A story for Hattie
Every summer ticko became depressed, as sad as somebody who is lost. Everyone else loved summer. The reason ticko didn't like it was because of the competition that happened every year at midsummer - the Dragon of the Skies Competition. A prize called the Golden Flame was awarded to whichever of the young dragons was the best at flying.
ticko had never learned how to fly, and could not join in. ticko was the last one now in the class who still couldn't fly. Instead, ticko walked down to the naming pool to see Emerald. But there were some small humans already there. As ticko reached the other side of the pool one of them was saying to Emerald, "I'm hattie and this is grace. We come from Nottingham in a land called England".
ticko looked into the naming pool. The sun reflected from the surface like a mirror. ticko picked up a stick and stirred the water. The reflections shattered into fragments. It was warm, even though there was a brisk breeze, and ticko took off the indigo neckerchief it usually wore.
"This is a great day to fly a kite" said grace.
"What is a kite?" asked Emerald, looking confused.
hattie looked around: "Here are some sticks - if you can find us some string and some fabric we can make one."
ticko looked up and held up the stick and the neckerchief. "Will this do?" ticko asked. "Or is this too bright a indigo?"
"This is my friend ticko," said Emerald. "I have some string around here somewhere ..."
"I think indigo is a great colour for a kite" said Hattie, smiling at ticko.
grace and hattie busied themselves arranging the fabric and sticks and tying them together with string. At last they called out "It's ready".
hattie ran around the pool with the string and tugged hard. The kite began to lift into the air and soared higher and higher, looking like moon, challenging the clouds to a duel. hattie and grace took it in turns to fly the indigo kite, making it dive, and climb, and loop. The wind was beginning to get stronger making it easier to keep the kite in the air.
ticko and Emerald watched, as excited as toddlers at a party.
Suddenly the wind gusted so strongly that it swept the kite higher into the sky. hattie was lifted off the ground completely and was being pulled through the air.
"We must help!" Emerald called out. "Look - Hattie’s heading for the cliff!"
ticko began to run after the kite, jumping over small bushes and leaping from rock to rock like a superhero.
Closer and closer to the cliff edge the kite pulled hattie. The string was tangled around one arm and it wouldn't loosen. ticko was now running as fast as a cheter. They could see just a dragon-shaped blur, darting and leaping like a flame.
Just as ticko reached Hattie, the kite was carried over the edge of the cliff. hattie looked down to see a very long drop into the valley below.
ticko continued running after Hattie and did not see the edge of the cliff until suddenly there was no ground to run on. ticko began to fall.
"ticko" shouted grace, "You've got to save Hattie!"
Desperately ticko unfolded a pair of large orange and brown wings and at the same time stretched out long sharp talons that ripped through the kite so that hattie was suspended beneath the dragon. The wind battered ticko's wings, tipping them both to the left and the right, up and then down. The air currents were like living things, screeching and whistling and ticko was fighting - struggling - until suddenly all was silent and the buffeting stopped. Both wings outstretched, ticko began to glide through the air.
It was a glorious sight - ticko was flying for the first time ever. It was the work of a moment - with a couple of flaps of those mighty wings ticko was settling Hattie gently on the grass on the cliff top next to grace and Emerald.
Once hattie was untangled from the kite strings, ticko swooped around them calling "I can fly, Emerald, I can fly!"
And with that ticko soared into the sky and raced off towards the Dragon of the Skies Competition.
"Thank you," said Emerald, smiling at hattie and grace. "It's all because of you - you have made ticko the happiest dragon around."