I like to go exploring sometime. Today I stumbled on a cave in my garden. There’s a rough stone-cut circular staircase leading down a cylindrical well. At the bottom there’s a large bonfire. Curled around it, a large dragon, watching the shadow of the flames play on the wall.

Obviously surprised to find a dragon so close to me, I hesitate. Since when has it been here? Why have I never seen it outside? Is it aggressive?

As I arrive at the bottom of the steps, I take careful steps not to disturb it. It turns its head towards me, yellow eyeballs as large as apples. “Are you another person that wants something from me?” The voice echoes in my head. The dragon did not open its mouth, the only noise it made came from its scales scraping across the stone floor. The fire continues to crackle.

“Did you just speak to me in my mind?” I manifest the words in my head. “Yes, have you never heard of telepathy?” the voice sounds unnaturally powerful but monotone. “Only in stories, I did not know it is real.” It did not hesitate to respond. “Yes it is real, I can do it. Now what do I need to do for you to go away?”.

I stopped. I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do in this conversation. The dragon seems to feel indebted to me, but utterly annoyed at the thought of needing to perform a task for me. “I wanted to ask why you are living at the bottom of this cave, in my garden?” The dragon went back to watching the flames. “Yes thank you for letting me live here, and that I can eat from your garden. You know I’m very hungry. So if you ever need anything… I suppose I’m here now.” I could not make an emotion on its face (snout?). “But you did not ask to live here.”

It moved. I felt like the whole earth was shaking as it pushed its gigantic body up. It vacated its position around the fire. It was towering over me. I suddenly realised I made a huge mistake. No matter how remorseful, this is still a dragon. It puffed its nose towards me, pushing my hair into my face. An emotional cry pushed from all sides of my head “I’M SORRY.” It sounded like it was at the verge of tears. The yellow eyes blinked at me. “I’m sorry, I never asked, I got here when I a tiny wyrm, with none of my power. I could only survive in your garden by hiding in this cave. Your garden had a lot of food and the cave made me feel safe. But now I have power! I can be useful!”

I stumbled backwards, intimidated and confused. “What do you mean?” Another blink. “You did not come here to kick me out? To admonish me for stealing from your garden every night?” My heels were not hitting the first step upwards again, I needed to calm this dragon down before it decided to burn me. “No, of course not. You know I never noticed that something was gone from the dragon until now. And I have many creatures living in it anywhere.” But you sure seem like the most powerful I’ve ever seen. Most others don’t even speak.

Silence. Fire-crackling. The dragon was still staring at me. Looking closer at its body, its wingspan must be massive. It probably can just barely exit the cave. And it grew this strong in my garden? “So, what do you do when you’re not eating from my garden?” Another airpuff towards me. “I tend to be here, it’s safe and warm here. And the flame calms me down.” It doesn’t seem calm, at least not since I’ve shown up. “What does it calm you down from?” It moved its head backwards a bit, raising its neck even higher. “Mostly, the world outside, it seems scary. I mostly go there for food and then come back down here.”

“You know, you can go back to the fire I think, I did not want to stop you from watching the fire.” I also did not want to risk it frying me out of embarrassment. The dragon tilted its head to the side. Then slowly turned its body back to the fire, lowering itself with a gigantic THUMP sound echoing through the cylindrical cave. As it looks on the dwindling fire, brutal flames erupt from its maw. I can feel the heat up to here, almost yelping up a few steps. The dragon was back to watching the flames.

The next few days, I tried to visit it in the cave, bringing vegetables from the outside world. It seemed to appreciate the gifts, but still I could feel a sense of unease enter the room the moment it noticed me. First I thought it harboured some terrible secret and was playing me, but the more I interacted with this gigantic lizard, it seemed like a remarkably simple creature to me. Not stupid, but unambitious to its core. It seemed to just want to sit at the warm of the fire and look at the flames.

I inquired about its abilities (various, magical, mind-bendingly powerful) and the existence of other dragons (yes, in other gardens). Still I wondered what its goals are. If I were religious I could think about the reason god created it. But alas, it always deflected by offering its help with whatever problem I would have, seemingly terrified to leave its hole but even more terrified I would kick it out if it didn’t somehow “pay rent”.

It’s quite exciting to have a dragon living in a cave in your garden.