I trotted my horse into the old stable of the castle I was painting. My puppy squirmed in my arms, and jumped down before I dismounted. He took off out of the stall at top speed, wagging his tail and barking. I had to unload the cans of paint I had bought to finish the galley and royal dining hall, so I just let him go.

While riding back to the castle, I had thought about my trip to the market. I had played the game of stare down with the huge stock boy who worked at the paint shop. I had almost won, when the market owner found us surrounded by a crowd of onlookers, and put a stop to our fun. I hadn’t found any real satisfaction in the match, anyway. Would I have won the contest if we had finished? I couldn’t say. But it was a childish game that I had no time for. Now I had to paint.

As I unhooked the first can from the saddle, I heard my puppy yelp. I didn’t think anything of it at first, but then I thought better and went to see what was wrong.

I rounded the corner of the stable door into the next stall over and came face to face with a fierce dragon. The beast swung its head around and stared at me with fiery eyes as my puppy whimpered against the wall. The creature was horrible to look at. He was all coal black on the top of his monstrous body, and flaming red, orange, and yellow underneath. His whole body was covered in rills of stone-hard scales. His black wings were folded tightly against his body. His huge teeth stuck out between his rough lips as he grimaced smugly at me. I shrank back against the wall, terrified and stunned.

“Don’t even blink, or I’ll eat you where you stand!” the dragon snarled, staring right into my eyes.

I had never in my life obeyed such a nasty creature, but I couldn’t have closed my eyes for any money. So, I simply stood there, unblinking, with my mouth hanging open. The dragon stood in front of me, silent and glaring hard. My eyes stung from the heat of the dragon’s breath and from being open so long.

Why doesn’t he just eat me and go? What is he after? What does he want from me? I felt my body strain and stiffen against the wall. My eyes strained open farther and farther as I began to panic.

I saw the dragon’s face begin to strain. His eyes bulged. His mouth twitched.

He’ll eat me now for sure, despite his ultimatum! He can’t stop himself!

I felt a scream well up in my throat, ready to burst out.

The dragon’s eyes narrowed, his face puffed out as he tried to hold his breath.

And then he blinked!

“Oh, curses!” the dragon groaned. “I guess you’re the better man,” he said, cordially. “Perhaps we shall have a rematch someday.”

With that, the dragon slunk out of the stable, bounded over the garden wall, and was gone.

I finally recovered the strength to move. My puppy had peed in the straw, but he wasn’t hurt. I picked him up in my arms, and we went back to unload my horse. I was still in shock. That had been the most frightening stare down I had ever played. Yet somehow I had enjoyed the challenge. I allowed a brief smile to crease just the very corner of my lips. Maybe, if we ever happened to meet again, I would take the dragon up on his rematch.

THE END