Plural Stories

"dragons may be make believe -- that doesn't make them fake."

Blurb: A children's song about a young boy and his imaginary dragon friend.

Why is it worth your time?: I mean, if you want a sad song about the abandonment of childhood wonder and dreams, there's the original. If you want the happy ending, you can read Spider Robinson's 3rd verse addendum!

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, otherworld, imaginary friends, nonhumans [dragon], friendship

Content Warnings: loss of childhood innocence and wonder

Access Notes: This is a very well-known song and easy to find lyrics and recordings of. It's also on archive.org! Spider Robinson's verse is also freely available online, because the fanzine he put it in (Niekas #30, from 1981) got digitized a while ago. If you are TRULY deadset on owning Robinson's verse on paper with an illustration, it was also printed in Fifty Extremely SF* Stories, edited by Michael Bastraw.

Misc Notes: Since Robinson's verse is so short, I just copy-pasted it into the comments below, because it seems like the kind of ephemera that might disappear. I know he's performed it live, but I haven't found any recordings, sorry!