When autumn comes, it’s often windy outside. The wind is trying to help trees shed as many leaves as possible. And so it blows and blows, in all directions. This wind is the best kind for flying kites. That’s why children in one small town decided to organize a kite parade. All the children were supposed to come to a big meadow after school and fly their kites there. But they had no idea who would join them in the meadow.
The big day was approaching. The children couldn’t wait for the kite parade. They spend days and days carefully constructing their kites at home. They tied strings and glued wooden skewers, painted with the most beautiful colors, and tied the longest strings to their kites. Once the afternoon of the parade arrived, the children gathered in the meadow and with the help of their parents, started flying their kites.
The wind wanted to help them, so it blew in all directions. It lifted the kites to the highest places and kept them there for as long as possible. The children whooped with joy. They ran across the meadow, holding the kites’ strings firmly in their hands, excited that their kites were zooming around the sky so well. It was simply wonderful.
While the kite parade was in full swing, something appeared in the sky. Now and then, it flew past very quickly. It flitted between the kites’ taut strings. The children started to look around, wondering what it could be. But no one recognized it. Until suddenly, it started flying among the kites faster and longer. That strange thing got itself tangled in the strings, pulled down nearly all the kites, and then fell down to the ground.
The children and their parents ran over to the pile of tangled kites on the ground. “Look what’s there underneath them! No, don’t look! Children, back up further away!” could be heard everywhere.
The pile was wiggling, getting even more tangled in the process, when suddenly a tiny nose appeared among the jumble of strings, sticks, and various colors. Everyone jumped back. After a while, a small dragon crawled out of the pile. It looked at all the people, wondering why they seemed so astonished.
“Hi, I’m little dragon Rascal. I heard everyone talk about the kite parade and I wanted to come see it and fly around with them. But I didn’t know that they would be the kind of kites you make from paper. I thought that you would have real dragons here. Please forgive me for ruining everything and getting tangled in your kites,” the little dragon explained sadly.
At first, the parents were staring at the small creature in disbelief. But the children were thrilled. They didn’t mind at all that their kites were broken; they were happy to have met an actual dragon. Rascal the dragon explained that he lived nearby in a cave in the forest. But no one could see him because he only flew quietly at night. He was often alone and was afraid of people. But when he’d heard about the kite parade, he thought he could meet other flying creatures. At first, he was sad that he was truly the only dragon here. But then he realized that he wasn’t alone. He made friends with the children and their parents.
Not only did he then help the children and start escorting them to school, but when they had their next kite parade, he flew happily among the paper kites and tried to keep the children’s kites in the sky for as long as possible.
