Little dragon I, Di's little brother, listened carefully as his sister told him about her new friend, fair-haired Arthur, his welcoming grandmother, and the tasty berries that grow in their garden.
One early morning he slipped out of the dragons' palace-home in the magical land and flew off to where Di had met her new friends.
He flew and flew, and then he saw a garden, a grandmother, and a boy. Only this boy wasn't fair-haired. He was dark-haired and somehow small.
Little dragon I swooped down carefully, hid among the blackcurrant bushes, and sat very, very quietly. He listened.
Aidy, Aidy, where are you hiding? — called Grandma. — I've lost you! What a little wiggle-worm! He was right beside me just a second ago, and now he's gone…
“I clearly remember that the boy is called Arthur, but this is a different boy,” thought the dragon I.
Aidy, where are you? Are you letting the bunnies out of their cage?
Grandma walked over to the rabbit hutches and spoke loudly:
Our brave boy Aidy,
Grabbed a bunny by its tail
From the cage of the old bunny…
Come on, bunny, hop right here!
Don't you be scared of me, dear!
I want to play with you today,
Out in the garden you can play.
Run off without a look behind,
Let's play hide-and-seek, you'll find!
Little dragon I quietly flew after Grandma.
Ah, there you are, little hamster! Hiding? Running away from Grandma? — the woman found her grandson and went on with her poem:
Our Aidy is a hamster,
He never stops his chewing.
When he comes home from school,
Oh, how he munches, munches, munches.
He loves his bacon and his meat,
He'd never turn down pineapple sweet,
He gulps his juice down by the cup,
Gobbling like a hippo, gulp by gulp.
When he grows up, he'll understand
That food needs a plan at hand.
He eats a little, then zooms off fast
To the gym, to burn off calories at last.
Did you even rinse that carrot? You picked it and popped it straight in your mouth? I thought you'd let the bunnies out again.
Nope, — answered the boy, chewing on his carrot.
“Who am I supposed to meet now?” thought little dragon I.
Let's go pick blackcurrants. Mom will be home soon, and we still haven't filled the buckets. What is she going to make out of them? Fruit leather?
The boy, still chewing his carrot, silently followed Grandma.
The dragon couldn't hold back. He wanted berries so badly that he flew up to Aidy.
Dragonfly! Dragonfly! — shouted Aidy.
Grandma looked over, smiled, and replied:
Why, that's our friend the little dragon, Arthur's new buddy. Did you come to visit, Di?
I'm Di's little brother. My name is little dragon I.
The little boy stood there, munching his carrot and blinking. He must have been very surprised.
Did you get lost too? Did you wander away from your family? — asked Grandma.
No, — the dragon said shyly, — I flew here because I also want to find a friend and try some berries.
From embarrassment, the dragon's bright purple skin turned pink.
Don't be shy, go ahead and eat the berries. We don't mind at all. We have a big blackcurrant harvest this year. What a handsome dragon you are, little I!
When we get nervous, or scared, or upset, we change our skin colour, — I explained, stuffing an entire cluster of red currants into my mouth.
Don't worry, and eat them one at a time. You shouldn't eat the stems, they don't taste good. It's a shame you wanted to make friends with Arthur, because he isn't here today. And this is Aidy, he's still little. Come back in two days, Arthur will be staying with us, — said Grandma kindly.
Little dragon I enjoyed the berries, said goodbye to his new friends, and flew away.
“I just hope I don't let slip to Grandpa, or he'll think the old lady has lost her marbles: meeting dragons and feeding them berries, — thought Grandma.
Where did the dragonfly go? — asked Aidy, finishing his carrot.
It wasn't a dragonfly, it was little dragon I, — Grandma answered quietly, and began picking the red currants.
