This was written by Eilidh MacDonald, and was inspired by the 4 Elements of Nature, which is the Comenius Project of Gairloch High School.

1. Dragon
As he turned he saw movement in the
corner of his eyes – a shadowy shape
turning round to face him. Before he
knew it, he was staring into the nostrils
of a huge yellow dragon. His heart
stopped. The cave was filled with
noise of the dragon’s fiery breathing.
As the silence returned, who would
make the first move? Him? Or the
dragon? He decided he could wait.
He sat down cross-legged on the dusty
ground and took his only sandwich out
of his worn and tired looking lunch
bag. His sandwich was plain, made
from the remainder of the brown bread
his mother had baked with her loving
hands, and ham from the family’s pig
which had been killed not that long
ago. This would be the last sandwich
his mother would make unless he
found that treasure.
He took a bite, feeling the eyes of the
dragon on him. He looked up and saw
that the dragon had moved backwards,
but was still staring him down. Then
the strangest thing happened: the
dragon began to talk.
“I need to tell you something,” he said,
“something I have never told anyone
before and nobody knows but I.” The
boy sighed – this would take too long.
He needed to get back home to his
parents. Who knew how much longer
they had left to live? But listening
might be the only way to escape.
“I need to start at the beginning,” he
whispered. “I hatched from my egg
many years ago, out in the open, not in
this damp and dreary hole. I was
raised along with my brothers and
sister by my mother. I don’t have
many memories of her but the ones I
do have are good. We lived in the
forest, surrounded by the trees, bees
and fresh air. I spent many days
exploring the forests, adventuring
through the rivers and causing much
mayhem for my dear mother. She was
a very patient dragon: she never really
got angry and rarely ever lost her
. temper.”
“Wow,” the boy murmured, imagining
his own parents who were always kind
to him. They loved him dearly but they
were busy trying not to die at that
second. Hopefully this treasure would
make everything better. Maybe they
could pay for their medicine, or buy
more food, or move to a better place.
Imagine their faces when he would
walk through the door with a big
bundle of diamonds and gold coins
under his arm.
“But one day,” the dragon continued,
“one day I wandered a bit too far away
from home. I journeyed out past the
edge of the forest, past the river, past
the lake, until I saw a cave. It was this
cave actually, the cave we are in right
now. I found myself drawn to its
entrance and so, instead of resisting
the urge, I moved slowly along the
grassy meadow on the edge of which I
was lurking. I can still remember the
feeling of the grass stroking my belly,
tickling me, still to this day. Before I
knew it I was approaching the mouth
of the cave, breathing in the musty
smell that is now so familiar.”
The dragon stopped speaking for a
moment and the cave was filled with
silence. The boy took a bite of his

2. bread waiting for the dragon to
continue his story.
“As I was a curious young dragon,” he
resumed, “I wandered into the cave
and did not ever look behind me. The
cave seemed to be getting smaller but
that did not stop me. I couldn’t resist
the temptation to carry on exploring
this mysterious place. Too soon my
shoulders got stuck and I was unable
to proceed, but I could not go back
either. My legs couldn’t move properly
so the only way out was forwards. I
began to panic. But it was not regular
panicking – I felt myself begin to stress
and hyperventilate so I pushed myself
forward through the gap in the cave
which could no longer be called a
passageway. As I struggled through
the space, I jumped or fell into this
cavernous underground hall-like
space.”
He stopped talking – there was nothing
much left to say. That was where the
story ended. Finished. Ended. Done.
The tears begin to well up in his eyes
and the old beast did everything he
could to push them down his scaly
face.
“So what happened next?” the boy
asked, looking puzzled. “What did you
do?”
“Nothing,” murmured the dragon, so
quietly that he could barely be heard
over the drips from the ceiling. “I could
not go anywhere, I’m stuck here,
eating only what wanders into my
cave…”
Eilidh, S3