text: I can smell him. His deep breathes and long exhales gently push my hair back on my head. I love him. The way his chest rises and falls. I try and match it so we can be even more in sync. I swear though that he notices what I'm doing and messes with me by breathing faster. I know because that small smirk crosses his face. I would be nothing without him. He makes me who I am. He's made me a better person in all avenues of my life. He saved me.....I drift off into a deep slumber. Our breathing finally in sync. I awake to wind rushing fast into my face. It's not unpleasant just surprising. He's taking me somewhere again. Something must've stirred within the night and woken him, making him uneasy. This happens quite often. He takes me somewhere new every night. I look down at the rushing land below me. Mile after mile are just eaten away. At first this sensation scared me, looking down to see the land I used to dwell on flash by so fast. Now none of that worries me, I know he will protect me. We rarely set down for more than a few hours at a time now days. Every night is shorter than the last, and this night is no exception. I feel the weighYt of my eyelids pushing downwards. I fall into a restless sleep. Something just doesn’t feel right. My dreams damn me. An endless fall. This has never happened before. I wake up to a burning sensation. I look down at my hands, grabbing tightly to his neck. His rough skin is glowing. Slowly spreading across his whole body, bringing an intense heat with it. The pumping of his giant wings are unwavering though, as if nothing were wrong, but something definitely is. I look back as his boney tail slowly starts to smolder and turn to ash. For a second time stood still as I tried to comprehend what was happening. I hug his neck tightly, ignoring the intense pain. I cant lose him, not now, not ever. His head starts turning to ash now. Slowly making its way towards me. I squeeze even tighter as his whole body disintegrates in my hands. There's a delay before I plummet towards earth. Stars whizzing past me, speed ever increasing. Tears occupy my eyes but are quickly taken from me. The dirt that which I was able to escape, I finally am coming back to, and its going to be my end. My grave. Its dark in his room. A moonless night hides everything within its folds. Except that for a dog. He senses something is wrong. He knows that the man under the covers is growing old. Every day he sleeps just a little bit longer, but he usually doesn’t stir quite so much in his slumber. The bed starts to shake. The dog jumps up and starts barking hysterically. The man under the covers wont stop convulsing, he can smell something foul emit from his mouth. As quickly as it started the convulsing stopped, but the dogs bark did not. Turning more and more into a wimper as the days go on. Once a sound can no longer be made he crawls up under his masters arms, joining him in his endless slumber.