April 4, 2013

Dear Master Jack:

Welcome home! I know you must be delighted to be back in your own house, and I have heard that you have a new pet. How exciting!

The last time I wrote I told you about how I met a young human called Li and how I found out that his father had the Wasting Sickness, which is a very serious illness. After Li told me the symptoms that his father was experiencing (very serious ones might I add), I decided to go back to the Clan Hall to ask Lady Bao, my great-grand mother, for some of the herb mixture remedy that she’d invented. Over the years she had dosed many dragons with the remedy after the dragons had contracted the Wasting Sickness from humans. As I flew back to the Hall I worried that I had made a promise that I might not be able to keep. What if Lady Bao did not give me some of the remedy? What if she would not agree to treat a human?

When I got to the Hall I quickly sought out Lady Bao, and still out of breath I ran into the room where she and a young dragon were working on some new medical recipes. Both were grinding up spicy smelling substances using a mortar and pestle. Jars of many sizes were on shelves lining the walls of the room, and they were full of powders, liquids, and strange swirling substances. Some of the jars had labels written in our language on them, while others had labels covered in text that I did not recognize. I collapsed at Lady Bao’s feet, a tangle of legs and coils and panted out my request.

“My dear youngling, calm yourself. I cannot understand a word you have uttered. Take a breath, here have a sip of water,” Lady Bao said. Though her tone was gentle, the look in her eye was steely and I knew better than to disobey. Lady Bao was very old and now also very frail, but she was a very strong-willed dragon who deserved (and expected) respect.

I drank the water I was given, took many deep breaths, calmed my inner fire, and then bowed low in front of Lady Bao. “My Lady, I have made a friend whose father is very ill with the Wasting Sickness. Will you give me some of your remedy so that I might give it to my friend?”

“Youngling Lian, I know about every sick dragon in this clan and in the other clans in this area. You are not asking about one of our kind are you?”

Feeling afraid I shook my head. We dragons cannot lie and so I told the truth. “Lady Bao, I met a human boy whose father is gravely ill. He is afraid that his father will die and I want to help. Are we not taught that it is the duty of every dragon to help others? Does this law only apply to other dragons?”

Lady Bao smiled at me and I saw the softness in her eyes and felt the warmth of her affection. “Dear Lian, I am proud that you want to help someone in need. No, the law does not apply only to dragons. We should show compassion to all, and share what we have with those who need our help. I will put together a bag with enough doses of my remedy in it to cure this boy’s father. You will have to explain how the remedy is to be used to the boy. Will you be able to remember my instructions?”

“Oh yes, Lady Bao,” I said bowing so that my forehead touched the floor. “Thank you. Many times thank you. I will remember every word that you tell me.”

Soon I was flying as fast as I could back to the temple on the mountain, muttering Lady Bao’s instructions under my breath as I flew. The sun seemed to be in a terrible hurry to set and give it’s place in the sky to the moon, and I was afraid that Li would leave the temple before I got there.

When I arrived at the temple, the sky was turning a darker blue and I could tell at once that no one was there. I could not smell Li, or any other human for that matter. My disappointment filled me. All that flying had been for nothing and poor Li’s father would not get the help he needed.

I was about to begin my flight back to the Clan Hall when I remembered the look on Li’s face. I had given him hope. Was I going to abandon him now? Was I going to give up so easily?

Taking a deep breath, I rose into the air and began to follow the stone stairs down the mountain. I was hoping that Li was the last human to leave the temple and that I would soon encounter him on his journey back to the town.

Down, down, down those stairs went, and down, down, down I went flying above them. I began to appreciate how much effort it took to climb all the way to the temple on two short legs. Poor Li must have been exhausted by his climb up the mountain. Living in the mountains was a lot easier when you could fly up and down the slopes.

Below me I began to see the lights of the town, and I felt prickles of fear tingle along my back. I could not go much closer I knew. I could not risk letting all those humans see me. Why, they might attack me or take me prisoner. Though we dragons mean the humans no harm, they are frightened of us and most of them will attack first and ask questions later.

Then, at last, I saw a small figure trudging down the stairs. I saw the grief in his hunched shoulders and smelled his disappointment. It was Li.