From the thing I'm working on:
There's a dragon. Dozens of them, actually, but one Boss dragon named Cocoa plays a central role in this story, as in so many others. Cocoa says to the mayor of Casterbridge, 'I could use a live goat for my lunch today.'
The mayor (Ashley, age 9) says, 'I don't like goats!'
Cocoa says, 'No one does.'
Ashley says, 'I have a pebble with the Virgin Mary's face on it! My auntie Ai-ris gave it to me.'
Cocoa says, 'Who?'
'Ai-ris!'
'No, I mean who's the Virgin Mary? Or rather, given the nature of this world, aren't there quite a lot of those?'
'You're funny!'
Cocoa blushes, then gathers himself. He will not be dissuaded from his task today. 'Give me a goat.'
'Goats smell like a bathroom!' says the mayor.
'Yes,' says Cocoa.
'Do you want to play horsey ride?' says Ashley. Her smile is radiant. She is a career politician.
'Certainly,' says Cocoa, 'so long as we pick up that goat first. I am hungry.'
'OK. Climb on my back and we'll fly over there!' says the mayor of Casterbridge.
Cocoa does so, and they pretend-fly over to the Goat Store. The trip takes five months, because it is miles away and Cocoa weighs a hundred tons and Ashley is nine years old. Cocoa dies on the way. So does Ashley. The entire population of Casterbridge is shattered by this turn of events, though no one can say it's entirely unexpected -- Ashley was prone to that kind of vote-getting stunt, the local gossips and newspaper pundits say (after a respectful silence).
The bigger deal, as far as the local nerd population is concerned, is that with Cocoa out of the picture, due to the absolutely insaaaaaane federal law about using real dragons only, getting a proper D&D game together is now a giant! pain! in the ass! Not least compared to, say, the equally strict laws around 'Monkey in the Middle,' which (given the explosive growth in sugarchimp population that occurs exactly nine months after the local Sugar-Mart gets restocked) don't really pose anywhere near the kind of problem for hardcore gamers that the whole dragon thing does.
