Sir Benjamin and the Dragon

For Kaia... enjoy!  (You can see Sir Benjamin's first adventure here.)

Benjamin has grown.

He's been wondering for awhile if he was getting stronger.  He was sitting up a lot more even though he still needed help from his mother.  He had been working out his legs quite a bit, and his air-boxing routine was down pat.  Well except for when he accidentally hits himself in the face, but oh what power his tiny fists hold!  But he really knew that he was getting bigger and stronger the night that his mom and dad moved him to his own room!

"At last!" he thought.  Now he didn't have to wait for mom and dad to go to sleep before starting the hunt for the dragon.  He was free to come and go as he pleased and none would be the wiser.  He'd been busy too.  He made a saddle out of his Bumbo so he could sit up while riding Sadie.  He had even figured out his hunger problem.  Mom always kept an extra bottle in the fridge, so he was able to take a snack with him.  He just tied it around Sadie's neck and when he got hungry he'd take a drink!  Yes, things were looking up for Ben and he felt certain he could find that dragon, rid the neighborhood of him and become a knight!

The last few days there had been strange noises around the neighborhood.  Sawing and grinding and rumbling noises.  Sometimes there were crashes that made the whole house shudder!  He knew it was the dragon.  What else could do such powerful things!  So one night he put on his armor, grabbed his rolling pin sword and he and Sadie went to investigate.

Around the neighborhood they went, Ben seeing what he could see and Sadie sniffing what she could sniff.  With all the seeing and the sniffing it led them to a house down the street.  It was no ordinary house though.  This house had a cave attached to it with a big gaping mouth.  And above the mouth were strange symbols that looked like this: H-A-L-E.  Neither Ben nor Sadie knew what they meant but it couldn't be good. 

They investigated further.  At the back of the cave they found such destruction!  The big tree that used to shade the neighborhood had been killed!  It's limbs were all over the place and the leaves were just everywhere!  There was even a fence or two that was in pieces.  It had to be the dragon that did it! What else could have destroyed something so big?

Benjamin and Sadie started plotting.  What they really needed was some way to look inside of the cave.  There were holes in the side covered with glass, but neither one of them were tall enough to look inside.  What were they going to do?

"What ya doin'?" said a voice out of the dark.  Ben and Sadie both jumped.  They were a little startled. 

"Did you hear that?" Ben asked Sadie who shook her head yes.  "Do you know where it came from?" he asked again and Sadie shook her head no.

"Up here silly!" said the voice.  So they both looked up.  And what do you suppose they saw but a pair of eyes looking at them from on top of the fence.  Pretty soon those eyes dropped down and Ben and Sadie were face to face with a cat!  An orange cat with mischievous glowing eyes.

"Who are you?" asked Ben. 

"I'm Wilson" said the cat. 

"Wilson huh" said Ben.  "I've heard of you before.  Aren't you the cat that hunts birds?"

Wilson stood a little taller and said "I sure am!  I'm the best hunter around these parts. It's cause I'm young and have stamina!  You should see me climb trees!  There's not a cat around who can climb one faster that me."  This got Ben thinking.  He needed a good pair of eyes to look inside the cave and tell them what was going on in there.

"Do you think you could help us out?" asked Ben.

"I suppose I could... if it suits me that is.  I am awfully busy these days with all the bird hunting and sleeping and stuff."  Ben had heard that cats were finicky.  Wilson was no exception. "What do you need?"

"We need you to look inside the dragon's cave and tell us what's going on."

"Dragon huh! I didn't know there was a dragon in the neighborhood!" Which just goes to show that contrary to how cats act, they do not know everything.

"Of course there is!  What do you think ripped apart that big tree?" said Ben.  "I'm gonna slay him so that I can become a  knight.  It's pretty important stuff."

"Oh" said Wilson.  "I suppose if it's important.  Is there a reward or anything? Do I get to chase birds?" 

"I'm not doing this for a reward!  I'm doing it because that's what a knight would do! Protect the ones he loves. Besides, aren't you even a little bit curious to see what's inside?" 

Wilson had to admit he was curious.  And you know cats and their curiosity. Without further ado he jumped up onto the window of the cave and took a look.

"It's kind of dark in there but I do see something glowing.  Let me get a better look."  With a twitch of his tail and a twinkle in his eyes Wilson jumped down and ran to the back side of the cave. Ben and Sadie sat patiently waiting for Wilson's return.  It was a good time for a break anyways.  Ben was getting thirsty and was ever so glad he remembered to bring a bottle.

Pretty soon Wilson returned with his report.  "It was pretty dark but I was able to see a few things.  There is something glowing in the corner and it looks like it's filled with fire!  Don't dragons breathe fire?"

"They sure do!" said Ben. "It's gotta be the dragon for sure! Let's set a trap.  Next time he comes out of his cave to terrorize the neighborhood, or the trees, we'll get him!" Ben thought and thought about how to catch the dragon and he came up with a plan.  He was always hearing about the benefits of duct tape and how it could magically fix everything... furniture, car bumpers, windows, the soles of shoes, etc.  If ever they needed some magic tape it was now.  He was pretty sure his dad had some.

Ben and Sadie raced home with Wilson following behind.  Ben crawled around the house until he found the duct tape and then they were off.  Back to the dragon's cave!  All three of them set about laying down layer after layer of duct tape across the ground in front of the cave.  They made a criss cross pattern, Ben laying it down and Wilson using his claws to cut through the ends of the tape.  Then they sat and waited.

And waited.. and waited.  Finally, just before the sun rose and Ben had to get back before his parents checked on him, there was a rumbling in the cave.  The dragon was awake!  Things were slamming around and they could all hear footsteps.  Then the mouth of the cave started to open up!  Ben, Sadie, and Wilson jumped into the bushes to hide.

Rumble rumble rumble!  The dragon emerged!  It looked differently than any of them thought.  This dragon was blue.  And it had funny eyes that glowed and looked way too far apart.  And instead of flying about it rolled out.  "What a funny looking dragon!" they all thought.  "And where's the fire?" they thought.

Despite this odd dragon the trap had worked!  It rolled out of its cave and stuck fast!  Then the strangest thing happened.  The side of the great dragon's head came open!  And then a man got out and yelled.  "Vee! Do you know why there's duct tape all over the drive way?!?  And why is my forge still lit?"

It became clear to all three of the dragon hunters that they had made a mistake!  Wilson, being the first to put all the pieces together and the most scared (despite his boasting he was a bit of a scaredy-cat) ran up the nearest tree and hid.  Ben jumped up on Sadie to make a quick get away but then decided that that's not how a knight would act.  So he and Sadie decided to talk to the man.

It was clear the mad did not quite know what to make of Ben and Sadie and he just stared at them in awe as they came nearer.  Ben didn't want this to go on any longer than necessary so he just jumped right in.  "We are sorry about your...vehicle sir, you see we thought it was a dragon and really you could hardly blame us since there was so much destruction in your backyard with that giant tree all torn to pieces we thought for sure that the dragon lived in this cave that you rolled out of so we tried to trap it because I want to be a knight and this is the only way I know how and I'm really really sorry that this happened and caused you so much trauma and can I see your forge and do you think you could make a sword for me cause this rolling pin isn't very sharp?"

Ben said it all in one big breath.  Unfortunately all the man heard was a lot of gurgling and some cooing and a little spitting every once in awhile.  The he said "Hey little guy, you look kid of familiar!  Hey Vee, doesn't this baby look familiar to you?"

Vee came out of the house, "Well he sure does!  That's Ben!  But what's he doing out here?  We better call his parents." But before Vee could even get back inside Ben kicked Sadie in the rump and off they went!  He certainly did not want his parents to find out!  So off they went through the neighborhood and back to home.  It was about 7am at this time and his parents were just starting to really stir. Ben put everything back as fast as he could and climbed back into his bed.

"Dragon hunting is hard business", he gurgled to himself. "Perhaps I should change professions.  Maybe I could be a biker like my grandpa!"  And he drifted off for a little morning nap with thoughts of Harleys dancing through his head.

~ ~ ~ ~

Honey.... do you know why there are pine needles stuck in Ben's Bumbo?... and duct tape?