by Sarah Matanah
Mo lay on Mama D, warming his chin on her belly. Sometimes a vibration tickled his chin. It might be just Mama D's digestion, or it might be the shifting of the bonfire that he was sure roared inside her belly.
Flo rested her chin beside his. As usual, she had gotten the best spot—nearer to Mama D’s head. If he poked her, or said something about it, Mama D would kick them both out into the rain. If they really annoyed her, she might roast them. That’s what she always said she would do!
Mo didn’t want to get sent outside. It was warm and cozy in the cave. It smelled like Mama D’s fires, smoky and spicy at the same time. A small fire was burning where she had lit it before she went to sleep. Its light danced in small reflections from the jewels and gold piled up on Mama D’s side of the cave. Mo’s eyes rested on one treasure in particular, a thick gold chain necklace with a ruby hanging from it. Mo had been eyeing it ever since Mama D brought the necklace back from her last trip. Mama D had a lot of jewelry, but most of it was too small. That chain would fit over Mo’s head with room to spare. He could just imagine how the ruby would look against his deep orange chest, especially with the firelight sparkling on it.
Mo wished Mama D would let them play with her treasures. They had only broken a few of them. That was when they were a lot younger. Mo kept thinking that she would forget, but she never did.
He turned his head. Flo was looking at the necklace too. She caught his eye and widened her nostrils as if she were breathing fire. She was right. Mama D would roast them if she caught them playing with the necklace. But Mama D was asleep. He looked up at the ledge on the far side of the cave where their griffin mama, Mama G, slept. If she were awake, her eagle eyes would catch any wrong move he made. Right now her head was tucked under a wing. Her lion’s body sprawled on the ledge, completely relaxed.
Mo pulled up his lip at Flo and eased himself over Mama D’s body. He stepped carefully, trying not to slip on any of Mama D’s other treasures. Mama D’s eyes were still closed. They moved a little under the lids. She was dreaming. Good. He pulled the necklace over his head and glanced down at it. It looked even better than he had hoped. He turned so that he could watch the firelight flickering in its facets. Beautiful. Suddenly Flo’s head popped up next to his shoulder. She had crawled across Mama D too.
If you’re going to wear it, then I want a turn too,” she whispered.
"No. I’m not taking it off.”
"You’d better,” Flo told him. “I’m not going to stay quiet if you won’t let me have a turn.”
"Fine. We can both wear it.”
The clasp looked difficult, but it came apart when he stuck a claw in it. Mo held onto the ruby tightly while Flo fastened it again so that it was around both their necks at the same time. She craned her neck to try to see how it looked, bumping her head against Mo’s.
"Mo,” she hissed. “You have to let go of the ruby. I want to see how it hangs.”
Reluctantly, Mo let go of the ruby. It dangled down between him and Flo. She jerked her body, trying to get it to move more to her side. It slid down the chain toward her. Mo tried the same move. It slid back toward him.
“You already had a turn,” Flo whispered angrily. She yanked herself to the side and down. The sudden movement slid the ruby all the way to her side, but it also pulled Mo down on top of her. They crashed down into a pile of gold coins, which clanged and scraped as it became suddenly flatter. The two little dragons froze. When nothing happened, Mo twisted his neck around to try to see past Flo. Neither of the moms had moved. Mo let out a long breath.
“Let’s get this thing off,” Flo said.
It seemed to take forever to find the clasp. Finally Flo pulled it from the back of her neck. She pushed at it with her claw.
“Come on,” said Mo. He twisted to try to see what she was doing. They bumped heads again.
“Stop it,” Flo hissed at him. She poked at it for a while longer. “I can’t do it. Here, you try.”
Mo poked his claw at the clasp the same way he had before. Nothing happened. He tried again and again. It wouldn’t open. Finally he yanked at it in frustration.
“It’s jammed. That’s okay. We’ll just pull it off.”
They both tried to pull it over their heads at the same time and banged heads again.
“You keep it on the skinniest part of your neck, and I’ll wiggle out of it,” Flo whispered. But she only managed to turn herself purple.
Mama D rolled over in her sleep, pushing down a few more piles of treasure. Flo and Mo held their breaths until she was still again.
“Let’s go outside,” Mo said. “Then we can figure out how to get it off, and we won't wake the mamas up.”
“And if they do wake up, they won’t see us and the necklace,” Flo added.
Flo and Mo crept along the cave wall, bumping heads, stepping on each other’s feet, and tripping over each other’s tails. Just as they reached the mouth of the cave, they both tripped at the same time. They fell out the door and into a large puddle. The chain tightened around Mo’s neck.
“Augh, augh,” he choked out, yanking at the necklace. Flo flailed around, knocking him in the head again. The chain loosened. He took a deep breath, holding the chain as far away from his neck as he could. They sat up, holding on to each other so that they could both breathe. Mo looked back into the cave. Mama D was still asleep. He could see Mama G's ribs shaking. He caught a glimpse of a yellow eye peeking out from under a wing. He sat up straighter and moved a wing so that it covered part of the necklace.
“Mama G’s awake,” he whispered to Flo.
“Good,” Flo said. “She can help us get this thing off.”
“No,” Mo said. “She’s already laughing at us. Come on. Maybe if we get a rock and a stick we can make the clasp open.”
They stood up slowly, holding each other with arms and wings, and walked around scanning the ground. They were getting the hang of walking, one leg together and then the other leg together, tails entwined to keep them out of the way. Rocks were easy to find around their cave, and Flo found a pointed bit of stick that looked strong enough.
“Good,” Mo said. “Now we have to lie on something hard with our necks close together. You reach around me and hold the stick and the clasp, and I’ll pound.”
“No, I’ll pound, you hold,” Flo said. “I don’t want you to miss and hit my hands.”
Mo was about to argue with her. He wanted to pound! Then he realized that he didn’t care who did what, as long as they were free and he never had to see the necklace again. “Okay,” he said. “You pound.”
With his head behind Flo’s, Mo couldn’t see what she was doing. Flo gave the stick two light taps, not hard enough to force anything.
“Harder,” Mo said. The next time the rock slammed into his knuckles.
“OUCH!” he said.
“Sorry,” Flo said. “I can’t see it either .”
Mo winced as the rock came down.. This time Flo hit the stick square on, very hard, and the clasp sprang open.
Flo yanked the necklace from around their necks and threw it as far away from them as she could.
Just then Mama G came out of the cave.
“Hi, kids. Oh good, it’s stopped raining. I could see you two having a nice wrestling match in the puddles.”
Flo made a face. Mo wiped some mud off his shoulder.
He went and got the necklace from under a bush.
“We broke this. It was my fault. I’m sorry,” he said.
Mama G made a rasping chuckle deep in her feathered throat. Mo looked at her hopefully. Mama G thought that the dragons’ obsession with treasures was silly, and she was usually nice even when they got themselves into trouble. Maybe she wouldn’t think that trying on the necklace was such a big deal.
“I was going to fix that anyway,” she said. “It’s almost big enough to fit around Mama D’s neck, but not quite. She thinks the red would look very good against a deep green hide. Making it longer would be a good present for her. Go inside and see if we have any chain that matches this one. Tell Mama D I said you could.”
“I’ll help,” Flo said. She wrapped an arm around Mo. Mo wrapped his arm around her shoulders. They put their wings around each other and entwined their tails.
“Now one foot and now the other,” Flo said, and they walked up to the cave without falling, as if they were still wearing the necklace.
Just as they reached the entrance to the cave, Flo tripped him. Mo fell onto a suit of armor with a clatter.
Mama D finally opened an eye. “Will you kids stop banging around?” she said. “I’m trying to sleep.”
Copyright © 2007 by Sarah Matanah. All rights reserved
Sarah Matanah likes to write fantasy and science fiction. She is learning how to play the guitar, but so far she can only pick and not strum. She works in day care and lives in Minneapolis with her wife, children, and adorable Houdini-like mutt. She has told many stories about Flo and Mo, but she can’t remember most of them.
