FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"A dragon?" I asked for Tommy to repeat himself. Oh, I had heard what the young lad from Brooklyn had said, but I just wanted to make sure he wasn't on anything too illegal.

"Dragon, I tell ya!" He nodded vigorously, his black locks whipping up and down, slapping his face hard enough he had to blink. "Y'know. Big and scale. Wings." He began to flap his arms and I decided that was enough.

"Settle down." I grabbed his arms and set them down to his sides and held them there. He would start flapping them again if I didn't. "What makes you say that you saw a dragon?" As much as I didn't believe him, Tommy had a way with stories that were just to good to pass up and right after a dinner of casserole was the perfect time for this. I didn't have work until the afternoon tomorrow either, so I had some hours before I needed to get to bed.

"Well," he licked his lips. "I was walkin down 5th over by the markets."

"By G. Louie's"

"Right there." He pointed at me with a grin and began to walk around my living room just as if he were on this evening stroll of his. "Just minding my own business. I was headin home."

"You live on Mulberry," I reminded him that he lived in the opposite direction of where he was saying he was going.

"I know. Let me finish."

I sat back in my chair and laced my fingers together, wondering if I should refill my glass of scotch from dinner. I decided against it for the time being.

"So there I was on 5th, walking..." He strutted around the small coffee table, chasing away the cat in the process. "It was already dark. Gets dark early these days. Could barely see past the light posts and you know that half of them are dead."

I did know.

"Well," he stopped suddenly and threw out his arms and widened his stance. "I heard something off the side of the road. Just down the embankment that goes to the Windy Bend. Y'know the one that Jake used to take with his bike before he got in that accident?"

I nodded softly and waved for him to continue.

"Hold ya horsies." He frowned, getting more serious. "At first I was thinkin that it was just a dog er somethin. Maybe a cat. But then I heard a low growl. Not a dog or a cat. Cat's hiss and yowl. They don't growl. Not like this anyhow. More throaty. Like you after a football game on yer telly."

"Alright. Alright. I get it. Not a dog and especially not a cat." I was regretting not getting more scotch. However, Tommy was getting really excited, more so than the time he saw mermaids that turned out to be dolphins. That got him going all day, even after he leaned they were dolphins.

"Especially not a cat," He emphasized, his eyes growing wide. "So I stopped to listen some more. Not everyday that you hear that kind of sound. Next thought was that it was a robber or something. Fell down there just like Jack. Now yer probably thinkin why I was thinkin a robber."

He was going to answer anyways, so I simply shook my head.

"5th ain't a pretty part of town. Not enough lights and not enough cops around. Let's the wrong kind of folks crawl out an' steal people's hard earned cash. Naughty bunch. That's why I was thinkin a robber."

"Okay. Then what?" I asked since I was already well into the rabbit hole and there was no stopping Tommy from digging it deeper.

"As you know, I'm an outstandin and... and, oh... model citizen. Yeah, model citizen," he patted, actually patted, himself on the back. "So decided that the person down there would need help. I didn't go down right away. It's steep and all I got are my tennis shoes which I have never used for tennis."

"You're not wearing tennis shoes." I glanced down at his feet and was irked that I hadn't asked him to remove what were obviously hiking boots. Possibly even my hiking boots that I had loaned out to Morrison the other day.

"So I went to Morrison's just a few blocks away and got the boots I saw he had in his garage."

Yep.

"Does he know you have them?" I asked, already knowing that Morrison would have been fast asleep. He had to wake early for his shift at the bakery his family owns.

"Nah." He shook his head, hair still flailing wildly. "Just borrowing them. I'll get them back to him. Anyways, I went back to the hill. Took me a few minutes to find the same part of the hill. I just had to listen again. For the growling if you forgot."

"Not a cat," I said since I knew that was where he was going next.

"Exactly." He sat down fast and unexpectedly on the seat right next to me.

He was close enough that our thighs touched. I promptly scooted an inch over, letting the armrest push uncomfortably into my side.

"Well, once I heard the growling again, I stated climbing down." He pantomimed than action enthusiastically. "Lots of loose rocks and dirt. I went slowly, testing my footing." He stomped his boot for effect and shook loose some dirt from my boot right onto the carpet.

"Don't do that."

"Test my footing? I would fallen!" He exclaimed.

"No, you getting dirt all over the carpet." I pointed at his feet and he looked down.

"Oh." He then looked back up. Absolutely no shame. "I'll clean that up."

He'll think about it and then forget later is what he meant.

"Now, the climbing was tough, but my time at the gym made sure I wasn't strugglin." He kept motioning the act of climbing with his hands. "The growling was getting louder until I came to this little ledge where the plants grew a little thicker so I couldn't see it until I got right on top of it."

"So this is where the dragon was?"

I was glad when he turned his body away from me and scooted back to make room for his legs, allowing me to sit normally again.

"Not yet." He held up his hands like Billy Mays. But wait there's more. "There was a cave."

"A cave?"

He crossed his arms and gave me the look of mild annoyment. Glad he knew knew how I felt at times.

"Gonna let me finish?"

"Go ahead."

The look vanished immediately and his grin returned. "Yeah, a cave. Big one too. Didn't even have to crouch down to go in, but too dark to see anything. No lamp posts in there," he chuckled. "So I pulled out my phone and started shining it around. Then I saw the dragon."

He stopped for a moment and I knew that he was trying to recall what it looked like. You can probably tell that Tommy isn't the brightest. He isn't deficient by any means, just not smart and somewhat forgetful. Good man by every regards though and good company in stuttered stints.

The light came on upstair and he snapped his fingers. "First thing I saw was its eyes, like jewels they were. Big green jewels with quartz in the center." It was oddly specific for Tommy. "They looked at me right in the soul. I could see it and oh, oh, it could see me. I was shaking in my boots just from its eyes.

My boots.

"The I saw the rest of 'im. Big. Big like yer truck, even with the camper on it. Big and red. Shiny red too. From the scales. It also had a tail that wound all the way around it and at the end were a pair of flipper thingies."

I got more interested at this point. I believed that Tommy believed what he saw. He was no liar and so I was curious to see where this was going, trying to figure out what he had actually saw.

"I wanted to run at that point, but I couldn't. Something kept me, like invisible hands. I stood and looked at it and it looked back, it's tongue doing that snake thing that snakes do."

He poked his tongue out and I couldn't help but laugh at the sight of him mimicking a snake.

"You're a silly boy, but do you know how to make me laugh sometimes."

"I wasn't joking." His tongue slipped back into his mouth. "It looked at me and then I heard it speak."

"It talked to you?" I came down from my laughter.

He nodded, a sparkle in his eyes. "It spoke and said that it needed help. It was hurt, you see. I didn't notice at first, but there was blood around it and its paws, but broad things with talons the size of yer hand, were torn up. It let me look. Said that it wanted me to get someone that could help and you're an animal doctor."

"Veterinarian," I corrected him. "So that's why you came halfway across town to my house?"

He nodded, fingers gripping the edge of the couch cushion tightly.

"To fix up your imaginary dragon."

"It's not imaginary!" He yelled and I must have looked like a startled toddler just then. "I know that you an the others like to joke behind me. I'm not smart and at times I can't remember the best, but I don't lie. The dragon is hurt and needs help. Don't you trust me. We been friends since before you got hitched."

While I still couldn't bring myself to believe him, I could bring myself to trust him.

"Are you boys alright?" Meredith came down the stairs, rubbing this sleep out of her eyes. Her brown hair was messed from its usual pristine pony tail she liked to keep it in during the day. "I heard yelling."

"We're fine, dear," I told her. "Tommy just got a little excited. We're heading out."

Meredith leaned over the railing to glance at the clock on the living room wall. "At this hour?"

"Yeah. Tommy's pet lizard is sick. I'm going to go take a look at it."

Tommy's face lit up.

"How nice of you. I hope it gets better. Nice seeing you, Tommy." She waved and went back upstairs.

"You gonna help?" Tommy was already standing, his knees bouncing in excitement.

I sighed. "Yeah. Let me grab my house call bag."

Shortly after I had grabbed my bag and put on a spare pair of boots that were tight around the ankles, we were off in my truck.

"I wonder why dragons hoard gold?" Tommy said while he watched the world from his window. "They can't use it. Why hoard it?"

I shrugged. "I don't know." I was still trying to figure out what Tommy had actually seen. It had to be another person on the account that it spoke to him. That didn't account for the size or the rather detail description. Tommy didn't smell like marijuana either. I know that he had discovered that recently, but was put off after puking. He would be one to go back and try again, but he didn't smell like the pungent smoke. I tapped my fingers against the steering wheel as I turned onto 5th.

"Maybe they have their own economy or stuff. Dragon grocery stores that only take gold and jewels." He grinned satisfied that he had solved what must have been the secret to the universe.

"We're here," I pulled off to the side of the road opposite of the steep hill."

We got out of the truck and walked over to the edge. It was steeper than I imagined. A miracle that Tommy only had dirty boot and wasn't covered head to toe.

"It was over here!" He began to trot down the road towards, thankfully, smoother slopes.

I followed him at my own brisk pace until we got to one of the many burnt out street lights.

"Listen." He cupped his hand to his ear.

I rolled my eyes and then did the same. We stood for a solid minute to the sound of crickets and distant cars. I was about to give up, call it a night and go home when I heard it too.

It was a rough growling. Definitely not a cat at all.

"You hear?"

"Yeah, I hear."

I turned back to Tommy but he was already well on his way down the slope, using a partially eroded animal trail.

With no other choice, I followed him down slowly. With one hand on my bag, I went twice as slow as Tommy could have, but he waited for me and told me of good foot holds, what plants had strong roots to hold onto and how to continue once the animal trail vanished.

Eventually we did get down to the outcropping that Tommy spoke and and there it was, the cave that would have been hidden from view by plants.

"Inside!" Tommy was really excited while I was nervous. He darted inside without any second thoughts, entirely certain of his safety.

I cautiously followed the sound of his steps that echoed off the walls which were not natural. It looked like someone had spent the time to carve the cave out of the stone. There were deep grooves and parts were smooth and shiny as if brazened by fire.

"Tommy?" I called out into the dark. I had forgotten my phone and I had a flashlight, but it was back in the truck.

"Oh, right. Light." I heard a shuffle and then I was blinded by his phone's light.

I blinked away the stars and walked forward.

"I told you I would come back with help," I heard Tommy talking. "I told you."

"You did and you delivered," a smooth voice purred in the dark.

"He's a doctor too. He'll patch you right up."

"Tommy? Who are you talking to?" I hadn't quite gotten my vision back and was groping the darkness when my hands touched something hard and warm.

"Wrong leg, doctor."

I recoiled back from the touch.

"Are you sure he can help?"

"He's the best!" Tommy's voice dominated the space. "He can help you. Teresa once had a dog that had gotten sick. He made it better along with many other animals."

There was a snort and hot, foul smelling air washed over me. "I will bow to your judgement. He does smell nice though."

I blinked a few more times and then looked up, my eyes having adjusted. My bag dropped and hit the floor.

"Careful."

Just like Tommy said. Deep emerald eyes with white pupils the color of quartz.

"Well, Doctor? This paw won't fix itself."