Learning to fly on a dragon (Bill and Spark)

It was an early autumn, partly cloudy, afternoon in the mountains where Spark the dragon lived, years before moving to Bill’s house. They two had been knowing each other for one and a half years, and Bill always tried to find the opportunity to walk in the mountains in order to visit him. The more time he spent with dragons, the more he learned; about the mountains, about the animals, surviving skills and dragons’ way of thinking, which was fairly less self-centered than humans’. But that day he would learn something even dragon lover longs for.
They two were in a meadow together with Spark’s childhood friend Zoroff, whose scales were red, contrasting with Spark blue ones. It was only second time Bill and Zoroff had met, so they had spent a great time talking to each other about life as a human/dragon. After a while, both the dragons turned their heads back.
“What’s?” asked Bill.
“Oh…our fathers” explained Spark “they want us for help one moment…but it’s something very quick, you can wait for us!”
Bill was puzzled. “I didn’t listen to anything…”
“Our hearing is finer than yours” he said “it’s not first time you can’t listen…”
“Well, all our senses could be worse than yours, but at least we got this” and smiled while moving his thumb, but his intentions were playful.
Spark laughed and then Zoroff spoke friendly to the human: “Prepare some other interesting facts about you humans meanwhile, I’d love to hear some more!”
“Well done” agreed Bill, and then the two dragons took flight.
Actually, during the time he waited for them, he didn’t think of something to tell Zoroff about his kind. He and Spark had been being friends for one and a half year but they still hadn’t done a thing he really desired, but had never told the dragon for fearing to sound selfish, or that he could sound as he thought of his friend just as a pet – if he had learnt something in that period, it was that dragons didn’t deserve to be humans’ pets. Spark was not his dragon, he was his friend. They were two totally different conceptions.
But if they did what he wanted they could go wherever they wanted do and spend even more joyous time together…
After ten minutes they two flew back and landed in front of Bill. “Have you thought something funny?” asked playfully Zoroff.
“Actually…not” confessed Bill “nothing in particular…”
“What’s there?” Spark had probably noticed some expressions “are you all right?”
“Oh…don’t worry” he solved “just silly things…”
“Did you want to come with us?” Zoroff had suddenly interpreted his thoughts correctly.
Bill felt caught up. “Well...”
“Come on, why are you embarrassed!” laughed smiling Spark “I would bring you with me, if I could.”
“So…would you let me fly with you?” tried to ask the human, hesitantly. He wasn’t sure how he sounded…
At that question, the blue dragon face turned doubtful. “You mean something like you humans do with…you call them horses, right?”
“No, no!” said him a little too early, moving frantically his hands. “I would never treat you like a horse! You’re a friend, not a…beast of burden! Sorry…” concluded in a small voice.
Spark laughed again, much more than previously, posing his forearm on Bill’s back.
“I know, Bill, of course!” smiled “if I was like a horse for you…horse is the right word, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
“Good! Then, I was saying, if I was like a horse for you then you would command me to fly with you! It’s nice that you first asked me.” Then he turned serious. “But I don’t know about. I’m not offended in any way, I would even do it, but you know…I’ve never carried a human on my back while flying, and I think none of us has ever done before. I don't want tou to fall.”
“Well” suggested Zoroff “why don’t you first try to walk on the ground with him on your back?”
Spark approved. “That sounds a good idea.”
Bill, meanwhile, felt relieved. “Thanks guys…”
“Come on, you can relax now” Zoroff touched him gently with his muzzle. Bill did, and first of all he walked around Spark in order to find a spot where to climb on his back. He tried on one of the knees, asking the dragon to low himself; after some falls, he managed.
“You think you can do it?” probed Bill.
“Maybe” answered Spark “I’ll start walking, hold on!”
So he did. The dragon was walking slowly around the meadow with Bill on his back, whose hands were cautiosly pressed on his claws. Bill started thinking that it was a bit like riding a horse, only with no brakes. Spark seemed to be able to carry his weight.
After two rounds the dragon stopped, although Bill remained on.
"All right then?" asked Zoroff.
"Well, I had no problems carrying him" said Spark "I think we can do it. Were you comfortable, Bill?"
"Yeah" assured the human "quite good. We should try faster, now."
"Ok."
The second time, however, was more problematic. The absence of brakes was far more evident, now that Spark was running. Bill found it difficult to find a good place where to put hands in order to stay balanced: fifteen rounds passed, during which the blue dragon had had to slow down several times for not making him fall, and Bill had not succeeded in solving the problem.
"Maybe we'd better leave it out" panted Spark while sitting next to Zoroff for resting.
"Come on, Spark, it's only first time" Bill's heart was gone mad after all those moments almost falling to the ground "no work is done after one time."
"Well, can we give up for today?"
"I agree. Let's just enjoy the rest of the sun, ok?"


Four more afternoons together later, Bill managed. One week had passed after first day; Bill and Spark had kept training running in the same meadow (Spark was the one that ran of course); Zoroff was almost always present, curious to watch their progresses.
"I saw you to be pretty confident now!" smiled the red dragon to Bill, who was going down to the land.
"Indeed" confirmed "I don't fall anymore."
"So I guess you can try to fly together, right?"
Spark's face turned immediately preoccupied. "I guess so..."
Actually, even Bill felt the same, too. It was fantastic to fly with a dragon when you thought of it in your mind, but now that they were supposed to do it for real, he started feeling scared. Riding on the ground was all right, but while in the air Spark could rotate his body in every rotation. And if he lost balancement, this time, it could turn to be deadly. But they had trained to be prepared, and it would be vile to leave.
"Let's fly at low quote, ok?"
"Totally agree" said Spark in a low voice.
So Bill climbed on Spark's back - he had become pretty used - and he left ground. He gained altitude only for a short moment, but Bill instantly felt like falling; Zoroff, providential, caught him on his chest.
It took almost half an hour in order to calm them down.
"Not anymore..." kept whispering shocked Bill.
"Come on, Bill, it was only first time" tried to encourage him - nay, them "and I'm here to take you if it happens again..."
"Zoroff, I'm not sure" Spark's voice was trembling "I don't even know if I can carry him like I could do on the ground...we'd better..."
Suddenly, the red dragon's eyes turned fire-ish and his voice became fierce and proud.
"Do it! Just do it! Don't let your dreams be dreams. Yesterday you said tomorrow, so just do it! Make your dreams come true! Just do it!"
Leaving smoke from his nostrils, he pointed at Bill showing his canines while keeping his speech.
"Some people dream of riding one of us dragons, while you're gonna wake up and work hard at it! Nothing is impossible!"
He turned his muzzle to Spark. "You should get to the point where anyone else would quit, and you're not going to stop there! No, what are you waiting for? Do it! Just do it! Yes you can! Just do it!"
The human and the blue dragon looked intensely at each other, not anymore with fear, but with intense determination. Dragons had a natural talent in motivating - pershaps becuase they looked big and mighty?
"Let's do it" growled Spark.
"Yes" nodded Bill. While climbing on the dragon, he turned his face to Zoroff and said "By the way, I am sure I'd heard your speech somewhere on YouTube..."
"What's YouTube?"
"I'll tell you later" answered “Let’s go!”
But the only improvement they made the whole day was longing the time Bill could stand up on the dragon’s back one more seconds, with him always being saved by Zoroff. Sunset came, and the three decided it was enough; they remained in the meadow watching the sun falling down.
“I can’t wait to watch it closer with you” said Bill “by the way, we sure must have been looked pretty funny while trying all this time…”
“Maybe” continued Spark “actually we never went higher than the forest, but some dragon could have passed above us. But I and Zoroff are keeping our trainings as reserved as possible; only my father knows about.”
Bill worried. “And what does he think about?”
“He’s comfortable with the idea” assured the blue dragon “and believe me or not, he has never thought of it as you taming me. I told him you asked me and I accepted, and he said it was a good idea, we’ll be able to travel a lot. He was worried only about your safety but I told about our precautions, too. He always tells me I’m an adult dragon now and that he knows I can take my responsibilities.”
His friend smiled, burning with desire for soaring up through the sky and looking forward to reprise the training tomorrow. “Thanks for encouraging us, Zoroff!”
“You two are great. I should try to befriend a human too so that I’ll be able to teach him how to fly.” Zoroff watched them proudly.
“Well, we got planes” he joked “we can already fly sometimes. But flying with a dragon is much better.”
Zoroff laughed. “By the way, you still have to tell me what’s YouTube!”
“Oh, yes” nodded Bill “then first I’m gonna take some wood for a fire. It’s an argument that will take quite a long time...”