Advise on Dragon Parenting

I woke up, once again surrounded by my hatchlings, but rather than love, I knew they were trying to butter me up for their impending punishment. Little did they know, that I had no idea what to do.

I knew what I had to do to figure it out, and I wasn't happy about it. I would have to ask Mrs.Horn about it. I hadn't spoken to the woman since our fight, other than calling her name for meals. She avoided me just as I avoided her; which could be difficult living in such a small house. Luckily I spent most of my time with the dragons, and Mrs.Horn didn't dare to enter the den again.

I woke the sleeping hatchlings, and went through their morning routine. Then I headed upstairs to make breakfast. I could hear Mrs.Horn stirring from her upstair bedroom. I prepared omelets and hashbrowns, and made a fresh pot of coffee.

"Mrs.Horn breakfast is ready!" I yelled up the stairs. she came down surprised to see me. lately I have eaten my breakfast and left before she came down the stairs, but today I needed to break our silence. She sat down as I prepared her plate.

"Mrs.Horn," I began, "I am officially ending our awkward silent treatment. Although my set rules still apply, I do need your help." I said, trying to sound professional. She looked at me with a gaze that was a mixture of surprise, happiness, and weariness.

"You are actually asking for my advise?" she asked genuinely surprised.

"Yes." I replyed. "The hatchlings were naughty yesterday, and tormented their baby sitters." I said, "You see Bill and I made a deal to swap jobs with the boys for a day, and when I came back, all but Somnolent, Callalily, and Vainglorious were attacking Jasper and Will; well as much as tiny reptiles can." I finished

She smiled happily,

"I might not be as motherly as you, but I know how to discipline naughty hatchlings, and you are smart to set them straight before they get big." said Mrs.Horn. Her new found confidence toward me actually put me in a good mood, and broke the awkwardness.

"Since you are the boss they will understand what you say. Doesn't matter at all what you say, I mean they are still babies so some things they won't grasp, but you and only you can speak to them. They must understand what it is that they did wrong. You must make sure they understand that listening to you or just sitting there isn't the bad thing. Just like a child, simply take away something they like." She explained, "I noticed the Deer Chaser enjoys playing and practicing with her tail. bandage up her tail like it is broken with some gauze and lots of tape, keep it that way for a few hours. It will be too difficult for her to play with her tail like that. Blithesome enjoys being social, so keep her in a secluded crate for a few hours. Reticent isn't social, and only wants Blithesome, so make him play with the soon to be very bored Switch, and keep him away from Blithesome's little cage. Without her tail to play with, Switch will play with anyone, including the very shy Reticent. You said that that Creek Creeper likes to guard and protect, put him in solitary confinement as well, but away from Blithesome." She said. She began tapping her chin to think what to do with the others. I began speaking

"Somnolent just slept the whole time, Callalilly and Vainglorious just used the boys confinement to show off their skills, so I don't really think they need to be punished, they were just doing what they always do, but Coruscant, whom is usually my most well behaved, was the worst." I said.

"Well other than me, what does she hate?" Mrs.Horn asked. I tried to think of something, but I couldn't.

"I don't know. She helps me with the other dragons, enjoys napping, playing, and exploring, she enjoys alone time just as much as she enjoys playing with the others. As far as I know you are the only thing she dislikes." I said.

Mrs.Horn was shocked with Coruscant once again.

"That Prism Scale is the most well rounded well behaved dragon I have ever heard of, and more shocking is that she is a Prism Scale." We both thought for a bit before Mrs.Horn snapped her finger. pulling me out of my thoughts. "Take a picture of me, and record my voice. Then put it in a kennel with Coruscant" she said. I was on the brink with this idea, this was dealing with fear not just a dislike, but she didn't really dislike anything.

"If it is our only option I suppose that is all we can do." I said defeated. I wouldn't like punishing them, but Coruscant's punishment could very well break my heart.

I gathered the supplies for punishment: a few cat kennels (which had obviously been used for this before), a first-aid kit to wrap Switch's tail, a small playpen for Switch and Reticent, and finally a picture of Mrs.Horn, and a two-way walkie talkie (because nobody owns a voice recorder). I then set up my punishment areas, and gathered the hatchlings for their lecture (all but Somnolent, Callalilly, and Vainglorious)

"Line up." I said. The five small dragons lined up sitting in a row. I began my lecture "Yesterday I left you in the care of two boys, that weren't very professional, but tried their best. I know that their incompetence angered you, but that is no excuse for attacking them." I said sternly. Reticent whimpered. "Now even if you didn't physically harm them, this is still considered an attack in my opinion, so you all will be punished. Except for those three who didn't do anything wrong. I pointed to the three carefree dragons playing behind the others. Valorous growled. "Young sir, you are not allowed to be angry at your siblings for this." I said pointing at Valorous. "You are the reason you are in trouble, it has nothing to do with them. They are not being punished because they didn't do anything wrong. So for the next two hours you will be punished." I finished. I grabbed Valorous and put him in a kennel, then did the same Blithesome in but in a separate kennel. I then wrapped Switch's tail in gauze and tape like recommended, and put Switch and Reticent in the play pen. Lastly I put Coruscant in a kennel with Mrs.Horn's picture and a walkie-talkie. I set my phone with a two hour timer, and went up the elevator.

"Okay Mrs.Horn, start talking." I said, seeing Mrs.Horn holding the corresponding walkie-talkie. She held the button down, and just read outloud the novel she was currently in the middle of. Scaring Coruscant like this made me sad, but I knew it had to be done.

Bill, Will, and Jasper all walked in with tired faces, that still had smiles.

"We finally finished Switch's training grounds." Will said.

"Hurry up come and see it" Jasper said excitedly.

"Alright I'll do anything to keep my mind off of the dragons right now." They looked at me curiously, but it soon faded as they were excited to show off their work.

We all got into the side-by-side Will and I sat in the back while Jasper and Bill sat in the seats. When we finally got there I was amazed. It was a full obstacle course, covered with trees and rocks. I saw several thick logs sitting upright as they were cemented in the ground. I looked to the right and saw a log the size of a deer on a rail that weaved through the whole course, mimicking how a deer would run. The course was the length of a professional football field, and had a second and a third miniature course, for whilst Switch was still growing. The ground underneath was uneven with holes rocks, and even artificial roots, to mimic the forest floor.Outside the forest there were several posts for Switch to practice on. They even planted different types of trees and grassy plants, that they obviously had gathered from the forrest. It was brilliant.

"This is amazing!" I said excitedly.

"I know right!" Will said, he was obviously happy about my response.

"And I was the one who designed the rail for the fake deer." Jasper said proudly pointing at himself.

"and them small trees we planted will be big enough for coverage by the time Switch is big enough to practice here." Bill said. I thought the trees were already fairly large, they were taller than me, at 5'7", how they managed to up root and plant these large trees was beyond me. Will pointed to the plain posts that were not in the obstacle course

"and those are to test how strong Switch's tail is. Once she can slice through one of these things, she will definitely be able to kill a deer with one whip." Bill said seemingly proud.

"Did you make this with the trees you felled, and the plants you cleared for Callalilly?" I asked. Bill nodded, "It be a waste if we didn't." he said. I gave each if them a hug. I saw Will blushing, but I was too excited about the obstacle course, and wanted to venture into it. They had thought of everything, even the log they used for a fake deer was rounded at both ends so it wouldn't get caught on trees. The rails that Jasper had designed had multiple tracks and each was a different pattern, so Switch wouldn't memorize where the fake deer would be running to. I noticed that there was only ten minutes left of the dragons punishment, so I had to get back. "This is perfect, I love it, and Switch will too, but I have to get back now to take the dragons out of their time out. Will, Jasper will you come with me so each of them can apologize to you?" I asked. They both nodded yes.

"I have to stop by the camper first though, I believe my punishment isn't over yet. I was confused, until I remembered that Callalilly had to hunt for leftover stray crickets for breakfast. "Thank you." I said.

We loaded up into the side-by-side once again and drove to the trailer first, to get crickets. Each time I saw that camper I wondered how three people managed to live in such a small place. Will came out with the whole box of crickets that would be stored at the pet store. "Holy cow." I said. Will blushed again.

"I wanted to makeup for my mistakes, so I got a lot of them, I figured the dragons are growing each day, and Callalilly would need a bigger box, and more bugs soon anyways." He said. His hands were full so I couldn't give him another hug, so kissed him on the cheek, just as my family had always done to me. He blushed redder than I had seen before, though I wasn't sure why. We loaded the crickets and went back to the house. We went past Mrs.Horn who had fallen asleep with the walkie-talkie in her hand and a book on her face. Will went down first with the crickets, then I went down, followed by Jasper. I took each of the dragons out of their kennels, I took Switch's bandaging off of her tail. Coruscant looked shaken up, but seemed okay after her punishment.

"Alright you five line up. Do you know what you did wrong?" I asked them. All five nodded in unison. The fact that these dragons could understand me and somewhat communicate would have to get some getting used to. "So then go apologize to Jasper and Will, and I will prepare lunch." I finished speaking and prepared cutting up meat. One by one each dragon licked Will and Jasper, and nuzzled their heads against the boys' legs. Before turning back to me. Reticent was last in line, a common occurrence. I noticed that Will slipped reticent a piece of a fish stick as Reticent was apologizing. How long had that been in his pocket I wondered.

"All right boys I am sure you are tired, so you can leave now." I said trying to make them leave so I could continue with the dragons schedule. "See ya." Jasper said as he walked to the elevator. Will scratched Reticent's chin a few times waiting for the elevator to come back down.

"Alright see ya tomorrow." Will said. He waved and got into the elevator. I waved goodbye and began the dragon's routine. I began thinking again about the two large men and a boy all living full time in that trailer, something about it frustrated me. Then an idea popped into my head. "I've got it."