Gerald the Jolly Dragon
by
A.G. D’Agnese
https://www.agdagnese.com
Cover and illustrations by Amanda Brock
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PUBLISHED BY:
Gerald the Jolly Dragon
Copyright © 2011 by A.G. D’Agnese
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This book was written for and dedicated to my daughter, Erin Rose. Daddy loves you Erin – always has – always will.
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Gerald the Jolly Dragon
DEEP in a forest a long, long time ago there lived a Dragon. Not a mean, nasty, fierce Dragon or a dirty, smelly, horrible Dragon. This Dragon was a happy Dragon. His name was Gerald and all the animals in the forest loved him because he was so happy. In fact, they called him Gerald the Jolly Dragon. He had green scales, a purple belly, a red tongue and a long tail he would wrap around himself whenever he stopped to talk to the other animals or when he took a nap.
Since Gerald was such a happy Dragon he would rarely breathe out fire. Oh, once in a while, to show off, Gerald would raise himself up and with a mighty roar, make a huge stream of fire shoot out of his mouth into the sky. His forest friends were always excited to see Gerald breathe fire but sometimes a young one would become afraid. Gerald hated to frighten anyone so he saved his fire breathing only for special occasions.
There came a time, however, when Gerald the Jolly Dragon did become a fierce and awesome Dragon. He had to roar and breathe fire. He had to make himself look mean and terrible. That is what this story is all about.
On a clear sunny day in autumn, when the leaves on the trees were just turning bright yellow and red, Gerald, as he loved to do, went for a walk in the woods. He left his lair, that’s what dragons call their homes, to visit his friends in the forest. A warm breeze gently stirred the leaves in the trees. Gerald felt jolly. He decided to look in on his cornfield. The corn is ripe and ready to pick, thought Gerald, and I love fresh corn.
He’d just passed the little creek that gurgled and splashed down to Big Meadow when he entered a stand of maple trees whose red leaves sparkled in the sunlight. There he met the Squirrel family. Of all the animals in the forest, Gerald liked the Squirrels the best.
“Good morning, Mr. Squirrel,” said Gerald. “Good morning, Mrs. Squirrel. It’s a fine day in the woods, don’t you think?”
“It sure looks that way, Gerald, but we heard there are strange animals in the forest,” said Mrs. Squirrel. “Mr. Rabbit told us they came from across the Great Prairie.”
“They tore up some of the trees near Grassy Hill and made a big fire and loud noises all night long,” added Mr. Squirrel. “They even tried to catch one of the Deer family.” He paused then continued, “We are quite upset.”
“My, my, my,” said Gerald, “that is upsetting. What do these animals look like?”
“Mr. Rabbit said they are as big as bears, have green skin, sharp teeth and black tongues,” replied Mr. Squirrel. “And they run on their back legs.”
“Hm...They sound like the Ogres from the Black Mountains,” said Gerald. “I never thought they’d come to our forest.”
“If they can’t behave themselves, I wish they would just go back where they came from,” said Mrs. Squirrel.
Gerald knew that long ago Ogres had hunted Dragons until the Dragons had united and forced the Ogres to live in the Black Mountains. They’d been there ever since. Now, Gerald wasn’t feeling at all jolly. In fact, he was frightened. Ogres could be mean.
“Maybe they won’t stay long,” Gerald said hopefully.
Just then, little Jennifer Squirrel jumped out from behind a bush where she’d been hiding. “Boo!” she said.
“Oh, Jennifer!” Gerald said, pretending to be afraid.
Gerald looked down at the tiny Squirrel. Jennifer was his favorite friend. They would play games like hide-n-seek and Gerald would let her climb on him. Sometimes he would take Jennifer for rides. If those Ogres hurt any of my friends, I would be very sad, thought Gerald. I must find them soon, before they hurt anyone.
“Daddy says the strangers are bullies and I should hide from them if I see any. I was practicing hiding. How did I do?” Jennifer asked.
“You did great little one, Gerald answered. “I never knew you were there.” To the other Squirrels he said, “I think I’ll have a word with these Ogres; maybe they’re just passing through our woods.” Deep in thought, Gerald continued on his way.
The main trail turned toward the cornfield and was joined by a small trail that led to Grassy Meadow. An old, gnarled oak tree stood where the trails met. Suddenly, from the smaller trail, Gerald heard the sound of running hooves. The large Deer from the other side of the forest ran swiftly past him. Behind him were three Ogres!
Gerald stepped out into the path–right in front of the Ogres and let out a snort. Smoke came out of his nose. His tail rose up behind him. He spread his wings wide, and tried to look big.
The first Ogre stopped as fast as he could. He looked VERY surprised to see a Dragon. The one right behind him stopped too, but the third Ogre must not have been paying attention. He ran right into the others. They all fell in a heap in front of Gerald. Gerald was a little afraid of them but he couldn’t help but laugh seeing a pile of Ogres, arms, legs and all.
“Ha, ha, ha...” he chuckled.
“What’s so funny Dragon?” said the first Ogre. “We almost caught that deer and you let him get away.”
“Oh, ahem...I see. But, we are all friends in this forest and we don’t chase each other,” answered Gerald.
“Is that so? Well, we don’t care about that,” said the Ogre as he untangled himself from the others. “We’re hungry and want some food.”
The other Ogres moved closer. Gerald became frightened. He snorted again. This time more smoke and a little fire came out of his mouth. The Ogres backed away. Gerald didn’t know what to do. He said, “This is a nice peaceful forest. Okay?”
The Ogres looked at each other. The first one said, “Ah, yeah...sure. We were leaving anyway.” With that they turned and slowly ran back up the trail.
“Well, I guess I showed them,” said Gerald. Feeling rather pleased with himself he continued on to his cornfield. There, he picked corn and ate till his he was rather full. He lay down in his field and looked up at the clouds as they moved across the sky. He sighed happily.