The sign read,"No Howling."

I wrote this piece for Motivation Monday. I posted it just before the deadline Tuesday morning because I was driving home from vacation all day on Monday... When I say all day... Yeah, it took about 14 hours. It's been a hard transition this week. I haven't had much writing time. (And I may not get much for the next several weeks, as I am an Olympic FANATIC!) Anyway, this was a fun distraction to plan during my long trip. It kept my brain awake and active during otherwise quiet moments. I thought through this one and one for Menage Monday which I didn't get home in time to write (although I've started it) as well as planned some things out for my book. The prompt was "The sign read, "No Howling."" and must be used as the first line with a 500 word limit. I wrote about dragons for my friend Rebekah Postupak!

The sign read, “No Howling.”

Typical. She never did like much noise, but using the same word that was used for those tiny, yipping creatures… Well, that was just rude.

I bellowed, “Adarra!” and smiled, flashing my teeth in the waning light of the sun. That was nothing like a howl. Those stupid dogs couldn’t get that much echo if they all yipped in unison.

A growl came from the entrance to my right. I started to turn that direction before recalling her architectural prowess and her paranoia. She could very easily rig some sort of tunnel or something to project her voice to a different area of her lair. I stayed where I could see all the entrances – those that I knew of, anyway.

Her voice echoed from within, “What do you want?”

“To talk with you, you old hermit, so come out where I can see you!”

“Tridan?” her snout peaked out from the entrance a little ahead and to my left.

“Who else would come all this way to try to talk some sense into you?”

She inched out of the cave. I didn’t know if she was nervous or flirting. The way her scales shimmered in the setting sun gave me the shivers and I had to flap my wings and take a few sidesteps to calm down. She really should reproduce. It would be a shame to lose her coloring – the way her scales had that iridescent shimmer over that deep scarlet. She was breathtaking. The fire in my belly started to boil. Focus! I wasn’t here to court her!

“Why did they send you?” She was definitely frightened. I’d never seen a dragon try to hide in the open, but she was doing her best – head down, neck folded double against her chest, tail curled around the front of her – It was a pathetic picture.

“I’m not going to hurt you, force you, or even reprimand you. Please. We used to be friends.”

“That was a long time ago. Things change.”

“You know why I’m here.”

“The same as all the others?”

“Yes.”

“What makes them think I’ll give you a different answer?”

“I don’t know, but I told them I’d try.”

“What if I just say ‘no’ right now? Will you leave?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” I paused trying to decide if I would leave. I didn’t want to. I’d forgotten how spectacular she was. How radiant! Imagine if she were to stretch that neck toward me! I put my head down so I could clear the image from my mind. It was as hard to think as ever with her around. “I don’t want to.”

I dared not look up. How would she respond? Would she ask me to leave? “What if I say ‘no’ and invite you inside?”

My head snapped up and I looked into her swirling, multi-facetted eyes. The rainbow of truth swirled around a very bright red spark. Perhaps my trip wouldn’t be completely in vain.