It was a rainy day, a very rainy day. As was the day before. A scouring rain that washed away all the salty danger off his beaten path. Could it be clear? Might this be a tiny window of freedom in a long melancholy winter?
He knew it was.
Straight away after work tailgating all the white walkers to the storage garage. A single golden key in the lock clicks and the black beasts chains fall away.
Cigarette lighter clicks and the whirr of a small pump, the sound of hissing air that makes the tiny sidewalls just a little less tiny. Then the mighty dragon roars to life and stalks out of her cave for an unexpected flight during scheduled hibernation.
Better than he even remembers is the roar of combustion and the thick heavy wheel in his hands. Planted and confident she soars for a brief time and then circles back to the safe retreat of the cave. The water is getting close to freezing again and the salt will return, but today she flew.
