The tall green stalks enveloped Lily as she ran deeper into the corn. Knowing her brother Roy would need time to get away, she ran tenaciously in the opposite direction. Even in crisis, she was his protector. The light green corn stalks suffocated the sunlight around her, blotting everything of the world out. As they surrounded her, the only thing visible was the blue sky.

She ran.

She ran until her feel hurt, blistering and aching. Then she ran some more. At first she could still hear Sean’s curses and the occasional shotgun blast. Slowly those too faded, and she couldn’t hear anything but the rustle of corn as she traced her exodus.

Finally, Lily came to a clearing. Half winded and emotionally exhausted, she collapsed on the grass before her. Her legs gently wilted beneath her body as her black and white checkered dress eclipsed the spot of grass she was puddled up in. Her hands vulnerably laid face up in her lap, palms facing out as if offering her sadness to the sky.

She cried.

Tears pouring from her green eyes. They traced highways across her face and jumping off the ridge of her chin to catching the tips of her red hair. The ends of which, darkened with her sorrow.

“I can’t believe him!” she screamed out loud. Her hands balled up into little fists, she pounded the ground trying to beat away her demons.

“Hey!”

She stopped to look around.

“Hey you!”

She was still unable to locate the source.

“Down here giant!” A little voice exclaimed, “Stop beating on my home!”

She looked down at a little creature. It was aggressively poking its head out from a hole in the ground and swaying back and forth.

“Are you…are you a talking worm?”

“A worm!” the creature shouted indignately, “Hardly.”

It looked like a worm with a long slender body and big round eyes. It was golden with red streaks curving around it’s body. She studied him and could only see a fat, juicy worm like they used to bait on the end of a hook when fishing with her brother Roy down by the river.

“I am a silk dragon from the Eighth Empire! Guardian of the Jade Dynasty. And YOU giantess are trespassing!”

Upon closer examination, she noticed the red and gold metallic shimmer off the tiny dragon’s scales, “If you are a dragon, then why are you so small?”

“I am dragon size!” He spouted proudly, “And you are the rudest giant to ever bang on my home.” A tiny plume of flame spat out with his last words.

“Please leave this place. This land belongs to the Empress,” the tiny dragon ordered, and put his hands on his hips while turning his head to the left. He exhaled with a puff, and his body controrted grumpily to emphasize his authority. Frustratingly, the dragon would no longer look at her, even as she leaned in to make eye contact, the dragon would swing his head away to advert his gaze. His order was final and he wasn’t changing his mind.

“Fine.” Lily stood up in a huff as she stomped off. Serentipishly she looked over her shoulder at the strange worm and noticed the cornfield was no longer there. The same place she had stumbled through, was now a solid wall of sunflowers as far as the eye could see.