Florissant, Mo has always been known for some of the weird things that go on in the little town. It sits just north of St.Louis. Many people move in and out of the town. When they move out of the town they always talk about how they didn’t feel safe. They feel like something was going to happen to them. Some people say they are just paranoid, others say that creatures roam the woods behind the houses and crawl in the swears at night.  

Aaron has lived in Florissant all his life. He lives with his mom and sister on the edge of town. He has always felt that where he lives is unsafe. His mom will never listen to him, and insist that they do not need to move. Aaron sometimes gets into his own thoughts, and freaks himself out when nothing is really wrong. He loves to go exploring and to be outside. It sucks that he does not feel safe to do so. 

Hunter has also lived in Florissant his entire life. He hears what people say about the town and never believes them. His dad and him go hunting all the time, and he says he has never seen anything weird or unnormal. He thinks people need to just take a chill pill, and stop worrying about the town. Hunter also doesn’t mind when these people move out because he does not like being around people that much. He can only hang out with people for so long. 

It was just Hunter and Aaron at Hunter’s house this weekend. The rest of their friends could not make it. When Aaron arrived at Hunter's house, he felt as if he was being watched. Before he could turn around to look, Hunter's mom opened the door to greet Aaron.

“Hi!”, said Hunter’s mom

“Hey, how are you doing today?”, said Aaron 

“Well I’m doing good, How are you doing? I never get to see you anymore.” , said Hunter’s mom 

“I know I am just so busy all the time.”, said Aaron 

“Oh okay”, said Hunter’s mom in a tone that meant she didn’t believe him. 

Aaron then headed downstairs to where Hunter was. Hunter was sitting in his room playing his new Fifa he had just gotten. Hunter loved to play fifa even though he used to give Thomas trouble all the time as a kid for it.  Aaron then tried to play the game, but it did not end very well for him because he just sucks at games. 

Soon after the two of them were catching up, Hunter’s mom came running down the stairs saying that one of their dogs got out of the gate. They all ran up the stairs to go look for her. They decide to split up. Hunter’s mom goes around the neighborhood, and the boys go into the woods behind Hunter’s house. The last time that this happened they found the dog in the woods. Now, it was night so it would be hard to see. The leaves were falling to the ground as the wind blew crushing under their feet each step they took. Aaron looked at Hunter as they were about to enter into the woods. He asked “I don’t know if we should go in here.” Hunter turned to him and said “ Don’t start with this, you're getting watched stuff again.” Aaron just went quiet as he felt embarrassed now. 

They have been walking back deeper into the woods for about 20 minutes now calling Sofi’s name, the dog. Both of them out of breath from yelling and walking through the deep brush. This was not the first time they had been back here. One time Hunter was having a party for new years when they heard yelling in the woods. They called for their parents. Thomas’s dad decided to walk back into the woods to find a girl chained to a tree. To this day, they still do not know why she was there. It freaks Aaron out every time he looks into the woods, and now he is in them. 

A faint growl is heard in the distance. They both stopped to look at each other. They both yelled out the dog's name. “Sofi! Sofi! Sofi!”, said the boys. When they went to yell the name again they saw something moving in the distance. Since it was dark and there were so many trees, they could not see what it was. It started to get closer and closer.  They thought it was their dog, until their beady eyes started to rise. The eyes got higher and higher into the air. Until they were both looking straight up. They were frozen because of how scared they were as they were looking up at these huge eyes looking right back at them. A small growl came from the eyes. The boys felt the hot breath pass by them. 

There was a little break in the tree. The eyes stepped into the moon's shin. They saw that it was more than just eyes. The dark brown creature glowed off of the moon’s light. The eyes were red. Eyes that looked like they had no moral. These eyes belonged to a dragon. They both started to breathe very heavily. The dragon looked down upon them like he was trying to decide which one he should go for first. Hunter whispered in a low tone that they should not move. Hunter knew inside Aaron would not be able to keep it together. Aaron and Hunter looked at each other, then nodded their heads to each other. They both understood that they needed to run. They did not understand where to run too because when Hunter gave the nod to go they both turned and ran the opposite way. 

They were both running as fast as they could through the forest. Each step had to be carefully taken so that they did not fall from the branches that laid below. They had not realized yet that the other one was not following them. They were too busy focusing on getting away from the dragon. They both then heard a sudden boom. They both stopped and turned around. When they turned around they saw something bright. Something that gave off the heat of the sun. Something that grew faster than what they could imagine. They saw the forest burning down. The dragon was not just a regular dragon. It was a fire breathing dragon. Both of them were so shocked at this point they didn’t even realize the other was on the other side of this fire. 

When they realized what had happened they started yelling each other's name. They could not hear each other over the cracking of the wood as the trees burned. The fire started to grow more and more. Coming closer and closer to the boys. They could feel the heat coming from the fire. Not knowing what else to do they continued to run in the direction that they were at first. Aaron was starting to run out of breath because he has asthma. The dry air was making his lungs feel heavy. The fire sucking in the surrounding oxygen did not make it any better. He had to keep moving, or he would become dragon food or the fire’s food. Both are a terrible way to die. 

Hunter thought to himself that he needed to get out of the forest. He knew that if he chose the wrong direction then he would have to run for miles to get out. He needed to head back towards his house. He looked back at the fire and decided he needed to go south west in order to go back to his neighborhood. He knew this from all the hunting he had done with his dad. Meanwhile Aaron was starting to panic as the fire grew closer and the air got hot and dry. He thought to himself  I got to get myself together. He then started to remember what he knew from playing outside for all those years. He used to go camping at a summer camp with Thomas when they were younger. He learned skills on how to tell where they need to go by the stars. He then looked up and only saw trees. He needed to find a break in the tree to see the stars. He then found one. When he looked up he saw the North star. He knew then he had to head south in order to find Hunter's house. He also knew that he needed to head east because he had been running west this entire time.  

At this time they were both on their way to Hunter’s house. They both had to hurry though because the fire was starting to spread. The night had a slight breeze to the south, which means that the fire was moving that way. If they do not hurry then the fire will cut them off. 

Hunter’s mom was looking all around the neighborhood when she heard sirens. When she turned back to look she saw the massive fire behind her house. She then ran to her house. The fire department was called by the surrounding neighbors. Everyone was outside at this point watching this fire grow. Hunter’s mom then called out for Hunter and Aarons name. She did not get an answer. She then ran to the chief of the Fire Department to tell them that her boys were in the forest. The chief then gathered all of his men and women to tell them what was going on. They assured her that they were going to get the boys out. He then asked for the name so that they could call out the names as they headed in. 

Aaron and Hunter now were out of breath. They could barely run. They both needed to keep this pace in order to beat the fire to the edge. Aaron was not paying attention when he stepped in a hole and twisted his ankle. He could then not put any weight on it. He started yelling out for help hoping someone would hear his cry for help. 

Hunter was running when he heard screams from the right. He knew it had to be Aaron. He ran over to the sound of his voice until he found Aaron sitting up against a tree. They were so relieved to see each other again, but they could not celebrate for too long because the fire was right behind them. Hunter put Aaron's arm around his shoulder and helped him walk. At this pace there was no way that they were going to make it out of the fire. 

“You have been such a great friend,” said Aaron. 

“Don’t talk like that. We are going to get out of here together” said Hunter. 

Aaron stopped moving and said “Go on without me. You can make it if it's just you.” Hunter Looked at his best friend with tears in his eyes. Aaron had never seen him cry before. Aaron knew it was the right thing to do to send him off. 

Aaron laid there while he was watching his best friend run off into the distance. He sat there thinking about his life. He had come to the conclusion that he would die here in the fire. His skin started to get hotter and hotter. His lips became dry from the heat and lack of moisture. As he looked back he was blinded by the light the fire illuminated. Aaron never really prayed, but in this moment he prayed as he looked to the sky that he would be able to make it out alive. When all of a sudden he heard footsteps. The footsteps came closer and closer. They weren't coming from the house. They were coming from behind him, where the fire was. He then turned around to see a fiery dragon behind him. The dragon had fire proof skin so he could walk through the fires

The dragon’s face did not look as you would expect it to. It didn’t have the eyes of a beast. His eyes were kind. They were gentle eyes. Aaron didn’t feel scared like he normally would. He felt almost safe that the dragon was there. The dragon then bent down, and with his front two teeth picked Aaron up by his hood. The dragon then carried him to the edge of the forest right before the tree line. He did not want to come out and be seen by the people who were all gathered around. The dragon then looked at Aaron and walked back into the forest.

Aaron was then able to crawl the rest of the way. He was met by paramedics to be taken into the ambulance. The fire went on for the rest of the night, but was pretty controlled with the help of the firefighters. Ms. Toebe hugged the boys as they were sitting in the ambulance. She then asked them what happened. Hunter went to tell her about the dragon, but then Aaron cut him off saying that his flashlight randomly lit a spark and the spark started the fire. Hunter was a bit confused when Aaron said this, but he had a look on his face that meant this is the story we are going to go with. The dog ended up just being under Hunter's moms bed. Aaron and Hunter were on the news the next morning for surviving the fire. No one to this day knows about the dragon except Aaron and Hunter. These two were separated by the fire, but then brought back together with faith, strength, and a little bit of help from their scaly friend.