Book of 10 Tales

By Neel and Shaurya

Hey
Greetings!
Short-Stories are short as the name says, and they're fun to read too. They put your mind, eyes, and souls into another realm for a short period of time, so that you can come to your own world with a refreshed and charged mindset. Meet the Dragon, George, Nung-Nung, Johaan, Cosco, Sturgis, Lydia, Alexis, Billy, and the Troll who found out who they were... just like how you can figure out who you are. Come let's start!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Green Prints Press
• Release date: Sep 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223485308

Book preview

The Sound of The Dragon

Once upon a time, a great dragon had been born into the world. It was a time when dragons were not seen anywhere else. If you pack up your bags, set your maps, and make your way to that world, you will find that their world is filled with many-many bizarre things, but you wouldn’t find a dragon anywhere.

There would be many pigeons, swans, ducks, and crows. There would be doves, cuckoos, and sparrows. Many land animals like bulls, horses, and donkeys would be there as well. Likewise, you’d find men and women and many types of beings. But you wouldn’t be able to find a dragon there.

Thus, when this dragon was found by a great King, called Drodo, he was very delighted. He instructed his ministers to prepare a great feast in honour of the dragon’s birth and many kings from all over the world were invited there. It was a glorious festival, one that had many dragon-themed events in them, and when that period of zest was finished, everyone went back to their homes in high spirits.

But The Dragon itself was very miserable.

You see, in that world, everyone had understood their place and role. They knew what they had to do. The cat knew that it was a cat, and it behaved like a cat, and the tiger, too, behaved like a tiger. It is true that he did create a lot of terror in those who had to encounter his ferocious being, but he always played his part and never stopped being ferocious. Likewise, all other beings were always themselves.

They never had to pretend to be like someone else. They never had to figure out who they were or what they had to become. They were born in the world with the qualities of their being and expressed those qualities with supreme sovereignty. They did not put up a facade to hide their true feelings and expressed themselves completely with as much freedom as possible. Thus they enjoyed a very blissful and enthusiastic existence.

This was not the case with The Dragon. The Dragon was born in a world that had forgotten about it. He was an alien in that world, and there was no place for him in that society. Everywhere he went, beings became conscious of him, and they stopped their activities just to see what he would do. He never felt like he could belong to them and always felt disconnected from the world, as if the world was not his home, as if he had been put into a place that really could not contain him. Thus he was always miserable.

He tried really hard to fit in with everyone, though. Sometimes he would pretend to be like a lion, for he had seen that lions were strong and fierce, and he too sometimes felt like that. So he would try to puff out a very loud roar and bellow his lungs with as much power as he could. But no matter how hard he tried, he could never become like the lion. In fact, one time, he tried so hard that he actually ended up releasing fire from the pit of his belly, and that day the entire marketplace was burned. He had felt really embarrassed and ashamed of what he had done, and thus he stopped trying to imitate.

This went on for a very long time. Ultimately, the situation became so bad that The Dragon actually ended up becoming an outcast. Once, the pride and glory of the very king, now, even rats and insects refused to be around him. He was alone, always alone and still could not figure out what to do. He still did not know how to fit into the world. He still did not know how to behave.

One day, when he had gotten very drunk and was slumbering around some cave, he looked into the pond, and there he saw something that made him blink his eyes twice. He saw, in the mirror-like surface of the pond, a vision of a Dragoness, who had long eyelashes, and this Dragoness spoke to The Dragon. She said:

‘How long will you try to live like someone who you are not? How long are you going to keep that mask on? Why do you hide your true self from the world? Worse than that, why do you hide your original being from yourself? Do you know, in Dragon Law, it is alright to lie to other beings, but it is a great sin to lie to one’s own self.

‘Stop pretending to be who you are not. Stop trying to fit into the society that won’t accept you. You are the one of your kind, O Dragon. Just embrace that fact and accept yourself. If you don’t accept yourself, then how will anyone else accept you?

‘Thus forget all this useless facade and embrace your self O Dear Dragon. You are not a tiger, or a wolf, or a serpent. You are The Dragon. So behave like The Dragon.’

The strong speech of the beautiful Dragoness had resonated such a strong harmony of vibrations in his mind that it became fully alert and alive. His senses became razor-sharp, and his body found such a thrilling sensation of current running in it that he actually lifted up his great head and let out a terrible-terrible dragon-roar.

The very earth shook from that primal sound and the cosmic shout of The Great Dragon echoed in the hills and resonated in the valleys. Those who were playing on the forest floor were shocked and horrified, and they ended up running into the caves. Birds flew away from branches, and even the lions decided to pick a place to hide, something that they hadn’t done in ages.

Then The Great Dragon leapt up in the air, unleashed its wings, and flew so high up in the sky that even the falcons and eagles were ashamed to fly that day. The big terrible form of The Lord of Reptiles soared across the canvas of the sky, and against the shining moon, it looked like a God was traversing on his Cosmic Chariot.

The Dragon roared and bellowed and screamed so loudly that the very earth was terrified. All other beings, who, in the absence of The Dragon, had been bossing around that world, finally fell back to their original place.

They bowed to The Dragon, gave him offerings, respected him, and saluted him and were so afraid of him that they hired more than a dozen priests, who mounted great Dragoness Altars, just to keep The Dragon satisfied, though The Dragon never bothered them and minded his own business.

And even to this day, if you go to that land and hear the roar of that beast and ask: to whom that sound belongs, they would look at you with big wide eyes and say: ‘Why, everyone knows that sound. It’s the sound of The Dragon.’

The End

George’s Search for the Burger

George woke up on a very fine morning. The light of the sun seeped through his window, providing just enough warmth on that cold winter’s day.

However, the temperatures were the least of the worries for George. He cared not for anything save for that which could give immediate pleasure for his tongue and instantaneous satisfaction for his stomach: food, and not just any food, but the Chicken Whopper of Burger King. For the last week, he ate nothing but that: for breakfast, lunch and dinner. At the age of 15, he had a high metabolism which rendered him into a state of perpetual skinniness, so his parents had not minded much. There is much time ado for our son to realise and take cognisance of his health habits, they thought.

Today, however, was a different day; and something, in particular, had changed their minds.

George’s advisement report had come from the school, and with the noteworthy grade of D- (a special grade his teachers had devised just for him, as they did not want to fail him), his parents were very concerned, indeed.

Son... what happened? A bright boy like you? His father asked.

George did not look even remotely abashed.

Oh, nothing, father. I’ll do better next time. In the meantime... er, can I order some food? I’m hungry.

Jonathan’s ire was finally aroused.

"So this is why you haven’t given even an inkling of care to your academics? The energy you should have devoted to your studies, you have devoted here.

Well, here is your punishment. No more burgers, no more fast food, no more anything!

George looked into the eyes of his loving father. In three seconds, the shock settled in. No more burgers; no more fast food; no more anything! Echoed in Georges’s ears. The disbelief pleading of the boy boiled into a ravenous rage -a lamp went flying, hitting the wall across the room, doors were slammed, his anger trickling down into the depths of grief as the rollercoaster of dread came to a halt against the brick wall of his father’s will. The minds of his parents, Jonathan and Sarah did not budge.

What could poor George do now? He was stuck – as if tied to the tracks of a rail-line where in a few hours the high-speed locomotor of hunger would strike him so painfully. What could he do to escape his binds? He had to escape the ropes that his now villainous parents had set upon him in the same evil spirit that wolves chased deers. But, as he thought, deers were herbivores, and he clearly wasn’t; this metaphor didn’t work. But he was digressing!

How would he chase after the item he sought? He could not order it anymore. And the money? He didn’t have any money.

After a few moments, a plan settled upon his mind. If there would be no order at home, he would go out. As for the money... There was a solution to that too.

Day after tomorrow was coincidentally a holiday for him and a day that his parents were going to the wedding of their friend – George even remembered her name – Georgina, as she somewhat shared a name with her.

They left some money in the house to pay the electrician – a task George was assigned to do. To be safe, the money left far exceeded the number on the electricity bill, so George would simply use the excess change. His parents barely bothered about that, anyway.

A smile enveloped George’s boyish features, while a warm feeling of delight did the same to his heart and mind; at the same time, the agonising feeling of his stomach was mitigated, if only slightly.

He would have to be patient! Yes! Patient. And that would mean eating the disgusting ‘healthy’ food his mother would cook for today and tomorrow. But with his inglorious scheme on his mind, his spirits could not be thwarted by a little wait.

That day and the next, George pretended to be a good boy. He tried his best to be the most conscientious, sincere and disciplined boy in the whole world. The outcome of his efforts... Well, they were good enough for his very pleased parents.

See, son, said Jonathan. You are capable of so much more than just filling your day with McDonald’s.

The rage of George was awoken. For someone who considered himself a good parent, how could his father not be aware that the object of his passions was Burger King! Not McDonald’s. And to further locate them in their competition – George detested McDonald’s as part of