Just a Bag

Cont’d part 11

          Several things have become apparent to me over the last few days… four very exhausting and frustrating days to be exact!  Since we departed the cave, it has become apparent to me that I know nothing about dragons!  Not only that, but the little brute seems to bring out my impatient side… not a quality that I can say I’m proud to display.   At the beginning of our trek down the mountain, I thought things would play out much differently than they did.  Sitting here around the campfire, you all look just as exhausted as I feel. 

There is simply no way we could have made it this far without each other, taking turns with sir grumpy pants! Had I not had an in-depth conversation with our Commander last night, as you slept, I very well might have strung the little heathen up by his tail this morning… he chewed both the laces off my favorite pair of shoes!  In comparison to him nearly setting the camp on fire three nights ago, I know it should seem minor but the lack of sleep has taken its tole on my nerves.  It didn’t help that he grew four sizes the first night, forcing us to walk him down the mountain.  I did say in the beginning that we would only travel as fast as our slowest member… I just didn’t consider having to walk a 50 lb. dog size creature, with an attitude, down a mountainside!

The very first day we left the cave, he slept quietly within my bag, so my mind became lulled into thinking things would go this smoothly for the rest of our journey.  We all made camp that first night, happily sitting around the fire, passing my bag around for everyone to take turns peeking in on the little one.  He seemed blissfully unaware of all the gentle caressing and examining we administered to check and care for his injuries.  My ignorance was in assuming that he was fine on the inside, since I found no major outward trauma.  We all learned the truth of things around 3 am…  what I will call the Awakening! 

When laying down for the night in my tent, I propped my bag next to my pillow, where I could hear him gently snoring and soon dozed off to sleep.  I was roused by a distant rustling sound coming from near the campfire.  As I lifted my head to listen, I became aware that my bag was empty… the baby was gone!  I sat bolt upright, and immediately began feeling around inside the tent to see if he was under my blankets or something.  Nothing! 

Scrambling out of the tent in the dark, I stumbled over something rather large and scaled, falling headlong into Bubbles tent.  This startled her and caused her to jump up in surprise… tripping over me and accidentally tangling herself up in the tent flap as she fell.  This caused her to pull the tent with her as she went down, turning both of us into a human burrito of sorts.  Between myself and Bubbles caterwauling, the entirety of the camp came alive in confusion… everyone pouring out of their tents at the same time, tripping over one another to discover a giant dog size creature, with its head caught inside a bag of Potato Chips!

Once I was able to extricate myself from Bubbles and her tent flap, I quickly realized that the creature was, in reality, the baby dragon.  He just got big… what did they put in those potato chips… good grief! While we had all been sleeping, this wee one woke up, snuck out of my tent, and ate through the entire camps left over foods from the night before.  We spent the next 3 hours corralling and calming the baby, though he no longer seemed so cute.  He was scared and mad!  Crocket got bit, I lost my right eyebrow to his mini flamethrower (mouth), and I can honestly say that no one got away without a sting or two… no one that is except for Christine! 

First lesson we got … he likes music!  When Christine began to sing an old nursery rhyme, in an attempt to sooth him, the dragon settled and began to emit a faint purring sound.  Second lesson we got… it was going to be a long walk!    He would not let us touch him… at all!  We spent the whole next day of travel walking painfully slow down the trail, coaxing him along with food or singing… even Bubbles was able to tease him along with her wand, letting him chase bubbles down the path.  That second night in camp, he seemed happy enough to follow Carver around like a small child, watching as the man went from tent to tent offering assistance to others.  When it came time for us to all turn in for the night, the dragon followed me right into my tent and curled up near my pillow.  I was happily deceived as I drifted off to sleep…

When I awoke the morning of the third day, he was still fast asleep next to me inside the tent.  While he snored softly, I became aware of several things rather quickly.  The first thing was the smell… I knew I should have thought about a potty run before bedtime.  The next thing was the wet feeling at the bottom of my sleeping bag.  Not only did he wee in my tent, but he chose to do it on me!  I was tired, frustrated and felt so very defeated by this oversized toddler!  I saw in a flash how the day was going to be… not better but just more of the same slow painful progress.  I felt resentful toward the little guy, as I was cleaning up yet another one of his messes.

That was yesterday morning, and the day was indeed, just as difficult as I had prepared myself for it to become.  I let my lack of empathy set the tone for the day ahead.  That is where I found myself last night, as I sat alone in front of the campfire… completely defeated!  In honesty, I sat there because the baby was sleeping next to the fire peacefully, and I didn’t want a repeat of the night before, inside my tent.  As I sat there watching him sleep, I felt the gentle whisper of our Commander take hold of my heart.  In humility, I came to realize that I had been expecting this baby to recover at my pace, and not his own.  How would I feel if others expected me to heal from hurts at a pace not my own? What if I was still in pain, but had to behave as if all was well… to satisfy others time tables and/or expectations?  Hindsights 20/20, as they say.

So, as I sat on the floor of my tent this morning, looking from my little brute’s eyes to the destroyed shoes in my hands, I made a decision!  I gave him the shoes!  He sat there looking at the shoes before him, then looked up into my eyes… and promptly vomited the shoe strings into my hand, as if he were making a sort of peace offering by returning them.  While one might say gross, I chose to look at things differently this time.  By George, I think we made some progress!  I believe that if you follow my lead today, as we move along towards our destination, the journey may go smoother than the last few days.  Please forgive my rush to jump ahead of our purpose… let’s all use the rest of this time learning about our newest member, and showing him the empathy and love so needed for his road to healing.