The Boy and the Evil dragon

 A boy once lived with his parents. 

But the boy was very bored there. He wanted some adventures in his life.

That was when he heard that a dragon had attacked the outskirts of his village. The dragon carried off women and children from the outskirts. It was believed that the dragon carried away the women and children to the far side of the mountains where the dragon supposedly lived. And there the dragon ate the people whom it had taken from the outskirts!

It was even rumoured that the dragon could change form into any animal or even a human if the dragon so wished.

*****

The boy decided to help the people in his village. With the blessings of his parents he set off the very next morning. 

He walked deep into the mountains and that was when he found another young man walking up the mountain.

"Where are you going?" The young man asked the boy.

The boy was slightly suspicious that the young man could be the dragon in disguise. Though the boy dismissed his own suspicions, the young boy lied to the man about the real reason he had come to the mountains.

"My home is just around the corner there." The young man told the boy, "Why don't you come with me?"

The boy said nothing and just stared at the young man.

"You seem tired, you can have some food and have some rest at my home." The man offered studying the boy.

The boy was very hungry and tired so he agreed to the man's suggestion.

******

The boy was shocked when he found some bones near the outside of the man's house. He found an old woman stirring and cooking in a pot under fire outside the house.

"What will you have to eat?" The old woman asked the boy.

"Just some corn." The boy told the old woman because he was unsure of what she was cooking under the fire.

******

The young man had some work outside and left the boy and the old woman alone for sometime. It is during this time that the young boy talked to the old woman. 

She looked at him with kind eyes. "You seem to be a very good and innocent boy. For this I shall tell you something important. The man whom you have met is actually the dragon in disguise. The dragon plans on eating you tomorrow morning. You have to escape this place as soon as possible."

"How do I do that?" The boy asked the old woman.

"Take these shoes and this birch bark with this picture with you. These shoes are magical. With one step in these shoes you will be able to reach those mountains there." She pointed at a far away blue mountain. "After you reach the place you will meet an old man. Give him this birch bark, and he will tell you what to do after that." The old woman suddenly looked worried. "But remember no matter how far you go the dragon will find you by evening."

The boy thanked the old lady.

The old lady suddenly caught the boy's hands.

The boy looked surprised as the old woman continued. "Before leaving you must kill me in the morning."

"Why?!"

"After killing me," the old woman continued, "you must wrap me in this colourful robe. That is the only way I can break the power that the dragon has over me. I can bring myself back from the dead after the dragon has left me here."

The boy agreed to this too.

******

The entire night the dragon man slept next to the boy. So the boy could not escape the place. 

The next morning the dragon went to the stream to get some water. 

The boy killed the old woman and wrapped her in a colourful robe. The boy then put on the shoes that the old woman had given him and he took a step.

The boy was shocked because he found himself near the far away blue mountain immediately. He even found an old man there. 

The old man looked at the birch bark in the boy's hands and smiled. "So you are the young man for whom I am supposed to wait."

But the old man did not wait for a reply from the boy. 

The old man gave another birch bark and another set of shoes to the boy and pointed at a far away pink mountain. "One step in these shoes should take you to those hills and there you will find another old man and he will tell you what to do."

The boy did as he was told. 

There he found another man who gave him a Maple leaf and his last set of instructions. 

The old man told the boy to find a stream and walk into the waters as if it were land. But the old man warned the boy not to look at the water. The old man also gave the boy, a birch bark  and said that the birch bark would help the boy change appearance and also keep him safe.

*******

The boy did all this very easily.

He felt the power of the birch wood and that was when he saw the dragon far off coming towards the mountain.

He realised that the dragon had found him by evening.

The boy immediately changed himself into a little fish and swam in the stream.

******

The dragon man looked around but could not find the boy anywhere. The dragon man found a little fish in a stream. "Little fish, have you seen a young boy here?"

"No," the little fish replied and swam away.

After that all the animals in the forest including the great Turtle either lied to the dragon or misdirected the dragon away from the boy.

Finally the dragon changed into a Snake and it was directed by the Turtle towards a portion in the stream.

There the boy with the help of his birch bark swam round and round in the water creating a violent whilrpool.

The dragon in the form of the Snake is about to drown in the whirlpool, when the boy changed his form and picked up the Snake. 

The boy cut off the head of the Snake. 

The dragon was no more.

******

The boy went back to the house of the dragon and found that the old woman was alive.

He received many gifts for his deed and he became very well known as a brave boy.

The kingdom never had to fear dragons again.

But even now the Snakes are hated in that particular village because the dragon man had taken the shape of a Snake before meeting its end.

A Canadian Native American folk story