The Hunter, The Dragon And The Smokey Mountain Angel

Andrew dressed for work, as Julia put on her baseball cap and oversized sunglasses and then the two headed for the SUV. As they drove, Julia faintly heard the melody of an old song she hadn’t listened to in a long time but its name remained just outside her memory.

“What is that song,” Julia asked?

Andrew looked at her for a long moment and then he cocked his head as if straining to hear something. He said, “I don’t hear anything.”

Julia shook her head and then said, “That was weird. The music just stopped.”

After a few minutes, she started humming the song she had heard but she was still unable to recall the words. Andrew stared at her with a strange look in his eyes but said nothing.

Seconds later, she dropped him off at the front door. Then she parked behind the Waffle House and started walking towards the front door. She heard Andrew say, “Hey good–looking.”

Julia turned around and saw Andrew waving at her from the back door. She smiled and said, “You’re not so bad looking yourself.”

Andrew gave her a quick smile then said, “We just had a rush. I’ll let you in through here. I saved you the booth next to the office. Face away from the front door and I don’t think anyone will notice you.” Then he turned and headed inside.

God I want to kiss her, Andrew said.

“Then why don’t you just kiss me,” Julia asked?

Andrew stopped in mid stride and said, “That was no coincidence. First, you are humming the song that I was thinking about on the way down here from your house and now…”

Julia’s lips drew down into a frown and she said, “What song? What are you talking about? If you want to kiss me then kiss me. I would like to be kissed. I have a lot to tell you.”

“How do you know I want to kiss you?”

Julia pursed her lips, “Now you don’t want to kiss me?”

“No, I want to kiss you,” He stopped, wrapped his arms around her and gave her long kiss. Julia felt lost in his arms. She saw images of them living together, making love and having children. The thoughts surprised her. Her feelings for him were deepening, but she had been too busy to consider their life together beyond the present love they felt for one another.

Andrew released her and said,

Can you fly me to the moon?

Julia laughed, “I can’t fly to the moon. It gets very cold and there is no air.”

“You’re reading my thoughts!” Andrew said. “How long have you been doing that?”

“What are you talking about?”

Then she heard Andrew say,

Blue waters run deep, but his lips didn’t move. Julia held her breath; the sound had come from within her head. She realized that it was a very different sound, she could feel his words, and in the back of her mind, she saw blue water.

She knew what had happened. It was the dragon tea. She said, “I have a lot to tell you. I think I just gained a new ability.”

She felt her insides rumbling, only now the feeling was much smoother, controlled. She felt Light Reader’s presence and then he said,

True love bonds you two. It is much easier to hear the thoughts and sense the feelings of those you love but you will find that, with practice, you can touch the minds of many people.

I was going to tell him about us. Julia said, feeling as if she was seeking her father’s approval for a date.

I know and don’t worry. This child’s feelings for you are strong. It is not good to be alone, especially one so young. But be warned, the dangers you will be facing from now on are far greater than what you endured when you were a soldier. Because of that, the ones you love will always be in danger too.

Julia had always felt alone. Since her parents died, and then staying in the relationship with Rand for so long, she had gotten use to feeling alone. Her son was the only human connection she had known. She wondered if this was what being jaded felt like.

Andrew said, “You just zoned out, are you okay?”

Julia smiled then kissed him again, “Take me to my booth lover boy.”

Betty called, “Andrew we need you on the grill!”

Andrew gave her a long look, smiled and pointed to the booth. He said to her in thought,

You know where to sit baby. I’ll join you after this pop is over.

Julia laughed and said, “Don’t get cocky.”

“Who me!” He said aloud to Julia but Betty responded.

“Yes you dumb ass; who else?” Betty snapped.

A moment later, Julia walked into the restaurant and quickly sat in the booth.

Andrew put his apron on and started cooking but his thoughts weren’t on the food. Betty walked to Julia and said, “Well high there Julia. I had a great time last night… It all makes since now. I wondered what was tak–en him so long to get started this morning but now he’s all happy– flippen burgers and singing.”

Julia glanced over her shoulders. The restaurant was full of people and most were talking to each other but a few were staring at her. Some were whispering to one another. She turned back to Betty and put her finger to her closed lips and said, “Betty, let’s keep my presence here to ourselves.”

Betty turned a little red and quickly nodded. She said, “I’m sorry Jul– I mean miss.” She nervously glanced back at the customers, then back down at Julia, and said in a whisper, “You want the usual?”

Julia smiled and said, “Thanks hun, and yes, the usual.”

Julia closed her eyes and listened with her mind. There was a lot of noise and it was hard to separate the sounds from the thoughts. She could hear voices, people speaking naturally and she could see images. Most of the images she saw were from Andrew. His mind kept thinking in circles. First, it was the kiss they had just shared and then stake, omelet and burgers– kiss–stake–kiss. But she also saw the minds of others who were thinking about her too.

Several people were watching videos of her on smartphones. The last time she had been spotted was at the car dealership but the sales man wouldn’t tell them what car she had purchased, “Professional Courtesy.”

Through their minds, she could see the picture he had taken of her. She was hovering feet above the ground next to the dealership sign, waving at the camera like a kid. She remembered being so happy in that moment, thinking that she was about to drive up to the Mining Office and demand the job she deserved now that she had reliable transportation. But the whole thing had been a sham...

Did those women and Jason know who I was or were we all being played?

She wanted to find the entrance to that cave and tell the Air Force to give her her life back. But at the same time, she realized that they were protecting Light Reader.

Do they know about the connection between him and I?

Julia looked behind her and saw a man standing next to the door, along with several others waiting to be seated, pointing a smartphone at her. When he noticed her looking at her, he turned his head away, as if he had been simply looking around at nothing interesting but she saw that his phone was pointed at her.

“Just the way you like it.” Betty said as she sat a plate down filled with the largest omelet she had ever seen. It was at least a 6–egg omelet, stuffed with everything on the menu.

Julia glanced at Andrew. She could feel the love he had put in it. He had thought of her as he was cooking. Each bite she took held an imprint. She saw herself woven in every taste. The sliced tomatoes had reminded him of her lips, from the mushrooms she saw images of her curved hips. It was like making love to him all over again. She moaned as she chewed and swallowed lost in the ecstasy of his creation.

“That good hua,” Betty said as she set a cup of coffee down next to her water.

Julia looked up, mouth full and smiled. She nodded then washed it down with the water. She saw Betty glance toward the door as a large group of people started to leave. Julia looked over her shoulder. The man that had been recording her with his smartphone had taken one of the bar seats. He seemed to be engaged in conversation with the man sitting next to him but she noticed that his smart phone remained pointed at her.

She couldn’t see what his intentions were. She wished she could read everyone’s thoughts and emotions as clear as she could read Andrew. There were still a lot of people talking about her, showing different pictures, and reading articles that it felt impossible to single out any one person’s thoughts.

Andrew put down is apron, hopped over the knee–wall divider and sat in the booth with her. Julia turned towards him and smiled. She said, “That was the most amazing omelet I have ever eaten.”

Andrew spoke without opening his mouth,

Am I having some kind of acid flashback? Blink three times if you can hear what I’m thinking.

Julia blinked three times. Andrew’s body shook for a second and she could feel the creepy feeling he was having. She slid her hand across the table and he took it. She said, “You on break or something?”

“No,” he said aloud then spoke the rest in his mind,

Everyone’s eating waffles and drinking coffee right now. Betty can handle it for a few minutes.

Julia nodded, she wished Andrew could read her thoughts, then she took the wish back...

I wish I knew what you were thinking, Andrew said in his mind.

Julia pursed her lips and looked away. She whispered, “I now know how it is I can fly and I want you to know how I can read your thoughts.”

She saw Andrew’s mind open like a flower and all his attention narrowed to what she was saying.

She said, “There is a dragon under the mountain.”

Andrew’s memory went to Smog the Terrible. He said, “Shit! J.R.R. Tolkien’s dragon is living under our mountain.”

“Not that kind of dragon,” she said in response to the image he was seeing but then said, “Actually, yes that kind of looking dragon but Smog is a primitive compared to the mind I’m connected with. This dragon once programmed computers so advanced they were alive. He is the one who directed the people to give me the foam that let me fly and last night I met him.”

Andrew didn’t believe anything she was saying. He envisioned a dragon eating her then breathing fire.

“Stop thinking of him as some barbarian, man eating beast. He has one of the most intelligent minds I have ever met. And he is going to help me and my son.”

Andrew thought that the dragon might have simply eaten her son but then said, “I’m sorry Julia. I didn’t mean to think that.”

Julia started to get upset at the idea of her son being eaten by anyone, much less this one being she was placing so much trust in. But Andrew’s thoughts were his own and it was because of stray thoughts, just as the ones he had been showing her that she didn’t want him or anyone else to be able to read her mind.

She took a deep breath, and nodded. She said, “It’s okay, it’s not fair that I can read every thought before you have a chance to choose which ones you want to share.”

That’s very enlightened of you, Andrew thought even as he resented not being able to read her mind.

So, what is a dragon doing alive in– reality. I mean, you’re acting like this is normal. Oh, yea by the way, there’s a dragon living in the mountain up the street.

Julia shook her head and Andrew could feel her stress. She said, “I just want to find my son. Until the foam gave my body a lift, my day revolved around planning on how I was going to sit on the toilet. I was in so much pain the drugs they had me on turned my mind into jelly. Hell, maybe all this is just a dream and I’m lying in a hospital bed screaming uncontrollably.”

Andrew leaned over the table and kissed her on the lips, then he imagined slapping her across the face hard and Julia leaned back.

Andrew laughed and said, “I wasn’t going to do it.”

Julia leaned forward and said, “Do it. I’ve been hit by tougher men then you.”

The images from Andrew’s mind turned red though his face looked the same. She felt his heart wilt at her words and she quickly reached out her other hand and touched his.

His mind returned to her but all the warm feelings he had been sharing with her were gone. He thought,

I know you went through a lot in the war and I know that I’m not a soldier but you might be surprised what strength love can bring.

Julia squeezed his hand and said, “I’m sorry.”

Andrew released his hurt feelings and thought,

I am thinking. I have my own dreams. If you’re in a bed screaming and this is your dream, and I’m only a creation of your subconscious, then you must be some kind of god. No, I don’t have to slap you for you to believe that this moment is real. You’ve been through so much that you want this to be real but the fact is that you really can read my mind. But how do you know you can trust this dragon?

Julia felt Light Reader’s presence and then Andrew’s eyes glazed over. She saw his thoughts change from the narrow vision of logic to that of flying over a river. He was seeing a memory from Light Reader. The dragon landed in a clearing in the woods and two little dragons galloped toward him, leapt into the air, flap their small wings and crashed into his chest. Two powerful arms with claws rounded and polished held both dragonets close and the great beast purred. They both felt a great sadness as the memory shifted. Andrew watched the destruction of the civilization Light Reader had known for thousands of years and along with it all the hopes and dreams that he had held for his children...

Then a new image came to their minds. Julia’s son sat in a room with his father playing video games. Julia started crying and the vision passed.

Light Reader said,

I would save every mother and father the pain I suffered, if I could.

Then his presence receded from their minds and Andrew seemed to awake from a dream. He opened his eyes; the image of her son lying on a bed playing a videogame was still in his mind. He thought,

Did I just see another world?

“I believe so.”

Andrew sat very still but Julia could feel his sense of shock. Moments later he said, I thought dragons were just over sized snakes with wings that ate everything and burned down villages.

Julia said, “This dragon doesn’t even eat. He takes,” she thought of how Light Reader showed it to her, “energy from water and the sun. It has something to do with that big tree.”

Andrew’s eyes widened and he said,

You mean that huge one growing on top of the mountain.

“Yes.”

“Andrew I have a stake and hash browns I need you to cook.” Betty said.

Julia squeezed his hand and said, “Do you trust him?”

He didn’t need to read her mind to know she was talking about her son; and there was more.

I think we should trust him, but why, I don’t know. We need to know more about what’s going on.

“Andrew!” Betty said loudly.

Andrew squeezed Julia’s hand and said, “It’s going to be alright.”

Julia squeezed his hand back. She said, “Call me when your shift’s over.”

Andrew released her hand, hopped over the side of the booth and put his apron back on. Julia saw an image from his mind of them kissing and he thought,

I will baby.

Julia’s heart filled with the hope of seeing her son again. Her mind went over and over the image Light Rider had given them of him and his family and her son playing video games as she finished eating. Then she stood up and Andrew looked at her. He smiled and thought.

You are one stunning woman.

Julia blushed, not long ago, she had also lost hope of ever meeting someone who would even consider a relationship with her while she had been so broken, but Andrew had been there for her since the moment he had seen her...

She started to leave through the front door and saw the same man sitting at the counter staring at her, smartphone in hand pointed at her.

She turned around.

The man spoke loudly, “Hey Smokey Mountain Angel.”

Julia kept walking.

“Julia!” The man called out and Julia turned back toward him. The restaurant suddenly went silent and he said, “Which mountain is the dragon hiding in?”

Julia glanced at the room full of faces. All of their eyes focused on her face. Then some were looking down at their smartphones, at pictures of her and then back up at her. Then as if someone had yelled fire, the whole group stood up at once.

“Julia, will you sign my napkin?”

“Julia! You are so beautiful!”

“Julia!”

“Julia!”

The rush of people bumping up against each other slowed them all down. She stepped through the rear door, exited through the service entrance and jumped in her SUV.

Her engine roared and she pulled the shifter into reverse. As she backed up people began stumbling out of the Waffle House front door. She pushed the shifter in to drive, floored the accelerator and sped past the mob before they could block her escape.