Short Stories

Round Four: Return to Fantasy

Once upon a time, there was a man with an ordinary job, an ordinary life, and an ordinary, well, everything. His life was so generic that nobody ever thought twice about him. The odd thing was when he was a child he would make stories that were teeming with fantasies. He could picture an entire kingdom from the farmlands to the castle. It was all behind him, unfortunately.

However, on an afternoon off of work, he stumbled across one of his old stories. Curiosity obviously got the better of him as he sat down on the floor to read the old tale. "There he flew," he read, "gliding among the cotton clouds in the sapphire sky." He chuckled at how much effort he had put into this story. Although, he could not underestimate the power behind it. "The wind was like a soft whisper in his ear. Daring him to fly faster and faster until he had reached the end of the Earth."

Soon, his full attention was diving into the old text and the real world melted away like a lit candle. He could see the expanse of land beneath him, rivers sparkling white in the evening sun. A stone castle had its torches being lit for the ball that would be that same night. As he soared through this noble land, he could see carriages with intricate designs. Lords and ladies stepped out of those carriages in an elegant fashion, displaying their colors proudly. The man descended to the castle and floated onto the ballroom floor. He felt his arms grow in place of his wings and his tail shifted into a purple, scaled cloak much like his previous dragon form. 

"Good evening, my king." A couple, a lord, and his wife bowed. "You've been away such a long time." The woman sighed.

"Was your journey to the Other Land contenting?" The Lord asked him. 

He looked at them with a face of pure confusion. "I am no king." He replied. "I'm only a person." 

"My king, have you forgotten?" The lady questioned him, her smile disappearing. "Many years ago, you promised that on your return, you would throw a ball in honor of your people."

"I can't quite place this promise. I'm not even sure where I am. Am I dreaming?" He looked at them nearly dumbfounded. 

The Lord stepped forward, his arms turning to wings and his red cloak into a tail. "You created us, Your Highness. In the Other Land, you've written tales of us." Before him, the lord was now a spectacle never to be forgotten. A vision like a fire flurried around him in a blast of magnificent light, and he was no longer there. A crimson dragon with a fiery shimmer now stood before the businessman.

Suddenly, at this wild display of the lord's power, the king recalled the long-lost childhood memories he mistook as bouts of daydreams. He looked around the ballroom, remembering these people which he had created. He remembered how each and everyone had a fiery dragon inside them, including himself. He was the king of Cadmeia. City of the Cadmus people.