The Dragons of Yesteryear

While opening the closet door in his new bedroom, Little Peter Bronx was thinking about the lifelong friends he was forced to leave behind days earlier -- then abruptly the knob was thrust from his hand and the sudden wind changed everything.

Instantly, the whole scene around him had changed. As Peter looked around him in bewilderment, he was startled to hear a loud roar. He turned around, finding himself face-to-face with a dragon! He let out a yell and started to run. He ran across a drawbridge and onto some moss that had the feel of soft velvet. He wanted to stop and feel it, but the dragon was right behind him. Peter heard a hiss and looked over his shoulder.

The dragon was right next to him, running with him. The dragon let out a stream of fire, and it hit the ground right in front of Peter. He tripped over something just then, and the mythical beast caught up with him. As he fell, he could feel the dragon's hot breath on the back of his neck. Peter lay there, still as death, hoping the dragon would go away, when the tip of something poked him in the stomach. He moved his head and looked at his stomach. There, lying on the soft moss, was a magnificent sword! The huge, lizard-like beast watched Peter closely, but did not see the slight movements made to get the sword out from under him.

Peter finally got the sword out and jumped up, facing off with the dragon. The dragon roared, and Peter hit it with the sword. This time, the beast shot fire again, melting the sword. Peter turned to run, but the dragon caught up with him and threw him up in the air. When he landed, Peter felt something under his back, and it wasn't moss. It was stone, and when Peter got up, he saw that he was on the top of a tower! He went to the edge and looked down to see that it was covered with moss!

'A mossy tower,' mused Peter. 'How interesting!'

He looked around for a door, finally spotting one built right into the stone. He hurried toward it, and when he opened it, a long set of spiral steps led downward. He carefully descended them, and at the bottom, he saw a book. That book was a Bible. He opened it, and the first verse he saw was 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.'

Peter boldly opened the door of the tower and went out, cautiously approaching behind the dragon. As he walked, he looked around for a weapon. Not spotting any, he stopped. The dragon's tail was switching back and forth, and as it gave a big swipe, it knocked Peter off his feet. Peter yelled, and the dragon heard him. Whirling around, it saw him. Peter was scared silly, but found his feet and ran.

He dove into a lake and started to swim. He could not see very well, but he did see something ahead of him in the water. He swam toward it, and dove down to find out what it was. As he neared it, he saw the thing moving. It was squirming. Peter slowed his dive toward the thing just in time to see something break loose and swim toward him.

Oh, no! He thought. Baby dragons and they're heading straight for me!

About fifty of them were swimming toward him now, so he reversed his course and swam toward the surface, with a hundred baby dragons, growing rapidly, right behind him!

He burst above the surface and scrambled to shore. He ran, but was slowed by his waterlogged clothes. Just then, something flashed through his mind. 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.'

He grabbed up a rock and heaved it at the nearest dragon. It fell, and he did the same thing to the next one, and the next one, and the next one. He then ran out of rocks, and started running again. He kept going until he saw a bow and arrow pack on the ground. He snatched it up and whirled around. He shot arrow after arrow into them, and they finally diminished or ran away. He wiped his brow and looked around. Suddenly, he remembered that the big dragon was still after him.

Peter took of running from again. He was getting tired by now, but he pressed on as fast as his tired legs would take him. The ground beneath him shook, and he looked once again behind him. The large dragon had by this time caught up to him and Peter was tiring out. He thought again of the verse and immediately felt better. Yes, he thought. Christ does strengthen me!

He saw a door up ahead, and ran toward it. He wondered what it led to. All of a sudden, Peter forgot his wondering, and turned his thoughts to the dragon hot on his tail. These must be the dragons of the old times, he thought. They look really old for some reason.

And so Peter flopped down on the ground, tired out from running. The dragon pulled up next to him, and Peter knew that he must try to play dead. He tried it, hoping the dragon would leave him alone. Thankfully, the beast did, and as it lumbered away, Peter crawled toward the door, hoping to get to it before the dragon would turn around and see him. He got to it and flung it open, and there he was again, standing in the empty house. Peter's father walked into the room. 'Is this the room you want?'

'Oh yes, sir!' he answered.