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Short Story Fiction
The Dragon and the Fly
Scott A. Gese

Many years ago on a small island a dragon was born. It was not born in the usual manner as any ordinary creature would have been. The dragon came into existence through secrecy and skullduggery by several powerful and crafty individuals. They themselves became the dragon.

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They called their creation Camo as it was intended to be hidden in plain site. To those who gave it life it was beautiful to behold. The scales on its slender body were the color of gold and shimmered brilliantly with the slightest breeze. The dragon was said to be created for the people but was not for just anyone to gaze upon. That privilege was reserved for a select few. It was said that anything more than a quick glance from the corner of the eye could result in a premature death. Most people didn't attempt it. They believed in what they were told.

As was intended from the beginning, the dragon quickly learned to understand the ways of the people. A singular focus of its fiery red eyes could see deep into the soul of any and all people and it took advantage of them from the very beginning. It had the ability to breath fire from its nostrils and wherever it breathed it scorched the earth and laid it bare. All that remained was death and misery.

It had an appetite for the bread of the people and caused many of them to live a meager lifestyle. They disliked the dragon for what it had taken from them. But it had grown too powerful to refuse it. All they could do was curse it and shake their fists at it.

Others who were less affected were entranced by its power and captivated by the beauty they had never actually seen but only heard of. They didn't see its veracious appetite as a problem. To them, a few loaves of bread was a reasonable price to pay for the existence of such a magnificent creature.

The bread of the people allowed the dragon to gain its strength and stature quickly. The bigger it grew the hungrier and more powerful it became.

The dragon took too much and the people became reluctant to feed it. It soon became apparent to the dragon that it could no longer gather its food alone. It needed help and it cunningly convinced some of the people to help it gather the bread it required. The dragon's minions gathered the people's bread from far and wide wherever they could find it.

Soon the whole world was feeding the dragon. Many were becoming discontent with its growing appetite. Some wanted to approach it and reason with it but the dragon was unapproachable. It lurked within the shadows and hid behind its mighty wings. It did not want to be approached by anyone but a few trusted souls.

Some threatened the dragon and some even refused to feed it. They paid a hefty price for attempting such a feat.

As time passed, the peoples discontent continued to grow... and so did the dragon's hunger.

One day a small dragonfly began to pester the dragon. It flew around its head and bit at it as it looked for a way to get past its mighty wings. The dragon wasn't used to being pestered so relentlessly and did all it could to make the pesky dragonfly go away. Nothing seemed to work.

The people soon heard about the dragonfly. At first they weren't sure what to make of it. It were causing trouble for the people and many of them weren't happy about it. Some of the people paid close attention to the dragonfly. Eventually it became apparent that the dragonfly were probing for the dragon's weakness. But why?

Some of the people thought the dragonfly were only hungry. Others it they had come to destroy the dragon. Others weren't so sure. Some of the people took it upon themselves to start reporting the progress of the dragonfly to others. Every day more people began to follow the progress of the dragonfly and every day more dragonflies joined the swarm.

They all began to pester the dragon. They buzzed around its head like a swarm of hungry mosquitoes. The dragon grew more furious by the day. It blamed the people for its misery and began to take its anger out on them. As time passed more people became convinced of the dragonflies intentions. Many openly cheered them on. Others, out of fear of the dragon, did so in silence.

The dragon did all it could to convince the people to turn against and even kill the dragonflies. It took away more of their bread. It scorched the earth with its hot breath. It even tried to kill some of the people for siding with the dragonflies.

The dragon's tactics failed and only made the dragonflies grow in number.

The more the dragon fought back the more the dragonflies found weaknesses in the dragons armor. The attack was relentless. Soon the dragon couldn't stand the bites of the giant swarm of attacking dragonflies any longer. It unfurled its mighty wings and flew out into the open and high into the sky. That was the dragons big mistake. It couldn't take the brightness of the noonday sun. The sun's rays reflected off the dragons golden scales causing them to burst into flames. It crashed to the ground and was destroyed.

The people rejoiced. Everyone thanked the dragonflies especially the dragonfly that started it all. To this day the story can be found in history books. Dragonflies are revered and dragons are no longer tolerated. The people vowed they would never let another dragon dwell among them.

But then, history always finds a way of repeating itself.