The Dragon in the Mountains
This is the earliest record of Courtney's fantasy writing. It was written when she was in grade three and presented as a book.
'Hi! I'm a dragon called Fire. I live in the mountains and cause a lot of trouble. Well let's get on with the story.
'Once in Dragon Land a dragon catcher caught all the dragons in the land except for one. That dragon's name was Puff.
'Puff didn't like being alone so he made a plan to save the other dragons. He started straight away.
'He practiced scaring a magic tree. It ran away as soon as Puff flew up and blew fire at it.
'He practiced dodging nets and bullets. He burned pieces of metal.
'He hid under camouflage. Then he had dinner, brushed his sharp teeth and went to bed to go to sleep.
'In the morning he left the mountains and flew towards the city. Every creature that saw him ran or flew away.
'At last he came to a road. He followed it all day and then he had dinner, brushed his sharp sparkling teeth and went to bed.
'In the morning he found that he was locked in a cage by himself. He blew fire and flew up, up and up. He looked into the cages that were empty and off he went. He went on with the search for the dragons.
'At last he reached the city. He saw nine trucks and written on them all was Dragon Catchers, so off he went truck chasing.
'At last they stopped. Luckily for Puff they didn't see him because he was camouflaged.
'He thought for a moment. There were only two ways he could get in and he didn't want to do either but he had to do it.
'His choice was either 1, he could burn down the walls and get the other dragons and go, or 2, get caught and burn the cage and get the other dragons and go.
'He decided choice 1.
'It wasn't as easy as it seemed though. He burned a hole just big enough to fit, which led to an empty cage. He burned the bars and hid. He put a painted statue just like him in the bin and stood in its place.
'Just then a group of men came in with nine dragons. They put each dragon in a separate cage and left.
'Puff ran to the cages and let them out. Together they flew through the hall and let the other dragons out of their cages. By the time they reached the end of the hall they could hear footsteps around the corner...
'Puff thought fast. He remembered the things he had practiced, then he remembered how he always got out of trouble, then he remembered the things he had learned at school. That's when he got his idea.
'He took a big breath, and let it out in the direction of a big vase that was sitting on a shelf. The vase crashed to the ground and the footsteps ran past the hall and to the vase that was now on the floor in pieces.
'Puff lead the dragons to the other side of the long hall. At that end they remembered the parents and teachers. They were kept in another hall where more secure cages were built because they were smarter and stronger dragons.
'He saw a group of baby dragons staring at him. He puffed smoke out of his nostrils. The babies puffed smoke out of their nostrils. Puff flapped his wings. The whole group of dragons flapped their wings. They blew a whole in the roof and flew upstairs.
'When they were up there they found themselves in a dark room full of teachers and parents of the dragons, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find his parents or his teacher.
'He asked a big dragon if he had seen them. Two men took them in another room because this room is too full. You will get in a lot of trouble if you try to get them. He said. Thanks, it helped me a lot said Puff.
'He went back through the big hole and went a few metres then blew another hole in the roof then quickly flew upstairs when he heard footsteps. Puff got there just in time to see two men coming into the hall.
'The men gasped. Puff heard one man say "I told you that floor wasn't secure enough."
'Well it's no time to argue about that now because the cages down here are empty too, so let's check if they are still there.
'The man that talked the last time had a net in his hand. Puff turned around to find his teacher and parents staring at him. Puff told them what he was doing and why he was there, and then he told them his plan.
'He did it in a hurry because of the men. They went through the hole and found themselves in a NET. Puff couldn't believe it.
'Puffs teacher quickly reacted. She cut the net with a bit of help. "Thud" They fell to the ground and ran over to the other net and cut it too "Thud." All the dragons fell to the ground too.
'All the dragons ran to the cage Puff came in before. At last, they were out.
'It was beginning to get dark so the dragons found a safe place to sleep for the night and went to bed.
'In the morning they followed a winding road and went all the way back to the mountains. When they were back they had a big celebration.
'Puff told them how he had found the road, and followed it to the big factory and rescued the dragons. Then everyone thanked Puff, and they were very happy.'
