A Boy and His Dragon

by Michael J. Bowler

  I’ll remember, Whilly assured him, and with a quick, violent lurch they were airborne and out of the crater.

  For the next two hours, the companions glided back and forth over the calm sea, Whilly using his keen eyesight to scrutinize the water for the slightest movement. And when he did spot something, they would swoop down like a diving seagull and Whilly would pluck the fish from the water with a deft swipe of his massive claws. Bradley Wallace nearly lost his balance several times, but somehow managed to maintain his grip. And even though he’d never liked fishing before, he had to admit this method was kind of exciting.

  Bradley Wallace made certain Whilly dropped him back at the hotel before ten PM, lest his parents start wondering where he’d gotten to. As it turned out, they were so busy visiting with all their friends in the House Without that neither had even missed the boy. So what else was new?

  Since it was actually one AM his time (Hawaii was three hours earlier), Bradley Wallace suddenly felt his exhaustion taking its toll; it had been a long day. He got the room key from his mother, said good night to the “group,” and went on to bed. He didn’t know where Katie had gotten to, and quite frankly he didn’t care. That night he slept more soundly than he had in weeks.

  The next few days proceeded as smoothly as had the first. Bradley Wallace spent as much time as possible with Whilly, and together they explored the more remote regions of Oahu, which were lush and green and mountainous. And the water was so clear and blue. Boy and dragon frolicked for hours in the warm ocean off secluded beaches, where no one could spot them. The agitation Whilly had been experiencing back home seemed to diminish with each passing day of freedom. He seemed more alive each time they went out, and Bradley Wallace shared his happiness. At last the two friends could enjoy each other’s company in an open, carefree environment, without constantly having to worry about getting caught. It was a glorious time for both of them.

  But that was before everything changed.

  After a few more days of reading, swimming, playing paddle tennis, and even surfing lessons with Wendell, in addition to the exploratory excursions with Whilly, Bradley Wallace offered to show Whilly the Pali, the windiest, and one of the highest, spots on the island. Almost as soon as he offered, however, the boy recalled how popular the sight was with tourists, and feared they might be seen flying overhead. But Whilly insisted they could at least sail over and take a quick look, and Bradley Wallace agreed. He did rather like that place.

  His family had visited the Pali several years ago, at which time Bradley Wallace, fascinated by the powerfully swirling air currents, tossed an old lei over the cliff, watched it drop down completely out of sight, and then gaped in amazement as it whipped back up the side of the promontory at such a great speed that he couldn’t pull back fast enough to avoid being struck in the face by the wreath of dead flowers. He’d never seen anything like it.

  Soaring high above Honolulu, Bradley Wallace was struck by how much it resembled any old big city, and wasn’t even as attractive as most. Except for the old Hawaii of the Halekulani and the Royal Hawaiian, the rest was just made up of modern high rises, and ugly ones at that; especially the massive concrete lump that was to become the new Sheraton. He might as well be in San Francisco, he thought as they passed over the traffic-congested streets. In fact, he preferred San Francisco because at least it had hills and cable cars. The day was clear and the trade winds were blowing hard, buffeting him about and necessitating a firm grip on Whilly’s spinal ridges. He wished he had his kite over here - this was awesome weather for it.

  The Pali loomed just ahead, a massive jutting promontory of rock leaning out over a deep gorge and from the top of which one could take in a spectacular view of all Honolulu and Waikiki, including Diamond Head. The powerful, gusting winds whipped the boy’s hair so strongly that he was afraid it might just blow off his head like an old man’s cheap toupee. Scanning the parking lot atop the cliff, Bradley Wallace could only see a single car. Apparently the gale-force winds dissuaded the usual spate of camera-clicking tourists, which was certainly all right with him. That meant he and Whilly could glide in a bit closer. Eyeing the car carefully as they approached, Bradley Wallace noted that the occupants were inside. Probably reading a map, or something, he thought, which they wouldn’t be doing for long if they tried to read it outside.

  Whilly indicated something off to their left, and, squinting, the boy could make out the figure of a young child, a boy of about ten, some distance from the car at the barricaded cliff edge, gazing intently through one of the coin-operated telescopes. The boy’s shirt and pants whipped about furiously in the wind, and his hair practically stood on end. Bradley Wallace noted with relief that the boy didn’t have the telescope trained in their direction, but suggested to Whilly that they fly higher, just to be on the safe side.

  But then a movement by the boy caught Bradley Wallace’s eye - he reached into his pocket, apparently for another dime for the telescope. He must have dropped the dime because he made a wild, off-balance grabbing gesture and in the time it takes to bat an eyelash, he fell off the platform and toppled over the railing.

  Bradley Wallace and Whilly reacted instinctively, as a single mind, and plunged downward after the rapidly falling child, whose plaintive cries for help just barely reached Bradley Wallace’s ears over the roaring gale. “Grab him with your feet!” he shouted to Whilly, even though he knew he didn’t really have to say anything. But he needed to hear his own voice. That boy was dropping so fast! Bradley Wallace felt an upsurge of panic that they wouldn’t be in time to catch him. But Whilly let no such doubts assail his intent, and streaked downward faster than Bradley Wallace ever thought possible. Just as the cascading boy plunged toward a sharp outcropping of rock, the lithe and maneuverable dragon swooped around in a final burst of strength and plucked the now-unconscious child from the air and instantly banked upward again, clutching the boy firmly, but gently, in his talons.

  Bradley Wallace expelled the breath he’d unknowingly been suppressing, but was able to think clearly enough to caution Whilly against being seen by the people in the car. As a precaution, the dragon circled around behind the Pali and accessed it along the auto road. The parents of the boy must’ve realized he was no longer at the telescope, because they jumped from the car and dashed toward the cliff edge, shouting his name frantically, “Albert!”

  Bradley Wallace and Whilly both saw their chance, and no words

  were needed between them.

  Whilly dove for the family’s car at high speed while Bradley Wallace kept his eye on the parents, now looking out and around the ledge. Don’t turn around, he thought at them anxiously. Not yet! Breaking his speed with a quickness and ease Bradley Wallace could scarcely believe, Whilly gently dropped the unconscious child to the wind-swept ground just behind the car, then shot upwards like a rocket, streaking toward the clouds above at such a super speed that Bradley Wallace felt certain he’d lose his grip and topple into the gorge below. But he retained his hold, and realized they were safe and away. Whilly called his attention to the Pali now far below, and he watched with pride and relief the joyous reunion as the parents found their child alive and unharmed behind the car. He didn’t know from this distance what they were saying or feeling, but Bradley Wallace himself was ecstatic.

  “We did it, Whilly! We did it!” he shouted, his words instantly swallowed by the gale-force winds.

  That we did, the dragon replied, sounding momentarily like someone else Bradley Wallace knew. But he was too caught up in the moment to even give the reference any thought. They’d actually saved a human life, just like the heroes he so admired in his books and movies, and he was flying higher in his elation than Whilly could ever take him. He was a hero. Wow!

  I think I saw enough of the Pali for today, Whilly commented innocently. But his statement was so ironic that Bradley Wallace laughed heartily.

  “Me, too!” he called into the wind, and the two companions glided easily and happily out p
ast the city and over the glimmering blue ocean.

  Bradley Wallace carefully studied all the local papers the next couple of days for any story relating to the Pali rescue, but there was nothing. Not even a mention that the boy had gotten lost. While relieved that neither the parents nor the child had seen Whilly, Bradley Wallace also felt a deep sense of disappointment that their heroic deed had gone unreported. He wished he could tell everyone what he’d done, but knew

  that was impossible. It was more than a little frustrating.

  That night the warm, pleasant weather turned suddenly vile, and continued on into the next day. Dark, ominous thunderheads hovered intimidatingly in the sky, effectively blocking out all trace of the sun and threatening to burst asunder at any moment. The surf, too, was churned up, the larger swells beginning to break over the seawall and onto the hotel grounds by mid-morning, flooding the patio area surrounding the kiawe tree and sending loungers scurrying for safer environs. Bradley Wallace observed the breaker activity with keen interest, excitement building in his blood at the possibility of a real hurricane, or at least a full-fledged tropical storm.

  Within a few hours, the ever-larger waves were crashing into the stone sea wall with such virulence that huge chunks broke away and toppled into the churning water. The continuous, violent pounding by the angry sea eventually buckled the cobblestone patio area, which had to be completely cleared of all chairs and roped off to prevent anyone from getting hurt. And the waves just kept coming, stronger and stronger and larger, too.

  It wasn’t till mid-afternoon, when Bradley Wallace found his father and Katie seated near the House Without listening to a portable radio, that the boy learned the reason behind the sudden turbulence - a series of undersea earthquakes during the night. Apparently, conditions such as they’d been experiencing were being felt throughout the island chain, some worse than others. But that was only the beginning, Katie excitedly told him (obviously forgetting she wasn’t supposed to treat him as an equal). The largest aftershock yet had just been recorded, something like 6.9 on the Richter scale, and it stirred the thought-to-be-extinct Mauna Kea volcano on the Big Island, to apparent rebirth. If it did erupt, the small town of Waikii, a scant 7 miles or so from the base of the mountain, could conceivably cease to exist. Not to mention the potential damage to Mauna Kea State Park and anyone unlucky enough to be camping there.

  Bradley Wallace’s blood turned to ice as Katie rattled off these possibilities as though detailing a new cookie recipe. His father commented that at least Waikiki wasn’t threatened by anything more than what they were experiencing now - big waves, high winds, and probably lots of rain. That knowledge didn’t make Bradley Wallace feel any better. All those people in that town could be killed. A whole town! A sudden, thundering boom suddenly caught his attention, and he turned just in time to witness the biggest wave he’d ever seen - at least eight or nine feet high - crash wildly over the wall onto the hotel grounds and send sandy, briny sea water cascading in a river down the slight incline to pour unchecked into the fresh water koi pond.

  Katie, ever the animal lover (she certainly treated them better than she did people), cried out in dismay and leaped up from her chair, sprinting toward the pond. Apparently curious, Jack followed his daughter, leaving Bradley Wallace standing alone, shivering with fear.

  That volcano had to be stopped, and to his adolescent mind, magic power was all that could combat it. And Whilly was the only real magic left in the world. They had to try. Suddenly frantic with desire, the boy turned and raced off down the pathway leading to the deserted (Thank God!) paddle tennis courts. Everyone must be out watching the raging ocean, he decided, as he mentally called out to Whilly. He fidgeted nervously as he awaited the dragon’s arrival, glancing back over his shoulder to make certain no one was approaching. It seemed like hours before the surprised dragon descended onto the court from above.

  Bradley Wallace hurriedly found the invisible, but solid back, and clambered awkwardly up into his familiar niche.

  He’d barely urged the dragon to fly when they were suddenly airborne and circling high above the hotel cottages far below. From this vantage point, the violently churning and pulverizing sea didn’t seem nearly so threatening.

  “Do you know why I called you?” Bradley Wallace called above the screeching winds.

  Yes, Whilly answered as he became visible, But I cannot stop a volcano, Bradley Wallace. I am only a dragon. Whilly sounded apologetic, and cautious. He knew how volatile the human child could be sometimes, and didn’t want to antagonize him.

  “Can’t you do something?” the boy persisted as Whilly continued out over the roiling sea away from the beach and hotel.

  I don’t have the power, the dragon explained, struggling to fly

  evenly against the increasingly more violent gale.

  “But you have some kind of magic,” Bradley Wallace insisted stubbornly, refusing to believe they were helpless after their heroic rescue of the falling boy at the Pali. “You must be able to do something!” He stared down at the landmass in the distance (from up here, without a map, he couldn’t be sure which island it was), and shuddered with fear at the violence of the raging ocean. “So many people might die,” he added weakly, fighting the queasiness running rampant in his stomach.

  Magic has its limits, too, Bradley Wallace, Whilly explained as he continued flapping madly against the wind in the direction of the Big Island, still nearly 185 miles away.

  “I think we should try,” the boy maintained firmly, refusing to be swayed by any arguments, logical or otherwise. A sudden gust of wind whipped him to one side and nearly toppled him from the dragon’s back. But he grabbed hold of Whilly’s neck ridges and managed to regain his precarious perch.

  We can go and examine the situation, Whilly offered noncommittally. But just because we saved that boy on the Pali, doesn’t mean we can save everyone in trouble, he added, and Bradley Wallace realized the dragon had read his thoughts again.

  He accepted Whilly’s answer, for now. Since the dragon knew so well what he was thinking and feeling, Bradley Wallace didn’t need to explain anything explicitly. Stopping a volcano was a lot different than catching a boy falling off a cliff. And how could they rescue an entire town’s worth of people without being spotted? The task he’d placed before them seemed next to impossible without some sort of miracle. But then, a living dragon was almost a miracle in itself, wasn’t it?

  The flight seemed to take forever, and was the most harrowing experience of Bradley Wallace’s young life. Fortunately for both he and Whilly, he was not prone to airsickness. The nearer they soared to the Big Island, the more violent the winds became, and shortly before arriving at their destination, the rains began.

  No, not began. Attacked!

  The vile black clouds literally burst asunder and belched forth

  torrents of unrelenting rain water, attacking the flying dragon with such force Bradley Wallace felt certain the clouds were trying to knock them right out of the sky.

  He could barely see a few feet in front of him because the wind-buffeted raindrops whipped viciously into his eyes like hundreds of tiny needles, forcing him to squint in order to see. He also fought a battle for his very life in clinging to Whilly’s back. Slick from the pelting rain, and flung wildly about by the hurricane-like winds, the dragon did not make a very stable perch. But somehow, the boy didn’t know how or why, he was still hanging onto the dragon’s slippery neck when the Big Island of Hawaii finally came into view. At last!

  The object of their journey, Mauna Kea, was not difficult to locate. At 13,769 feet, it was easily the highest point in the entire island chain, and the sight of its towering, rain-swept slopes sent a chill of fear shooting through the boy.

  Whilly remained silent as they approached, putting all of his concentration into combating the elements. Bradley Wallace squinted down at the gaping maw of Mauna Kea, jutting upward as though to swallow the very sky itself, and gasped.

  “Whilly,
look!” he shouted above the driving wind and rain, pointing straight down into the mountain’s jaws.

  I see it, came the dragon’s terse reply, his breaths coming in short inhalations. The strain of combating the elements was already taking its toll.

  The open mouth of the volcano glowed blood red, like the glistening lips of a feeding wolf, and Bradley Wallace could see down to the white-hot dome of molten rock rising steadily to the surface. Already, a few stray streaks of searing lava spit forth from the opening, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that this volcano was going to explode, and soon.

  Even more frightening to the boy was the sight of the small town lying peacefully a few miles from the crater. Even from this distance, he

  could detect extensive activity on the road leading from the area. But that

  mountain was near to its bursting point. Could all those people get away in time?

  Well, Bradley Wallace, Whilly asked as they turned and circled back away from the town and toward the shuddering mountain, what do you want to do?

  “How should I know?” the flustered boy screamed, trying hard to keep his voice steady. “I’ve never tried to stop a volcano before! I’ve never even seen one!”

  The yawning crater appeared even more malignant and evil on second viewing, and the futility of the situation began to wash over Bradley Wallace like the pelting rain.

  I’m sorry, Bradley Wallace, but I don’t know how I can stop this, either, Whilly apologized. If I could, I would.

  The dragon’s tone seemed distant, almost troubled, as though he wanted to say something more, but wasn’t quite sure how to express it. “We have to help those people, somehow!” Bradley Wallace insisted, refusing to believe they were entirely without options.

  Whilly fell into an almost brooding silence that the boy couldn’t understand, especially at a time like this. They continued circling the glowing crater like a jet over a large airport, awaiting clearance to land.