Jerad's Place

Over on the far side of the rocky hollow you notice a young man leaning against the doorway of a weyr. He is of medium build, with light brown hair, and muddy-hazel eyes. He has a kindly face, but you gather from his pose that he thinks he is very cool. Hum...perhaps he hasn't looked in a mirror lately. That haircut is really something else.

Well, there's not anyone else around at the moment, so you decide to go have a chat with him. "Hi!" you start out, extending a hand. He shakes it briefly, and then turns to look away. He doesn't say anything, so you try again. "Um, can I ask your name."

"Jerad," he says, still not looking at you.

Oh brother. You could get better conversation out of the watch-weyr. "Is this your place," you ask, peeking through the doorway beside him. Inside you see the standard stuff, dragon couch, shelves with oil,writting desk, etc.

"Yes," Jerad replies, sounding bored.

"He's trying to get rid of me," you think to yourself. Just then you hear the dinner bell from the kitchens. On impulse, you grab Jerad's hand and say, "Meal time, come on!" You attempt to pull him away from the wall. Something seems to jerk him back. You glace up at Jerad's face, and discover that he is looking decidedly embaressed. You try pulling him again, with the same result. "What's going on?" you demand.

Jerad's face is going red now. "I'm stuck to the wall," he admitts. You open your mouth to ask how that happened, but he hurries on, "I was making a model ship earlier, and somehow I got some of the glue on the back of my shirt. This is so embaresing. I didn't want anyone to know."

You smother a laugh and tell him, "Just a minute, I'll be back." After a few minutes of serching you find the Weyr Harper, who follows you back to Jerad. Within a few minutes, Jerad is free of the wall.

"Thank you!" he says. "I'm sorry I was rude earlier."

"That's okay," you tell him. "So, what are you doing here in the weyr?"

"Oh," replies Jerad, "I'm a candidate for impression at Pyralis Weyr. If I do manage to impress, my dragon and I will live here."

---

A Few Weeks Later...

"So you did impress!" you say, smiling happily at your friend's fortune.

"I did indeed!" says Jerad. "You didn't happen to bring any meat scraps with you by chance?" You shake your head no, and Jerad gives a ruefull sigh. "I can't seem to get enough into dear Denalith here to keep him happy. "He thinks I'm his nurse-maid! Won't do a thing for himself." Despite the words, Jerad's eyes betray how much he adores the young Denalith. You think he'd do just about anything for his dragon. After giving the brown a hard time about it, of course. Before Jerad can say anything more, though, he stops and cocks his head to the side, as if listening. Suddenenly his face goes red. It looks like Denalith can hold his own in a battle of wits. Well, the two are engrossed in each other. You decide its time to visit some of your other friends in the weyr. Before leaving, though, you take a look at the scrapbook you noticed on the desk.

Name: Denalith
Age: Hatchling
Color: Brown
Gender: Male
Rider: Jerad
Mother: Saraidith
Siblings: Yup.
Mate: Nope.
Children: Uh-huh.
From: Pyralis Weyr

Page last updated: Wed. Jan. 12, 2000