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A long time ago, near a village called Buttery Glen, there lived a dragon. He was the color of midnight, a dark, dark black. He was huge and covered in sharp, pointy scales. The fire he breathed could light up the night sky.

He lived in a nest high above the village in an old, dead tree that was on a high mountain.

Everyone in Buttery Glen was scared of the dragon...everyone but one precocious girl.

Willow wanted to be known as BRAVE or STRONG. She was a fighter, and never gave up!

Sure, the dragon breathed fire. But there were people with worse breath (Dillon McGillycody). And sure, the Dragon looked scary. But there were dogs in the village with scarier faces (including her dog's!).

One day, the dragon had come down from his nest and was hiding in the cornfields for a while.

When he came out, everyone ran to escape the dragon. Everyone except for Willow.

Armed with her homemade sword, helmet and shield, Willow ran through the deserted village toward the cornfield.

When she spotted the dragon, Willow snuck up behind him.

“Excuse me!” Willow yelled. The dragon roared. He lowered his head to her level. Willow felt the dragon’s hot breath on her face. She kept going.

“I’m Willow,” she said. “I’ve come to tell you to go away. You’re scaring everybody. Including my dog!"

The dragon’s breaths quickened. Huff! Huff! Huff! It looked like the dragon’s fire was about to blow! Willow braced herself. But instead of fire coming out his mouth, tears began pouring down the dragon’s snout.

“I’m so lonely. Nobody likes me,” the dragon cried. "I needed a friend. WAHHH!"

“Why should anyone like you?” Willow replied. “You burned down the church!"

“I didn’t burn down the church,” the dragon said. “It was struck by lightning during the storm that I supposedly caused. I would never do that.”

“Wow,” Willow said. “Sounds like you’re the victim of a smear campaign. We’ve got to fix this. What are you good at?”

“Breathing fire,” replied the dragon.

“Well, let’s see it,” ordered Willow.