Mandatory Motherhood: Short Stories

Dragon

“So Chris, let me get this straight… You want me to my fire breath to weld these metal plates over the glass on this door so wild animals can’t break into this building?” Russel the black-scaled dragon said as she pointed to a pile of metal plates and then to the doors leading to the parking garage behind the courthouse.

Chris modded. “Yes, Russel. I want to make this place into a refuge for anyone who reappears. Then we need to brick over the windows that are below ten feet from the ground outside.”

Russel rubbed her chin. “You're not going to stay in town, right? Aren’t you afraid someone will turn the place into a fortress to rule over others?”

Chris sighed and stared at the door for a moment. “I had thought of that, yes. But I don’t want to stay here Russel, just like you have your destination in mind. We will just have to hope that the first people who show up will use the place responsibly.”

Russel kept staring at Chris for a while before smirking. “What if I just take all these supplies for myself?” She showed her teeth daring Chris to challenge her.

Chirs stared into Russel’s eyes with a look of disapproval. “I don’t think your small truck can hold all of it. Besides, you could easily raid any of the ten hardware stores in town for more of this stuff if you have to have some for your collection.”

The unicorn mare and black dragoness stared each other down for a while. If there were any on-lookers one would have thought Chris would have cracked first but Russel began to fidget in place and sweat formed on her brow. Eventually, Russel looked away and huffed while crossing her arms. “Fine! Just stop giving me that look! …for *beep* sake it’s like when my mother is giving me the look of disapproval but into my very soul.”

Chris gave Russel a confused look but puffed her chest out in victory. “Very well then, let's get to it sha-”

Russel held a pal out towards Chris to stop her mid-sentence, then held up one finger. “But I want you to help me with something afterward.”

Chris shrugged. “Very well Russel.”

Chris was looking at a poster of the Iron Giant. “So… you want to build a statue of this guy?” Russel eagerly nodded her head up and down. ”Well I guess you going to practice welding then.”

Russel looked at various scrap metal and parts. “Uh, this stuff is rusty Chris.”

Chris waved her hoof in the air. “You are covered in hard scales, you are fireproof, and you won't have room for a statue on your truck, so you're just going to be practicing.”

Russel grumbled and picked up a sheet of steel and a rivet. “How do I do this exactly?”

Chris giggled. “Well, it won’t do you much good if you don’t have a frame to bolt it into but you would heat the rivet then drive it into the steel with a rivet gun or hammer. We don’t have one of those… but you are pretty strong and you can breathe fire so let's test it out.”

Russel didn’t look so sure but thought she would humor Chris and breathed fire on the bolt until it glowed red hot. She put the sheet on the ground and then tried hammering the bolt in with her fist. She pulled her hand back waving it in pain after a few strikes but she had managed to drive the bolt through the sheet. She smiled at her work and then turned to Chris. “This will definitely work but I think I would like a hammer so I don’t break any bones.”