Deep in the dreaming dragon's brain he felt a rhythmic pounding.

Thump. . . thump, thump. . . thump, thump.

He burrowed into his psyche, clinging to the patterns of sleep.

Leave me alone. Too tired. The thoughts burbled up through the foggy layers of his brain.

The pounding of a hundred puny arms and legs picked up in tempo, beating against his thick hide. A zealous young man ran forward and whooped into the soft hole of the dragon’s ear.

Irritation shredded the dragon’s dream. He opened his eyes, lifted his head off its sandy bed.

A rowdy cheer from the crowd on his back greeted his wakefulness. His would-be riders renewed their pounding, the stomp of their feet like so many hail stones raining on his hide.

With a shudder the dragon sprang off the beach into the sky. He flicked his head to dislodge his noisiest passenger, then dropped his jaw in a smile as the young man managed a spiral before splashing into the water below.

I'll show them who can twist, he mused, and threw his body into a graceful dive. The screams of his falling passengers were cut off as they hit the water, but many still clung to his back.

He skimmed down close to the surface, than swooped straight up and over in a giant backward somersault.

The plunk, plunk, plunk of people hitting the water rewarded his effort. He had just a handful of riders left. He circled up into the loop once more, but at the bottom of the circle dove straight into the water. One, two, three, four, he counted the seconds under water. That ought to do it.

Slipping up to the surface, he coasted to the beach and burrowed into the soft sand.

Sleep. And dreams. Ah, yes . . . this was where I left off . . .

His thick hide twitched as a last pair of feet staggered off his back and slid to the sand beside him, then he was lost in his dreams.