A Foolish Leap

                  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Rowan asked.

                  “Absolutely!” the young man said.

                  “Just don’t land on your back or belly. I don’t want to fish you out of the water because you can’t breathe.”

                  “No, no, I’ve got this, trust me!”

                  Rowan, a young dragon, strong and tall enough to carry a human, thought for a moment about the human’s request. As stupid as it seemed to fly the daring human over the open water and let him jump, it seemed to bring the humans such joy and excitement. Not only to the young man, but to the group of friends watching down below. He thought about the human’s desire to take such a risk and wondered if it would be worth it. “Humans can be so foolish”, he thought, “never thinking things through all the way”. The human’s desire to try something he had never done before, nor could control, impressed Rowan.

                  With a slight purse to his lips, the dragon gave a slight sake with his head, then nodded for the human to jump on.

                  “Hold on tight, without a proper flight harness, this gets dangerous.”

                  “Alright! Let’s do this!” Waving to his friends below, the young man climbed onto the back of the dragon. They all cheered from below. The young man tested a few positions, then settling in, he let the dragon know he had a firm hold. “Okay, let’s go!”

                  Rowan smiled, looking at the cheering friends from the bottom of the cliff. He let out his own hooting whoop of excitement and ran towards the edge of the cliff. With a quick leap, the dragon launched into the air. A few heavy swoops with his wings boosted his elevation, and he glided on the updrafts of the air.

                  Rowan looked back to make sure his human friend held on. The young man beamed with excitement. Rowan chuckled.

                  “Okay, is this good?” Rowan asked of his human rider.

                  “Yeah, yeah, this looks good!”

                  Rowan opened his wings, letting the air lift his body upward, angling vertically. The young man hopped into a crouch, and timing it just right, he launched off the back of the dragon, into a double backflip, floating downward, landing in the water with a minimal splash. He surfaced, whooping and hollering at his success. Dragons and humans along the shorelines all cheered on the acrobatic young man. Rowan laughed; glad the young man had made a successful landing. Adding dragon flight to cliff diving introduced an extra risk of the adventure, but the young man pulled it off.

                  Rowan circled a few times to make sure the young man could swim on his own, then glided in circles into the cool refreshment of the water.

                  Ahhhhhh, summer!

                  Rowan cherished these moments. Dragons love the warmth of summer, but even the heat wears its welcome in the world of dragons. The crisp, clean waters felt cool and refreshing. Rowan surfaced, floating on his back. He outstretched his wings to help keep him afloat, letting the subtle current drift him wherever the water wanted to take him. Feeling weightless became one of those fond summer memories for Rowan. As a dragon, he spends a large amount of time in the air. Life in the air requires constant effort. One might drift or glide for a moment, but dragons do not have the luxury as the lightweight birds to let the wind do most of the work. It requires constant effort and work to remain aloft.

                  In the water, Rowan didn’t have to exert himself to feel the sense of weightlessness. Gently waving his tail while undulating his wings easily kept him afloat in the calm waters. In this liquid world, he could simply float, enjoy the summer, and reflect on life. Though his profession did not require his philosophical mind, he enjoyed pondering the mysteries of life. A habit he formed in his younger years, always asking why, then thinking of answers to his own questions.

                  Rowan thought about the symbolism of the river waters he floated in. The massive river supplied the city with so many necessary essentials, although most overlooked asset it offered was a sense of escape, a sense of freedom, a moment of weightlessness. Rowan thought about all the stresses from life in the city. The requirements put on him by his community, his job. Even the challenges he piles on himself to improve to become a better, stronger, and smarter dragon. The water offered a brief escape from it all.

                  Rowan recognized he wasn’t the only one that found a sense of joy in the river waters as he looked at the other dragons and humans cheering and enjoying the watery escape. Rowan chuckled. He thought about how stupid it sounds to define ‘fun’ in such simple acts of splashing or jumping in the water. Throwing dirt or rocks in another’s face would be considered assault, but throwing water in each other’s face seemed to be ‘fun’. Choosing the right element seemed critically important. Rowan laughed to himself with his realization. His logical mind analyzed such a concept, concluding that sometimes the most foolish of ideas can lead to the greatest happiness.

                  Rowan looked out over his friends and the growing cluster of strangers that joined them along the beaches for a unique moment of refreshing summer fun. One dragon ran and jumped off a cliff with a massive splash into the water. Rowan laughed, shouting at the dragon.

                  “You have wings, you know!” The humorous duplicity of humans seeking dragon flight, and dragons seeking human leaps, made Rowan laugh all the more.

                  Once again, proof that sometimes the most foolish of ideas can lead to the greatest happiness.

                  Then a young woman took her turn, running and jumping off the cliff. Rowan could only imagine the rush of excitement for a being that could not fly to be so high in the air. Then he saw her land in the water, off kilter. Rowan knew the effects of such a slight mistake. A few quick paddles with his tail and he glided to her location. As expected, the young woman came up out of the water, making odd gulping noises as she tried to breach the surface. But the impact knocked the breath out of her. He knew she would be fine, but he could tell the panic had taken over.

                  With a quick dive under the water, Rowan swam under the flailing human, and rose to the surface, lifting her up on his belly. He gently grasped her shoulders, so she knew she was safe.

                  “Hey, look at me, look at me!” Rowan guided the still struggling young woman. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you. You don’t need to swim, just relax.” Moving his wings in full motion, he tread water with enough lift to turn his belly into a floating island. “You hit the water hard. It knocked the breath out of you. It feels weird and kind of scary, but you’ll be fine. Just relax and focus on breathing.” 

                  The young woman looked at Rowan and nodded. Rowan could see her expression shift, realizing she had stable ground in the viscous world of water. She relaxed, calming down. She coughed several times as her breathing returned to normal.

                  “Oh…” *pant* *pant* “Thank you!” The young woman took another deep breath to regulate her breathing. “I appreciate that. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that before!”

                  “A first timer, eh? It always feels scarier than it really is.”

                  Still coughing, the young woman nodded her head, making one more cough and deep breath returning to a normal cadence of breathing. “Yeah it is! Nobody told me the water can hit you that hard!” She coughed a couple more times.

                  “C’mon, let’s get you back to shore,” Rowan paddled his way over to the edge.

                  To Rowan, humans were fascinating creatures. The young woman could have potentially found herself in a dire situation, in the middle of the water, unable to breathe. Yet she waved excitedly at the cheering crowds along the shore. As they floated onto the shoreline, the young woman gave Rowan a big hug.

                  “Thank you, thank you! Seriously, you’re a lifesaver. I owe you one!”

                  “Don’t worry about it. Anytime.”

                  The young woman joined her friends with excitement. They cheered as she recounted all the details of her wipeout to the friends now surrounding her. They all laughed with ‘oohs’ and ‘awes’. Rowan shook his head with a smile as he joined the group of humans and dragons along the shore. Listening to the group of friends retell the traumatic experience, he laughed along with the abundant joy of a potentially harrowing experience.

                  “Why?” Rowan thought to himself, observing the raucous crowd with a smile. “Humans are so different from dragons. The girl did not show any form of sufficient skill. She failed to accomplish anything great. In fact, her actions were the opposite, a full display of no physical ability. But the others cheer her on as if she accomplished something meaningful. Dragons only praise acts of excellence, accomplishment, and ability. Humans do as well, although humans also seem to praise the opposite, a characteristic not common to dragons. Praise for the ridiculous.”

                  Rowan observed as the group of friends as they talked and laughed, regaling harrowing stories of their own wipeouts, encouraging others to go jump from the cliff. Some now asking the other dragons for an extra lift following the lead of the young daredevil he assisted earlier. Rowan realized humans were kind of dumb.

                  Yet they seemed the happier for it.

                  Rowan thought about the other dragons in his life that often criticized humans. “Simple pleasures for simple minds.” Rowan believed such thoughts were purely judgement, and not observation. He believed there was more to it than that, possibly a much more sublime, yet intelligent, approach to joy: allowance for the ridiculous.

                  “What if that was one ingredient to the happiness in humans? Embracing the opportunity to be foolish, to find success and accomplishment in nothing? Maybe that’s how they find joy so easily. Could this principle also connect to the concept of love?” Rowan continued to think through his observations. The drive for love or being in love was a core motivation factor in the world of humans, one that dragons did not share in their culture. Most dragons focus on the very practical needs of living, building community and improving ability. Dragons rarely pursue relationships for the sake of love.

                  “Maybe that’s what dragons are lacking?” Rowan thought. “Maybe we’re missing the whole point of this life. There is a constant pressure to build a world that future dragons could thrive and continue to build from. Although, if every action was to make the future better, what about joy in the present? Are we meant to only feel accomplishment and success at the end of our lives?”

                  This concept of ‘love’ swirled around in the mind of Rowan.

                  Rowan noticed a female dragon there that day he wanted to talk to. He recognized that she excelled at her flying abilities, watching her take to flight from the water, a feat quite difficult for most dragons to pull off successfully. Rowan figured that’s what drew his attention to her. He couldn’t stop looking at her, and he notice she kept looking at him. Rowan thought he understood why he wanted to look at her. She excelled in her flying abilities and displayed excellence in accomplishment. Her abilities impressed him. But what did he ever do? Why would she look at him? Dragons rarely find another’s kindness and empathy a praiseworthy feat. Rowan couldn’t imagine his helpful acts impressed her. Maybe his cultural upbringing skewed his ability to understand her emotions. He noticed her looking at him frequently. “Could that mean something?” Rowan thought. 

                  Dragon culture avoids defining what is attractive and what isn’t. Dragons see themselves for what they are, what lineage and heritage they come from. Dragons found great pride in never considering one pretty and another ugly. Yet, he loved looking at the elegant dragon. How she flew, how she moved, how she talked with others. The shape of her eyes, the color of her scales. Rowan found a certain excitement by looking at her. It made no sense to him whatsoever. After all, his culture trained him to play off such emotions. His mind grew more obsessed with the idea of love.

                  “Is this what humans do?” Rowan thought to himself. Aware of his own odd behavior, he wondered if it’s possible more dragons feel like this, and never acknowledge it. The strange thoughts filled his mind.

                  “Maybe dragons are missing one ingredient.”

                  “Ridiculousness.”

                  “Maybe that’s the key,” Rowan thought to himself. “Being dumb and foolish. Maybe dragon culture has looked down on human culture far too long for their lighthearted antics. Maybe everything the dragons credited themselves with as a higher level of living, in fact, held them back?”

                  Rowan thought for a moment. “I think I’m about to do something dumb.”

                  With that thought, Rowan stood up and walked over the female dragon.

                  “Hi, my name’s Rowan,”

                  She smiled. “I know.”

                  Rowan smiled. “Let’s go for a swim.”

                  “Let’s.”