"Come on, hurry up, it's about to start raining!" Alicia urged her little sister, her words underlined by a loud clasp of thunder, strong enough to make the window panes shake and rattle.

A sudden gust of cold wind swept through the garden, making both girls shiver as they ran across the lawn collecting the last toys, threatening to shut the door leading into the kitchen.

In a few moments Alicia, arms full of dolls, books and soft toys followed Katie, who was already inside. The five years  old girl was still scared of storms.

"Do we have them all?" She asked, spilling the toys on the floor even as Katie shut the door the moment it started to rain.

"When is mummy coming back?" The little one asked instead of replying, her voice shaking.

Alicia watched with sympathy as her sister's hands flew to her ears with the next thunder.

"Mummy will be back with daddy soon after his train arrives, you know that. Now check your toys please, see if we did not leave anyone in the downpour, and then I'll take you to bed."

"Will you read me a story?"

"Of course I will, I always do, Katie."

The little girl nodded and after she picked her toys up one by one, and carried them all to a large basket in the playroom, she said, lips twitching with a barely suppressed smile, "We only left the dragon outside, but I don't mind, he's too ugly, anyway."

"What did you say?" Alicia asked, pulling the girl in her arms and tickling her, making her squeal with laughter. "My poor dragon, I'll never buy you another present in my life!" She teased.

The plastic dragon the size of a kitten had been her present for Katie's birthday. She knew well that her little sister was more of a doll and princess girl, but when she saw it sitting on a top shelf in the darkest corner of the toy shop-- its large, green, scale-covered body, its bat-like wings and long tail, but more than anything its mesmerizing eyes-- Alicia could not leave without it.

She liked it so much that she even dreamed about it a few times... And now the poor thing was left alone outside, in the storm. 

She sighed, "Oh well, he's made of plastic, a little rain won't harm him, I hope. I'll get him as soon as it stops raining. Let's take you to bed."

Like on most evenings, the story chosen by her sister took a completely different turn the moment the younger girl fell asleep.

In place of the usual, boring wedding, following the first, predictable kiss, Alicia added her own ending to the story, closing her eyes and describing the events playing out in her mind.

"She was dragged across the throne room floor and thrown at someone's feet. Lifting herself up, she looked into the face of the boy she met in the woods the night before. The boy who kissed her.

"The last night's events flashed through her mind as their eyes met now, making her relive the moments of fear, hope and then... a feeling she could not name when she laid her eyes on the one who had been waiting for her in the woods, the one from the prophecy... the one who had not been the awful monster they told her to expect, not the beast sitting in front of her now...

"And yet, though greatly changed, it was him, she was certain. The boy who had kissed her now sat in front of her in the form of a dragon. His hands-- those arms that embraced her the night before-- were now huge, bat-like wings, his tall, strong, human body was now covered in green scales and his handsome face morphed into a snout with two thin ribbons of smoke issuing from large, orange nostrils.

"Only his eyes, those bottomless green orbs thanks to which she recognized him were the same-- honest, friendly and sad, now silently enquiring, 'How come you haven't ran yet?'

"And so she ran, but not towards the door through which she had been brought in, but, making the large chamber full of people explode in excited whisper, towards the dragon, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"He couldn't speak, but he wrapped her in his wings gently, protectively... lovingly, giving her both time and space to change her mind.

"She started when she heard a voice coming from behind her back.

"Never leaving the dragon's side, only turning around slightly to see the one who had spoken, she saw a king and a queen-- that's who they had to be, judging by their fairytale-like attire.

"We've been waiting for you for so long... This awful curse... our only son..." the beautiful queen said through her tears.

The girl nodded. "What do I have to do to help him?"

"You'll have to live with him alone, just the two of you, far away from here, for a year. You won't be able to come back during that time, and he will stay in his dragon form the whole year, so please, think well before you decide."

She nodded again, knowing it would not be easy, but unable not to follow her heart. 

"And then?" She asked.

"Then, if what you feel for each other now will grow into real love, the curse will be lifted. He will be free and the two of you will decide where you will spend your life, in our kingdom or your world..."

"What about my family?"

"The time stopped for them the moment you walked into this realm..."

Alicia was so absorbed in her own story that she jumped at hearing another loud peal of thunder.

It had stopped raining a good while ago but now it looked like the storm was returning.

Shrugging, Alicia closed her sister's book, switched off the light and went downstairs. She should better rescue her dragon from another downpour.

Walking across the kitchen illuminated by a small lamp they had left on before, she reached the door leading into the garden.

Removing her slippers she walked barefooted through the wet grass to the spot where her sister had been playing in the afternoon. Thanks to another, strong lightning criss-crossing the black sky she found the dragon toy fast and pressed it to her loudly beating heart. It was quite scary to be outside alone, during a storm, she thought even as the stone wall, separating their garden from an ancient forest spreading beyond, vanished in front of her eyes. 

"Alicia, I've been waiting for you for so long..." A voice she could never forget reached her on a gust of wind.

She turned towards the house briefly-- the sound of tires on the gravel drive followed by two cones of sharp, moving lights piercing the surrounding darkness told her that their parents were safely back, and Katie was not alone... 

Then she dropped the dragon toy and took off running into the woods, following the whisper.