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A long time ago, near a village called Popcorn Town, there lived a dragon. He was the color of midnight. He was huge and covered in sharp, pointy scales. The fire he breathed could light up the night sky.

He lived in a nest high above the village in an old, dead tree.

Everyone in Popcorn Town was scared of the dragon...everyone but one precocious girl.

Eshita wanted to be a knight. She was strong and brave and unafraid.

Sure, the dragon breathed fire. But there were people with worse breath. And sure, the Dragon looked scary. But there were dogs in the village with scarier faces.

One day, the dragon had come down from his nest and was hiding in the cornfields.

Everyone ran to escape the dragon. Everyone except for Eshita.

Armed with her homemade sword, helmet and shield, Eshita ran through the deserted village toward the cornfield.

When she spotted the dragon, Eshita snuck up behind him.

“Excuse me!” Eshita yelled. The dragon roared. He lowered his head to her level. Eshita felt the dragon’s hot breath on her face.

“I’m Eshita,” she said. “I’ve come to tell you to go away. You’re scaring everybody.”

The dragon’s breaths quickened. Huff! Huff! Huff! It looked like the dragon’s fire was about to blow! Eshita braced herself. But instead of fire coming out his mouth, tears began pouring down the dragon’s snout.

“I’m so lonely. Nobody likes me,” the dragon said.

“Why should anyone like you?” Eshita replied. “You burned down the castle.”

“I didn’t burn down the castle,” the dragon said. “It was struck by lightning. I would never do that.”

“Wow,” Eshita said. “Sounds like you’re the victim of a smear campaign. We’ve got to fix this. What are you good at?”

“Breathing fire,” replied the dragon.

“Well, let’s see it,” ordered Eshita.

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