An Illusion of Dragon

 

     Yes, he still remembers and cherishes that connection…

     More than four decades ago, he, then a married man with kids, suddenly got close with a pretty single co-worker.

     She showered him with favors and attention; the other workers could see that.

     She would flirt with him with her eyes and would always be thrilled to see him.

     She would always ask him to sit close to her whenever they were together in a room.

     “If you have any feelings for her,” he would tell his male friends, “Forget it.”

     He was certain she would eagerly run away with him once he decided to leave his family for her—but he decided to stay with his wife.

     And that she remained unmarried because she couldn't get over him.

     “Do you see that?” he tells the man in white standing beside him when something distracts him from his reverie, and he points outside the window, to a nearby tree.

     “What is that?” asks the man, a stethoscope quietly dangles from his neck.

     “A dragon, nestling at that tree. It looks magnificent and it—oh, no, no, no, no, No! Forget it,” he exclaims, emphasizing the last word. "No one believed me when I said that I saw a black unicorn in the garden last month." He turns away from the window and starts walking away, his walker loudly clanking against the tiled floor. “Hah! You’ll accuse me again of having delusions, of suffering from hallucinations, of inventing stories... that I've become senile.”