Thud-a-thump, thud-a-thump, my feet beat the ground, as I raced along the rocky lane behind the old white-washed barn. The crisp autumn air stung my wind-burned cheeks. I turned abruptly into a field of chopped down cornstalks and treaded along the furrowed earth. As I zigzagged around the stubby corn stalks, I kicked up a sharp, oblong pebble. It worked its way into my high top sneaker and jabbed the arch of my foot. My left foot seared with pain. 

“Ouch!” I screeched and blinked back tears while I stopped to remove my shoe.

Clouds of condensation puffed out of my mouth into the nippy air. I inhaled deeply and smelled the tangy alfalfa ready for harvest in the adjacent field. 

I replaced my empty shoe and began to sprint faster. I unraveled a foot of kite string from the spool. My nylon windbreaker rustled as my arms swished against my sides. 

My cellophane dragon kite was lifted into the air. I released a few more inches of string. Two billowing clouds sped by swiftly in the ocean blue sky. My dragon kite’s tail whirred and vibrated, flapping viciously in the gusty wind.

The web of my hand burned as the kite’s cord chafed between my thumb and index finger. Holding firmly onto the string, I released a few feet at a time. My dragon kite was lifted up, up, up. It billowed high above the earth.

As the wind shifted eastward, my kite made a diving swoop. I quickly trotted backwards and regained control. My eyes watered as the easterly wind carried a repulsive stench of cow manure.

I reeled out the last foot of kite string. A bumble bee yellow bi-plane puttered by, dipping and waving at my majestic dragon kite.

A peaceful breeze replaced the gusty wind and kept my kite afloat near some misty clouds.

I squeezed my eyes shut and imagined soaring above the clouds with my dragon kite.

Serenity was stolen by the shrill, “Caw, Caw” of a crow. A startled field mouse scampered over my feet. My heart stopped instantaneously while goose bumps climbed up my spine and speckled my arms. I screeched hysterically.

The white thread slipped from my sweaty grip, and my kite took a 90-degree nose dive down to the stony ground. I carefully untangled the twisted string from the severed corn stalks. I wound the cord around the spool and worked my way across the bumpy cornfield to the crash site.

The lavender and turquoise streamers that formed the dragon’s wispy tail were unharmed. The dragon’s shimmering scales were in tact and its golden face smiled up at me. The dragon opened its mouth and released a slothful hiss. Then it crooned a pleasant song:

“Hop on my back, my dear precious child.
We will fly to the sky so free and so wild.
We will float in the clouds and touch a rainbow
We will soar with the planes and chat with the crows
Don’t be afraid, you’ll have plenty of fun
I will bring you back home to sleep like the sun.”

My heart raced, thud-a-thump, thud-a-thump. I hesitated. But only for a moment. I swung one leg over my dragon kite’s shimmering back. Chills dotted my spine. My mouth was dry. The golden head of my dragon kite bobbed this way and that. It’s tail waved and flickered fiercely. A strong gust of wind raised my dragon kite into the crisp blue sky. The cold wind stung my cheeks. A drop of rain smacked my forehead and ran down my nose. I wiped it off with the sleeve of my nylon windbreaker. A magnificent prism of colors appeared in the distance. 

My dragon kite plummeted toward the colors. I stretched out my arm. My finger brushed against the brilliant arch. My dragon hovered in mid air as I felt the friendly warmth of the rainbow’s red. The orange tickled my fingers with its bumpy texture. Yellow nipped the tips of my fingers, and they tingled as I moved them further down the rainbow. The green was tender like a meadow of soft, thick grass. Blue felt wet and cool. Indigo was silky and exotic. My favorite touch was the last. Violet was soft and velvety like the petal of a posy.

My dragon kite chuckled and did a nose dive toward a big puffy cloud. I squealed with delight and shook with laughter. We became two acrobats in the wide open sky. I held onto my dragon’s neck as it twirled and flipped and looped through the air. 

The shiny yellow bi-plane I spotted earlier joined in for a private air show. It’s engine roared as it did whirly twirls around me and my dragon kite. It dove to the earth and sped back to the sky. It looped through the clouds and spit out colorful smoke. 

We disembarked on a cloud to watch. A flock of Canadian geese joined us. 

“Honk, honk, honk…” the geese conversed amongst themselves.

My dragon kite seemed to know their language, “Honk, honk, honk.” It mimicked the geese.

The geese replied in harmony, “Honk, honk, honk.”

“The geese say they are flying South,” my dragon kite translated, “The air is crisp and cold. The geese predict a terrible winter is imminent.”

The flock flew away in a V-formation as my dragon kite and I watched the sun set behind the horizon.

“It is time to go home,” said my dragon. “It has been a long, action filled day.”

Disappointed, I jumped aboard my dragon kite’s sparkling back. My dragon’s tail flapped and whirred in the wind. We glided gently through the chilly autumn air until my dragon kite landed softly in the field of chopped down cornstalks.

I wrapped the kite string tightly around the spool. I carefully scooped up my dragon for the trek back home. 

“Thank you, friend, for an unforgettable day,” I smiled at my dragon kite.

My dragon seemed to smile and nod its golden head at me.

As I daydreamed about the day’s events, I picked a few wild onions that grew beside the ruddy path. I took a small nibble. They tasted strong and bitter so I chucked them over the barbed wire fence into the pasture field. A nosy Holstein sniffed them curiously. 

I spotted a velvety meadow next to the pasture field. The last bit of sun peeked above the towering oak trees that were ornamented in orange autumn foliage.

On the next breezy day, I resolved, my dragon kite and I would soar above the great oak trees. Perhaps we would converse with an eagle, nap on a cloud, and fly to the moon.