The Magical Veterinarian
“Paws and Miles?” the pretty dark haired nurse asked. When a young man in the crowded waiting room nodded and stood, she smiled. Her fangs showed, just for a moment. “The wizard will see you now. Follow me.”
Miles tugged a little on the lead and his dragon uncurled and stepped carefully over the unicorn and the basket of rainbow colored bats. They followed the nurse further down into the large underground tunnels. She left them in a cave lined with straw after checking the dragon’s vitals.
“We could fit your whole house in here, Paws,” Miles said.
The dragon blew out a puff of smoke and curled up again. The young man found some chairs lined up along the back wall of the cave. He picked one and set it down next to his friend. There was a little chime, and then someone knocked on the open door.
“Come in,” Miles said. “Are you the wizard?”
“I’m a wizard,” an older man said. “I’m Wizard Andrew.” He pointed to his nametag.
“What does the MV stand for?” Miles asked.
“Magical veterinarian,” Wizard Andrew said. “Are you Miles?”
Miles nodded. “And this is Paws.” He patted the dragon’s side. The dragon opened one eye and snorted.
“What seems to be the problem?” Wizard Andrew asked.
“He loves ice cream,” Miles said. “But it puts his flames out. So he’s too cold all the time. He has a coat he wears around the house, but he won’t wear it outside.” Miles frowned, and Paws curled up even tighter and turned his back on Miles and the wizard.
“That is a problem. Ice cream isn’t very good for dragons,” Wizard Andrew said.
“Yes, I know,” Miles said. “It’s kind of a weird story.”
“I’d love to hear it,” the wizard said.
“Well, my grandparents gave Paws to my parents as a wedding gift. You know, to guard their new home and such.”
The wizard nodded. “It’s not uncommon. I assume he was still pretty young.”
“Just hatched,” Miles said. “I was born a few years later.”
“So you grew up together,” the wizard said.
“Yes,” Miles said. “And I’m a shapeshifter, and Paws was my best friend.”
The wizard laughed. “So, I suppose that half the time, your parents were raising two little dragons.”
Miles smiled. “That’s pretty much it. They tried to limit sweets, and mostly they did pretty well. We both had a bit of a sweet tooth though.”
“That is unusual,” the doctor said. “Usually dragons prefer spicy food.”
Miles laughed and patted Paws again. “Oh we do. But, we’ve both always liked the same things, and I love sweets too.”
“And you haven’t had a problem with his flame going out before now?” the wizard asked, writing some notes in his chart.
“Before last week, we never gave him all that much ice cream. Just a scoop to go with a slice of cake or whatever,” Miles said. “But, last week Miles was pretty sick, and my parents are out of town. He wasn’t eating, so I took him to the store to see if there was something else he wanted. All he wanted was the ice cream. He was better in a day or two, but he’s still refusing to eat anything but ice cream.”
They both looked up at Paws. Paws looked over his shoulder and blew a puff of smoke at them. Wizard Andrew laughed. “A stubborn one, is he?”
Miles looked embarrassed. “Mom says he learned it from me.”
Wizard Andrew laughed again. “Well, I’ll tell you what I think we can do. I’ll prescribe a mix of herbs and peppers to use as an ice cream topping. I recommend adding some vegetables as well. The topping should balance out the ice cream enough to stabalize his body temperature.”
The wizard wrote a list on his notepad and handed it to Miles. “Thank you, Wizard Andrew,” Miles said.
“I would suggest you offer him his favorite foods first, before you dish up the ice cream,” the wizard said.
Paws grumbled and Miles laughed. “We’ll try it,” he said.
“Now go get him home and back into his warm coat,” the wizard said. He smiled and gently patted Paws on the side. Then he left to see his next patient.
