Dragons! There is something fascinating about the unattainable.

Shanna watches as the massive black creature from her hiding place beneath a rocky outcropping. From the tip of its scaly snout, to the end of it horned tail, Shanna estimates it to be fifty meters long. There was no doubt it was the largest she had ever seen.

She had always dreamed on finding an abandoned dragon egg and raising the hatchling as her pet. They were intelligent creatures and Shanna was certain she could train it, and at the rate dragon grew she would be able to start riding it within two years.

She would be the first dragon rider. Shanna took a sudden breath at the thought of sitting astride the dragon’s neck on a saddle made of dragon hide that would fit between the last of the neck ridges and the shoulders. It would be easy enough to secure it in place with long thick straps that looped around the front legs and tightened.

The bridle would fit around the base of its snout, just under its yellow eyes and secure behind the bottom jaw. Then from either side long reins would extend to where she sat, tall and proud.

Thump, thump, thump. The dragon beat its wings and rose higher into the air. Shanna could only imagine what it would be like to feel the wind blowing against her face as they ascended higher into the clear blue sky. Her hands tightened around the imaginary reins in her hands, turning her knuckles white.

The dragon let out a deafening roar causing Shanna to clamp her hands to her ears. While she was day dreaming she had not seen the dragon arc around and come back towards her. I was only now she realized she had left the safety of her hiding place and moved out into the open where the dragon could not only see, but smell her.

Shanna knew the outcropping would not protect her now. She turned and ran towards the forest two hundred meters to her left. At the forests edge, she could see her mother. Her face was white, and her fists where clenched in front of her mouth to stop her screaming out in fear.

The dragon bellowed again. Shanna did not’t waste time looking over her shoulder to see where it was, because the dragons shadow overtook her and all she could do was keep running for her life. Her lungs burned with effort, and her legs were becoming heavy.

Thump, thump, thump. The down draft from the dragon’s wings knocked her off her feet and she fell hard to the ground. She heard her mother’s scream and waited for the dragon to take her, curling herself into a ball and squeezing her eyes closed.

It was still. There was no movement or sound anywhere, as if the world was holding its breath as it waited to see what happened.

The dragon roared again, but this time further away. Shanna lifted her head and found she was only meters from the forests edge. The dragon had been unable to grab her because it had run out of space and forced over the top of the trees.

Shanna pushed herself to her feet and ran into the safety of the forest, and into her mother’s waiting arms.

Perhaps a dragon for a pet was not a good idea after all. Perhaps a unicorn would be better.