"What!" Scott started to yell, then swallowed it back. He'd tried to protect them, even the dragon, but his wife was here, and she had good instincts about trust. Instead of sending everyone inside, he flew to fetch another chair. When she saw his decision, Mel's faint smile widened.
"Welcome to our home," Mel said, settling into Scott's first chair.
Tober scampered to Sepal, who continued consuming flowers. She'd finished the black-eyed Susans and moved on to the petunias by the time Scott returned with another chair. He decided he didn't need to pretend to to sit as he floated next to the chair.
"So, does she only eat flowers?" Mel asked, adopting her serious, "let's get the simple things straight" mode.
"Oh, well, yes. Only flowers till, you knowâ¦" Michael began, leaving the sentence hanging.
"No, I don't know. Till what?" Scott replied.
Michael looked at Scott, raising his eyebrows expectantly, then shrugged, giving up on Scott filling in the blanks.
"Well, man, it's like this, the little dudette eats lots of flowers till all the magic in them builds up in her, then she changes." After saying "changes," Michael puffed out his cheeks and made a popping sound, then fell silent. Scott and Mel stared, waiting. Eventually, it was clear he was finished.
"What? How will she change?" Scott asked.
Michael looked between them, shrugging again. The woman had resumed watching the sky while she replied.
"Well, we don't really know, now do we? They get easier to find the more flowers they eat, and, like, we haven't ever seen them change. They usually get eaten by the big ones, now don't they? We assume they get bigger when they change, but we don't know how it happens, or how long it takes, or really anything other than that they eat flowers and then⦠they change⦠but they don't, because they get eaten first."
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
In the silence that followed, Mel pondered her words, searching for a natural follow-up. Scott returned to a thought he'd had while getting the second chair.
"So, you're both time travelers?"
This brought the woman's attention back to Scott, but Michael answered.
"Dude, yeah. Well, sort of. Man, it's hard to explain. We didn't travel from the '90s any more than you did. But, man, it's like this: the '90s has been traveling with us. We're stuck in a time puddle."
Scott rubbed his temples, trying to make sense of it. He heard Mel clear her throat. Hopefully, she could take over.
"Okay, soâ¦" Mel began, but Ashley jerked her down from the sky, saying quietly, "The big guy's back. Better use the stuff."
Scott looked up to see the large, dark shape in the clouds that was vaguely shaped like a dragon or a 747.
"You sure that a dragon?" he asked.
Mel yelled, "Scott, Sepal's digging!"
Scott looked around for Mel, Tober, and Sepal. Sepal had stopped eating flowers and was digging furiously deep into the garden.
"Mel, take Tober inside. I'll bring Sepal."
"No, man! This is what we what. Go get the stuff, Dude, and everybody'll be ok," Michael insisted, seeming more alert and focused than before.
Scott looked at the "wizards," then at Mel, who shrugged.
"Okay, okay, I'll be right back."
Scott ran to the side door and the refrigerator, retrieving the "Forgetting what had been found" concoction. He was back in under a minute. Looking up, he saw a black-scaled nose, the size of a small car, poking from the cloud as it descended to roof level. Sepal was almost completely submerged in her hole. Mel was holding Tober, trying to shield his eyes while he wriggled to see Sepal and the dragon descending out of the cloud.
"Dude, dump half the stuff on her in the hole, then hand me the container!" Michael instructed.
Scott fumbled with the container as he approached the hole, hearing the Tupperware seal pop open. He poured the floral goop onto the small dragon, who was frantically digging. He watched the dirt fly up, and the dragon beneath. He felt Mel hug his arm, then heard Michael's voice.
"Dude, quick, give me the container."
Scott handed it over, hearing the wet spreading of something. He looked over to see the "wizards" spreading it on their faces and arms.
"Scott, it's flying away!" Mel cried.
Scott looked up to see the large dark shape shrinking above the clouds.
"Dad, where's my dragon? Sepal's gone!" Tober wailed.
Scott looked at the empty hole. "Where did the little dragon go?" he asked the wizards, realizing they were gone, too. Scott felt his weight supported with his legs and the grass under his feet and realized he was no longer floating.