Choritzo the Chocolate Dragon

Short Stories

Chorizo, the Chocolate Dragon

© Peter G Barnett (aka Peter L. Barnes) Feb 2020

I met my Dragon on the way grandma’s house, well not my Dragon as such. It was flitting between the trees trying to look frightening, without much success. Chameleons are great at blending into the background but this Dragon had it all wrong. Red where there should be green and green where red leaves should hide her.

“Come here you silly Dragon, you can’t hide from me.”

“But I’m good at changing colour.”

“Yes, but only changing to the wrong ones.”

“Sorry.”

“Here, look at this,” said Melissa, pulling out some Ishihara charts, which she always took in her handbag. “What number do you see?”

“Three.”

“Wrong,” said Melissa. “And this one?”

“Five.”

“I thought so, you’re colour blind,” she said. “I suppose we should introduce ourselves, I’m Melissa.

“Chorizo!”

“Bless you.”

“No Chorizo, the chocolate dragon.”

“Chorizo isn’t a chocolate.”

“Tell my dad that,” said Chorizo. “I had all the Italian lads chasing me with knives and forks.”

“How horrid.”

“I got my own back as I let off a few fire bursts.”

“So why are you skulking around the woods?”

“The other dragons mock me because of my short nose. So, don’t you rub my nose in it as well.”

“What, your short nose,” said Melissa, ducking, as a puff of fire squirted from Chorizo’s nostrils.

“Now, now, just a tease,” apologised Melissa. “Is there a reason for it being so short?”

“You don’t know much about Dragon Law, do you?”

“Well I do actually, it goes back to Baden Powell days, something about doing a good deed makes your nose grow.”

“Yes, Pinocchio had it all wrong. Anyway, I’m waiting for a good deed to come along.”

“I think you’ll find that good deeds hardly present themselves,” said Melissa. “You probably have to go out and find them.”

“Would you help me?”

“I’ll do what I can.”

“Why are you off to see your grandmother?”

“She’s got some baskets for me for the grand Easter Egg hunt.”

“Can I help?”

“I don’t see why not but don’t scare Gran with your big teeth.”

Melissa knocked on Gran’s thick oak door, freshly polished and smelling of Lavender. “Friends here Gran.”

“Melissa do come in but leave that sneaky Dragon outside.”

“He’s fine, only a little misunderstood.”

“Your baskets are in the corner,” said Gran. “What have you brought me today?”

“I’ve picked some lovely berries and some chestnuts.”

“Roasted?”

“Not yet, do you want Chorizo to roast them for you?”

“Yes please, but put them in the grate first, I don’t want a fire.”

Melissa put the chestnuts in the fireplace and Chorizo breathed a gentle flame until there were perfectly roasted.

“See, I told you she was a good Dragon.”

“Yes, I can see we’ll get on like a house on fire,” said Gran.

“Stop!” said Melissa, as Chorizo threatened a conflagration. “It’s just an expression.”

“Sorry.”

“We must be going or we’ll be late with hiding the eggs.”

They were soon back in the small town where Melissa told Chorizo to hide, unfortunately by a red brick house. “Wrong colour.”

“Sorry.” Said Chorizo turning from blue to purple and finally to red.

“Better. Now, let me see about the chocolate eggs.”

Melissa entered the shop to buy Easter eggs for the hunt.

“I’m sorry,” said the shopkeeper. “All Badburies eggs are sold out although there was a lot of grumbling that the crafty company has made them all cheesy. But there are no mother’s eggs at all.”

“Mothers?”

“Sorry, you know them as Ma’s of course.”
“What am I going to do. There’s only a couple of days left, I’ve never let the children down before,” said Melissa. “What happened?”

“The rumour has it, that someone sabotaged the factory and blew the gas main so they couldn’t melt the chocolate.”

“I can solve that,” said Melissa. “Chorizo, come here, we’re off to sluff.”

She climbed on her back and the flew through the smog to the large, now dormant, factory.

“I understand you have a chocolate problem,” said Melissa. “I think we can help.”

“Well the vat is cold but even if we melt that, all the machinery is cold and clogged with old chocolate.” He said “We’ll never sort it out even with a dragon.”

“Don’t worry about that let me show you.”

Chorizo drew breath and hurled flame at the congealed mass, which soon turned into delicious melted chocolate. Chorizo swallowed a huge mouthful of chocolate and within minutes was laying perfect chocolate eggs of varying sizes.

The foreman rushed out to get his men to wrap the eggs.

“We can’t put them through our machines as they are metric sizes so we’ll have to do them by hand.”

“Oh, do you want them wrapped,” said Chorizo. “Hand me that roll of silver foil.”

Melissa handed over the silver foil and in no time at all, perfectly wrapped Easter eggs popped out. ready for the staff to put them into boxes and baskets.

“What about coloured ones?” asked the foreman, hopefully.

“See that pile of glittery wrapping paper and Christmas cards that can’t be recycled, pass them across,” said Chorizo.

Melissa and the foreman passed the pile of glittery wrapping and cards for the obliging dragon.

“Now the best colours are red and blue,” said Melissa, suddenly biting her tongue.

“No, no,” exclaimed Melissa, as the eggs rolled down the conveyor belt.

“Blue and green should never be seen.”

“What,” said Chorizo.

“The other green.”

“Sorry.”

This time beautiful red and blue wrapped eggs emerged, rolling towards the final baskets.

“That’s enough,” said Melissa. “Thank you so much, you’ve saved the day.”

A few days later when all the eggs had been found under the bushes and hastily consumed, the town decided that thanks were due and organized a banquet in honour of Melissa and Chorizo.

“We would like to present Chorizo with this beautiful, chocolate golden medallion for all that she has done for us,” said the Mayor, looping the ribbon around Chorizo’s neck and now, long nose.

“Not only has she rescued us from that awful northern chocolate company, and given the children their eggs, but has also recycled all our glitter paper.”

“Three cheers for Chorizo. Hip, Hip hurrah.”

Chorizo laid the biggest egg ever, which the waiters rushed towards, breaking off bite sized pieces for all the guests.

Someone signaled the band and the words of that well known song rang out.

“Oh, for he’s a jolly good Dragon, oh for he’s a jolly good dragon, for he’s a jolly good Dra-agon and so say all of us.”

Chorizo blushed furiously. Bright green of course.