Once, there was a dragon full of tears. The dragon seldom cried, for if she cried the heat from her breath turned her tears to steam. The steam would turn to fog and then the dragon couldn't see where she was going, or, where she had been. This left her feeling lost and so alone, which made her even sadder.
This was such a terrible situation, feeling so sad and lost at the same time. So, the dragon just held back the tears and became more and more depressed.
One day a Pixie was gathering due drops in the meadow. The dragon's den was at the edge of the meadow in an outcropping of rock. As the Pixie drew near the cave entrance and saw the dragon she said,
"What are you doing in the dark?"
"Being sad and depressed," replied the dragon.
"Well, of course you are," giggled the Pixie. "You're sitting in the dark on such a beautiful summer morning; that would depress anyone. Come out here and take in some sunbeams; that will make you feel much better."
"I don't want to," snapped the dragon, "sunbeams make me sneeze!"
"You may sneeze once, some days, maybe twice on others, but that's all. When the sneezing is over your head will be clear and you'll feel much better, honest!" prodded the Pixie.
"If I sneeze, I'll burn the clover in the meadow; for a hundred yards the clover will fry," sighed the dragon. "I'd rather smell the clover uncooked, if you don't mind." The dragon sighed again and put her head down on a rock.
"Well, duh, so sneeze Up!" the Pixie replied.
"Hmmm?" Wondered the dragon. "I never tried sneezing Up. That might save the clover."
"So, you'll come out now?" questioned the Pixie.
"No," was the dragon's reply. "I'm much too sad."
"What have you got to be sad about? You're a magical dragon for pete's sake," the Pixie scolded. "Not only can you breathe fire and fly, you can ride on clouds for hours on end. Being able to do that would sure make my day," the Pixie grumbled as she gathered another dewdrop.
"Oh, and another thing," said the Pixie, "you can cook your food as you eat it, no pre-heating the oven, no ma'am, just blow and eat. Boy, what a deal! You should be counting your blessings, not sulking," scolded the Pixie as she arranged the dewdrops she had just gathered.
"But I can't cry," whined the dragon. "It turns to steam and the steam makes fog, then the fog gets real thick and I can't see. If I can't see, then I have no way of knowing where I'm going or where I've been, and that makes me even sadder."
"Well?" wondered the Pixie out loud, "if you lay in that den all day and night, never coming out, then you haven't gone anywhere. You don't need to see where you've been or where you're going because you haven't moved," the Pixie pointed out. So, as far as I can see, that den may be the best place to do your crying, if you really must. You know, just get it over with. You'll feel better and won't miss a thing," laughed the Pixie, her green eyes all aglow.
What the Pixie said took the dragon quite by surprise. It was true, out of fear the dragon had not ventured out for such a very long time. She had not gone anywhere.
"What a waste." she thought, "All that time lost forever."
Wouldn't you just know it? The thought of all that wasted time made the dragon even sadder. In fact, it made her so sad that she actually started to cry.
Well, the tears flowed like rivers and the rivers turned to steam, then the steam turned to fog and the fog got thicker and thicker. Even the Pixie had to take cover, wrapping herself in a fallen leaf from a nearby tree.
Then, a funny thing happened, not funny Ha-Ha, funny peculiar. The fog started to rise. It rose higher and higher into the sky and formed one huge and very beautiful cloud. It was the biggest, puffiest, whitest cloud anyone could hope to see. It looked so great floating along the skyline!
"Well, what are you waiting for?" asked the Pixie? "Aren't you going to take a ride on your brand new cloud?"
"I do believe I will," said the dragon with a grin. "You want to come along?"
The Pixie laughed and said, "I thought you'd never ask!"