“George!” Yelled Alice, running up to him. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Did you hear the news? The Dragon has gone!”
Alice placed her arm around George’s shoulder and steered him to the bar. “Dragon is going to need some serious help after our therapy session,” she laughed triumphantly. “It’ll be a shock for him at first. I mean, two hundred years of addiction won’t be easy to shake off, but if he keeps in mind what the alternative is, he’ll see that life can be so much better now.”
Still feeling a little nervous, George asked, “But will he?”
Alice reassured him, “Well, living in an ivory tower, cut off from the real world, might feed your ego, but it’s a pretty soulless existence.”
George knew all about that, so he nodded in agreement.
“But won’t it be dangerous?” He asked, still trying to understand how his crazy dream had come true. “If Dragon stops growing, won’t it kill us?”
Alice brushed this off with a chuckle, saying, “Nah, that’s just a scare story he used to control us. Name one example of a species that can only survive if it keeps growing? Nature looks for equilibrium and balance, so why should a Dragon be any different?”
George agreed and wondered why he’d never thought about that before.
“Dragon was never satisfied, and that’s why he was never happy.” Said Alice. “The secret to happiness is appreciating what you’ve already got.”
Reflecting on this, George added, “It’s like my mum always said — don’t take things for granted and live within your means.”
“So true,” agreed Alice. “Too bad nobody told the Dragon.”
