One of my older stories, reposted here since I've had people ask me to repost some of my old stuff. This was written for an 11th grade English class. It was a Halloween assignment, and the teacher provided us a list of lines that we had to choose from to start the story. Stuff like "There was a bump in the night..." or "A large shadow passed overhead..." I used one of the openings, of course, but I didn't take the kind of direction I think the teacher was expecting. I got a grade of 100% on the assignment, and the teacher suggested I submit it for possible inclusion in the high school's literary magazine. I declined, for reasons that should be obvious after you read this... apparently the teacher didn't pick up on it. Everyone else that has read this has, though.

This was written before I realized I was a herm dragoness, and while I was still using my old alias. I have changed quite a bit since then, but it's still a good and rather emotional story. It's also one of my gentler pieces, so if most of my writing is too extreme for you, perhaps this will be more to your liking. So, without further adieu, enjoy.

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Whirling and dipping in the sky, I looked down at the town below. It was Halloween, the one night a creature like myself could come out into public without having everyone run away screaming. I had heard stories before of that happening; I did not want to join those who had 'disappeared' that way. The street below was clear, so I took the chance and landed.

I became exactly six feet tall before anyone came by; usually, I was far smaller, around two inches in height. The coast was still clear, so I walked down the street, taking me towards the part of town that would be busiest tonight. There was one thing on my mind once I saw the throng of trick-or-treaters: candy. People stopped to look when they saw me, most to admire my 'costume'.

"Wow, look at him!" one shouted.

"Look at those wings! It's almost like they're moving," another remarked.

"His scales seem so real..." a third noted.

"Mommy, mommy! Look! A dragon!" a cute, 7-year-old girl said, pointing directly at me. I suppose I should pause here to explain. Yes, I am a dragon, but not one in the traditional, fire breathing, human-eating, almost savage sense. I'm an anthropomorphic dragon, meaning I'm actually quite human-like, but I still have the heart and soul of one of those great mythical beasts. Some might say I'm the best of both species. I change color with my mood - that night, I was a contented light blue. I do have sharp, ivory claws and wingtips, but I only use them for defense, or to scratch an annoying itch. Clothing is one thing I don't worry about; my 'anatomy' is kept inside a special, internal pouch, and I can never find items that fit anyway.

At six feet tall, as I was that night, my tail was nine feet in length. I don't have a tail-spade, like some of my brethren do; mine just tapers down to a soft point. My wings are my favorite, a full fifteen feet from tip to tip at that size. A human can never understand what it's like to fly like I do. I would have rather flown to where I was going that night, but I needed to walk to blend in, even on All Hallows Eve. Humans are not my favorite species, but there was one that I planned to visit while I had the chance.

But, back to the story. Along the way that night, I stopped at several houses, shouting, "Trick or treat!" loudly enough to scare some of the younger children. A few people asked if I was too old to be trick or treating (At 21, maybe I was, but free candy was too good to pass up.), but I just growled and held out my candy bag. I had my bag ¾ full by the time I reached his house, and I rang the bell. I made sure that no other trick-or-treaters were around beforehand, to ensure we would be alone. "Altair?" he said, addressing me.

"Leo?" I said, looking back at him. He was about 5'9", average build, with glasses on his brown eyes and darker brown hair. Pretty nondescript, really, especially since he wasn't wearing a costume.

"Come inside, Altair," he said, holding the door open for me. "No need to stay in the doorway." We are more alike than you might think. Aside from our physical differences, we were the same. It's a long story, but let's just say that I'm the embodiment of his dreams. At any rate, as soon as Leo asked me inside, he turned off the lights. We didn't want to be disturbed.

He took me to his bedroom, smiling at me. He usually was daydreaming of creatures of my kind, even when I wasn't around for this one night per year, so this was almost a dream come true for him. "What would you like to do?" I asked him. After all, if I could only visit once per year, I wanted to make this special for more than just my presence.

After thinking for a moment, Leo looked at me and said, "Maybe we could do what we did last year..." I chuckled at him, but I understood. There were some things that only this dragon could do for him, that only I could understand. He trusted my magic, and everything I did, making things easier for the both of us. I started by embracing him in a wing-hug, though, just pulling him closer to me.

We lied down on the bed, knowing we'd have the rest of the night. So, I began to work my magic, filling his dream as only I could. He started to shrink under the spell's effect, quickly becoming my own normal height of two inches. Normally, the thought of me being the larger one seemed a bit strange, but Leo was my other half, so it didn't seem to matter to me. His happiness was mine.

For a while, I just held him to my scales, keeping him warm on the cool, autumn night. He loved to be cuddled like a small teddy of some kind, just like me. He kissed the scales on my chest, causing me to let out a contented purr. Were we not two forms of the same being, we would probably have fallen in love. But instead, we just enjoyed each other's company, as two halves of a complex whole.

Leo looked up towards me, with a smile that I knew could only mean one thing. I purred louder as I realized it, knowing this was the one thing I had been looking forward to. What we did shall not be described here, though the omission will likely speak for itself, but suffice to say we were both warmed by the encounter. After, I cleaned him off, and held him to me again. His life was a lonely one, and I wanted to offer him what I could. He longed to live in my world, he dreamed of becoming me, but it was impossible. He had to stay here.

I held him through the night, keeping him safe in my warmth. "I... I wish you could stay..." he said sometime after midnight, with enough emotion to bring a tear to even a dragon's eye. In spirit, we were completely inseparable, but our physical forms could never coexist. He lived in his world; I lived in mine. I didn't want to live either, but I knew I had to leave soon, if I had any hope of making it home before dawn. If another human were to see me flying during the day, I don't think I'd want to know what would happen. Most humans couldn't begin to understand the relationship we had.

Three o'clock came around, the time I had to leave. I could feel my scales turned a darker, sadder blue as I let my human counterpart go, returning him to full size. "Until next year..." I said, trying not to show how I felt. He could only be as strong as he thought I was. Before Leo could say anything, I left, holding back a few tears.

As I flew home, I began to wonder: maybe I could stay, maybe I could live with Leo, maybe I could find a place in the human world. But all the maybe in the world wasn't enough. It was only three short hours until dawn, yet, as I reached my lair, I could tell it was going to be a long, dark night.

In the distance, a wolf howled at the crescent moon, a sad, lonely cry that expressed my feelings better than actual words could even describe. I laid down, staring straight at the ceiling, and did eventually manage sleep, though my reams were of making Leo's come true. It would be a long 364 days to wait, but I was already looking forward to next year.