The Dragon Who Was Afraid of the Dark

A dragon lived in a cave above a mountain village. On nights with no moon, the dragon roared until morning, and nobody in the village could sleep. One October night, a girl named Odile decided to climb up to the cave and ask him to stop.

Odile was not a brave girl. She was afraid of fire. When she was five, she burned her hand on the stove, and after that she never lit a fire. Her grandmother cooked early and went to bed, so on cold nights Odile ate her soup cold.

She didn't want to carry a lantern, so she walked up in the dark. Near the cave, the roar was terrible. Odile wanted to run home. Instead, she stood at the entrance and shouted, "Please stop! We're trying to sleep!" Then a small voice said, "I'm sorry. I'm afraid of the dark."

Odile almost laughed. "But you're a dragon. Just make some fire." "I can't," said the dragon. "When I'm scared, my fire goes out. And in the dark, I'm always scared." A tiny spark came out of his nose and died.

She hated fire, but a candle was very small. "I can bring you a candle every evening," she said slowly. "But you've got to do something for me, too. Can you warm my soup?" The dragon was happy to agree.

The next evening, Odile came back with her soup, a tall candle and some matches. She held the match far from her face. It took her four tries to light it. When the little flame finally stood up, the dragon's yellow eyes opened wide. He wasn't scared now, and his fire came back. He blew one small, careful breath on the pot, and soon the soup was bubbling.

From then on, the village slept well on moonless nights. Every evening, the dragon warmed Odile's soup with one small breath. Before going home, Odile left a tall candle burning at the back of the cave.