Sam was always curious. He couldn't help it. It was in his nature. If Jon, the shopkeeper did not intend for Sam to look around the shop, he would not have hired him to be his assistant. And if Jon did not wish for Sam to open the dragon chest, then he would have done more than tell him one time to not touch it. Jon should have hidden the chest. It was only natural that Sam should find his way in the stock room, all the way to the end, and behind Jon's desk, where the chest sat on the floor.

Before Jon left for the bank, he told Sam "Don't fool around too much, and stay away from my desk."

That was a whole two minutes ago. Sam had already perused the front of the shop many times before. Sam was a very peculiar 10 year old boy, with dark skin, and curly hair. He was thin, but tall for his age. He always told other's "I'm fourteen, I'm just small for my age." He was convinced he had them all fooled. Sam wore a patched up plain tunic, and brown sandals. His mother always made sure he was clean and presentable before he left the hut, and Sam knew he partially owed his new job to her diligence.

Barely able to contain his curiosity, and for fear of dying of boredom, Sam made his way to the stock room. More strange items line carts and shelves. Lion's breath candles, assorted potions, candy, fairy dust, goblin fangs, and left over snowmen tears from Christmas. Nothing that Sam hadn't already played around with a few times over. Except..

The dragon chest. Sam made his way to the other end of the room until he stood before Jon's desk. Scattered coins, ledgers, and books spread across the desk's surface so much they appeared to be floating. Sam crept behind the desk and then he saw it. The Dragon Chest.

He'd heard rumors about the chest. Tales of a petrified dragon egg inside, or of a dragon scales made of gold. All the rumors and stories pointed to something of value inside, of rarity particular as it relates to dragons. This would be rare indeed as dragons hadn't been seen in hundreds of years. Little is known of how Jon acquired the chest, but the whole town was talking about it. But the whole town didn't happen to be recently hired to work in the shop where the chest of such talk was kept. Sam did.

Sam was never much for taking his time, and while he could appreciate the beauty of the chest, in all of its shimmering splendor, he couldn't wait to open it. He knelt down in front of it and popped the latch. A draft escaped the chest door, like a seal of air being breached. Smells of burning firewood and ocean water seemed to fill the room. Sam opened the door slowly, and fell to the floor. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

The chest door was like a window in the sky. Inside the chest was no singular dragon egg or pile of dragon scales. It was another terrain entirely. There Sam sat, peering down into this sfar off land. A beach, a bonfire with no guests, and the ocean's tide lie below. This chest was a door to some other place, but Sam did not know where.

But, why is it called the dragon chest? Sam thought to himself. Not soon enough though, as fire suddenly erupted up through the chest door. Sam fell out of the way as a burst off flames flew through the chest and into the shop. The flames subsided and were replaced by an angry roar from a creature Sam did not recongize. But Sam was always curious. Deciding it was safe, Sam crept back over to the chest and peered in.

That's when he saw the family of dragons. Some sitting by the bonfire. Some flying over the beach. And one staring right up at him, perhaps ready to light the shop on fire.