\u2018Boo, sweetie, wake up, its time to open your presents\u2019.<\/p>\n
Boo\u2019s mommy was trying to wake Boo up, it was a little after seven in the morning and Boo was still snoring lightly.<\/p>\n
\u2018Boo, Santa has been, come on sweetie\u2019.<\/p>\n
Boo opened her eyes and smiled, she knew that Santa had visited, she had been with him when he had visited. She climbed out of bed, rubbing her eyes, pausing only to put on her gown and slippers she skipped into the lounge.<\/p>\n
Mommies boyfriend was watching the early morning news on TV.<\/p>\n
\u2018There are reports coming in from all over the world of Santa not only visiting, but of also clearing roads, melting snow and rescuing stranded drivers\u2026\u2026.\u2019 chattered the news reader. \u2018Numerous farmers all over the world are also reporting a large number of missing sheep leading to a possible lamb shortage for next year\u2026. authorities do not think that these events are at all connected.<\/p>\n
\u2018Good morning Short Stuff\u2019, Mommy\u2019s boyfriend was in a very good mood, he loves Christmas and always manages to buy too many presents, cook too much food and generally ensure that everyone has too much fun. Boo smiled at him and started to sort out the presents. She placed the present for Dragon in the pocket other gown, so that she would be able to give it to him later.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2026.and finally, a lady in Norway reported that she went outside to find a herd of reindeers eating her hedge, but she was able to scare them away by playing Celine Dion at them\u2026\u2019 continued the TV news reader.<\/p>\n
\u2018Oh look, sweetie, Father Christmas has been.\u2019 Mommy was holding the empty plate and drained milk glass, outside Boo could see the chewed and discarded carrots, Dragons do not really like carrots. She smiled to herself, she had seen Santa eat the mince pie and drink the milk. She did think about how on earth he\u00a0managed to eat so many pies and drink so much milk, but then she realised that there were very many things that were considered by adults to be impossible that she knew for a fact were totally possible.<\/p>\n
Boo sat on the floor and handed out he presents, they took it in turns to open presents and gleefully showed off their new things.<\/p>\n
Finally she opened the presents from Santa, inside her miniature sack she had a snow globe, she did not need to shake it, it seemed to be a magical one, snowing all the time. The scene was one of Santa flying across a town, his sleigh pulled by a rather familiar looking dragon. She smiled to her self and decided to put it by her bed.<\/p>\n
As she skipped into her bedroom she nearly fell straight over Dragon, who was curled up beside her bed once more. As usual he was sleeping. Boo realised that he probably had a long night and therefore it was probably not a good idea to try and wake him. She could not however fail to notice that there was a lot of wool tangled in his beard again, \u2018Probably a late night snack of sheep\u2019 she pondered.<\/p>\n
Boo wandered back into the kitchen Mommy was making tea and toast, her boyfriend was once more fiddling with his iPad and Boo decided to play with her new toys for a while before she had to visit daddy to open round two of her presents.<\/p>\n
The morning passed very quickly, Boo got dressed and checked on her dragon (still sleeping), then had a late morning snack constant almost entirely of pigs in blankets and checked on her dragon (still sleeping), then she had to go to Daddies, obviously she checked on dragon, who was once more sleeping, before she left.<\/p>\n
Boo took her backpack with her to Daddies house, in the backpack there were\u00a0the usual dragon snacks, her bobble hat, sunglasses and now the present for dragon too.<\/p>\n
Once at Daddies, she opened her presents (books, books, books and books) and then raided the kitchen for additional dragon snacks as usual, luckily he had remembered to stock up on smokey bacon crisps and granola bars. He was not sure that she should be eating such rubbish, but she had insisted that he get them. Boo was pleased that the new kitchen was still looking nice, she had not liked the old one, but the insurance company had finally paid out after the previous one had been wrecked by Dragon and she had helped to choose the counter tops and cupboard doors.<\/p>\n
Daddies girlfriend was, unfortunately, around too, she had got Daddy a new lime-green workout shirt that said \u2018best boyfriend ever\u2019 with a lot of pink hearts on it. Boo was not entirely sure that he would ever wear it and from the look on his face Boo figured she was right. Also in the package of presents there where several more\u00a0for Boo. It was a book. Boo sighed, she loves books, but her reading and comprehension ability was way beyond that of the average nine-year-old. She discarded \u2018Short stories for young children\u2019 and opened the next present. It was a make-up set. Boo sighed again. She was not a big fan of make-up, or as Mommies Boyfriend called it \u2018war paint\u2019. She opened the third and final present, it was a Barbie doll. Or rather it was a fake Barbie. Boo sighed deeply, what a disappointment.<\/p>\n
Boo did however say thank you for her presents and she gathered them up and put them in her room. Perhaps she would take them home and get mommy to drop them off at a charity store so that a less well of child could benefit from them.<\/p>\n
Boo looked out of the window, there was a brand new shed sitting in the corner, she smiled remembering that Dragon blew the old one to pieces, there was also a nice new birdbath in the middle of the lawn and some new furniture on the patio.<\/p>\n
Despite the cold weather Daddy was outside drinking coffee, he had a patio heater on full and he was standing under it admiring the lovely flat lawn.<\/p>\n
Boo blinked, she was sure that she had just spotted Dragon the the shed. She wondered what he was doing in there again, but before she could pursue that line of thought, Daddies girlfriend\u2019s screeching interrupted. \u2018Little girl, come downstairs it’s coffee time\u2019. Boo hated being called \u2018little girl\u2019, she also hated instant coffee and it seemed that Daddies girlfriend did not understand.<\/p>\n
Boo trudged downstairs into the kitchen. To her horror it looked like she was not only expected to drink instant coffee, but also somehow eat Cinnamon toast. She was almost gagging at the thought of it. If there was one thing that Boo could not stand it was Cinnamon and cinnamon toast seemed like a big waste of toast.<\/p>\n
Boo took both the mug of coffee and the cinnamon toast outside and placed them on a table next to Daddy. Dragon was watching her, having snuck out of the new shed. She held up the toast and pulled a face at it\u00a0as though it was the worst thing in the world.<\/p>\n
Dragon mimed \u2018I\u2019ll eat it\u2019.<\/p>\n
Describing exactly how a dragon would mime this is very difficult, but Boo got the message. Quickly checking that nobody was looking she threw a slice of toast towards the dragon, who expertly caught it in his mouth. Instantly Boo realised that this was a terrible mistake. Dragons eyes widened, then his face went bright red, then purple then green. Boo had seen this before, dragon was about to sneeze and the long he held it for, the worse it was going to be when it arrived.<\/p>\n
\u2018Ahhhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh, KerCHOOOOOOOO !\u2019<\/p>\n
Dragon sneezed so hard he blew himself off his feet, he flew backwards straight through the door and into the brand new shed. The sheet of flame that he snorted out, luckily missed Boo and her Daddy, but it did manage to singe the lawn and fence rather badly.<\/p>\n
Remembering that Dragons always sneeze multiple times, Boo braced herself for the next one.<\/p>\n
\u2018Ahhhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Oh no, thought Boo, this is going to be huge\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2018Ahhhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh\u2019<\/p>\n
Boo closed her eyes, she did not want to see this one. Meanwhile Daddy was looking stunned again<\/p>\n
\u2018KerCHOOOOOOOO !\u2019<\/p>\n
As Boo had guessed, this was the biggest sneeze that Dragon had ever done, the explosion blew the shed roof several hundred meters into the air, the door was completely vaporised and the lawn-mower blasted a hole in at least seventeen fences before it finally came to rest in old Mr Jones\u2019 pond almost a mile away.<\/p>\n
Boo\u2019s Daddy saw the shed explode, but obviously did not see the dragon as he does not believe in them. He grabbed Boo and they ran inside, quickly dialling the police and the bomb squad and the gnome preservation society in quick succession.<\/p>\n
Boo looked looked out of the kitchen window and realised that Dragon was making a bee-line for the remaining pieces of toast. She wondered why, if it made him sneeze so badly would he want the last few pieces, but then she remembered that she never really understood Dragon when it came to food.<\/p>\n
As she watched Dragon inhaled the remaining pieces of toast, then started to go purple again. This time however he did not sneeze instantly, he ran around to the front of the house and stuck his head in the newly re-built pond before sneezing an almighty, earth-shaking KACHOOO. Luckily there were no fish in the pond. Less luckily the pond was destroyed, the rocks around the edge were sent in every direction and the fountain in the middle, well that flew into the air and landed with a sickening thump on the roof of Daddies girlfriends\u2019 new car.<\/p>\n
The noise caused twitching curtains up and down the road and, still holding the phone, Daddy to come running out of the front door, still holding onto Boo\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n
He just stood there, looking at the empty, but steaming fish pond and the stone column of the fountain sticking out of the roof of the car.<\/p>\n
A few minutes later the police arrived, took one look at the devastation and called for the fire brigade, who took a quick look at the remans of the shed and the pond before they called the Army bomb disposal team. Each group stomped across the singed lawn in turn and each group declared that they had no idea what had happened and it must have been a gas canister exploding and perhaps someone had cross wired the gas and the water ?<\/p>\n
Boo\u2019s Daddy was adamant that he did not keep a gas canister in the shed, but when he explained that this was the second time his shed had exploded this year, everyone lost interest and declared that he must be crazy.<\/p>\n
\u2018Daddy\u2019, said Boo, \u2018I think it is time for me to go home, Mommy is cooking dinner and it will be ready soon.\u2019<\/p>\n
As they climbed into Daddies car, she noticed that Dragon was circling the house, presumably waiting to find out where they were going, she mouthed \u2018HOME\u2019 to him and he seemed to understand, he flew off in what Boo thought was the correct direction.<\/p>\n
A few minutes later she was explaining to Mommy that Daddies shed had exploded again and that his girlfriend now had a fountain sticking out of the roof of her new car. \u2018That will be handy in the summer\u2019, quipped Mommies Boyfriend.<\/p>\n
Boo was eager to talk to Dragon, but he was not back yet, she was sure that he was up to no good, but also wanted to make sure he was OK.<\/p>\n
Dinner passed without incident, she asked Mommy for a doggie bag (But you do not have a dog sweetie), but managed to sneak a few yorkshire puddings, some ham and a couple of slices of turkey into a zip lock bag for her dragon when he got back.<\/p>\n
Boo was very tired so she decided to lie on her bed for a while. Just a few minutes later Dragon slipped in through the window and lay at the side of her bed.<\/p>\n
\u2018Dragon needs dragon snacks\u2019.<\/p>\n
Boo smiled and handed over the bag of leftovers.<\/p>\n
\u2018oooh thank you, Dragons love Yorkshire puddings\u2019, he said and then he inhaled them.<\/p>\n
\u2018I think that Daddy is upset over his shed, his garden and the fish pond\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018And his girlfriends car ?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018No, I think he thinks that was funny, he kept saying it looked like a pram and now it looks like a pram with a fountain. Then he starts laughing, then she pulls a stern face and he tries not to laugh.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Well, it was all her fault, cinnamon makes me sneeze.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018So\u2019, said Boo quizzically, \u2018Why did you eat all six slices?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018I said it makes me sneeze, not that I did not like it\u2019.<\/p>\n
Boo rolled her eyes. \u2018Here, I got you a present\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018you should not have, I\u2026\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Go ahead open in\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Lamb tenderiser, fantastic, thank you Boo\u2019<\/p>\n
Dragon hugged Boo, something that Boo loved, she always felt so safe wrapped in his wings\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018Boo, sweetie, wake up, its time to open your presents\u2019. Boo\u2019s mommy was trying to wake Boo up, it was a little after seven in the morning and Boo was still snoring lightly. \u2018Boo, Santa has been, come on sweetie\u2019. Boo opened her eyes and smiled, she knew that Santa had visited, she had been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":67,"menu_order":220,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-587","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":617,"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/587\/revisions\/617"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/67"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}