Alfred and the Dragon

By Norah Simone and Simon Zachariah

One boy. One quest. One dragon.

Alfred found the dragon when it was just an egg. He kept it hidden, protected, and a secret. He guarded the dragon with his life, and then one day, she was gone: vanished.

Broken and alone, Alfred never knew what happened to the mighty dragon he had called his best friend, but when his kingdom is thrust into chaos, he has no choice but to go find her.

No matter what the cost.

Alfred and the Dragon is a coming of age story about friendship, family, and fighting for the things we want the most.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Norah Simone
• Release date: Jan 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393001249

Book preview

Chapter One

Once upon a time, there was a child named Alfred.

He was a short, skinny boy with long brown hair that fell over his eyes. Sometimes he would blow his bangs out of his face just to feel the hair move. Sometimes he would shake his head, so the bangs covered his eyes. He liked having long hair because he could hide behind it anytime he didn’t want to talk to someone, and Alfred very often didn’t want to talk to people.

Alfred usually wore a white shirt and brown pants, but he liked playing outside, so eventually, all of his white shirts were brown, too. His mother always washed his clothes and tried to get the stains out, but there was no way she could do that. His clothes were simply too stained and too muddy and too dirty to clean.

Oh, Alfred, his mother would say, but her eyes always twinkled, and she always smiled, so Alfred knew she wasn’t too angry with him. This was good because Alfred liked to be wild and playful. He liked going on adventures and exploring. He didn’t want to let something like new clothes stand in the way of having fun.

Alfred liked going on walks in the mornings before the sun was too high. Once the afternoon rolled around, it would get very hot outside. During those times, Alfred liked to go hide away in the barn with a good book and a tasty snack. Then he could imagine he was exploring far-off places with far-off friends.

Living on a farm was a quiet sort of life, but Alfred often dreamed of traveling and having adventures. Sometimes his father had to travel to different places. Usually, Alfred stayed home to help his mother on the farm, but every so often, he’d get to go with his dad.

Oh, Alfred loves those trips.

They’d load up the horses and take off to explore the world. Alfred always packed plenty of books and his mother always prepared him lots of snacks. She understood that a hungry boy like Alfred needed plenty of food.

And even though Alfred insisted that at eight years old, he was much too old for a teddy bear, his mother always managed to slip his bear into his bag without him noticing.

And he always slept with his bear while he traveled.

Sometimes he missed his mother so much he wished he had a way to talk to her while he was away, but soon enough it was time to go home and he’d get to see Mom once more. His mother would always greet him with a big hug and a great meal and tell him, Oh, Alfred, how I missed you!

One day, Alfred’s father had to go on a journey through the woods. Alfred went with him. Together, they loaded up the horses and began trotting off. Mother stayed at the house. She stood on the porch and waved as they rode away.

Every few minutes, Alfred turned around to look at his mother. She was very pretty and very young, and Alfred knew that she loved him very much. Even though he hadn’t checked through his bags, he knew that his mother had packed him his favorite snacks, an assortment of treats, and of course, a teddy bear.

Come along, Father called out. Alfred urged his horse to hurry up, and soon he was riding alongside his father. They followed a little path to the forest and then they stopped at the edge of the woods.

Alfred looked up at the menacing trees. This was the part of any journey that made him nervous. What if something went wrong? What if they couldn’t find their way? Father was a good traveler and an expert journeyer, but was he good enough to make it through the dense woods?

Are you ready? Father asked, looking over at Alfred.

He smiled, and Alfred wondered whether his father knew just how nervous he really was. Sometimes Alfred felt positively sick as he thought about all of the ways this type of journey could go wrong.

Yes, Alfred lied. He didn’t feel ready at all. He was nervous, and his palms were sweaty. He wondered whether they would make it out alive. It seemed like such a simple thing: traveling through the woods.