Sarah Neuhaus

Johnny and the Fire-Breathing Dragon

            Once upon a time in a land far, far away was the kingdom Savenfeld.  In this kingdom lived a king and a queen.  They had a daughter, and the three of them lived in a big castle up on a hill.  The princess was very beautiful.  She was said to be the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, and every man that saw her fell in love with her.  Princes came from far and wide to court her. 

            In the edge of a forest, next to the castle lived the king’s blacksmith and his son, Johnny.  The king’s blacksmith was the best blacksmith in the whole kingdom, and a very hardworking one, too.  Every day he and Johnny would wake up when the sun rose.  They would go into the forest with an axe and cut firewood.  They would then build flaming fires and fill up buckets with cold water.  The Johnny’s father would stick pieces of metal into the flames until the metal turned bright red.  Then he would hammer and bang and bash the metal with his mallet until it was a horseshoe or a sword or a candlestick or whatever the king commissioned.  When he was done he would stick the metal into the water to cool it back down.  The metal would pop and hiss and sizzle, blowing steam into the air.

            Johnny would spend his day pumping the bellows and adding more wood to make sure that the fire stayed hot enough.  By the end of the day he would be covered in ash and sweat from spending so much time near the hot fire.  Sometimes, when Johnny’s father did not have any projects to do, he would teach Johnny how to make things.  Johnny always enjoyed those moments because he was allowed to do something fun, instead of just pumping the bellows. 

            Johnny’s father always hoped that Johnny would follow in his footsteps and become the king’s blacksmith when he, himself, got too old.  But Johnny did not like the idea of having to work for someone else.  Johnny wanted to be free and live a relaxed and untroubled life.  He too had seen the princess and wanted to marry her.  Whenever she came by to get new horseshoes for her pony, he would try to talk to her.  She was kind and polite, but his father would pull him back inside before they started having a real conversation. 

            One morning, Johnny and his father were woken up by a messenger announcing that during the night the princess had been carried off by a fire-breathing dragon.  The king had said that whoever saved her and brought her back to the kingdom would receive a prize of 1000 gold pieces.  Johnny was overjoyed.  This was his chance for glory!  If he won the money, he would never have to work again.   In all the stories that Johnny had heard about stolen princesses in other far away kingdoms, the rescuer and the princess got married in the end.  But, Johnny’s father did not want Johnny to get hurt, so he gave Johnny a lot of work to keep him busy. 

            Three weeks went by and many princes tried and failed to bring back the princess.  They would leave in glory, wearing shining armor and riding a strong horse.  But they would return empty handed, many with broken bones and burnt hair.  Johnny listened to their stories of defeat and secretly packed a bag with all the things he would need for the trip.  Then one night after his father had gone to sleep, he slipped out and started on his adventure.

            Johnny ran through the forest.  He knew that the dragon came from the east, so he set off in that direction, using the North Star as his compass.  It was dark, and hard for Johnny to see, so he walked until he could not see lights or hear noises from the kingdom before falling asleep on a bed of pine needles. 

            Johnny woke up in the morning, hopeful and hungry.  Fortunately, he had brought a loaf of bread with him, so he had half the loaf for breakfast.  Then he got up and started walking towards where the dragon lived.  He had not gone far before he got to a river.  There was a girl filling up buckets of water. 

            “Hello,” she said.  “Who are you?”

            “My name is Johnny,” he responded.  “Who are you?”

            “I’m Sandy,” she answered.  “You’re not from around here, are you?”

            “No, I’m from Savenfeld,” he replied.

            “Oh,” she said.  “You’re not trying to save the princess, are you?”

            “Yes I am,” said Johnny, proudly puffing out his chest.

            “Oh dear,” said Sandy, shaking her head sadly.  “So many other men have tried and failed, and you’re just a boy.  How can you possibly beat the dragon?”

            “Those were stuck-up princes,” said Johnny.  “I am different; I am a blacksmith’s son.  I can slay the dragon and rescue the princess.”

            “I think I can help you,” said Sandy.

            “Oh no,” said Johnny.  “I can do this on my own.  I don’t need any help.  Well, good day.”  Then, Johnny took his leave of her.

            A few hours later, Johnny came to a rock where a boy was talking to animals.

“Strange kid,” muttered Johnny to himself.

            “Hi-lo,” said the boy, cheerfully.

            “Hi,” said Johnny.

            “I’m Robin,” said the boy.  “My rabbit friends here tell me that you are going to rescue the princess that has been captured by the fire-breathing dragon.”

            “How did you know that?” asked Johnny, astonished.

            “I told you, my rabbit friends have been watching you on your journey,” answered Robin.  “Are you doing it for a prize?”

            “The king did offer a prize to the person who rescued the princess,” admitted Johnny.  “But that is not why I am trying to save her.”

            “Hmm,” said Robin, not quite believing Johnny.  “Do you need any  help?”

            “No thank you,” said Johnny.  “This is my adventure.”  With that, he left the rock and continued on his journey.

            Later that afternoon he came upon a boy who was weaving at a loom. 

            “Silly boy,” scoffed Johnny, under his breath.  “That’s a girl’s job.”

            “Afternoon,” said the boy, looking up from his loom.

            “Good afternoon,” replied Johnny.

            “I’ve never seen you here before,” said the boy.  “Where are you from?”

            “My name is Johnny, and I am from Savenfeld,” answered Johnny.

            “Savenfeld?” said the boy, raising his eyebrows.  “Are you trying to rescue the princess?”

            “Yes, I am,” said Johnny, proudly.

            “Well, in that case you’ll need some help,” said the boy.  “By the way, my name is Timothy.  I can help you get the princess.”

            “No thank you,” said Johnny.  “I can do it on my own.”  Johnny said goodbye and went on his way. 

            That night, Johnny got to the castle of the fire breathing dragon.  It was a huge castle, surrounded with a moat of fire.  There was a drawbridge, and sitting on it was the fire-breathing dragon.  It was huge and scary and its mouth was filled with sharp teeth.  Every time it breathed, fire came out of its nose.  Johnny hid behind a rock so that the dragon could not see him.  Then he looked for the princess.  He saw a light in a window in the tallest tower.  He could see the dark shadow of the princess.  He was so close!  All he had to do was to get past the dragon.  Johnny pulled out his axe which he brought to chop off the dragon’s head with.  He silently snuck up on the dragon.  But, just as he got near the drawbridge, an owl hooted.  Then a frog croaked.  Then a snake hissed.  The dragon looked up and saw Johnny approaching.

            The dragon blew fire at Johnny.  The flames flew at Johnny, lighting up his face.  He could feel the heat of the flames as he just barely moved out of the way in time.  The dragon chased after him, breathing fire the whole time.  Johnny ran for his life.  He ran and ran and ran until his legs could carry him no longer.  When he eventually turned around, he was in a forest, and the dragon was no where to be seen.  Johnny was tired and hungry, for he had not eaten anything since he finished the loaf of bread for lunch.  He had no food, and he had dropped his axe when he ran away from the dragon.  His hair was singed.  Johnny curled up in a ball on the ground and went to sleep.

            Johnny woke up in the morning feeling depressed.  He had failed at rescuing the princess.  He did not know what to do.  He knew he would not be able to face his father again because of his shame.  Then suddenly, he remembered the people he met on the way.  They had all offered to help him.

            “Maybe if I let them help me,” he thought, “Then, together, we could rescue the princess.”  He got up and started to walk in the direction that he had come from the day before.

            Johnny had only walked a little ways before he came across Sandy, Robin, and Timothy.  They were walking side by side.  Sandy was carrying a bucket of water with her, and Timothy had a big piece of cloth.  Johnny was astonished to see them all together.

            Before Johnny could say anything, Robin said, “My bird friends told me that you didn’t succeed last night.  We came to see if you would like some help now.”

            “Thank you,” said Johnny.  “I’m sorry I was so rude to you yesterday.  I just thought I could do it on my own.  But, if you help me and we do rescue the princess, then I will share the prize with all of you.  We will each get 250 gold pieces.”

            Sandy, Robin, and Timothy all accepted his offer and they went off to the castle of the fire-breathing dragon.

            When they got to the castle, the dragon was once again sitting on the drawbridge.  They hid behind the same rock that Johnny had hid behind the night before.  All of Robin’s animal friends started making noises at the other side of the castle.  The dragon looked up and started to move to the other side of the castle.  Just then, Sandy poured her bucket of water over the dragon’s head, putting out his fire.  Before the dragon could do anything, Timothy and Johnny threw the cloth over the dragon’s head and tied him up. 

            After the dragon had been taken care of, all four of them went across the draw bridge.  Johnny was so excited.  He knew the princess would be overjoyed when she saw him.  He would ask her to marry him and they would live happily ever after in the castle in Savenfeld.  The four of them climbed into the tallest tower and threw open the door.

            When the princess saw them, she just stared.

            “Who are you?” she asked.

            “We came to rescue you from the fire-breathing dragon,” Johnny answered.

            “You’re my father’s blacksmith’s son, aren’t you?” she said.  “What happened to my knight in shining armor?”

            “Who?” asked Johnny, confused.

            “It’s always a knight in shining armor that rescues the princess,” said the princess, upset.  “Not a group of … you people.”

            “Well,” said Johnny, a bit angrily.  “All the princes that tried to save you failed.  So, you’ll just have to come with us.”  With that he picked her up and dragged her back to Savenfeld.

            The king and queen were overjoyed when they saw their daughter again.  They immediately gave Johnny, Sandy, Robin, and Timothy their prize of 250 gold pieces.  The entire kingdom thought of them as heroes.  But, Johnny was sad.  He wanted to marry the princess and live the life of a prince.  He told this to Sandy one day when she asked him what was wrong.

            “You don’t have to marry a princess to be happy,” she said.  “You could marry me.  We could be very happy living as blacksmiths, making horseshoes, and candlesticks, and what ever the king commissions.”

            Johnny agreed, and they two of them lived happily ever after.