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    Dragons and Dreams: And Other Stories
    Dragons and Dreams: And Other Stories
    Dragons and Dreams: And Other Stories
    Ebook113 pages1 hour

    Dragons and Dreams: And Other Stories

    By David Frankel

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    About this ebook

    Three works of fiction and fantasy that combine the images of myth and reality.

    These advanced sketches offer a montage of shadows and light in a kaleidoscopic reflection of our every day lives turned upside down and inside out.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateDec 29, 2011
    ISBN9781467870610
    Dragons and Dreams: And Other Stories
    Author

    David Frankel

    David Frankel was born in Salford and raised on the westerly fringes of Manchester. His short stories have been shortlisted in several competitions including The Bristol Prize, The Bridport Prize, The ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award, The Willesden Herald, and the Fish Memoir Prize. His work has been published in numerous anthologies and magazines, and also in a chapbook by Nightjar Press. He also writes nonfiction exploring memory and landscape.

    Read more from David Frankel

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      Book preview

      Dragons and Dreams - David Frankel

      Contents

      Dragons and Dreams 

      Part Two 

      Tales from the Safid Kuh 

      Desire 

      Endnotes

      Dragons and Dreams 

      The gleaming, red mahogany boat cut through the calm waters of the inlet. Its strong, sleek prow parted the waves, leaving in its wake a frothy mix of brine and spume.

      The spirited vessel held fast and full on half speed propelled by its twin two hundred horse powered engines which thrust it through the fog, the foam and the early morning mist.

      Nestor stood at the wheel of his skiff, stolid, focused and firm as he exclaimed to his fishing buddy and friend: We gonna catch some tuna and mako today! You wait and see, I gotta feeling, the skies the color of indigo, the seas calm and the fish are runnin!

      Rogine, the ever apprehensive, doubting guest passenger fired off a skeptical glance at the skipper whom he felt was too full of his own hyperbole.

      Sure, Rogine replied with more than an edge of indulgence, you gonna hook a marlin, if any still exist in these waters. Maybe we’d be better off, if we didn’t catch that big a fish. What if that big-boned baby decides to ram us? You think your gonna lasso that sea brute, haul him in, and gut him without one hell of a fight.

      Nestor listened to his doubting, babbling companion and calmly replied: What’s gonna be, will be! You musta forgot, I got the sides of this skiff reinforced with two inch metal plates from the bow to the rudder. She should be able to withstand the battering.

      Yeh, replied Rogine, but can you hold the rod against a thousand pounds of aggravated torque which will snap the string and drag us into its wake?

      Nestor chuckled indulgently as he replied, half under his breath, ach du liebe menschkiet, you make it sound like we’re hunting Moby Dick. Well, let me tell you, we ain’t confronting Armageddon or the wrath of God. My heavy duty wire oughta hold up, good enough! If you got the heart for it?

      As the boat continued to churn through the waters that now became more agitated, Nestor gazed upward toward the sun that beat down upon the men and upon the limitless sea. He felt suspended, floating in ether which was weightless and infinite.

      Then, all at once, the skipper, startled out of his reverie, beheld two gigantic outstretched wings that arose with great embracing feathered arms which eclipsed the sun’s sphere above him.

      Rogine cried out, Heh, what’s happening? Is it a solar eclipse, or what? The horizon suddenly grew very dark as he exclaimed, do you think were in for a squall?

      Nestor now smiled indulgently at Rogine and mimicked his companion’s concern and panic. Take it easy, Rogine, your probably just going blind, have you never heard of maculae degeneration?

      Rogine quickly retorted, having caught the skipper’s scorn.

      "No, I ain’t going blind and I can see very well, that you’re mocking me.

      At that moment a powerful swishing sound and a rush of air with an irresistible force shattered and burst forth upon them, filling their minds and ears with a trembling fear.

      What is it?, cried the incredulous Rogine.

      There on the prow, in front of them, on the bow sprit itself, the men witnessed the Avatar. Its body was sheathed in lustrous brown and white feathers from the crown of its head to its talons. The bird’s gleaming claws curved around the forward railing of the boat. Its flashing eyes were fierce, unwavering and complemented its formidable size. It seemed to challenge the men with an imperious gaze. This airborne wraith with a resolute demeanor was at once imperial and iconic. Its manifestation was not unlike the fulminating force of a water spout at sea.

      Rogine blanched, he felt his insides quake. Nevertheless, he quietly, swiftly, reached for a club that lay stashed under a bench beneath the forward railing. It wasn’t that far from the killing station where a gaffed fish would have its back broken and then gutted. To the shocked man, this business of fishing for sport was both violent and lethal as the killing of any living creature would be at the hands of its annihilator.

      The frightened man did not take a moment to temporize, for he thought that if the bird attacked, he would do his best to fend off this visitation from the clouds with his club.

      Nestor now stared at the bird and simultaneously at Rogine as he chortled, Well laddie, I think we met our match!

      In a deliberate, calm voice but with an edge of immediacy he instructed his companion, under the starboard bench, you’ll find an over and under thirty gauge, loaded and ready to repel all boarders. Our visitor is a Sea Eagle, and you gotta respect its majesty. I just wish to hell, he’d leave me and my boat!

      Rogine replied in an almost hysterical manner, Shoot the friggen bird before it attacks us!

      Nestor stared at his quavering companion full in the face, and declared: No I will not and you won’t either! You will not kill that bird out of fear or for any god forsaken craving for blood on my boat. If it attacks, then I’ll shoot him. Otherwise we gonna ride it out, him and us; bird, boat and your confounded panic-and that’s that! Do I make my self clear?

      Rogine quietly cursed the captain under his breath, but he recognized he wasn’t the skipper of this skiff. He didn’t own the boat and he didn’t give the orders.

      Suddenly, Nestor cried out, land ahead, I can see vegetation from here.

      At the same time that he sighted the land, the gigantic sea eagle flew from the prow of the boat and ascended into the clouds above. It left as quickly and unexpectedly as it had arrived. It too headed for that distant isle which now became more visible.

      As the outline of the atoll became clearer, its surface boasted a number of stunted trees and sparse patches of sea grass and assorted scrub; while a wide expanse of sand threatened to engulf its patchy vegetation.

      Rogine now became animated as he experienced relief for being so near to land. He could look forward to finally leaving this boat along with its iron-jawed skipper and their heart pounding sail in deep waters which threatened to swamp them at any time. The skipper, he thought, might be used to this seafaring way of life but it had all too chastising an effect upon his sensibilities. He further observed that Nestor now scanned the shore line of this narrow island to find a safe place of anchorage which would serve as a temporary berth in which he could tie up his vessel and explore the land.

      Just then, Rogine who had been lost in his private speculations, heard the explosive sound of a single shot-gun retort. He witnessed Nestor with his gun at his shoulder apparently sighting and discharging a round at something just beyond the prow of the boat, at an object on the land.

      The clamorous sound unsettled the nervous Rogine who turned to Nestor as he breathlessly asked, What did you see that caused you to fire your weapon?

      Nestor, now pale, his body having grown taut exclaimed: "Man alive, I’ve seen it, I finally got a glimpse of the dragon! This must be their habitat, where they mate and lay their eggs. I wonder how many of them are on this island. These fearsome babies can weigh in at four hundred pounds and measure up to ten feet from snout to tail. They come equipped with a power-house tail, which can knock you silly.

      They have sharp teeth and heavy duty ripping claws. And if that ain’t enough, they all carry enough poison in their saliva glands to render you senseless forever! In case you wondered, he added, tongue in cheek, they are an endangered species. However, he added with a wry smile and his usual degree of candor, I think we are the ones in danger of extinction around this beast."

      Rogine who listed to this exposition with rapt attention, suddenly exclaimed, Heh man, I think I’m seeing something else out there. In between the dwarfed trees, is a tall figure of a person dressed in robes of green and brown and it’s staring straight at us! He further added that it looked like the cloaked figure of a tall, powerfully built woman wearing a burkha. Although the full garment covered her torso and limbs, portions of her face, especially her large luminous and penetrating dark eyes were exposed. The color of her skin appeared olive complexioned and she was comely in his estimate of her attractiveness. He also observed that the reptiles who had gathered on the shore nestled around her feet as if they were her loyal subjects paying homage to her suzerainty.

      The mesmerized men wondered about this woman of the atoll who could charm and live among the dragons and who did

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