Story Title: The Book Dragon
“Why did I agree to be here so early?” Kody yawned as he stopped by the pile of paint cans in front of the old, faded mural on the side of the magical bookstore.

“Because repainting George is an all-day job.” Laney leaned a ladder against the wall. “Plus, you’re an artist and need to suffer.”

“His name is George?” Kody glanced up to the focal point of the advertisement; a red dragon sitting on a pile of books, reading. His wings stretched out and his tail curled around the corner. “He looks more like a William with those reading glasses.” He opened one of the paint cans and frowned. “This is the color Mrs. B wants to use? It’s so…dull. I thought she wanted to really liven him up?”

Laney shrugged. “This is the paint she said to use.” She agreed with him about the muted colors. “I can try a spell to brighten the pigments. Just don’t tell her. She’s been on my case about frivolous spell casting.” She recited the enchantment over all the cans at once to save time. The colors had intensified, looking more vivid.

“Much better.” Kody leaned his cane against the wall and then slowly climbed the ladder to start working on George’s head. “A little help, witch,” he called down to Laney.

She placed an enchantment on the paint cans he’d need so that they floated up to his level so he wouldn’t have to keep climbing up and down. “There you go, wolf.”

“That’s werewolf to you,” he mumbled as he dipped his brush into the bright red paint.

Laney worked on the background and the lettering for The Dragon’s Lair Bookstore. “What kind of books do you think Geoge would read?” Surrounding the dragon were many piles of books that needed titles.

“The Joy of Cooking People.” Kody concentrated as he painted tendrils of smoke coming out of George’s nostrils. He even added a Fu Manchu to his upper lip.

“Do you think he’d like something more mainstream?” She had the idea to add current titles to the book spines.

Kody laughed. “Anything but the books about those sparkling vampires. Gesundheit.”

Laney lifted her brush off the wall right after finishing the Tw. “I didn’t sneeze.”

Kody stepped down a level on the ladder to work on George’s long neck. “Someone did.” As he applied the paint over the old scales, he noticed that there was more depth and dimension to them. Laney’s spell worked better than he thought it would. She was getting much better.

“I like that series,” Laney mumbled as she continued touching up the piles in front of the dragon’s wings.

“Oh, me too.” Kody kept his eyes on the work in front of him. “Team Jacob all the way.” The ladder trembled, making him grab on to keep from falling. “Stop shaking the ladder.”

“I’m not.” She was a good few feet away from it. A shadow fell over her. She glanced up to see what was blocking the light. She gasped. “Holy ogre crap!” George’s head and neck had come out of the wall, and he was looking down at her.

Kody screamed when he noticed and scurried down the ladder. He grabbed Laney and pulled her away from the wall. “What did you do?”

She struggled to think as her heart pounded in her ears. “I didn’t do anything. At least, I don’t think I did.” Did she mess up a simple color spell? She wanted to bring the colors to life, but this was too real. She walked to the corner to get a better look from a side angle. His head was fully three-dimensional while his wings and body were still flat on the wall. “What have we done?”

“We?”

George whimpered as he shook his head, trying to pull the rest of himself from the wall. Laney’s heart ached watching the poor thing struggle. “We can’t leave him like this.” She turned her pleading eyes to Kody, still standing in the middle of the street.

“Yeah, we can. He’s a dragon. They eat people, remember?” He crossed his arms as if the discussion was over.

“But he’s not a real dragon. He’s just life-like.” Laney forgot that Kody was new to magic and its limitations. “He was created to read, not eat.” She picked up a brush and started painting the tail.

After a moment’s hesitation, Kody relented. “Alright. But if he tries to barbecue me, I’m leaving.” He climbed back up the ladder and continued where he had left off. George giggled with every brush stroke, making it that much harder to paint him. “Great. He’s ticklish.”

“George! Stop pushing me.” Laney regretted painting his tail first.

Soon, everything was done except for the wings. The poor thing struggled to get free but couldn’t do more than hang from the wall. He reached down and picked Laney up so she could reach his wings. George even grabbed his own brush to help get them finished.

Once the painting was done, they stood back and watched George fully pull away from the wall. Only piles of books remained in the painted scene. A small crowd had gathered around them, marveling at the red dragon hovering over the street.

“What is Mrs. B going to say when she finds her book dragon missing from the painting?” Kody asked.

How was Laney going to explain to her boss that she messed up another spell? Especially when she wasn’t supposed to be casting at all? “I don’t—”

Mrs. Burns walked out of the bookstore and glanced up to the hovering dragon. She smiled and waved. “George! Glad to have you back, my friend. Now come inside. We have books to sell.”

They glanced at each other with gaping mouths. Then Kody burst with laughter while Laney frowned. “She could’ve at least told us her plan.”