By Jenny Panda  |  An excerpt » Once someone's visiting uncle told the villagers that the thing to do to keep a dragon happy was to feed him a maiden. In the village was a farmer who had twenty-two daughters. He really wanted a son to help him plough his fields, but his wife kept having girls. The idea of feeding a daughter occasionally to the dragon did not worry him. So he volunteered to be the source of the maidens.

One early spring morning the oldest daughter was tied to a post in the middle of the village green. She was very scared. The villagers hid in their cottages and watched through the windows.   Mr. Tingle flew in front of the sun and darkened the sky. The maiden, whose name was Gladys, closed her eyes up tight and awaited her fate. The dragon settled on the grass near to her and spoke to her gently. “What's the matter?”

“Eat me quickly, the waiting is the worst!” said Gladys in a quivery voice. 

“I am a vegetarian!” said Mr. Tingle. “I won't hurt you at all. You are so beautiful!”

At these gentle words, Gladys opened up one eye and turned to glance at the dragon. It was love at first sight.

•Jenny Panda is an artist who paints mainly in acrylics and mixed media, and a writer and illustrator of children’s novels. She wrote and illustrated her own book of poetry, Whimsy. Jenny is also an executive member of the Fine Arts Society of Milton.