me, placed an arm over Fluffy's back, and began to stroke him gently near his wings. Fluffy began to croon in a way I've never heard before and arched his long neck around to stare lovingly into Jenny's eyes. Their obvious closeness was beginning to make me feel jealous, though I wasn't entirely clear in my feelings as to which of these two I was being jealous about. I love them both though I wasn't planning to tell either of them anytime soon.
"Fluffy often carries me on his back when he goes flying," I said. I think I was trying to make Jenny jealous.
"Isn't that uncomfortable, with his wings flapping?"
"He rarely flaps his wings," I explained, "Dragons fly by magic and the wings are more like stabilizer wheels. Flying with Fluffy is like sitting on the outside of a glider."
"Will you take me flying?" Jenny asked Fluffy and he nodded eagerly. Again, I felt a twinge of jealously as he never nodded his head like that for me.
"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," I said backtracking rapidly, "What if you were to fall off him or something?"
"I've been riding horses since I was four," Jenny replied a little contemptuously. "If you can ride him, I'm sure I can too."
I gave up and showed Jenny how to mount Fluffy and where to hold on. Fluffy was so eager that as soon as Jenny was mounted he rushed to the entrance and dived out.
"Watch out for his landings!" I called after them, though I'm sure neither of them was listening to me.
I sat down in the armchair I had painstakingly brought up to the Bat Cave some months before and settled down to wait for their return. I hoped it wasn't going to be too long because I was already feeling lonely.
Jenny felt exhilarated as Fluffy dived out of the cavern and down the face of the cliff. She wasn't frightened in the slightest. As she held tight to Fluffy's warm snake-like skin she knew she was safe, that Fluffy would never allow her to come to harm. She was also sure he was showing off.
Jenny felt like she was riding a rollercoaster as the young dragon spread his wings and pulled out of his dive without the slightest effort. Jenny couldn't stop herself from laughing out loud, as they rose high up into the sky leaving mountains behind as they soared into the blue.
"It's so wonderful," she told the dragon as she hugged him. He turned his neck so he could see her and grinned. Jenny wondered how and why she and Fluffy bonded so tightly on first sight. It was as though there had been an invisible hole in her life she only noticed when Fluffy arrived to plug it.
Fluffy started to do some fancy flying, rolling across the sky in increasingly tight figures of eight. Jenny often felt sick on fairground rides, but not on Fluffy. She giggled and held on tighter to the dragon's neck.
Eventually Fluffy returned to horizontal flight and Jenny took the time to look at the magnificent landscape below. The Snowdonia National Park is one of the most beautiful places in the world with majestic hills and deep winding valleys. It's a landscape embedded deep in the hearts of the Welsh.
Fluffy took them lower as his keen eyesight noticed movement at the top of a ridge. A group of men walked the ridge some way in front of them and it looked as though they carried shotguns.
"Don't get any closer," Jenny advised. "Jake told me the local farmers were going to try and find what's been killing their sheep. That's you, according to Jake."
Fluffy gave out a meeping sound Jenny knew was dragon laughter. He began to bank so they could turn away long before they reached the hunting party.
A man lagging behind the other members of the party was busy taking pictures. He stood right at the edge of the ridge trying to take photographs straight down its face. Then he turned towards them with his camera raised.
Perhaps he caught a glimpse of Fluffy through the lens. Whatever the reason was, he stepped backwards and fell straight over the edge.
Fluffy passed over the ridge as the man fell out of sight.
"We
Jan (ILT) J. C.; Gerardi Greenburg