Free Forced Magic by Jerod Lollar Page B

walked over to the dragon as he unwrapped one and began to eat.
As it munched on the taco, the dragon reached into the bag again and tossed a
taco at me.  My stomach growled loudly as I unwrapped the taco. I ate it in a
few bites, then a burrito was tossed at me.
    “Thanks,” I said in a scratchy voice.
    My throat was dry. I walked over to a nearby water
fountain.  After I drank what felt like a gallon of water, I walked back toward
the dragon. I surprised myself at the thought that I was so calm and accepting
of the dragon now. I sat down on the bench next to it.
    “Hey, uh, thanks for helping me out.”
    The dragon stopped chewing and looked up at me. Its eyes
were green again. It turned its head away from me, almost snubbing me. I got
the feeling it was upset at me still.
    “Hey are you still mad about that hat? I would have never
thrown it at you if you hadn’t laughed at me. Besides, you burnt some of the
money and flew off.”
    The dragon continued to ignore me.
    “You don’t have to get so mad.”
    I was beginning to get upset again. This stupid lizard had a
knack for making me angry. The dragon reached down and picked up the end of its
tail, then looked at me with its narrowed eyes glaring at me.
    “You’re mad because I bit your tail? You kept on smacking me
with it! I told you to stop but you wouldn’t listen.”
    The dragon pushed the tail at my face.
    “I’m sorry,” I said through gritted teeth.
    At first the dragon stared, its tail still in my face. It
was obvious that my halfhearted apology wasn’t completely sincere, but after a
few moments it put the tail down. It turned away, reaching into the bag,
slamming a taco down on top of the uneaten burrito still in my hands. I was too
hungry to be upset. “Thanks,” I said again. I inhaled the food and sat there
staring at the dragon.
    Here I was, sitting next to this magnificent creature, while
we munched on tacos and burritos. How did it get the food?  If the food had
been unwrapped, then I would have thought that the dragon just crashed into a
restaurant, terrifying everyone in sight, as it scooped up burgers and tacos.
But the food was wrapped. It was prepared. I had a sudden image of the dragon
flying through the drive through, ordering food, paying for it with a twenty,
and flying off as the drive through person shouts, “Thank you!” The absolute
ridiculousness of this image started me laughing. Once I started laughing, I
couldn’t stop. It grew into hefty guffaws. I was breathless and lightheaded. I
looked over to see a puzzled expression on the dragon's face. Its nostrils
flared. This started me laughing again. My whole body was shaking and tears
were streaming out of my eyes. As I finally started to calm down, I looked over
at it. It had an enormous smile on its face. It opened its large mouth and let
out a loud “HUH” sound followed by the rumbling growl of laughter. This started
me up all over again. I fell off the bench I was laughing so hard.
    The dragon stood there looking at me. A strange grumbling
sound was coming from its throat. It grew louder, until finally, it opened its
mouth and a loud “huh" came out. The grumbling continued. Short bursts of
different colored smoke shot out of its nose, like party favors at a New Year’s
Eve party.  I finally closed my eyes and, by breathing deeply, I began to calm
down. The laughter was just what I needed. The dragon continued to laugh. Now
puffs of colored smoke came out of its nose. It looked down at me and shook its
head.
    I thought back to the battle and felt a rush of pride at how
well I did. My heart began to beat and I felt the adrenalin pumping through my
body. I felt great. What an adventure. I felt like I could take on the world
and win. Nothing could go wrong. I even felt like I could take on whoever
wanted to kill me. After all, I had taken care of Booger and the snot brigade.
If they were the best that could be thrown at me, then I would be fine. I and
the dragon could