꧁༺ 𝓼𝓶𝓲𝓵𝓮 ༻꧂ A One-Shot and Short Stories Book ----- ONGOING

Forever Loved

"Gecko, Fang, stop picking on Peyote!" the large hybrid shouted as he checked the scrolls in front of him. He'd bring his three sons to work, so they wouldn't bother their mother in the hospital.

She was a healer in the biggest hospital in Possibility, The Aloe Hospital. When they couldn't find anyone to look after the dragonets or they didn't go to school, they would bring them to work, Quicksand usually taking his sons; Fang, Gecko, and Peyote, and Willow taking her daughters; Cactus, Tokay, and Venom.

It didn't prevent them from working, it was actually fun working with their dragonets. They lived together as one big happy family.

"But dad!" Gecko whined. "We're bored!"

"Yeah! I want Mommy!" Fang agreed.

"Mommy's at work right now," Quicksand said, walking over to them and patting their heads with his barbed tail. "Why don't you read some scrolls, like Peyote?"

"Noooo, I've read all the scrolls in the library a million times!" Gecko said, kicking a scroll near him. "I want to do something different!"

Quicksand sighed. "Okay, how about this? I need to get these new scrolls on their shelves, and after that, we'll go to the town square and I'll get you guys some ice pops."

"YAY!" shouted the dragonets all at the same time.

Quicksand finished his work as quickly as he could and locked the library, walking to the town square with the three inpatient dragonets.

A wide smile spread across his face as they neared the marketplace. Widow was there, buying some herbs. Her pale yellow scales gleamed in the sunlight. She was still as beautiful as the day he'd met her.

"Widow!" he called, walking in her direction. She turned her head and saw him, smiling as well.

"Quicksand! What are you guys doing here?" she asked as she gave some gold coins to the cashier.

"The kids wouldn't stay put so I promised them some ice pops." He pressed his snout against hers. "What are you doing here?"

"Just getting some chervil, we ran out." She showed the green herbs. "Anyway, I need to get back, I have patients waiting." She brushed her wing with his, smiled one more time, and ran in the direction of the hospital.

It all happened so fast. A SandWing and RainWing came tumbling out of a store, hissing and clawing at each other. The SandWing tried to stab his tail at the RainWings chest but the RainWing jumped away, pushing the SandWing with his back legs. The SandWing crashed into Widow as she let out a startled yelp.

The RainWing opened his mouth, bared his fangs, and shot a spray of black venom right at Widow and the SandWing.

The SandWing jumped away at the last second but Widow wasn't fast enough.

Quicksand watched in horror as the black venom splashed right into Widow's eye. Willow screamed. The world turned upside down. All the dragons around them vanished, leaving only the shrieking dragon and the librarian frozen in place.

Quicksand jolted awake with a gasp. He looked around, only seeing his hut's usual view. He shook his head. It was only a nightmare. No more than a fraction of a memory.

He slowly got up, his old bones aching along with his heart. He'd loved Widow so much, and he wasn't surprised he still couldn't get over it after 30 years. He would have a nightmare about it every month. His dragonets had moved on but he couldn't. He just couldn't.

Quicksand washed his face. He put in his glasses and leather pouch. He'd been living in Sanctuary for a while now, he couldn't live in Possibility after what had happened.

Just as he was about to leave, his eye caught on the calendar. His eyes widened. He couldn't believe he had forgotten what today was.

Quickly, he stuffed some gold coins into his pouch and left. The sun shone brightly in the sky.

The village was slowly waking. Some merchants were already setting up their stands. Quicksand dipped his head at them as he passes by.

He stood in front of the Sanctuary Library, inserting the key into the keyhole. The large door opened with a creak. He inhaled the wonderful smell of scrolls. Inside was cold and dark, but it would get better as the day moved on.

He checked for any new scrolls in the cargo section, but there weren't any. So he went to organize the ones he- the library already had.

An hour later, he had his first visitor of the day, a small dragonet. She came and asked about scrolls on MudWings and Quicksand described where the section was. The dragonet thanked him, trotting over to the section.

The library was mostly quiet that day, only a few dragons came by. So Quicksand thought it wouldn't do any harm to close a bit early, he did have something important to do.

He locked the library and headed to the marketplace. The florist would hopefully be open. When he reached the marketplace, he was panting, his old bones didn't have much experience walking long distances.

The florist was open, to his relief. He picked out a bouquet of roses, paid the seller, and moved on to the cemetery.

By the time he reached it, it saw sunset. He walked inside. He knew exactly where he was going, he'd been there one too many times.

He reached his destination. A grave with vines circling the tombstone and beautiful marigold growing all around it. Every time he saw this, he wanted to cry, cry his heart, and soul out.

He carefully placed the roses on top of the grave. He laid down next to it. He didn't care if he looked ridiculous, nor did he care. Others could think whatever they wanted.

He leaned in towards the grave and smiled.

"Happy anniversary, my dear." He closed his eyes as he felt them water. "This is the 40th one you know. It's been such a long time." He looked up at the stars who were slowly starting to show themselves. He looked back at the roses he'd brought. "I'm sorry I couldn't bring anything more... But the sky is beautiful tonight, we could watch the sky. Though they could never be as beautiful as you." He shook his head. "It's so lonely without you. The kids come once in a while, but they could never fill your place." As the tears started flowing down his cheek, he whispered one last time to her.

"I know you're gone, dear, and you won't come back, but I will never forget you." He got up and turned his back. He smiled sadly. "And don't forget; you'll forever be loved."