Conquering Dragons

Conquering Dragons


Though it was a warm day, Jeffery felt a chill as the wind gusted. ”You can do anything you set your mind too!” His brother’s words circled his mind. He grabbed them and focused on their meaning.

“Yes, I can!” He reached upward, straining.

“A little more to the right,” Frank’s guiding words whispered in his ear.

Jeff stretched until his fingertips found the small ledge. He carefully shifted his weight and raised his left foot. Finding a solid purchase, he pulled himself up another foot.

The wind danced in and out of the fissures, playing a song that seemed familiar. It’s the theme to Dragon’s Lair! Jeff felt a comforting smile come to his face. “Dragon’s Lair” was a video game he began playing soon after he was diagnosed with autism. For him, information would come into his mind and “bounce around.” Outwardly, he appeared normal – whatever that meant – but he knew he was different and began to withdraw.

“We’re not quitters, bro,” Frank would say. “Come on, we’re going to …” and, grabbing Jeff’s hand, take him off to skate, or to swim, or to the gym. Frank was his life-line to the larger world.

One morning, as Jeff lay in bed watching the sun rise, he saw the dragon. The dragon was a rock premonitory that rose above the hills. The sun’s rays made it stand in relief and the gray granite looked like the neck of a mythical beast; at the peak, with its craggy shape, could be seen the head, – mouth open and spines running down its massive back. He lay there staring at it until the sunlight shifted and he could see it was just a granite outcrop.

“Time to get out of bed, lazy,” Frank had said through the doorway.

“I was watching the dragon wake up,” he replied.

“Dragon? I think you’re still in your game,” he laughed.

“Come here, Frank.” When Frank came to sit on his bed, he pointed to the mountain. “Do you see it?”

Frank studied the scene. “You know, Jeff, I do. I never noticed it before but it does look like a dragon. You have such a great way of looking at the world,” he said, ruffling his brother’s hair.

Jeff smiled. “I want to conquer that dragon,” he said.

Frank laughed again. “If that’s what you want, then you can. It won’t be easy,” he warned. “I’ll tell you what, let’s get ready and I’ll take you to the gym. They have a rock climbing wall and we can practice there.”

Jeff felt the old fear come back.

Frank noticed the change of expression. “Jeff,” he said quietly, “there are many dragons in life. Not all of them look like that one. Going out is a kind of dragon, going to school is another kind. We all have to face our dragons.” He laughed again. “The difference is that you have a head start playing that game. We are all heroes – not for defeating the dragons we find, but for facing them. Let’s start with the small ones, Okay?”

Jeff let the words roll around a bit. They didn’t all make sense but he knew he could trust Frank. “Okay,” he said with a smile and rolled out of bed.

“Are you just going to hang around all day?”

The cold gray rock pressed into his cheek, pulling Jeff back into the present. He took a deep breath and reached again, his finger moving up the face of the rock just like he had practiced with Frank. He could see the next handhold above and to the left.

“Remember to set your grip before you let go,” Frank warned.

Jeff reached and grabbed. There was loose rock in the fissure and he cleared it out with his fingertips. He made sure his grip was tight, then moved his right leg up, wedging the toe of his shoe into the crevice that ran vertically up the rock face. He pulled himself up another foot.

He and Frank had started going to the rock wall several times a week. Slowly, his muscles got stronger. More importantly, the routine of climbing sharpened his ability to focus.

It was early March when Frank came home and said, “Let’s go climbing.”

“Sure. I’m ready.” He checked his bag and made sure all of his gear was there.

As they pulled out of the driveway, Jeff noticed that they turned the wrong way. “Frank, you turned left. We always go to the right.”

“Not today,” Frank said with a grin. They drove into the mountains, near the Dragon.

“Today,” Frank announced, “we’re going to try some real climbing.” Jeff felt the old fear come over him. “It’s time we tried the next dragon,” was all Frank would tell him. When they had parked, Frank told him to grab his gear and follow.

They followed a path that ended at the foot of a rock face. “Ready?” asked Frank.

Jeff looked at his brother’s face and then at the rock. “Let’s conquer a dragon.”

Over the next month they climbed twice a week. Frank showed him how each section of the rock had its own personality. He showed him how to find handholds and footholds, how to feel the rock and listen to what it was telling him. At the end of each session, Jeff would look up at the visage of dragon that watched over them. “Soon,” he would say.

“Come on, Jeff. The Dragon is waiting.”

Jeff smiled. “Okay, Frank. I’m coming.” He looked up from the perch he had found. The rough shape of the Dragon’s head was clearly in view. He put his hand against the warm rock and listened. It spoke to him reassuringly of the last of his climb. He took a deep breath and reached.

Handhold, foothold, pull. Handhold, foothold, pull. He reached out and his hand hit … air. He lowered his arm and felt the long rough edge. He had reached the summit.

Jeff remembered the first time that he reached the top of the “little dragon.” He was proud of making it and had raised his arm in victory … and lost his balance. Frank had grabbed him, pulling him to safety. “The climb’s not done until all of you is on the top.” He heard Frank’s laughing words.

That was the last time they had climbed together. A week later, his parents had come into his room.

“Where’s Frank? We’re supposed to go see the dragon.”

“Jeff, there’s been an accident.”

He remembered a lot of words but couldn’t make sense of all of them. What he did understand was that Frank wouldn’t be taking him climbing – not that day or any other. Jeff retreated. He waited patiently for the words to stop, for some direction.

This morning, as he watched the sun rise, he knew what he needed to do. Today is the day I conquer the Dragon.

He concentrated and finally pulled himself over the edge, laying in sunshine, the Dragon conquered.

Carefully, he stood and gazed out over the valley. Suddenly, everything seemed to slow and he understood.

“What did I tell you, Jeff. You did it. You’re a hero and there’s nothing that will stop you from now on.”

Jeff knew it wasn’t really his brother talking but the wind seemed to carry the words and he could feel Frank’s presence next to him. As he watched the cloud shadows form patterns on the ground far below, he knew that a small part of his reality had changed.

“Thank you, Frank,” he shouted. He knew that, somehow, the gratitude and love he felt would find his brother.



An entry for "Short Shots: Official WDC Contest" 
Word Count: 1278