The Dragon Who Loved Stars

Once upon a time, there was a dragon who did not care much for gold.

Most dragons filled their caves with treasure, but this dragon had something different in his cave.

He had a large window carved into the mountain.

Every night he would sit beside the window and look up at the sky.

Above him were thousands of tiny shining lights.

The stars.

He wondered what they were.

Were they tiny fires?

Were they distant worlds?

Or were they secret lanterns hanging in the sky?

One evening he decided he would try to fly as high as he could.

Higher than the clouds.

Higher than the tallest mountains.

He flapped his wings and climbed into the night sky.

Up he went.

The air became colder.

The stars became brighter.

But no matter how high he flew, the stars were always a little farther away.

Finally he landed back on his mountain.

He smiled.

The stars were far away, but that did not matter.

They would always be there waiting for him.

And every night, the dragon who loved stars would sit beside his mountain window and look up, dreaming about distant worlds.