Once upon a time there was a land full of rivers, streams, and lakes. Here, water flowed from rocks, forming waterfalls, rushing between forests and large stones, and sometimes just standing still and flowing into beautiful, calm lakes.
These waters were home to wonderful and strange creatures. Water dragons. Some were smaller and liked to wade in streams, while others were large and had their homes in lakes.
These dragons avoided people. They lived their lives in the water, and people didn’t even know they existed. Every now and then, they heard a story about someone seeing a dragon somewhere. Most people didn’t believe it. Only one girl knew for sure that dragons live in the waters. She had met one of them.
It was in the spring, when the waters are still cold, even though there is no trace of ice on the surface. Veronica sat by a lake every day. A young girl with long braided hair. She basked on a large rock and watched the surface of the water. Because she could play the harmonica, she often welcomed many listeners around the lake. The beautiful melodies of the harmonica echoed in all directions. When Veronica began to play, it was as if the whole lake, including the plants around it, had awakened. Birds slowly fluttered toward her, and squirrels hopped to the rhythm. Even river beavers sometimes came to see who was playing so beautifully. Of course, the dragons under the water also heard the melody. They liked it very much. But they didn’t want to show themselves to Veronica, so they just listened silently every day as the girl played.
One day, as she was sitting on her rock by the lake, she took out her harmonica, blew into it, and just as the animals were gathering around her, a bear suddenly jumped out from behind a tree. He also wanted to see who was playing so beautifully. But he appeared so quickly that Veronica jumped up in fright, slipped, and fell into the lake. The water was cold, and Veronica was not a good swimmer. She waved her arms and called for help, but no one heard her. Suddenly, the water began to ripple more vigorously than usual. Veronica was running out of strength when she noticed a huge shadow swimming toward her underwater. It was getting closer and closer until she could see that it was a large animal. But Veronica had never seen anything like it before. She was scared, but there was nothing she could do. In a moment, the animal swam under Veronica and lifted her onto its back. It swam to the surface so that the girl could take a deep breath. It slowly pushed her onto the shore and immediately disappeared back into the water.
Veronica, wet and frozen, sat on her rock and couldn’t believe what had just happened. “It was a dragon, it was definitely a dragon! And it saved my life,” she thought aloud. Before she went home, she called out to the lake, “Thank you, dragon!” At that moment, the harmonica that Veronica had lost in her fall jumped out of the lake. It was as if the lake had spat it out… But Veronica knew that it was the dragon who had found her and thrown her ashore.
Since then, the young girl has sat more happily on the rock by the lake, playing beautiful melodies while the animals gather to listen. She could tell when her savior is near—the water rippled softly, bubbles rose to the surface, and sometimes a small whirlpool appeared. Veronica knew this means he is close by. Her dragon, who rarely revealed himself, was always watching over her. A bond existed between them, one that only Veronica and the dragon knew about.
