Susmita wanted to be a knight. She was strong and brave and unafraid.

Sure, the dragon breathed fire. But there were people with worse breath. And sure, the Dragon looked scary. But there were dogs in the village with scarier faces.

One day, the dragon had come down from his nest and was hiding in the cornfields.

Everyone ran to escape the dragon. Everyone except for Susmita.

Armed with her homemade sword, helmet and shield, Susmita ran through the deserted village toward the cornfield. 

When she spotted the dragon, Susmita snuck up behind him.

“Excuse me!” Susmita yelled. The dragon roared. He lowered his head to her level. Susmita felt the dragon’s hot breath on her face.

“I’m Susmita,” she said. “I’ve come to tell you to go away. You’re scaring everybody.”

“Why should anyone like you?” Susmita replied. “You burned down the castle.”

“I didn’t burn down the castle,” the dragon said. “It was struck by lightning. I would never do that.”

“Wow,” Susmita said. “Sounds like you’re the victim of a smear campaign. We’ve got to fix this. What are you good at?”

“Breathing fire,” replied the dragon.

“Well, let’s see it,” ordered Susmita.