Photo by Alexandro David

The Wishing Map is a full-length fantasy that is being posted episodically at this site. To read the previous episode, click here. To read the entire novel, begin here.

Everything changed the moment the dragon’s egg Gina had unwittingly sat on hatched! The little dragon turned its face toward her, its big emerald eyes filled with devotion. Its golden-brown muzzle was lined with soft-pointed canines like a puppy’s. Its lace-trimmed tail and swan-curve neck were astonishingly beautiful. No, not beautiful—artistic. Only this masterpiece was alive!

It gave a plaintive cry, half rumble, half mew, and began to shake. Gina had been so overwhelmed with everything that was happening she’d failed to notice the chill until now; it might be summer in Middleton, but it was more like late winter or early spring in Ismara. She was glad she’d worn her big terrycloth…