Smokey

Date: September 8th, 2010
Location: The Attic
Written by: Jere, age 9

There's been a tropical storm over most of the state of Texas for the past couple of days, and it's been raining nonstop. The attic leaks, and I feel like I'm about to mildew 'cause it's so damp up here.
Smokey curled up in the pile of furs we use instead of blankets, and says he isn't coming out until it warms up and dries out. Since it's just the beginning of September, he might be in trouble.

Smokey came tumbling through the portal about a year ago with another little dragon I called Fred. Out of all the dragons I've helped out, Smokey was the only one that's really been interested in getting to know me and the only one I've become friends with. After I finished teaching the pair of them everything about our world that I could, they hit the road and I never expected to see them again.
I was really surprised when Smokey popped back up a few weeks after he left, but he told me that Fred was obnoxious and that he liked it here and wanted to stay with me. It took a little getting used to, but I didn't mind too much. Like I said earlier, it's been nice having someone else that understands about all this, even if that someone is small, green, and speaks with a smokey lisp.

Smokey's named Smokey (and he hates me for calling him that) 'cause that's all he really does when he tries to breathe fire. He can't conjure up flames like a 'proper' dragon, he just smokes like a freight train every time he tries. He won't even think about giving it up, either, and I hate it when he practices up here in the attic. For one thing, the smoke isn't the kind that smells good, like wood smoke from a campfire. His smoke stinks like you set a big bundle of hair on fire, and it's thick and choking and the smell just sticks to you for days.
For another thing, this old, wood house will go up like a tinderbox if he throws a couple of sparks.
The lack of fire is the main reason Smokey got banished here, and why he won't quit trying to learn... as long as he just smokes, he'll always see himself as a failure.
I don't quite understand why it's such a big deal, because he's already here and there's no way they'll let him go back, even if he got the fire breathing down.

I'm glad he has a hobby besides bugging me, but I wish he'd give that one a rest and take up knitting or collecting postage stamps... anything a little less smelly. My favorite blue hoodie is only going to last through so many more trips through the washer before it falls completely apart, and then I'm really going to be sunk.