SRU: Paper Dragon

by Kim West

 

I wish to thank Bill Hart for creating the SRU Universe and allowing others to have a chance to play in it. The story I have come up with is loosely based on "Puff the Magic Dragon." I hope you will enjoy the following.

There once was a little rascal by the name of Jack Paper who loved to destroy everything in his path. His bedroom looked like a cyclone had hit it, and this would be only moments after his mother had cleaned it for him. His toys usually had a lifespan of only a week. And yes, Jack always looked like a sloppy dresser with his shirt not tucked in, his hair uncombed, and his pants way too baggy.

This is not to say that Jack was not a good boy, he had an exceptional mind (that is when he decided to use it). His teachers knew he could do so much better, and yes, they did say he had potential, but in his particular case it happened to be true. The main problem seemed to be Jack's rebellious attitude; it had been getting progressively worse with each passing year. Not only that, but he was treating girls his age rather badly. Something had to be done, but what?

Randall Paper (Jack's father) thought hard about this as he left work; he headed out to the local mall in order to search for a birthday present for his son. That was also a difficult task because it was so hard to find a toy that would survive in the hands of his son longer than ten minutes; also Jack had already gone through most of the new toys that stores had to offer. 'Maybe Kate and I have spoiled the little fellow. We've given him everything he could possibly need, but perhaps what he really needed was a good old fashioned spanking every now and then' Randall mused.

The Mall was not too crowded and Randall made his way in only to find toy store after toy store closed. This was strange indeed, why would only the toy stores be closed, but everything else remained open. Randall scratched his head for several moments trying to figure out what to do next. He finally spotted a security officer and went up to the fellow.

"Can I help you sir?" The officer asked in a standard monotone.

"Um…yes, I was wondering why all of the toy stores seem to be closed?"

"I haven't the foggiest, but that new store right behind you might have what you are looking for."

Randall turned around, and to his astonishment he saw a rather curious shop that he was quite certain wasn't there before. He turned back to face the officer. "That's funny, I never noticed…" Randall didn't finish his sentence because the officer was no longer in front of him. In fact he was nowhere to be seen at all. 'Sure moves fast, I'll give him that' Randall thought. He then turned his attention on the shop and headed inside. It looked like it had been there for many years and had all sorts of strange items like books, statues, clothing from different time periods and cultures, and many, many other things too numerous to describe (especially in a short story).

"Ha! I win again!"

"I hate Wizard's Chess! You always win! ALWAYS!"

Randall followed the sound of arguing until he came upon an old man with a long flowing beard who was wearing a robe, and a young girl who was wearing a fetching black mini skirt and a silver satin blouse. They were apparently playing chess, and for a moment Randall could swear he had seen a few of the pieces moving on their own accord. He shook his head, 'get a grip on yourself old boy. Something like that would be completely daft.'

The old man spoke once more to the girl. "Ah, that's where you're wrong Dannie! There was this young wizard I played who was a sheer genius when it came to playing this game. He beat me, and I was a gracious loser, unlike some apprentice that shall not be named. I even let him have a reward being such a worthy opponent."

The girl snorted. "You let the poor bastard win! You knew what he would do with that necklace! You always manage to find a way to turn some poor sap into…"

"Customer! Yes! Customer is in the shop NOW Dannie! Go into the back and sort packages or something."

"Yeah, yeah," Dannie stood up and headed past Randall while muttering, "Another poor sap bites the dust."

The old man made his way over to Randall and smiled a big toothy grin. "So good to see you Mr. Randall and I have something I know your son will adore."

"Huh? How did you know my name? And…uh…that I have a son? And…and that…I am looking…"

"Please Mr. Randall, I know all there is to know because I am a wizard." The old man chuckled. "Surely you've heard of 'Spells R Us' haven't you?"

"Ummm…no, and quite frankly, your beginning to make me rather nervous."

"Don't worry; I'm not the sort of wizard that eats human flesh." The Wizard said chuckling once more, but this only made Randall's face become pale. The Wizard hardly noticed and continued to talk. "You probably don't surf the net much. I'm really quite popular on a few websites. They think of me as some sort of URBAN LEGEND!" The Wizard had stood up straight and seemed to grow to an impressive height. The room's light faded and an eerie glow surrounded the Wizard.

Randall heart almost burst out of his chest at witnessing such a spectacle. "Uhhhhh…going now, very frightened, please don't eat me!"

The room quickly returned to normal and so did the Wizard. "Sorry about that, it's a parlor trick I use to entertain the costumers who enter my humble shop."

Randall began to relax a bit at this, 'it was a trick. There's no such thing as magic! Oh, I'm certainly glad I didn't wet myself just then. That would've been really embarrassing.'

"Well then, uh, you should take that on the road. Very convincing stuff."

"Oh believe me, I go on the road with this sort of thing all of the time." The Wizard replied as he went behind a counter and disappeared. "Your son Jack turns eleven today, he is a bright boy, but needs something very special. Yes, very special indeed."

The Wizard appeared once more holding what looked like a dragon made of finely colored paper, tissues, and other assorted materials. Purple scales covered most of the hide while the belly of the beast was covered in rosy pink. Its tail was twice as long as the main body and seemed to swish back and forth under its own power. There were strings that were attached to the body, wings, and tail so that it could be held aloft from a ceiling. It was truly a spectacular sight to behold. Randall had lost all track of thought as he stood there looking at this wondrous thing before him.

"MR. RANDALL!"

Randall shook his head and focused his attention on the Wizard. "That is a work of art, it must cost a small fortune."

"Yes, but I always manage to sell my items at ridiculously low prices." The Wizard chuckled. "So would you like me to gift wrap it for you?"

"What? I can't afford that, and besides, my son would tear it apart the moment he touched it. Honestly, he's brutal when it comes to toys, clothes, and well, just about everything when I come to think of it."

"Nonsense! I'll let you have it for twenty-five U. S. dollars, and I'll even throw in a trial guarantee with that. Your boy will take care of this fine dragon."

"He doesn't take care of anything, and I guarantee you of that Mr. Wizard."

"Trust me Mr. Randall, if your boy doesn't change completely when he plays with this fine dragon I will triple your money back."

"Triple! Your crazy! Jack would shred this to pieces in seconds! And change him? Do you mean, this dragon will change my boy's behavior so he'll be good from now on?"

The Wizard took a moment before replying. "Uh, something like that, but it is a bit more complicated."

"Magic, you're talking about magic." Randall accused in a mocking tone.

The Wizard simply shrugged his shoulders and smiled. Randall shook his head, 'this guy is nuts, but then, I don't have time to find another present.' And with that thought he proceeded to hand the Wizard the money for the gift. He saw a note attached to the dragon and read it out loud.

"Please handle with care, 'Puff the Magic Dragon' is indestructible." Randall scratched his head. "Sounds like a contradiction in terms to me."

"Not at all Mr. Randall, you may not understand the meaning of the warning, but your son will."

Randall didn't want to continue this because it was starting to get late. He needed to get home and give Jack his present. Even though his son's birthday was today, they would not have the official party until Saturday. That meant Jack would have to wait for three whole days before he could receive and open all of his presents. At least he would have this dragon to play with for now.

After having arrived at his home, and after finishing dinner, the time had come for Jack's present. This was of course excruciating torture for the boy because he wanted desperately to get his hands on whatever he was going to receive. What with most of his toys being completely demolished he was really rather bored.

"What is it? What did you get me? Please tell me! No! Just give it to me instead!"

Kate (Jack's mother) sighed. "Jack calm down at once or you'll not see your present until tomorrow."

"AWWWWWHHH!" Jack whined to his mother, and then quickly turned to face his father. "Dad! Mom's being unreasonable again."

"Hmmm…did you finish your homework young man?"

"Yes, it was done ages ago. Can I have my present now? PLEASE?"

Randall slowly tapped his fingers pretending he was in deep thought. "Did you double check to make sure everything was correct?"

Jack lowered his head and was about to leave to go to his room.

"Randall dear, I think we've tortured our son long enough for this evening."

Upon hearing this Jack suddenly straightened up and once again looked eagerly at his parents. Knowing that this was the moment of truth, Randall headed out to his car and came back with the dragon. He held it up high so everyone could see it.

"Wow! A piñata! I can't wait to beat all of the candy out of it!" Jack said with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

Randall's eyes widened. "No son, this isn't a piñata."

Kate looked a bit concerned. "Honey, I thought we weren't going to encourage Jack's aggressive nature."

"It looks like one to me. Is it something else that can be smashed?" Jack asked hopefully.

"No! It isn't something you can smash." Randall said defensively.

"It looks like a piñata to me dear." Kate told her husband.

"It is not a piñata! It is something Jack can hang up in his room and admire." Randall said firmly.

"You mean I can't play with it? What good is a toy if I can't play with it?" Jack complained.

"Well, no, it isn't meant to be played with, but it is pretty to look at. And it will help decorate your room nicely." Randall pointed out to his son.

Jack grumbled a bit while trying not to raise a tantrum. He knew very well he'd be receiving REAL TOYS by the weekend. He didn't want to jeopardize his weekend haul for this measly thing. And besides, he could still have fun tearing this dragon apart, and simply tell his parents it fell or something. 'Yeah, that will show them I am not going to be denied my playtime!'

"Alright, I'll hang it up in my room. Can I go now?"

"Do you want me to help you son?"

"No, I want to try to do this on my own dad."

Randall simply nodded while Kate moved close to her husband and whispered, "Do you think that's such a good idea?"

Randall smiled. "He'll be just fine dear."

Kate gritted her teeth. "It's what he might do to his room I'm worried about."

Well, let us see what Jack Paper is up to in his room. Ah yes, the boy took a closer look at his present and saw the note that contained the warning.

"So, you're supposed to be indestructible huh?" Jack said with an evil grin.

He tore the note off the dragon and then began playing with it. At first he swung the dragon by its strings letting it sail around his room, and Jack had to admit it looked pretty neat. This only lasted for a minute or two because Jack quickly became bored. He decided to actually tie his new present to the ceiling just as he had promised. That should have been the end of that, but Jack soon took out a baseball bat. He then tied a piece of cloth around his head so his eyes were covered, and then swung his bat. He missed his target, he swung again, and again he missed. The third time he swung and he finally made contact, but not with the dragon. Instead, he had struck his table lamp by his bed, and of course, it made a loud crash. 'Great! I shouldn't have used this stupid blindfold' Jack chastised himself.

"What's going on up there?" Jack's mother called out.

Jack took off the blindfold, and then took his anger and frustration out on the dragon. "This is all your fault." He struck the dragon with a mighty blow from his bat, and the paper dragon easily crumpled. Pieces fell to the floor while outside Jack's room he could hear both of his parents quickly approaching. He hid the bat and his parents entered his room.

"AHHH! Look at this mess! What have you been up to young man!"

"Nothing mom, I just fell when I hung that dragon and that caused my lamp to break."

Randall looked at the remains of the dragon and then where the lamp had been. "How could you damage both? They're too far apart."

Kate shook her head. "He's our son, if there is a way to break something he'll find a way." Kate replied, but then noticed a slight smile on her son's face. "You're grounded until your party this weekend. You're to come straight home from school, no television, no videogames, and no internet. Your computer will only be used to finish your schoolwork. Do I make myself clear?"

Jack did the only thing an eleven year old boy could do at that moment; he pleaded with his dad. "This whole thing was an accident, honest dad."

Randall wanted to believe his son, but he knew that he had to present a united front along side his wife. "Sorry son, but I have to side with your mother on this one. Now go to bed."

"But I still have an hour before bedtime." Jack whined.

"You are grounded, and that means right now." Randall replied firmly to his son.

"And clean up this mess, you can work on the piñata while I take care of what's left of your lamp. I don't want you cutting yourself on those sharp pieces."

"Yes mom."

"It's not a piñata!" Randall complained.

Kate snorted. "Well it sure falls apart like one dear, and I suggest you try to get your money back from who ever sold it to you."

'Hey, that's not a bad idea. That crazy old guy guaranteed this thing, and at triple the price. That will make quite a tidy sum of money' Randall thought to himself. He simply smiled at his wife and nodded.

"Does that mean you'll go get a refund then?" Kate pressed.

"Oh, yeah, I'll get my money back dear."

Jack finished picking up the last of the debris. "So much for being indestructible."

"What did you say?" Jack's mother asked.

"Uh, that I'm finished cleaning up," Jack muttered, and then quickly added, "Can I go to bed now mom?"

"I suppose, I'm finished here as well."

Jack's mother left his room and he prepared for bed. Now, this is where the story becomes a bit more interesting. Just about the time Jack fell asleep a strange thing happened. One moment Jack was safe in his room sleeping in his bed, and the next moment he felt like he was falling. This caused him to bolt up wide awake; he could hear a girl screaming and she sounded like she was right next to him. Eventually he landed on a beach, and it seemed to be daylight all about. 'Something's not right, why am I on a beach? Why is it daylight? And who is that screaming?' Jack thought to himself. Soon Jack was wide awake, and with that the screaming vanished mysteriously.

"MOM? DAD? Uhhgh…why is my voice so sore?" Jack asked the thin air. 'And why does it sound so different?'

"Hello there young one!"

Jack looked up to find the source of the voice calling to him, and was shocked by what he saw. It was his dragon, 'that can't be! I destroyed it, and it wasn't alive!' Jack didn't have time to ponder this because this particular dragon was flying down toward him, and was doing so at an alarming rate. The boy turned and ran as quickly as he could, but soon tripped over his pajama bottoms; He fell face first into the soft sand. A short time after that, the dragon plopped down in the ocean surf right next to Jack. This caused a fairly large wave to crash on top of the boy who began to scream.

"Oh, don't be frightened little girl. I'm not going to hurt you."

Jack stopped screaming and turned to face the dragon. "What did you call me?"

"A little girl because that is what you are little Jackie Paper, and I am Puff the Magic Dragon!" Roared Puff.

Jack soon lost all fear and it seemed to have been replaced by some sort of insanity. He was actually talking to A DRAGON, and he was talking back.

"No, no, no! Your not real, none of this is real, it can't be. 'Puff the Magic Dragon' is some stupid made up song, and by the way, that Jackie Paper was a boy, not a girl you overgrown lizard."

"Well then, you might need to look in a mirror." Puff answered, and then he waved the tip of his tail which produced a full length mirror right next to Jack. "Take a good look at yourself and tell me what you see."

Jack did just that and saw a pretty girl looking back (Actually a pretty girl who was drenched with salt water). Jack's normal brown hair was now long blonde and curly; he grabbed some long strands of his wet hair and saw that it was indeed his hair. He looked further down and noticed what appeared to be small breasts that felt like they were pushing out from his chest, they didn't seem like they were growing but it sure felt like they were. Jack quickly looked down at the rest of his body with a desperate fear sinking into the pit of his stomach; finally he couldn't take it any longer and screamed like the girl he appeared to be.

"No! It's a trick! I AM NOT A GIRL!"

Puff lived up to his name and puffed out some smoke while laughing. "You probably think I did this with smoke and mirrors! Get it? SMOKE AND MIRRORS? It's a joke son…uh…I mean girlie girl!"

Jack stomped her foot and pointed her finger at the dragon. "This is nothing but a stupid dream, and you will be gone when I wake up!"

"You're right, this is a dream, but when you wake up I will be hanging from your ceiling. By the time you wake up, you will find you will no longer be the boy you once were, but the girl you now see in that mirror. Slowly, gradually, your body will change its shape. Your real body is changing its shape right now while you're dreaming talking to great, big, wonderful me," Puff said while casually making smoke rings, "Eventually, you will become Jackie Paper, a girl that will be sugar and spice and everything nice." Puff lectured.

"Not listening to you. I will never be some stupid GIRL! Sugar and spice? Uhg! That's about as lame as your song!"

"Leave my song alone, it remains a timeless classic for music lovers everywhere!" Puff snorted.

"Yeah, if you happen to be in pre-school!"

"That does it! Time for you to wake up young lady!"

"Hey, how come you sound like my mom all of a sudden?" Jack asked Puff.

"Jackie dear, time to wake up!" Puff replied only now his face morphed in the face of Jack's mother.

Everything started to fade away just then, and soon it felt like the dream had finally ended. Jack (now Jackie) opened up her eyes to find herself in bed. Her mother was sitting next to her. She also noticed her bed had satin sheets and there were huge stuffed animals strewn all about her bed. In fact she had been clinging to a very soft and cuddly unicorn. 'No! This can't be happening to me.' Jackie thought to herself.

"Hey sleepy head, you're going to miss your party." Kate said softly while running her fingers through her daughter's long golden hair.

Jackie was confused. "But the party is Saturday mom."

"And that's today sweetie. That must have been some dream you had."

"Yeah, I guess it was." Jackie responded numbly.

"Well come down to breakfast and then we'll prepare for your guests, by the way, is your boyfriend David showing up today?"

Jackie's heart started skipping a beat or two at the mention of David, 'what's happening to me? David's my friend, but I am not…he's not my…BOYFRIEND?' This was going to be a rather long day for Jackie.

"Mom! You're not going to be embarrassing me in front of him are you?" Jackie said in disbelief.

"Just a few pictures of the two of you I promise." Kate said smiling at her blushing daughter. "My baby girl is growing up so fast."

Jackie's face blushed an even deeper red. "MOTHER! PLEASE!"

Jackie's mother giggled. "Alright, I know, you're not a little girl."

Jackie blinked with astonishment. "I'm not?"

"Of course not silly, you're a young lady, and don't you ever forget that my sweet little angel."

'How can I forget? All I have to do is look in a mirror mom!' Jackie thought, but instead told her mother, "I love you mom."

This prompted a hug session that lasted several minutes, and strangely enough, Jackie didn't seem to mind all that much. 'My mind has become contaminated, it thinks GIRL THOUGHTS! No! I don't want to disappear!' thought Jackie as she continued to hug her mother.

Soon Jackie was by herself in her room which now looked like a girl's bedroom in every respect. It was extremely clean and her doll collection seemed to be in excellent condition. She had a sinking feeling she wouldn't be destroying anything ever again, or causing anymore colossal messes. She went over her new dresser that had a vanity mirror, and Jackie noted that she looked exactly like she did on that beach (except she was now dry and that she had on a nightie instead of pajamas). She noticed, with a tinge of pride, that her body could not be mistaken for that of a boy. She had curves, not much there, but she knew that someday soon she'd be driving the boys crazy. She twirled around and giggled, 'I bet I could make David really jealous if some other boy looked at me.'

"Oh no, I'm doing it again. This is just too confusing." Jackie said out loud.

It was at this point she noticed Puff hanging from her ceiling, just as he predicted. Somewhere in the back of her mind she felt she wanted to do something, but what? It was so pretty, and she knew at that moment that it would remain a family heirloom.

"I shall give you to my first born when he or she is ready for the responsibility." Jackie told the dragon, and with that she took off to get ready for her party. The dragon, now alone in the room smiled and said, "That's my girl."

In the years that followed Puff always managed to stay looking just like he did the first day he entered Jackie Paper's life. And Jackie, well, she never completely forgot what it was like to be a boy. Why, every now and then she'd see a small boy causing mischief and she secretly smiled to herself. It is said that a dragon lives forever, but not so for little boys. Well, Puff continued to create many joyous memories for Jackie Paper, even throughout her adulthood. And when she had children of her own, Puff continued to create joy for them as well. And sometimes, that rascal Puff would change an unruly child or two. Strangely enough, the unruly ones always happened to be boys, but then, it seems like it's always easier to raise girls than it is to raise boys. So my advice to young ones who do not behave is; be careful with your toys, mind your manors, and respect your parents, and always, ALWAYS, read and follow directions from anything that has come from "Spells R Us."

The end.

  

  

  

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