Pancake Dragon Story - Prize for Art Contest!

    "Waiter, there's a dragon in my pancakes."

    "Oh, he does that all the time. Just give him a bite and he'll scoot."

    As the harried waiter continued on his way, the confused patron of the busy diner could only stare at her plate with a combination of morbid fascination and reluctant humor. Sniffing delicately at her short stack of fluffy pancakes, the little dragon looked not unlike a pancake himself! Toasty body, scales that resembled pats of butter, and a shiny skin over wings, chest, and head that very much looked like dark maple syrup. A single butter-scale plopped on his head between two long ears and thin horns.

    Sensing her gaze, the dragon looked up at her and chirped a merry sound that resembled a question. "Ah, sure," the patron said. She offered a fork, and marveled at the entire scene. "Need this?"

    Rather than accept the fork, the dragon used a single claw to delicately cut a piece of pancake and then pop it into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully and then nodded firmly. As if that was all he had wanted, he gathered himself as if to fly away.

    "Hey, wait!" the patron blurted. She smiled sheepishly. "I can't eat this entire stack myself. They always give me too much. Want to split it with me?" A happy chirp answered her, so she used her toast plate to put half of the four fluffy cakes. This time the dragon did accept the extra fork, and he clinked it against hers the way one would normally clink glasses.

    When breakfast ended, the patron patted her breakfast companion on the head and left him to finish her coffee as she went to pay. It was she headed out the doors that she realized the adage about feeding animals making them follow you also applied to dragons. The pancake dragon had planted himself between her and the exit, and he hovered patiently in the air.

    Noticing, the cashier said, "Oh you fed him, right? Well, that means he goes home with you for the next couple weeks, until you don't need him anymore. He's a lucky charm! Once you're happy, then he'll come back and find another generous soul to help."

    Given her terrible streak of bad luck recently, she couldn't help but wince. A lucky charm, even if it was a pancake-loving dragon, wouldn't be unwelcome. "Okay," she said on a smile. "You can come home with me." She gave the dragon a pat as he landed on her shoulder with another happy chirp. "Just don't chase the cat, okay?"