Three Dragons in the Guest Room

Your friend’s guest room is perfectly nice.

The sheets are clean. The pillow is soft. The curtains are drawn, except for a sliver where moonlight slips through. There is absolutely no reason you shouldn’t be asleep.

And yet.

You turn the pillow over. Then back. You fluff it. Fold it. Try the other pillow. But it just isn’t your pillow.

A scratching sound comes from beneath the bed.

A small red dragon climbs onto the mattress, yawns enormously, and looks at you as though all this fussing has become rather inconvenient. It circles twice beside your head and curls into a ball.

Soon, warmth seeps through the pillow. It’s still not your pillow, but it’s better. You close your eyes.

The house creaks. Somewhere, a pipe knocks. A branch taps the window. These unfamiliar sounds cause you to miss the steady hum of the fan beside your bed at home.

Something begins to rumble.

A second dragon has appeared on the windowsill. This one is blue and round, with its nose tucked beneath one wing.

Rrrrrrrrrrrrr.

It’s purring, you realize, emitting a soft, stead sound of contentment almost like your fan. You smile and close your eyes.

Much later, you wake and, for one confused moment, have no idea where you are. The ceiling is wrong. The window is wrong. Everything is dark and unfamiliar.

Then a soft orange glow appears on the dresser.

It fades.

A moment later, it glows again.

A third little dragon is sleeping there, curled around its own tail. With every breath, warm light shines faintly beneath its scales.

Glow.

Dark.

Glow.

Dark.

You watch until your eyes become heavy. The pillow still isn’t yours. The room still sounds different. The shadows still fall in unfamiliar places.

But when morning comes, you wake with one dragon on your pillow, one rumbling on the windowsill, and one faintly glowing in the sunshine.

Your friend peeks through the doorway.

“Sleep okay?”

You look at the three dragons.

“Eventually, yes.”