Stepa the Dragon

Very big and kind Stepa the Dragon sat at a pond and watched the fishes. His friend, Illionora the Pike, promised him to find the key, which his great-great-great-grandfather had dropped here, or maybe he threw it in the pond on purpose. Stepa did not know this for sure. Since dragons live more than five hundred years, the task was not easy. Over the time that had passed, so much silt built up at the pond’s bottom that it would be almost impossible to find the rusted, discolored and covered with scurf key. But Stepa the Dragon was hoping
with all his heart, because the key was special. He was dreamily contemplating a flock of little fishes frolicking in the shallows. If he possessed that key, all of them would live to extreme old age, never knowing illnesses or fearing for their lives. A heron came to the pond. She gracefully paced with a slightly pretentious gait in shallow water, catching frogs among the lilies. Every now and then someone's foot appeared in her long beak - nose. Stepa the Dragon sadly sighed. All the fishes and the frogs, and even that dead little mouse at the maple tree - all would have lived. The world would change, and would become kind, fair, and happy. Night was falling. The first stars started sparkling, but Illionora had not returned yet. 

Fatima the Owl softly landed in a nearby tree. She blinked with her big eyes and asked: "Well? Are you still dreaming about brotherly love? Though you're still very young. Two hundred years is not a age for a dragon. Your great-great-great-grandfather came to his senses only after his four hundredth anniversary. Thanks God, he got the idea to throw that key in the pond. And you, what are you sitting here for? Are you looking for it, by any chance?" “Well yes, I am, Grandma Fatima. But why did he throw it? Tell me,"- and even the crest on the Dragon’s tail started swaying due to the emotion and the interest. "I'm sorry. I am hungry. It’s my night hunt time,"- and mumbling, "Ah, young things, as green as grass they are”, Fatima disappeared into the forest. Stepa was left alone and confused: "So, he threw it in the pond then? Why?” Feeling hunger pangs in the stomach, he ate twenty mushrooms and some berries from bushes. After he drank some nectar from his favorite Night Dreams flower, Stepa realized with relief that he could wait just as much. Finally, when the moon rose, Illionora the Pike appeared. There were five keys in the Pike’s mouth. She spat them out to the bank and said: "There is nothing else here. We'll talk later. Now I need to get back to my little pikelings. I can just imagine what they could have got up to while I was away". The Pike wagged her tail and disappeared into the mire. "Thank you, Illionora, you’ve helped me so much!" - Stepan called after her. He focused on his feelings and sensations and began to carefully examine and sniff the keys. Only one of them seemed “the right key” to Stepa. The Dragon hid it in the skin fold under his belly, put the other four keys in a little bag and hung it around his neck. Stepa was happy. Now he only had to find the door. According to an ancient legend which he heard from his grandmother, in the heart of the forest, a huge cave was hidden in the rock behind a closed door. There lived the Guardian of Treasures: the elixir of life, happiness drops, pills for fear, a magic wand that fulfills any desires, the water of death and the water of life... But there was one thing that the Guardian was keeping more carefully than anything: the "purple powder”. If one added it to a water source from which all drink, then "peace in the whole world" would reign. The “purple powder” changed all the biochemical processes in animals and insects. And nobody would need to eat other animals or plants. Everybody would absorb the energy from the air, and the need for that energy would be much less than the need of the animal one released through the digestion. The Guardian of Treasures was waiting for a special time to come. Then he would willingly give away all the treasures. But until then, from the beginning till the end of time, he had to protect and cherish them as the apple of his eye. According to Stepa’s grandmother, the legend said that only a good dragon could overcome the Guardian, but he'll have to sacrifice his freedom. Stepa the Dragon believed that he could pay such a price. For the pain he felt when he saw somebody killed, torn to pieces or suffering, did not allow him to feel happy and live the way he wanted. The pain was limiting his freedom anyway, so the Dragon had nothing to lose. And waiting till the end of time was even less tempting. His heart has been breaking for two hundred years. Stepa the Dragon ran up, trying not to step on any little bug, and soared up batting his membranous wings. It was about to dawn. He flew towards the bright red rising sun that gilded the river, the mountain below it, and didn’t forget to play in Stepa’s greenish-yellow wings, stroking them with its warm hands. Stepa the Dragon suspected he knew where the door was. It could be only in a very high place, on a cliff located in the thick of the forest, impassable for those who walk on legs. But before checking that out, Stepa the Dragon decided to see and to ask for an advice all his friends, and also to say goodbye to them just in case: Zephyr, the white Horse, Dusya, the Beaver and Timka, the little Mouse.
Flying over a flowering meadow, Stepa the Dragon was carefully looking for the white, swift figure of his friend. There it was: a white cloud behind a rosebush. Stepa gently glided down close to Zephyr. "I am so glad to see you, Stepa!” - Zephyr neighed joyfully. "Look, a horn started to grow on my forehead! I'm becoming wiser!" "Oh, this is very timely, because I want to ask you something. And although I'm sorry to ruin your good mood, but I must say that I’ve flown by to say goodbye "- Stepa blurted in one breath. "Have you found the key?" - Zephyr stopped sniffing the flowers, and turned to the dragon with a worried look. "What do you want to ask me?" Stepa opened and folded his wings with a thoughtful air several times, and then asked: "Fatima the Owl told me that my great-great-great-grandfather threw the key in the pond on purpose. He was a very noble Dragon, and according to my grandmother, he was brave and strong. He would sacrifice his life without batting an eye if it was worth it. Maybe I'm making a mistake and something is not right? Zephyr was silent, staring into the distance for a long while.
His eyes now moistened, now they reflected determination, then the desperation and sadness. Then he said: "I only know one thing: if it were not for dry thorns, sharp rocks and loose sand, my legs would never become so strong. If there were no wolves, they wouldn’t become so fast. If my mother had not died, I would have never understood what "losing love” means, and then, when I met Elsa, what "fighting for your love" means. I would not know that I was weak and I needed to become strong, if I had not lost that duel to Magnet. I didn’t know that I was honest until I was cheated, and that I was kind until I saved somebody’s colt that had fallen into an ice-hole. If it were not for Winter I would never found out how beautiful the flowering meadow is. And if it were not for death, I would have not discovered what life was.
I would have never grown up, and would have forever remained a young, weak, defenseless, ignorant colt. And this horn would have grown on someone else’s head. Nobody can grow without trials. A trial always involves pain, death or loss. Something dies inside you, even if you stay alive. Then the part that remains becomes twice as strong. I really want my colts to live to a very old age, and that each one of them gets his horn. If one of them makes a mistake and dies... it will hurt me. But I'll know that, when he is born again, he would be unlikely to repeat the same error that cost him his life." Stepa the Dragon saw his friend in the new light then: "Indeed, this horn is growing on your head for a reason! You have become wise. Fatima said that I am still very young. And my great-great-great-grandfather "came to his senses" only when he turned four hundred years. "I think that your wisdom is at the end of your trial. Do what you think is right. This is your path. Age has nothing to do with it "- said Zephyr, looking at his friend in a farewell. "But maybe there is another way of growth and development without violence - like that of flowers, trees?" - Stepa the Dragon said, carefully brushing away a caterpillar from a rose leaf with his tail. "You and I cannot know. Maybe this is only an appearance, but inside the flower there is a war between the cells? After all, some leaves wither, die, something doesn’t blossom, something does not grow ", - the white Horse said, shaking a birch catkin off his mane. He came up to Stepa the Dragon and put his head on his shoulder. Rubbing against his neck, he sighed sadly: "Goodbye. We probably won’t see each other again for a long time. I wish you to find your answer fast"- and he quickly galloped away.
Stepa the Dragon wandered a little bit more around the blossoming meadow, breathing in the exciting smells, sat at the Bird Cherry Tree, drank from a spring. While he, half-asleep because of the heady aromas, was thinking to himself, a little spider wove its web on Stepa’s tail crests, and even managed to catch a fly in it. Stepa gently removed the spider together with its web and attached it to a branch. Then, having strongly pushed off with his paws, he flew up without a running start. While gaining the height, he threw a farewell glance at the valley and then, turning sharply, flew to the river, where beavers built their dams in some places. He chose a small clearing and carefully glided down. Here, the river made a sharp bend and ran between the woods. The beavers caught the river by building a small dam. It began to flow more slowly and wider, turning into a small lake at the dam. When Stepa reached the river bank, a slurping sound appeared under his paws as he walked. He stopped and called for Dusya the Beaver. He could never predict where she would appear. That time, too: her cute, whiskered snout appeared right in front of him out of twigs and last year’s stacked-up dry leaves. "Well, what are you shouting for? Have you forgotten? At ours, everyone sleeps at day.” – Dusya admonished him. "Sorry, I have flown by to say goodbye." Dusya’s eyes became big and sad. "I guess you're right. The Dragons are the Dragons. They must protect the weak, think about the justice, fight against the evil. And the Beavers are the Beavers. They need to build dams, house-lodges and to fish. If I do not do this, I will become someone else. And I like being a Beaver, "- Dusya said thoughtfully. "I wanted to ask you about something. Are you sure you thought it well over? Now we are all different. And then, when there is "peace in the whole world", won’t we all become the same?" Seeing Stepa’s puzzled eyes, she explained: "How would you distinguish the Rabbit from the Wolf if they suddenly swap skins? You will cease to be a Dragon when there is nobody for you to defend. And I shall stop being a Beaver when I forget how to catch fish, to lure it into a dam, how to build dams, lodges... It seems to me that each of us receives from God the skin that one deserves, and wearing it, one is able to learn something new for oneself. Probably, the Rabbit learns to cheat a cunning fox by making difficult fake loops, to hide well, to run fast, to be brave and to knock down an opponent with its hind paws. The Wolf learns to be hardy, to work in groups and alone, to go on for a long time without food, to hunt cunning prey by deceiving it. Yes, who knows what else you and I don’t know? " Dusya the Beaver suddenly fell silent. "Well? How are you going to say your goodbyes?" - She asked, trying to look cheerful and hiding the sadness in her eyes. Stepa the Dragon pulled his lips and kissed Dusya at her fluffy, warm cheek, saying: "I will miss you so much. But I must find my own answer. Zephyr said that this was my path to wisdom, and you have told me that my essence is to seek the truth. Maybe I need to overcome myself? A Dragon shall overcome a Dragon "- Stepa turned round and walked toward the clearing. Soon Dusya stopped to hear the slurping sounds under his paws and saw the greenish-yellow wings carrying her friend away to meet his fate.
Stepa landed some distance away from Timka the Mouse’s burrow to make sure that his ceiling would not crumble. Then he carefully tiptoed over and tugged at the signal grass-blade. Timka saw Stepa through the peephole, he ran out of the burrow, jumped on the outstretched paw of his friend, and having quickly sat down, looked into his big eyes of the Dragon with his small, black beady eyes. "Hi, Stepa! I haven’t seen you for ages. Have you found the key?" “Yes, I have. That’s why I’ve flown by to… say goodbye... just in case. But what happened to your tail? "- the Dragon asked." “Wait, I shall now make an ointment for you!" - Stepa picked a few plantain leaves." - “Do not worry, it is almost healed. The Fox caught me by the tail when I hid from her in the burrows. She bit a piece off it. She stalked me for a long time, and ate Sima and Rick. Me, I was saved by a miracle, because I dared to jump on her back. She spun like crazy, and threw me off far away. I managed to reach my burrow and then escaped through the tunnels. I was gone in a flash! The Fox was so angry that she stuck her whole snout up to her eyes in the hole and managed to bit the tip of my tail off. But I was angry, too, for Rick and Sima, so I turned around, and bit her at her nose! And then I was off like a shot." Stepa the Dragon looked at Timka with admiration: "Do you know that you made a discovery? You invented a new unusual solution. Now you can teach the others how to escape from foxes." He squeezed the plantain leaves with his paws and added healing clay in the exuded sap. Then he carefully smudged it upon the wound, covered it with a piece of a plantain leaf, and tied it up with a blade of grass. "That’s it. Now it shall heal very quickly, and maybe even a missing piece of the tail will grow back." "Thanks, Stepa. I did not know that such big paws can tie up a blade of grass on someone else's tail. You're very kind. I'll miss you. When do you fly?" 
"Maybe today, but I haven’t decided on the day and the hour yet," - said the Dragon, staring at the already setting sun. "Tell me one thing please. When this "peace in the whole world" comes, shall I stay a little mouse forever? You know, even if no one ever hurts me again, still, I don’t want to be a little mouse anymore. I've learned everything I could. I want to be big like you, and to learn to make healing ointments, or to fly like a bird, and to make nests. I'm afraid of water, but I would like not to be afraid of it, and to learn to swim. If I don’t die, then I will never have a new body! I will always be a small mouse. 
Of course, I do not want to die, I really like to live. There is so much of new and interesting in life. Apart from pain and fear, there are happiness, warmth and love. But if it so happens that an eagle catches me, or a fox eats me, then I hope that next time I eat them, or at least scare them. Stepa, maybe there is no need for this "peace in the whole world"? As for the tail, it'll get better. I’ll recover. Do not worry. Perhaps it should be this way. Everything goes just as it should "- Timka said and licked Stepa’s hand. The rays of the setting sun looked affectionately into the eyes of friends, playing with the same interest with Stepa’s long and Timka’s short eyelashes. "I promise to think about it. All my friends: Zephyr, Dusya, you - Timka, and Illionora said that they liked this world, although there was so much pain and suffering in it. And they do not want another. It turns out that I am the only one who needs the other, imaginary, better world"- Stepa said sadly, letting Timka off his hand and spreading his wings. "Don’t worry, Stepa, you're sure to find the answer. Do not hurry. You, Dragons, live for five hundred years. You are asking a very complicated question. Time is needed to think it over. This is why, maybe, it is intended only for the Dragons, "- the brave little Timka the Mouse said, holding his bandaged tail in the paws. "I'll wait for you. Bye, "- and he disappeared into its burrow.
Night was falling. Stepa the Dragon sat again by the quiet pond, where many pikes live. He couldn’t see his friend Illionora. She was busy with her little pikelings. Long-legged pond-skaters were running on the water surface, frogs croaked loudly. Soon everything grew quiet, and splashing fishes’ tails became visible on the moon path. Life went on, and flowed by itself with the meaning that no one but it could know. Stepa was filled with the sensation of love and grace. Some invisible hand directed and controlled everything. He suddenly realized that everything was not a senseless chaos but a harmony. It has its way: everything in life had its special place. And he was also part of the plan. Stepa began to slowly realize that he could see only a small piece of the overall picture. And if he did not know what life was, how could he understand what death was, and to condemn it?
As if in confirmation of his thoughts he heard a sound of flapping wings, and the raspy voice of Fatima the Owl finally brought Stepa out of his meditation: "Well, boyscout? Are you still warring for justice and universal equality? Do you demand the same happiness for everyone – for the Wolf and for the Rabbit? Ah, youth, as green as grass…"- Fatima coughed. "No, Grandma Fatima. It seems I have already understood that we are all different and should remain so, strictly following each its own way. Each of us has to face only one’s own difficulties. Overcoming these and not other tests, we all grow up "- enthusiastically replied Stepa.
"Wow! An enlightment has come upon you! Finally, I am hearing something reasonable,"- Fatima opened her large eyes that were already burning in the night like lamps even wider.
"But I am still very sorry for those who suffer and die," - Stepa uttered carefully.
"It's good that you are able to feel the pain of others as if it were your own. This means that your heart became true: no longer is it simply a pump for pumping blood. But the fact is that you cannot see the point behind the pain. Pain is a byproduct. It’s the pay for knowledge and life, if you wish. Pain is a symbol of change, growth, dying of the old, of the transformation” - the Owl coughed again.
"How?" - Stepa the Dragon even half-rose.
"Well, imagine that you have an abscess on your paw. First you need to cut and remove the pus. Then to bandage it. Then, the time shall come when your paw will heal. The error that you see only a part of the sense. You see only that everyone has their paws cut. Why? You do not understand it. You sit and cry bitterly in sympathy. But we must learn to rejoice for them because the pain is followed by recovery. But here it is even better. Imagine that instead of the old paw, after the pain, the tests, the long and complicate treatment a new paw will grow which is a lot better than the previous one. Suppose you could only scratch with it, but now it will serve you to catch fish… "- Fatima made a long pause, waiting for Stepa the Dragon to obtain the insight. She brushed her feathers, cleared her throat, and then asked:
"Well? Have you got it, boyscout? We are not talking about a paw, actually..."
"I got it, Grandma Fatima! We are subject to the forces that govern life and death. They create tests, and overcoming these, we learn and grow. But what for?"
"In order to grow, to become free and then to no longer depend on them. That’s enough for today. I am off for my night hunt. I’ll end up turning up my toes because of your questions”, - said Fatima, and disappeared into the night forest.
Stepa the Dragon sat for some more on the bank, and then, walking along it, found the deepest place, and cast all the keys into deep water. He knew that Illionora would understand and forgive him, and would even be happy. Stepa immediately felt relieved and thought that Fatima was right. The knowledge that passes through your own heart, that you achieve through suffering, will bring you liberation. The pain was gone. He became different. His good heart that feels for the others was as kind as always, but it also became wise. His heart became aware that it was connected with everybody and with God into a single whole picture of the world that could be seen and considered only from above. And if Stepa wanted to understand all of it entirely, he had to "go up”, grow up, drop the old skin, suffering itching, pain and vulnerability.
Stepa felt "zest for life." He happily ate something, and then curled up and hiding his nose in the wings, calmly fell asleep. He was happy. 
 And you? Have you ever tried to seek the truth? 


          Marina Luch. March 04g.Nakovkina @ mail.ru