloody dragons.
From my belt, I unclipped a small metal cylinder. To the untrained eye, it would look like a flashlight. But when I pushed the button, no light emerged. Instead, a long sword extended from the cylinder, bright grey steel glimmering red from the reflection of the dragon’s scales.
The dragon opened its mouth, insides glowing orange. I jumped out of the way, narrowly missing being charred to a crisp. The dragon roared as it flew overtop my position. Pushing myself back up, I turned and followed it with my eyes. It circled around, ready for a follow up attack.
I ran into the middle of the road. By this point, all traffic had stopped and turned down side roads. After all, who in their right mind would want to drive towards an angry dragon?
Then again, who in their right mind would intentionally fight one?
The dragon turned and came at me again. I ran towards it, sword at the ready. This time the dragon didn’t look to want to roast me. Instead, it pulled its wings back and extended its front legs, ready to rip me to shreds.
I dove forward and turned in the air, landing on my back. As I fell, I thrust my sword skyward, piercing the underbelly of the beast. The earth to quaked as it crashed on the asphalt.
I took a deep breath before getting to my feet. I walked slowly towards the beast, ten meters away, dead on the ground.
I retracted my sword and clipped it back to my belt. I picked up my jacket and briefcase and walked back to the bus stop. Somebody else could deal with the carcass. My job was done.
I looked down at my arm. The sleeve of my white shirt was charred black. Amazingly, it was still attached and hadn’t burned off.
A vehicle honked as it passed by me, apparently upset I was walking on the road. Maybe they didn’t realize I was the one that had killed the beast. Or maybe they did and didn’t care. Such was life in the city.
I looked up to see who dared honk at me. It was my bus. I chased after it, waving my warms like a mad man. Seeing nobody at the bus stop, my ride sped past it. The worst part was, my boss wouldn’t even care why I was late.
Bloody dragons.