June 2024 Flash Lit 8.3 - Dragonfruit

Billy tugged and strained and sweated.  The crate moved, but slowly.  “You could help,” he said.

Smoky opened a lazy eye and stretched his long, scaly neck.  “You’re doing fine,” he said.  He closed his eye and curled his head back under his wing.

 

“Stupid dragon,” Billy muttered.

 

“I heard that,” Smoky’s sleepy voice said.

 

Billy turned back to the crate.  He’d tried everything, but the soft sand floor did not want to let the crate slide.  The problem was friction, which was what Billy was trying to avoid in the first place.  Smoky was not making it easy to give him a gift.

 

At last, Billy heaved the crate up next to Smoky.  “Here!” he panted.  “A gift from the village.”

 

Smoky woke up briefly, extended a claw, and pulled the crate toward himself..  “Thank you,” he said, his mouth full of the crate contents.

 

Billy was already trudging home, having finished dragging fruit to the dragon.