Rand Davidson was having a very bad day. It all started when his landlord came knocking at the door demanding his rent. Rand promptly ignored him. So what if he hadn't paid his rent in the last few months? The landlord soon gave up and went away.

Rand checked to make sure the old man was really gone, then went to the cupboard to scrounge for breakfast. There was nothing. Not a crumb remained for him to eat. Sighing, he went in search of his bow and arrows. Looked like hunting would be occupying his day.

After dressing, he went outside, only to find a dragon feasting on his mare.

"Get away from there!" Rand yelled.

The dragon looked at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Do you want some?" it asked him.

"No, I don't want some! That's my horse!" Rand shouted at the beast.

"I'm terribly sorry," replied the dragon. "I thought it was a wild horse. It had no equipment on it. I'm really sorry."

Rand gave a frustrated sigh. "It was my neighbor's horse anyway. I was borrowing her."

Rand walked off into the woods trying to ignore the sounds of the dragon eating. He hoped that the day would get better, but no such luck came to him. For one thing, all the animals normally found in the forest had seemingly left.

"Probably warned of my coming," Rand muttered to himself.

At around midday, he managed to track down a boar to a clearing and was just about to shoot it when something huge swooped out of the sky and gobbled up the animal. Furious, Rand stalked into the clearing. He glared at the thing that had taken away his much wanted meal. Man and dragon regarded each other. The dragon sat picking his teeth as Rand glared at him.

"That's two you owe me, dragon!" Rand declared.

"What?" asked the dragon.

"My mare and that boar," replied Rand. "Two."

"Oh! Were you going to eat that boar?" Rand nodded. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"Now what am I supposed to eat?" demanded Rand.

"Well, I'm sure I don't know."

"Think of something! I'm *starving*!"

It probably wasn't such a good idea to snap at a dragon like that, but Rand meant what he'd said.

"I'm sure there's plenty of animals in this forest -"

"There's not. I checked." The man stood with his arms crossed across his chest, waiting.

"Are you sure? Because I -"

"I'm sure."

"Hmm… Well. I suppose you could always buy food."

"Not without money, I can't."

"Ah, good point. Have you tried another forest? I could take you to one. How's that?"

After a few moments consideration, Rand agreed. The forest the dragon took him to was full of game. Rand was overjoyed. Surely *here* he could stock up on food with little trouble. He'd worry about how to get home later.

At first, everything was fine. Rand quickly caught sight of a fine stag and was in swift pursuit He leaped over rocks, dodged trees, and jumped over small pits, always in sight of the stag. What he couldn't avoid, however, was the deep ravine at the very edge of the forest. He cursed all the way to the bottom.

After dragging himself to his feet, Rand discovered that his bow was broken. He yelled every curse he could think of at the top of his lungs. Then, he looked around, went to the nearest tree, and banged his head on it a few times. He then sat down next to it, severely depressed. That's when he noticed a stream a few feet away. It was filled with darting shadows.

"I can go fishing!" he exclaimed triumphantly. Gathering up his one unbroken arrow, Rand scrambled over to the water. Looking down into it, he saw many fish.

"If I can just get the right angle…" he murmured.

"Ho there, friend!"

"Ack!" Rand exclaimed. His arm went off a little due to the loud greeting of the dragon and the arrow hit the rocky bottom of the stream… and broke.

"Four!" Rand cried as he whirled around to face the beast.

"Pardon?" the dragon asked.

"You owe me *four*!"

"I do?"

"Yes!"

"That's an awful lot. I'm sorry."

"Take me home."

"Are you sure you don't-"

"Take me home."

The dragon did as he requested, but Rand was almost sorry for it later. As he neared his house, he noticed there was a lot of furniture on the lawn… *his furniture*! He ran to the front door.

"I'm glad you're back," said his landlord. "You are just in time to meet the new tenants of this house, Mr. And Mrs. Kadere."

Rand closed his eyes. Maybe it was all a bad dream. Maybe it would all go way… He opened his eyes again. Nope. Without a word, Rand walked back into the forest and sat down in the first clearing he came to. He was not alone, however.

"Hello," the dragon greeted. Rand didn't respond. He was staring at his one now bare foot. He'd lost the boot in a deep mud hole while walking there.

"You seem to be having a rough time," the dragon noted. Rand looked at him incredulously. "So, do you have a place to stay?" The man didn't answer, so the creature continued. "I'll take that as a no. You can live with me if you want to. I have room."

"Why not?" said Rand in a dull voice.

"Indeed," said the dragon. "Come with me." Rand followed as the dragon the dragon led him to a large cave not too far away. "Inside," it explained, "is really big. I think you'll like it."

And indeed he did. As soon as he stepped inside the main chamber, his eyes bugged out in disbelief. Jewels were stacked in numerous piles taller than himself.

"It's rather flashy in here," the dragon said modestly. "I like shiny things."

"Just a handful of this could pay off my debts," Rand murmured in awe.

"It could?" asked the dragon, smiling. Rand nodded. "Then by all means, take it!"

Rand blinked. "Take it?"

"Take four," it replied. "You said I owe you four, so take four."

"Jewels or handfuls?"

"Handfuls of course!"

Rand did not hesitate. He quickly scooped up four handfuls of the most costly of the gems and thanked the dragon.

"What are friends for?" it remarked.

Rand said goodbye and hurried to the nearest town. He decided he would remain friends with that dragon for a long, *long* time.

THE END