A Princess's Guide to Dragon Domestication

(3) Tourists, Dictators And Ducks

Tourists, Dictators And Ducks

The next day, I woke up to a silent house. Ricky was usually the sole source of disturbance in the house and he was already half way through his journey by then.

Stupid camping.

I got dressed in a pair of black tights and a red swing dress, put on my boots and was about to leave when my mother stopped me.

“Honey.” She frowned at me, “Don’t you think your liner is getting thicker and thicker every day?”

“No.” I replied with an innocent face. She just shook her head before kissing me goodbye.

For some reason, my mother thought that my dress code was a sign of depression. God knows how she had reached that conclusion, but there was no convincing her otherwise.

“Hey!” I heard a voice call out as soon as I was outside. Zane was standing on the other side of the fence with a smile on his face.

“Hey.” I replied with no expression.

“I was wondering if you could show me where the park is.”

“The park?” I asked him sceptically.

“Yeah.” He scratched the back of his neck. “It’s a lot more greener where I’m from. It would be nice to find a bit of home here.”

That made me smile. “Sure. We could go now?”

“That would be great!” His smile grew bigger and he was right next to me as soon as I got to the pavement. “You never told me your name.” He said after a while.

“I know.” I said without turning towards him.

“What is it?”

I smiled at his persistence. “Maisha.” I said while waving at the postman who crossed us. I loved the postman! He always brought me gifts from amazon. Granted that I ordered them AND paid for them, but still. It was like the guy was my very Santa, bringing me whatever I want, without a christmas restriction.

“That’s a pretty name. What does it mean?”

I tilted my head slightly towards him. “How the hell would I know? It’s not like I named myself.”

His mouth dropped open for a second before he composed himself. “Fair enough.” He said after a while. “What’s fun to do in this town?”

“Nothing tourists would enjoy doing.”

“We’re not tourists.”

“Are you staying then? Permanently?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“No.” He shook his head. “But I don’t know how long we’re in town for.”

“Good for you.” I replied. “Actually, no it isn’t. This town is boring. You’ll probably die of boredom and be buried here, hence staying in this town permanently.” 

Zane chuckled. ”Hopefully it won’t come to that.”

“So, are you guys the new neighbours or just a part of the neighbours we already had?” I asked him after a while.

Ricky and I had a hobby. We would make stories about the people who stayed in the house next door. We had never actually interacted with them till now, so it added to the whole mystery of it all. Especially when in a small town like ours, everyone knew everyone AND their great grand parents.

“Raees’ dad got the house for his employees when they come here; he’s setting a branch here or something. We’re just crashing for now.” He shrugged.