The traveling circus employed him as a fire breather. He worked the crowd and did a few tricks in exchange for room and board and a half-share of receipts.
He also got to learn at the feet of great performers, studying stage magic, acrobatics, and beast tamers. They all told him he should run away and join a farm.
But he didn’t mind. He enjoyed fire breathing and was good at it. And who would ever think to look for a great dragon disguised as a scruffy human in a traveling show? It gave him time to plan his revenge.

“Fire Breathers in Porec, Croatia” by willjackson.uk is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

My very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!

Everyday Drabbles © 2025 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0