A girl with a far-off look in her eyes was standing on the crosswalk. She spoke unexpectedly. "I've never felt so alive, but still so alone."
The young dragon whispered back cheekily. "You're not alone, you know."
The girl started. "Who's there? Who spoke?"
The dragon had an enormous invisible grin on his invisible face. "You are looking at an invisible dragon. I'm very pleased to meet you."
The girl had had some very unexpected adventures lately, but this was completely unexpected. "I'm very pleased to meet you too, dragon."
A few of the passers-by thought it strange that a girl was talking to herself on the crosswalk leading to a skytrain station. But strange things happen all the time in Bangkok, and sometimes strange things are good things.
The dragon asked her name.
I won't tell you her name, because it is a magical name, and all sorts of strange, magical things happen whenever someone says (or writes) her name.
The girl told the dragon her name, and something magical and strange happened immediately.
The dragon always remembered the names of interesting people he met. But when she said her name...
...he instantly forgot it.
He lifted off the roof of the crosswalk, zoomed around, and hovered in front of her. "Would you like to go flying together, Miss...?" His voice trailed off as he realized he could not recall the magical name she had just told him.
She had done some amazing things lately, but this sounded exceptionally amazing. "Go flying with you? Where to?"
The dragon cocked his invisible head to the left, then to the right. "Where were you going to go today?"
She remembered her plans. "Chatachuk market. It's big."
During his flights around Bangkok, he had seen an enormous marketplace to the north. "Climb over the rail, and onto my shoulders. I'll take you there."
Never being the sort of girl to turn down an unexpected chance for the adventure of a lifetime, she scrambled onto the railing. She felt the dragon's scaly invisible neck was right beside her, so with a little leap she was seated on his shoulders, and cloaked by his invisiblity.
A few of the passers-by thought it very, very strange when they saw a girl climb onto the railing of a crosswalk leading to a skytrain station, and then leap off and disappear into thin air! But strange things happen all the time in Bangkok, and sometimes they are strange and magical things.
The young dragon and the girl zoomed along the elevated tracks of the skytrain, past the victory monument, heading northwards. Chatachuk market came into view, with its clocktower and covered stalls. The dragon craned his neck back around, but was still unable to recall her name. Finally he gave up trying and left it off the question "Do you like the view?"
She was entranced. "This is the best way to go sightseeing. I usually get stuck in traffic jams and missing trains and buses. It's like I'm cursed. Flying with an invisible dragon is much nicer."
He was pleased to hear this. "As of this moment, your curse is lifted. Forever."
It was hot, and zooming across the skies was more attractive than shopping in a market. "Where shall we fly to now, good dragon?"
He cast his gaze along the skyline. "Hold on tight, Miss..." Why couldn't he recall her name? Must be some kind of strange magic.
The girl with the magical name felt a special feeling. "Look dragon! Art Street... I'm home." She dismounted, re-appearing to all the world.
Some little part of the magic around them told the dragon it was time to depart. "I'm going to leave you here, Miss..." He wanted to ask her name again but was too embarrassed to ask, so he left it out and continued. "What will you do?"
A little sparkle filled her eyes. "I know a place where I can go dancing..."
He bid her a nameless goodbye, as he spread his enormous wings to depart. "Look up when you dance, and wave. I'll be there." With a beat of his wings he rose into the heavens.
Later that evening, he kept his promise. While she was living it up dancing in a street club with friends, he was above and invisible, diving and looping-the-loop to the music. He couldn't see clearly if she was waving to him, but he was sure she was.
What neither of them knew, as they felt the soul and the music of the city in their veins, was just how much magic they had made. For the moment the sound of her magical name reached the ears of an invisible dragon, a strange magic began to grow. A strange magic that made him forget her name... a magic that lifted a curse... a strange magic that found her a special kind of new home.
Strange things happen all the time in Bangkok, and sometimes strange things are magical things.
The girl with the magical name is alive and well and living in Bangkok
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