SKYBLUE’S NEW LIFE — The weight of treasures

On their expeditions, the dragons traveled quickly, alert to the gleam of a stone and scarcely noticing the landscape. They took gnomes with them, for gnomes could sniff out treasures hidden in mines where anyone else would have seen nothing but earth.

When dragons found something valuable, they put it in their satchels and would not let go of it for anything. Even when their loads were so heavy they could barely take flight, they refused all help: someone might take advantage of a moment’s inattention and make off with the find. Over the years, many dragons developed backaches, but it never occurred to them to put their treasures down.

They paid the gnomes well. If the gnomes helped them find something exceptional, they rewarded them even more generously and set off home. The gnomes went ahead to spread word of the great discovery. Soon, curious onlookers gathered at the entrance to the lucky dragon’s home.

The dragon would then display the new acquisition with a show of modesty. Everyone knew how much the dragon had longed for that moment. Out of politeness, they pretended not to.

When they were not traveling, the dragons washed, polished, and rearranged their treasures. The most valuable pieces had to be visible to anyone passing the tree. Then they lay down on the heap for a nap, with one eye shut and the other watching for looks of admiration.

They did not usually fight one another to establish their importance. They compared possessions, and if they could not agree, they asked the authorities to decide who had the rarest stone, the purest diamond, or the heaviest and finest gold. They held so many competitions that Skyblue could not keep track of them. They spent months preparing their collections, won a prize, and began thinking about the next one.

In time, Skyblue began to suspect that complaining about how hard they worked also made them feel important.