1 Last of my days

"Aaaahhhhhhhh!" My brother shrieks like a girl standing in front of my bed, waking me up in shock and disgruntled face. The noise he created echoes throughout my room making me set both my hands on my ears to stop the uproar.

"There's a pest in your bed!" He says, pointing his finger at my pillow. 

My earthly colored eyes search the room for a mouse or a cockroach, but all I notice is my pet gecko with his green pigmented skin laying against the white fluffy cushion.

"That's Miri," I reply to him with my forehead wrinkling in annoyance. Not only did he wake me up early, he calls my new pet a "pest" in the house.

"Why is it in your bed?" He asks me with his eyes wide in disgust.

"He must have gotten out of his case," I explain, yawning, and scratching my eyes at the same time. I stood up from the bed and stretch my body from hand to feet like a cat in an upright position, scratching the air with my long fingers. Then, I brush my curly brown hair and gather every strand to pull into a knot. I'm not conscious of my locks so I rarely wear them down. 

My brother, Apollo, still lingers in my room to scrap for junks at the top drawer below my bookshelf where I put my favorite books. The topic of my collection is unusual for anyone. Most avid readers will have novels about romance, mystery, or thriller but what I have is only about one. Reptiles. From my conventional interest with dinosaurs at a young age, my fascination escalates into their existing relatives. I can say that my obsession makes me an expert without proper training. I want to be a herpetologist but I ended up not achieving my dream. Nonetheless, it's on the list of my plans and money is what I need to get it done.

"What are you looking for?" I ask, peering at the drawer from my brother's back.

"A nice picture of you." He replies without turning his head away.

"What for?" My nosiness won't let me stop asking for an explanation.

"Aha! Found it!" My brother exclaims holding a small paper with my face.

"What are you going to do with my old picture?" I ask with my hand holding my brother's arm to stop him from escaping my question.

"I'm going to send it to my friend, who knows a guy that you can date," Apollo responds with a playful smirk.

"No!" I blurt out my answer as my brother tries to fix me up again with a stranger. 

I try to snatch the picture away from his hand but he is tall. With his arm stretching out straight up, I am unable to reach the paper. I'm five feet and two inches high, brawling with a man who's five feet and eight inches tall, I don't have a chance at all.

"Give me that!" I demand, yelling, and setting my hands on my hips. I am older than my brother with five years difference and I'm using my authority as an older sibling.

"Fine, but I'm telling you, you'll regret not meeting this guy."

"I'm regretting it already."

"He's good looking, rich, and well educated."

"Why don't you marry him if he's already perfect."

"He's only into women."

I let out a mischievous grin. My brother is a handsome good looking man, working as a graphic artist in an ad agency. A millennial man as he describes himself. A unicorn that loves who he wants and I think it's beautiful. I applaud his awareness and bravery. And hope my brother can find someone who can appreciate how precious he is.

"You'll find a great one someday," I tell my brother to not give up the possibility of finding his mate.

"You're hopeless." He raises his right eyebrow at me and plops the old picture into my hand. Smirking and strutting his way out of my room, overlooking the lizard laying on my pillow.

I peer at my phone from the bedside table and notice the time. It is past seven o'clock in the morning and I have to prepare myself for my job at nine. The clinic I am working at opens up early and I need to be there before the doctor comes in.

My brother also works in the morning but won't leave until later. He uses his motorcycle to get to his office in the city while I take a bus because it's on the other side of the town from where we live. On the way out, I pass by the feast at the table that my brother made. Eggs, bacon, and toasted bread smell tasty to resist. I seized a paper towel to wrap my sandwich and set my breakfast for later inside the sling bag I carry. Storming out the door, I shout to say goodbye and quickly stroll down the hall towards the elevator when I remember something important.

Miri!

I head back inside pacing fast and go straight to my room to look for the lizard. I find it laying on the cushion and gently set it inside the container to carry it out of my room. As I walk past my brother in the dining room eating breakfast, he glares at the case I'm holding and starts to laugh. He mocks my forgetfulness again as a sign of aging fast.

BUS STATION

The station is full of people lining up to get inside the bus. Students going to school bumps each other to get a spot while the aging ones are stepping forward unhurriedly, careful not to trip themselves on the way in. I got in last and have to stand up and hold onto the railings in the middle of the vehicle. I sneer at the teenagers who ignore my menacing gaze to spare me their chair. Even the men won't barge in to give me a place to sit.

People are getting more impolite nowadays.

A young woman at the back stands up and offers her spot to me which I immediately seize before anyone can get it.

"Thank you." I gladly say with a quick smile. 

The lady nods gently with a soft voice to reply. "Your welcome."

The melodic tone captures my ear. I glance at the woman standing in front of me. She's wearing a long ebony-colored coat over a cream white satin shirt tucked in on her black pants. A business type suit for modern women. I stare at myself and pout. I'm wearing my old jeans, a blue shirt with the logo of the shop and a grey waterproof coat I bought in a thrift mart. A casual look for old women of my age. I understand it's ridiculous but I can't help myself to compare.

I send another peek at the woman's way and catch the sight of her face. The long hazelnut colored hair and fleshy pink lips give me a sudden rush of blood on my cheeks. The woman's skin is fair. Her lashes are long and her eyes are like blue jewels. A smile on the woman's face sends me out of my fantasy. I quickly turn my face away and look outside the window.

Did she catch me staring at her?

The thirty minutes of travel time seems like forever in an awkward space between me and the woman. I never took a glance at her again. When the bus is almost at my destination, I excuse myself in a hush to ask for a room to come up. However, the bus abruptly stops and I fall into the woman's body grasping for something to keep me standing up.

The scent of the woman is pure pleasure to my senses. The sweet fragrance of vanilla and blossoming rose flower is what compels me to cling on longer to her but the loud shout of the bus driver stuns me back to my present situation.

"I'm sorry," I whisper politely and head back down the bus before the woman can react to my apology. 

Taking a deep breath and exhaling out my humiliation brings back my composure. I start to walk in the location of the shop when I hear a woman's voice shouting in my direction. I ignore the plea and begin to stride faster. It's eight-thirty on my watch and I don't want to be caught up late by my boss. When at last I reach the front of the clinic that remains close. The large sign at the top gives away the purpose of the store.

"The Very Vets." I cringe every time I say it. The shop is a veterinary clinic and grooming place for pets. I have been working for five years as a pet groomer and Dr. Nguyen's assistant.

As I unlock the metal grills of the front door, I sense a hand grabbing my shoulder. The surprising touch frightens me and I spontaneously lift my hand to slap the person who's behind me. Luckily, the individual catches my hand before I can lay a finger on the face of the mysterious woman.

"You got strong hands." The woman says, with my hand still imprisoned by her hold.

"What are you doing here?" I ask with a loud voice. My forehead wrinkles with my question. I try to hide the nervous feeling and the fast beat of my heart. I can feel my hand starting to sweat from the anxious way the woman clasps my hand so I snatch it away carelessly out of her grasp.

"You forgot something on the bus." The woman explains and hands over the colored container that I forgot. 

"Thank you," I reply kindly as I open the case to check if my pet is alive and well. 

The woman's eyes go wide in amazement when she watches the lizard comes out and wrap itself in my hand.

"Miri?" I call out the lizard's name, noticing the change in its color. It was green before I put it in the case, now it's blazing red in an exceedingly alarming complexion. The lizard's behavior is erratic like it's angry at something or someone.

"When did you get it?"

"Yesterday, a man came here and sold me this gecko for 50 dollars."

"That was sold to you?"

"Yes, I know it's particularly pricey for a lizard but I don't want it to be sold in a dirty market, plus I love reptiles."

"That lizard is special." 

As the woman stretches her hand to touch Miri, the ground starts to tremble on our feet. Loud growling noise comes from the sky above us. It changes its color from blue to purple with clumps of fiery rocks hurling in our direction.

The frightening sight stuns me. Too afraid to move or fight the force that is beyond my will of surviving. I close my eyes and breathe deeply while I accept the last day of my life coming. I don't mind the pain when Miri bites my hand as I see the fire envelop my whole body to burn me alive.

oo - oo - oo

I sense warmness in my body but I'm breathing normally. The garish voices of people warning others about a dragon intrigue me. I open my eyes and discover myself laying down on hay inside a barn that is starting to burn down on me. Running outside as fast as I can is what I assume will save me, but the scene of a dragon hurling fire at anything and anyone on its path is a far more dangerous situation to be in.

My confusion at this dreadful catastrophe is awful. I cannot move my legs or think of a way to escape my impending doom. I stand still until the fearsome dragon is in front of me.

Am I dying again? In the hands of a dragon?