"Whatcha waiting for?" the kid asked, wrinkling her freckled, sunburnt nose.
"Dragons," the old man said, shading his eyes against the glare on the drought-baked Tennessee badlands.
"Ain't no such thing," the kid said.
"Girl," the old man said. "You watch."
The Smoky Mountain ridgeline shifted, turned on its side. Soil, blistered trees, rock slid down into the valley, uncovering dirt-crusted scales, a jagged spine, first one articulated wing, then another. A second mountain slid, a third, and soon they heard the beat of vast and distant wings.
"Dragons sure do love them some global warming," the old man said.
Author bio: Patrice Sarath is a novelist and short story writer in Austin, Texas. You can find out more about her work at www.patricesarath.com
S'warm is part of 101 Fiction issue 4.
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