The Dragon Is Saving His Roar

How it begins

Tarragon Vale kept his roar in a very serious place.

He kept it behind his teeth.

He had not used it on Monday, when the delivery cart blocked his pottery shed.

He had not used it on Tuesday, when three visitors leaned over his shoulder to watch him paint.

By Wednesday, his chest felt full of a sound with nowhere to sit.

Bella Echo came for a blue teacup. The adult bat taught music and noticed when a room contained a note nobody was singing.

'Are you saving something?' she asked.

'My roar.'

'For what?'

'An important occasion.'

Bella considered the cup. Its handle was beautifully round.

'Is having enough room to work important?'

Tarragon looked at the doorway, where two neighbors were waiting to ask whether he could demonstrate fire. He made pottery with an ordinary kiln. He had explained this often.

'A roar would frighten them.'

'Perhaps you don't need a roar.'

Bella set down the cup and invited him to try a small sentence.

'Please give me some room.'

Tarragon whispered it.

The neighbors heard nothing. One stepped closer.

He tried again, louder than a whisper and quieter than a thunderstorm.

'Please give me some room.'

The neighbors stopped.

'Of course,' one said. 'We thought you liked an audience.'

Tarragon looked at Bella. The sound in his chest shifted. It no longer needed to become enormous to be real.

They moved outside with their tea. A neighbor asked whether the empty bench was free. Tarragon said yes because, for once, he had been asked before someone filled the space.

Bella lifted her blue cup.

'Will you still keep your roar?'

Tarragon smiled.

'Certainly. It may be useful for a mountain echo one day.'

For now, he had a sentence small enough to carry anywhere, and a little more room in which to use it.