“Kiran, come fast for breakfast or it will get cold,” called my mother from downstairs.

I ran down for breakfast and quickly sat on the chair and started eating. My younger siblings were giggling at me. After finishing my breakfast, I went out.

I lived near the forest in a small beautiful house, with my parents and two naughty siblings. While I was walking outdoors, I thought of visiting my friend Sarah, who lived at a distance of a five-minute walk from our house. So, I headed towards her place. As I entered her house, she threw water on me as a prank. I screamed and ran towards the forest.

I heard her laughter, and then she said, “Kiran, wait there, I am coming.”

While I was waiting for Sarah, I started strolling around and thought of a plan to prank my friend in return. Just then, there was a big blast, after which I saw smoke came out and a huge tree caught fire, just 10 feet away from me. To my astonishment, I saw no one there. I was inquisitive to know who was behind this fire, so I walked around the tree to check behind it.

There I saw a wagging tail and the back of a huge animal or beast. I couldn’t recognise and then it turned around. It had a long bony face, it was a fierce-looking dragon. It was as white as snow, scaly, colossal and extremely intimidating. I couldn’t believe my eyes!

It sniffed me from a distance again and didn’t charge at me. I was encouraged and took a step closer to it. She didn’t show any signs of anger, so I walked closer to it. The dragon just sat there and rested her head on her hind legs.

Upon reaching it, I found out that one of her wings was badly injured. It seemed that she got entangled in something and in order to release herself, she must have struggled hard so she hurt herself badly and blood came out from her wound.

I felt sorry for the creature and immediately ran to my house to get a first-aid kit and other essential things.

I ran back as fast as I could to her. The dragon was grunting in pain. I slowly sat closer, whispering softly to it. She looked at me, but didn’t do anything. I slowly and delicately cleaned the injured area, put the ointments and bandaged it. I gave the dragon some bread, which I had taken from the kitchen. The bread was too small a meal for the huge creature, but it was all I could offer.

Since that day, I went to the forest every day, cleaned and re-bandaged her wound and gave her some things to eat. I noticed the wound was healing, and the dragon was gaining strength. I did all this so secretly that no one ever found out why I went there or about the dragon.

After a few days, the dragon became my secret pet and also my friend, I named her Pyro.

One day, when I went to the forest to see my pet, I didn’t find Pyro. I was confused, but I remembered that the wound was almost healed. The thought that Pyro must have flown to the place she had come from made me sad.

Suddenly, I heard a big thump on the ground, I turned and saw Pyro was standing behind me. It seemed happy and gestured to me to come closer to it. Then she knelt down. I knew Pyro was asking me to sit on her back.

I did and she started to fly. She flew for a very long time, and took me to a faraway place, a valley which was green and so beautiful. Pyro flew over it, and there I saw dragons of all kinds, sizes and colours. It was the place where Pyro lived.

Then she took me back to my place, and I saw there was something in her mouth, which she put near my feet. I knelt down and saw it was a glittering stone. Upon picking it, I found out it was a diamond — the size of a palm.

Pyro flapped its wings in excitement and took a flight. I watched it until it disappeared. A little sad, but excited from my trip to Pyro’s home, I returned home.

Pyro visits me often, we play and she takes me to faraway places. Our friendship is far from ordinary, since it is based on true love and care.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 29th, 2023