Alex Waller is currently a junior at St. Norbert College. He is working towards a degree in English with minor in French. He originally hails from New Jersey but now is a full time resident of the De Pere area and loves it. Although, he clearly has a passion for languages, two of his other major interests are hockey and art. He plays for the De Pere Deacons, a semi-pro hockey team, and loves that he is able to get out on the ice. Additionally, he is a talented drawer and hopes to one day go to art school and work professionally as an artist. He has contributed some of the illustrations in this anthology.
Sarah Wallenfang
Sarah Wallenfang
THE dragon of neo london
By Alex Waller
For over a year now, the London bridge has been blocked, and no hover cars were able to cross the River Thames. The reason for this was not hard to find, and could be seen clearly whether in sunshine or in shadow. The world, while becoming increasingly advanced in technology, in the year 2789, had become increasingly ignorant as well. Political conflict, as well as animosity, dominated the world stage over other players such as tolerance, intelligence, and cooperation. A new cold war had been feeding off the anxieties of the Earth’s citizens for some time now. For every resident on the planet knew nothing else but the fear that corroded the world’s collective spirit. The reason for this was because this new cold war had been going on for almost two hundred years, and everyone on the planet was at least seventy years younger than that.
Security was considered the top priority, and for this reason many of the more advanced countries blocked their borders, leaving only a single pathway that one could leave the country on. In England, the London Bridge was along that isolated trail, meaning that the bridge had to be crossed in order to exit or enter the country. However, a creature had emerged from the River Thames. One very terrible and very destructive dragon emerged. Green and scaly, no one knew where the dragon had come from, except that one day it emerged from the Thames and proceeded to stake its territory on the bridge.
All military action had failed against the dragon. Powerful machine guns, tanks, drones, jet fighters, and the most elite soldiers of the special forces all attempted to subdue and kill the dragon. However, no matter what they threw at the dragon, all attempts were done in vain, and none were the least bit effective. The British Government, seeking to establish some semblance of control over the situation, decided that if they could not control the beast then they would control the people instead. The British government set up a fifty-mile quarantine in every direction from the spot where the dragon resided, as it deafeningly roared and blew fire.
The state became increasingly worried about the dragon and even more desperate for a solution. No longer seeking contemporary military approaches for slaying the dragon, they began to explore folklore. Never encountering a dragon before, the government resolved that perhaps the remedy was to slay a dragon the way the knights did in the old legends, which was with nothing but bravery and a sword. Quickly, volunteer soldiers were enlisted to put on the newest in armor technology and were given electrically charged swords in order to slay the dragon, as the legendary Knights of the Round Table had once done.
Suffice to say, the achievements of Arthur and his noble group of knights remained a legend. The dragon had decimated every soldier well before they were close enough to even strike a blow with their technologically advanced swords.
All hope seemed lost. Every conceivable method of attack would not work. As crowds of protest grew in size and anger around the perimeter, the government was out of options, and every citizen of the country was lucky the dragon chose to stay in one spot instead of extending its radius of destruction.
A young grunt in the British army understood that nothing the powers that be came up with would work. The dragon could not be moved by force, no matter how hard it was barraged by violence. The only way to calm the situation would be to convince the dragon to leave the bridge, as the dragon could not be hurt or killed. The young man told his commanding officer that he wanted to talk to the dragon. The officer was surprised at the young man’s courage but even more annoyed by his seeming stupidity. Nevertheless, as all protocols were being abandoned because of the insurmountable odds, the officer gave him permission to approach the dragon.
The young man, skinny and short and without an intimidating attribute, bravely walked up to the dragon. The dragon roared loudly and breathed fire. However, the fire the dragon breathed never actually touched the young man, and without hesitation, he continued to walk toward the dragon despite the beast’s threatening signals. Eventually he was close enough to touch the dragon. He pet the dragon on its neck and on the side of the face. The dragon calmed down, and for the first time in a long time, there were no roars that stormed throughout the city. To everyone’s great surprise, the dragon began to shrink and was soon a small salamander, as it was common to see them around the shores of the Thames. Seeing that the dragon was shrinking in size, the soldiers gathered around to see—and kill—whatever the dragon had become. However, the young soldier dropped the salamander along the shore before any soldier could see what the ferocious dragon had become. When the young man was asked of his outstanding feat of bravery, he stated that rage and fury is never defeated with more rage and fury, but instead with kindness and empathy. As the young man was bombarded by the press after the encounter, he quietly prayed that the world would learn from the miracle that had just occurred.
Security was considered the top priority, and for this reason many of the more advanced countries blocked their borders, leaving only a single pathway that one could leave the country on. In England, the London Bridge was along that isolated trail, meaning that the bridge had to be crossed in order to exit or enter the country. However, a creature had emerged from the River Thames. One very terrible and very destructive dragon emerged. Green and scaly, no one knew where the dragon had come from, except that one day it emerged from the Thames and proceeded to stake its territory on the bridge.
All military action had failed against the dragon. Powerful machine guns, tanks, drones, jet fighters, and the most elite soldiers of the special forces all attempted to subdue and kill the dragon. However, no matter what they threw at the dragon, all attempts were done in vain, and none were the least bit effective. The British Government, seeking to establish some semblance of control over the situation, decided that if they could not control the beast then they would control the people instead. The British government set up a fifty-mile quarantine in every direction from the spot where the dragon resided, as it deafeningly roared and blew fire.
The state became increasingly worried about the dragon and even more desperate for a solution. No longer seeking contemporary military approaches for slaying the dragon, they began to explore folklore. Never encountering a dragon before, the government resolved that perhaps the remedy was to slay a dragon the way the knights did in the old legends, which was with nothing but bravery and a sword. Quickly, volunteer soldiers were enlisted to put on the newest in armor technology and were given electrically charged swords in order to slay the dragon, as the legendary Knights of the Round Table had once done.
Suffice to say, the achievements of Arthur and his noble group of knights remained a legend. The dragon had decimated every soldier well before they were close enough to even strike a blow with their technologically advanced swords.
All hope seemed lost. Every conceivable method of attack would not work. As crowds of protest grew in size and anger around the perimeter, the government was out of options, and every citizen of the country was lucky the dragon chose to stay in one spot instead of extending its radius of destruction.
A young grunt in the British army understood that nothing the powers that be came up with would work. The dragon could not be moved by force, no matter how hard it was barraged by violence. The only way to calm the situation would be to convince the dragon to leave the bridge, as the dragon could not be hurt or killed. The young man told his commanding officer that he wanted to talk to the dragon. The officer was surprised at the young man’s courage but even more annoyed by his seeming stupidity. Nevertheless, as all protocols were being abandoned because of the insurmountable odds, the officer gave him permission to approach the dragon.
The young man, skinny and short and without an intimidating attribute, bravely walked up to the dragon. The dragon roared loudly and breathed fire. However, the fire the dragon breathed never actually touched the young man, and without hesitation, he continued to walk toward the dragon despite the beast’s threatening signals. Eventually he was close enough to touch the dragon. He pet the dragon on its neck and on the side of the face. The dragon calmed down, and for the first time in a long time, there were no roars that stormed throughout the city. To everyone’s great surprise, the dragon began to shrink and was soon a small salamander, as it was common to see them around the shores of the Thames. Seeing that the dragon was shrinking in size, the soldiers gathered around to see—and kill—whatever the dragon had become. However, the young soldier dropped the salamander along the shore before any soldier could see what the ferocious dragon had become. When the young man was asked of his outstanding feat of bravery, he stated that rage and fury is never defeated with more rage and fury, but instead with kindness and empathy. As the young man was bombarded by the press after the encounter, he quietly prayed that the world would learn from the miracle that had just occurred.