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A long time ago, near a village called Corn Village, there lived a dragon. He was the color of midnight. 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.

Everyone in Corn Village was scared of the dragon...everyone but one precocious girl.

Waverly wanted to be a knight. She was strong and brave and unafraid.

Sure, the dragon breathed fire. But there were people in Corn Village with worse breath. And sure, the dragon looked scary. But there were dogs in Corn Village with scarier faces.

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

Everyone ran to escape the dragon. Everyone except for Waverly.

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

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

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

“I’m Waverly,” she said. “I’ve come to tell you to stop scaring everyone. It's very mean."

The dragon’s breaths quickened. Huff! Huff! Huff! It looked like the dragon’s fire was about to blow! Waverly 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 said.

“Why should anyone like you?” Waverly replied. “You burned down the castle.”

“I didn’t burn down the castle,” the dragon said. “It was struck by lightning. I would never do that.”

“Wow,” Waverly 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,” said Waverly, crossing her arms.

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