The real "Puff the Magic Dragon"

Jackie Paper slowly pulled the legs off of another fairy. The small witless creature seemed to writhe and undulate with spasms of pain although not even the faintest of sounds escaped her small blue lips. Afterwards, Jackie carelessly tossed her mangled body into the brush without so much as another thought. It wasnt as if the tiny animals deserved to be respected. In fact it seemed the only purpose for their existence was to delight the smaller children by fluttering around their heads, narrowly avoiding capture. Jackie seemed to think the world was better off without such nonsense. It was Friday in Honah- lee and Jackie had no intentions of going home after what had happened earlier that night. Fridays meant that his father got paid for his work at the docks and would come home terribly drunk and hostile towards Jackie and his mother. Many times had Jackie come away lucky with just a bruised rib or a blackened eye but not this night. Jackies father Ramathorn had come stumbling through the door, barley able to keep his balance but able to yell for supper quite articulatley. Jackies mother Evelynn (usually too bombed off of the sweet Red Opium she favored) actually managed to meet Rammathorn in the doorway trying to placate him with soft words. She was met with a crushing blow to the side of her head that sent her falling into the old, weak thatched walls of their small earthen home. For Jackie, Standing in the kicthen watching, time seemed to slow. He could hear his fathers words. He could hear the sounds of the little creatures frantically rushing about outside of their homes small windows. He could see his mothers body slouching against the wall and he could see the ripples that her simple dress made as it bunched up around her mottled legs. Filled with a rage he could'nt identify, he charged his fathers flailing body and drove him through the door into the bare courtyard in front of the house. Quickly Jackie grabbed a rake leaning alongside the house and swung it with all the force a 16 year old boy could muster. Just as quickly his father ducked low and ran at his son, screaming so incoherently that it actually caused Jackie to pause. As his father crashed into him, Jackie seemed to pivot his body to the right with out actually being aware of it. His fathers momentum cause him to flip over in mid air and come crashing down with a sickening finality. Out of breath and crying Jackie nudged his fathers head with the tip of his shoe. Rammathornes blank gaze looked up not at the sky, but something beyond it seemed. Suddenly Jackie ran. Jackie ran and ran until his lungs threatend to burst and he crashed into the soft grass. Slowly Jackie rested and eventually fell asleep. It wasnt much later that Jackie had waken and began to walk and explore his strange surroundings eventually finding the little colony of fairies that he felt needed to be tortured mercilessly. Jackie quickly grew bored with murdering them and began to walk some more. As the moon rose high into the cold night sky Jackie came upon a rock face rising so high that he could not see the top. Unsure of why, he began climbing this scraggly, dangerouse face of rock. He climbed deftly and smooth. Hand over hand followed by foot after foot. As time passed Jackie grew tired. His muscles ached and his lips were cracked and dried. He had begun to wonder how much further he was going to make it when he came to a ledge. Gratefull he climbed onto the floor and rested. As he layed there he noticed a large cave at the backside of the ledge. Cautious yet Curious he advanced slowly. At the mouth of the cave he found a strange inscription wich read:

Puff the Magic Dragon, a bird of Cam Ranh Si
Came to fly the evening skies
In a land called Honah Lee.

Puff the Magic Dragon, came across the land,
To write its name in Bursts of flame
and scorch the heart of man

When the grunts are in trouble
And the fires all around
The thoughts may pry into the sky
as you burn upon the ground

The childs mortal terror, starts when many cries
And the Dragon's breath of sudden death
Comes screaming from the sky.

Puff the Magic Dragon, a bird of Cam Ranh Si
Came to fly the evening skies
In a land called Honah Lee.


Now more curious than ever, he walked about 30 paces into the darkened mouth of the cave, till even the moonlight refused to go any further. Just as he was about to retreat to the saftey of the ledge Jackie heard a deep rumbling and a light began to glow at the back of the cave. Paralyzed with fear Jackie just managed to dodge to the side right before a stream of fire came shooting directly at him. Jackies shirt caught fire and he rushed to rip it off himslef, lest he burn. Just as quickly the dragon came charging from the darkness, backing Jackie to the precariously dangerous edge of the landing. As Puff Creeped into the moonlight Jackie realized how magnificent the monster truly was. Mulitcolored scales had the moonlight dancing on the sheer rock walls. His throaty roar must have been heard for miles. Talons as long as fence poles silentlty grasped at the air. Jackies mouth hung in awe and quite unaware he took a step back..over the edge. He flailed his arms dramatically trying to regain his balance but still toppled backwards into nothing. As the wind whipped passed his ears he screamed. He saw the great beast come swooping down at him; Wings spread and mouth wide. He felt his ribs cave in as the dragon gripped him in a tight embrace, choking the air from his lungs and the life from his body. Oddly enough, Jackies last thoughts were of the small fairies he had come across earlier in the night. He wondered if they were as complacent and resigned as he when death came to them.