The Golden Games

One day Grimon the golden dragon, with his mighty gleaming horns and his ferocious claws and teeth, his black body with a pattern of glittering, golden scales across his middle and shoulders, and his smooth golden underbelly, he, Grimon, one of the most important dragons of the time, realised that he had a problem.

He had collected a massive treasure hoard of gold over the years. There were smooth stacks of gold bars, rough nuggets piled like pebbles and engraved gold coins from sunken pirate ships. There were golden goblets and plates, an assortment of jewellery and a few shiny trophies and medals.

But Grimon was worried that he would become too greedy if he kept all his gold. He’d be unable to think of anything but his gold and would want to get more and more. He had seen this happen to other dragons and it had never ended well. He thought, “What should I do with my gold? If I keep it, it will corrupt me like it has corrupted many other dragons. I have too little gold to give to all the other dragons, and it would be unfair to give my gold to only a few of the other dragons. Oh, what shall I do with my gold?”

But then Grimon remembered that he had recently overheard some two legs talking about something that would happen in a couple of months in Greece. Grimon strained his memory for a long time, trying to remember what the two legs had said, and then it came to him: “The Games will be happening in two months.”

The Games! Grimon stretched out his wings and took to the air. When Grimon arrived in Greece, he stealthily watched the Games and saw that they gave prizes to the best in each event.

Then Grimon knew what he would do. Every four years he would hold his own secret version of the Games. It would be called the Golden Games and only dragons could attend and enter. The winner of each event would get a golden prize out of his treasure hoard. So Grimon sent out word of his competition to the far ends of the Earth.

All the dragons of the world came. The bravest and strongest competed in a variety of different dragon events. One event was the fire breather, where the dragons endeavoured to see how fast they could melt a ton of gold. Another event was the mid-air marathon, where dragons raced to carry gold 26 miles through the sky without being seen by the two legs.

So Grimon’s Games saved him from the curse of gold greediness. They still secretly continue to this day.

Sam Plant, 8.