Soft—FLOOF! A puppy popped through Zara’s pile of leaves. One leaf stuck to his nose. Two rode on his ears. The rest fell around his paws. “Pip,” said Zara, “you’ve burst my dragon’s head.” Pip wagged, and the dragon’s head scattered farther.
They were on a wide mountain meadow. Their picnic rug lay near a bench. Down the slope, the trees had turned gold. Zara had gathered fallen leaves beside the rug. She wanted to make one huge leaf dragon. Best of all, she and Pip would be inside it.
Zara had made a long, twisting shape. It had leaf wings and a lumpy tail. She could sit inside its great round belly. Pip would put his nose through the little head. Then their dragon could sniff and talk. Zara had already picked its voice. “MORE LUNCH,” she boomed. Pip licked his lips.
“Not a real lunch,” Zara said. “A dragon lunch.” She patted the gap in the leaves. “Your nose goes here.” Pip sniffed the gap. His nose fitted. So did his chin. Then he took another step. FLOOF! There went one cheek. He turned around, sat down, and crushed the other.
Zara stared at the flat patch. Pip stared at Zara. His tail swept leaves across her shoe. “Perhaps you’re not a head sort of puppy.” She glanced at the dragon’s tail. It was much longer than Pip’s tail. It also had far more leaves. “No. You’d sweep away the whole meadow.”
Pip trotted toward a patch of damp earth. He sniffed a brown lump beside it. Zara followed him. “Oh! You think we’re making mud cakes.” She crouched near the lump. “That one has grass in it. A very poor cake.” Pip sneezed. “Yes,” said Zara. “Too much grass.”
She patted a flat mud cake with a stick. Then she added three leaf crumbs. “One dragon cake. No eating it, though.” Pip did not want to eat it. He stepped past the cake and leaned against her knee. When Zara stood, he stood. When she sat, he sat right beside her.
“You don’t want a cake,” she said. “You want to play with me.” Pip pushed his warm nose under her hand. Zara rubbed his ears. She wanted him in the dragon, too. Without Pip, it was just Zara in some leaves. A fine dragon needed a real sniffing nose.
She went back and shaped the head again. This time, she made the nose gap wider. Then she sat in the dragon’s belly. “Here we go. One dragon, coming up!” Pip stepped into the head. His nose went through. His front paws went through. Then he turned to sit near Zara. Scrunch. Swish. FLOOF.
Zara almost reached for the leaves again. Instead, she watched Pip. He turned once more before lying down. His back paws stretched out behind him. His chin rested on her shoe. The little head had room for one puppy nose. But Pip always brought the whole puppy.
“I made you a nose space!” Zara said. “You need a Pip space.” She looked from his ears to his back paws. Then she looked at the dragon’s head. It would need to be much bigger. Zara grinned. “Our dragon is getting a VERY big face.”
She swept the broken cheeks into a wide curve. She left room around all four puppy paws. Then she moved the neck toward her own spot. Now Pip could lie right beside her. The dragon’s head joined its belly, with no leaves between them. Zara sat down to check. There was room for her knees, too.
Pip got up to inspect the work. He sniffed one leaf horn. He sniffed the other. Then he stepped into the wide, empty head. Zara kept her hands still. Pip turned once. He turned twice. He sat beside her knee. Not one cheek burst. Not one horn fell.
“We did it,” Zara whispered. Then she tried the dragon voice. “MORE LUNCH!” Pip gave one small bark. Zara laughed so hard that her shoulders shook. The leaves stayed put. “Excellent,” she told him. “You do the roaring. I’ll do the words.” Pip leaned against her and wagged.
They sat inside their enormous dragon. Zara stretched one arm into each leaf wing. Pip watched a beetle cross the grass. “This dragon does not eat beetles,” Zara announced. “Or puppies. Or grass cakes.” Pip gave her thumb a lick. “It might taste thumbs,” she added.
At last, Zara rested her hands in her lap. Pip stretched his paws, and the wide head held. A yellow leaf slipped from one soft ear. It landed between his paws. Zara tucked her hand beside him, inside their dragon’s great leaf cheek.