The Girl with the Dragon Eyes by Terrie Leigh Relf There are many tales my momma told, while putting me to sleep, but the one I cherished most, was the girl with the dragon eyes. Some say she was a changeling, others that she'd lost her way, but momma said she wasn't human, but hatched from a dragon's egg. Her eyes were green with yellow, depending on the light, when dark they held burnt umber with verdant stripes of green. Her hair, it was so lovely, molten gold and copper, and her skin, so soft like heather, tinged a bluish-white. But what happened to her? I'd ask,  curious, concerned, sensing yet another tale my momma hadn't told. Of course you do remember, I've told this tale afore, some whispered she'd met foul play with a neighboring boy. With me she'd shared a secret, as friends will often do; come spring I went to search for her,  in our secret place, where caves are deep like caverns, where wind keens soft and low. I called out to her, first silence,  then a mewling sound. My friend was barely clinging, to the life she had known, scattered all around her, the remnants of dragon shells. "Thank the Old Ones you've come now, I cannot wait much more, please take my daughter from me, and raise her like your own." Nestled in my friend's weak arms, swaddled in straw and down, a lovely, hungry baby, she of the dragon eyes. I held this wee one to me, promised to raise her well, brought her down the mountain, then across the sea to here. So go to sleep, my treasure, afore she comes to call, her spirit has to travel across these many miles. And if you should awaken, be not afraid or cry, you're the true daughter of the girl with the dragon eyes.   Contributor's bios Table of Contents Background by Tosha.