Agreement
2345 Words
I opened my eyes and found myself writhing in pain. I shouted from my lungs for help. My grandfather blasted the door open with a handful of nurses behind him. My breathing became coarse. The nurses grabbed my shoulder and gently placed me back to bed.
“Luke! What on earth were you doing? Do you plan to stay to kill yourself? You know that I don’t have enough to extend your stay here,” my grandfather hissed when my breathing stabilized.
“I don’t know what happened. When I woke up, I was suddenly on the floor.”
“Enough of your shenanigans! Don’t try anything with me now.”
“But I wasn’t trying to get out of bed.”
“Sigh. Alright Luke, I think it’s time I call your father.”
“No, don’t, please. I’m begging you.”
“I won’t tell your father if you tell me what happened back there in the woods. I want it in detail.”
“Well… The thing is… I can’t remember how I ended up there. I was looking for the pumice I borrowed from you. Next thing I know, I woke up in this hospital bed.”
“I would rather you tell me a crocodile story. That pumice was a gift to me by your grandmother.”
“I’m sorry gramps. When I am better, I could help you find it.”
“Ah, forget about it. I would rather lose that than lose my only grandson.”
“I am really sorry, gramps. I swear to not to stray away from the house.”
“You’re a guy. I’m sure you would love to go out to the woods again after you recover. But as a safety measure, take the kitchen knife with you.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary. Besides, I can manage with my empty hands.”
“If I find you broken again, I hope you wouldn’t mind my home version of medical care.”
I still remember the time when he tried to cure my knee pus only to worsen it and spread around my body. I winced at the thought, “Yeah, thanks for reminding me, gramps.”
“Hey, I already asked our neighbors to take care of the farm for me while I’m gone. I am going to spend my time aging here by your side.”
“Come on gramps, you are not that old yet. I’m sure there are women your age looking for someone.”
“So, I am old,” he chuckled.
Suddenly, we heard a light knock on wood.
“I will get it,” gramps stood up and got to the door.
“Good morning, Mr. Langress. Is Luke awake?” a familiar voice asked.
“Ah, Cyrille. Good morning. Yes, he is awake. Come in, come in.”
“Hi Luke,” she smiled at me with a basket of fruit in hand.
“I will leave you two to talk. Luke, if you need me, I am by the door. Play nice kids,” gramps eyed me meaningfully before exiting the room.
“How are you feeling today?” I asked her.
“Hey, that’s my line to take.”
“But I said it first.”
“So, how are you?”
“Well, I guess my bones are still complete today.”
“I can assure you they are. I counted them last night while you slept. They are mostly healed. From my estimate, you can return home in a few weeks.”
“Jeez! You crept on me while I slept?”
“I was making sure you wouldn’t hurt yourself. I heard you call my name before I left, which was followed by a loud thud. So, I alerted the nurses. I almost stumbled upon your grandfather.”
“If you sneak up on me like that again, I might have my room barricaded.”
“Please don’t do that.”
“I want to preserve my privacy.”
“You can think of me as your guardian angel. Don’t worry, this will be between us,” she winked at me.
“I won’t be able to sleep with that kind of assurance.”
“Tell you what, you can ask me what you want to know about me in exchange for last night. Do we have a deal?”
“But I don’t have anything to ask you right now.”
“Come on, there must be something you are dying to ask me.”
“Hey, didn’t you wear the same clothes yesterday and the first day I met you?”
“Yeah, and…?”
“Don’t you have anything else to wear?”
“This is my skin, you silly.”
“Won’t people get suspicious?”
“I couldn’t take this off, but I could put some clothes over this.”
“Wouldn’t you get irritated from the layers of clothing?”
“Oh please, human clothes are like paper to me. It’s like being wrapped in tissue paper.”
“Is that so?”
“What else do you want to know?”
“Are there any other dragons aside from you?”
“You make it seem like we’re extinct. The books portray us way worse. I mean, they don’t even get my nose right.”
“Well… are there?”
“There are some in this area. We don’t normally show ourselves to humans.”
“Why is that?”
“Sigh. This happened a long time ago. Dragons and humans once lived together in harmony until the Bard Golems came to our land. They proved themselves to the humans that they can offer more than the dragons could bargain.
“Soon, the humans sided with them. The Bard Golems accepted the humans for some time until they have decided to drive them off the Drabian Beach, where they dwelled. The humans had nowhere to go, so they asked the dragons to take them in again.”
“Well? Did they?”
“Unfortunately, the dragons refused them. Because of this, the humans declared war. All the lands dyed red when the war ended half a millennium ago. Finally, the humans raised a white flag, and they have forged an agreement.”
“What was the agreement about?”
“All the races agreed to share Draconia in three equitable parts. To the north, the dragons took the crown. To the east, the humans took power. To the south, the golems took anchor. If ever one race violates the said agreement, they are not to be harmed, but repelled.”
“How did you know all this?”
“I was there when the agreement was being signed by all parties.”
“Wait, how old are you?”
“How old do you think I am? Come on, guess.”
“Uhm, a hundred years old?”
“That is such a lousy guess, Luke,” she laughed like a whispering angel. “I see you weren’t listening closely to the story.”
“Please tell me,” I grasped her silky hand. “I’m bad at math.”
“Alright, you poor human. I am 1,700 years old.”
“Oh, so you are one hundred years older than me.”
“Correction, you are one hundred times older than me.”
“Yeah, yeah, grandma. Keep talking.”
“Hey, can you promise me something?”
“Anything.”
“Don’t let anyone know about this.”
“Why not?”
“Just promise me not to tell anyone. I wasn’t supposed to tell outsiders about this.”
“Why did you tell me, then?”
“Because I know that I can trust you on this one,” her smile glistened.
“Argh, your smile blinds me.”
“Sorry. Do you want me to frown instead?”
“A smirk is fine.”
“Okay,” she tried to smirk. Her lips curled like a wave until she managed a duck face. Her upper lip curved like a chip inside a canister. I laughed convulsively at her attempt. She slapped my chest with some impact. I exhaled as thinly as a whistle.
“Gah!”
“Ahh! S-sorry! I didn’t mean to!”
“You are the death of me. You have broken the agreement,” I grabbed the neckline of her dress.
“Don’t panic! I said don’t panic!” She placed her hands on my bandaged chest.
“What are doing?”
“Just be quiet!” She whispered so low that I was sure I was the only one to hear her.
I felt something cold spread in the wounded area. My breath improved slowly and my chest popped up to its normal structure. The cool air intensified, calming my mind. Soon, the cooling sensation vanished from my body.
“What is going on here?” Gramps slammed the door wide.
“Uhh, we were just having fun, Mr. Langress,” Cyrille still had her hands on my chest.
“Gramps, the bill will swell if you keep on doing that.”
“But I thought I heard some commotion here.”
“Everything is fine, gramps.”
“If you keep scaring me like that, my maintenance might lose its effects on me,” he poked my head.
“Could I be excused for a moment, Mr. Langress?”
“Sure.”
“Will you be back?” I grabbed her arm.
“This will only take a moment,” she winked at me again.
She went for the door and closed it. Her footsteps became faintly distant before gramps spoke.
“Boy, be straight with me. Were you making whoopee with her?”
“Gramps! How could you say that?” My cheeks burned.
“What? You weren’t? It sure sounded like it.”
“Geez! It wasn’t like that.”
“Then what was it?”
“It was nothing. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
“Ah, you are so uptight. She sure is a darling, eh? Any man could kill for her”
“I’m back!” Cyrilled stormed in.
“Yeah, she is.”
“What did I miss?”
“Nothing. We were talking about the farm.”
“Ah, I see.”
Suddenly, a doctor with brushed up hair came in.
“What is the matter, doc?” Gramps asked.
“Your vitals are fine. We must take you to the x-ray room to make sure,” the doctor assessed me.
“What is going on?” My eyes widened.
“Relax. You will be out soon,” Cyrille winked at me.
A group of nurses pushed my bed towards the x-ray room. A bright light source placed above me. They transferred me to a cold flat surface facing upwards. They placed a square part of something with drawings like the ones on target practice. Then a few bright flashes followed.
Without a word, they transferred me back to bed. A few hours passed, and the doctor came back with the results.
“Based on the x-ray results, your bones have completely healed. We weren’t sure how that was possible. Our prediction was one week.”
“I can go home now?” I gazed at him.
“Yes. Please sign the papers and you are free to go.”
I got the bandages removed, and the doctor prescribed me with some medicines in case of pain. I walked out the hospital doors, hopping as I walked inside the truck. I asked gramps if Cyrille could come over for dinner. He agreed.
“So Cyrille, is there anything you would like for dinner?” Gramps asked out of nowhere.
“I like sheep, but it might spoil my diet,” she sheepishly answered.
“Sheep it is!” Gramps parked the truck behind the house. “You take care of the house while I’m gone, Luke. I’m going to head to the market.”
“Hurry back!” Cyrille waved at him.
“I have cameras installed inside the house, Luke. You better not be fooling around with this girl.”
“I thought you hated technology, gramps?”
“This might be the only piece of technology that I like,” he smiled impishly then set off.
“Now that we are alone, what do you want to do?” I asked.
“We could hang out by the lake.”
“Okay. Let’s go then.”
“Before that, I wanted to give you this,” she handed me a small oval stone.
“I have been looking for this! Where did you find it?”
“You ran off and dropped it, so I decided to keep it for you.”
“Thank you! Gramps will be so thrilled to have this back!” I placed my arms around her.
“Ah!” She flinched.
“Oh, sorry! I should have asked you first.”
“No, don’t be. This is the first time I felt human warmth. It feels so good.”
“Uhh, shall we go?” I asked for her hand.
“Yeah,” she pulled me outside the door.
We sat by the clear, shimmering lake. The sun shone magnificently high up in the sky. A group of birds flew the opposite direction.
“I want to know more about you,” I caressed her hands to my face.
“What do you wish to learn about me?”
“Anything.”
“Like?”
“Things like where you live. What is your kind like? Your likes and dislikes.”
“Ah, such trivial human stuff. What do you call that thing? A slambook?”
“Well, you are first on the list.”
“And certainly not the last. You know, there are certain things that you shouldn’t learn about me.”
“It’s unfair! You knew all about me.”
“I only know those within the territory, but beyond it is out of reach.”
“Oh, come on, just a little bit? Please?”
“Fine, if you really insist,” she pinched my nose.
“Hurrah!”
“As a start, I live on the other continent opposite of this one. My kind is tolerant on humans, but not on golems. I should have expected your invitation and brought a lot of meat. A measly human portion is not enough to sate me.
“Is it okay for us to be together?”
“The traditional rules apply within and without the continent. Even if humans emigrated from their origins, we still have to follow the written agreement... Not to harm any race.”
“Ah, which reminds me, wouldn’t letting me fall count?”
“Hey, I treated your injury so that you could get out of that place and save you the bills.”
“I see. You are making your alibi.”
“I am certainly not!”
“Why didn’t you heal me back there in the forest?”
“We are restricted to use our powers outside our territory.”
“Wouldn’t they know?”
“I could only hope.”
“Could I visit you?”
“You really weren’t paying attention. Humans are not allowed inside our territory.”
“Can’t you make an exception?”
“It’s too risky for a human like you.”
“I have been in a lot of risky situations.”
“But I doubt that you could survive this one.”
“They can’t harm humans, remember?”
“The thing is—,” she abruptly stopped.
“Kids! Dinner is here. You better not be horsing around in there,” gramps called out.
“I smell damp earth. I have to go, Luke. See you tomorrow,” she transformed into a dragon and flew off.
“Wait! What about dinner?” I asked.
“You can tell gramps I wasn’t feeling well.”
“Luke! Where in oyster sauce are you?”
“Coming gramps!” I ran towards the house.
“There you are. Where is your lady friend?”
“She said she wasn’t feeling well and had to go home.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Uncle Ruiz, how is this fine boy?” I almost forgot that someone was with him helping unpack the goods.
“Darleen, this is my grandson Luke. Luke, this is Darleen. She works at the butcher shop where I got the best cuts of sheep. Too bad your friend was feeling unwell.”
“Hi Luke, Uncle Ruiz kept talking about you, so I got curious and decided to join Uncle Ruiz for dinner.”
I silently got to my chair and gazed at her. She had brown hair and ocean blue eyes. She wore beach clothing that matched her tanned skin. Her smile was like pearls under the sea. Suddenly, she sat next to me.
“I am so glad to finally meet you.”
“Hi, pretty. I mean, Darleen,” I shook hands with her.
“Oh Luke, you are such a player. There was a girl before me, wasn’t there? I could smell her slimy scent around your skin,” she pursed her lips next to my ear.
I froze in my seat upon hearing that.
- Writer
