Gold Medal Dreams

08/02/2012 by SAM | 35 Comments

I collaborated with Carrie, from The Muse Unleashed (formerly Views From Nature) on this story. You can find her side of the story  here.

found on deviantart.com

“Look, Olaf!” I shouted, my bare feet pounding the ground as I ran towards his cauldron. I held a basket tight in my arms, my treasure hidden inside.

“What is it?” Olaf asked coarsely. I always seemed to exasperate my brother. Sometimes I think it’s simply because I exist. Setting my emotion aside, I lowered my basket.

“The gods have favored me! Now I too shall have a gold medal hanging from my hearth!” The golden egg within the basket glistened in the sunlight.

Olaf’s face turned scarlet. He clenched his teeth together. “Where did you get that? Have you been raiding my kennel again?” I stepped back startled as I felt the sting of his blow on my cheek.

“Olaf! No! Don’t touch me. I swear I didn’t raid your kennel. I had no need,” I faltered. Was I mistaken? He’d never smacked me before. “I found it outside my stable this morning, where my dragons usually leave their eggs. I swear it!”

“You lie, Ohmsgard! Only a golden dragon could lay such an egg!”

“Oh!” I could feel the steam coming out of my ears.  ”You are so selfish! Ever since your dragon won the gold medal in the fire breathing competition, you think you own all the gold in town!” I towered over him on tiptoe, squelching his advantage in height over me. “It is mine. I found it beside my kennel because it belongs to me. My dragon laid it.”

Olaf laughed. I hated his laugh, especially when he directed at me. He laughed so hard, he bent in half, with tears streaming from his eyes. “Your dragon laid it? Your dragon? Ha ha. Oh, my dear Ohmsgard, your dragon couldn’t even lift a feather off the ground, much less lay a golden egg. Ha ha ha. Pigs will fly before your dragon amounts to anything!” He stretched his hand out, as if to snatch the basket. I cradled it closer.

“It’s mine.” I said, using more force than usual.

“No, you stole it. Give it back!”

“I won’t! It’s mine!”

Olaf pulled on the basket until it broke. The egg dropped through the air in slow motion, as we both tried to catch it. It landed on the ground with a thunk and a crack ran through the middle of it.

“You killed it, Olaf!” I wailed.

“Listen!”  He snapped.

I could hear pecking from inside the shell before it fell open slowly. Out stepped the ugliest baby dragon I’d ever seen.

“Olaf, what is it?” I asked, feeling my eyes grow round as the animal shook itself off. It looked much more like a pig with wings than it did any dragon species known to man.

He snickered. “Well, I’ll be.”

As I walked away defeated, I could hear Olaf still laughing behind me. “Pigs flying after all! Ohmsgard, you’ll definitely win gold with that!”

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This week, those incredibly creative minds behind Write on Edge gave us 3 prompts to choose from. I emailed Carrie, and we decided to work on a story together, following the directions to the 3rd prompt: Synchronized Diving–Partner up with another Write on Edge writer. You each have 450 words to write about a conflict between two characters; each writer should represent a single character’s point of view. Again you can read Carrie’s part here.

I also worked in 3 Word Wednesday this week, which offered the words: emotion, falter, and touch.

I’m always looking for feedback to improve my writing. Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment sharing your thoughts.

Thanks for stopping in!

Wikipedia: Him is the objective form of he. →