Dragon In The Sky (Photo credit: audreyjm529)

I just watched a show where they trace the origins of Dragons and why the myth seems to persist in the face of scientific fact. Who hasn’t read a story about a Dragon where he terrorized the village or the kingdom? As a way to fight back the king sends knights on the trail of the menacing beast. And tell me what fair maid hasn’t thought of being kidnapped by a Dragon and rescued by the handsome knight or prince? As long as there have been stories there have been Dragons. From campfires to bedtime the stories have been told. In books and movies the Dragon has lifted its mighty wings and soared through the clouds only to come back to earth and breathe a fiery flame of devastation on farm, village, and kingdom. When my first grandson was born I used to love to tell him bedtime stories when he spent the night. After he was six or seven he would beg me to tell him stories about dragons. The stories came out of me with no preparation or planning. There were red and blue Dragons and black and yellow. Granted my audience was a six-year-old but I loved telling the stories as much as he loved hearing them. As he got older he would make suggestions as the story progressed. He would change a name or a color or a location. One day I woke up and realized he no longer longed for the stories of dragons. Video games and music took their place. Today he is a freshman in high school and the Dragon stories are locked in the past. One day they’ll return when he becomes a dad or a grandpa. One day the Dragons will return.

English: There be dragons. Wantley dragon wood. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Back to the question I posed in the title. Are Dragons real? I believe as long as people tell stories, as long as books are written, as long as little boys and girls of all ages seek adventure Dragons will be real. The imagination is a powerful thing. Who hasn’t scared themselves in the middle of a long, dark night because they thought they heard something or imagined they heard something. You try to calm yourself by saying things like there’s nothing there or it’s only my imagination. Does it make you any less unsettled? I don’t think so. Our imagination can bring many things to life. Along with success and happiness and monsters in the dark it can also breathe life into the Dragons our forefathers whispered about around the fire. I don’t know about you but some of my happiest memories are about Dragons of all colors and adventures in the dark with my grandson. As long as we can think, imagine, and create Dragons will be real.