The Medallion of Human Ecology:
A Fictional Account of Reality
Marisa Glass

   I had always heard about the dragon, although when I was growing up I could not notice the signs of its presence. For within the city walls it was easy to forget that the dragon was eating all the peasants' crops, making the people of the land go hungry, and was stripping forests bare so that sand took its place. But as I grew older my friends in the city became glass makers, and iron workers, and other such apprenticeships in the hope to one day be as successful as the Royalty. And yet I felt no purpose in a guild. So when an old man entered through the city walls one day with a large sign slung over his buggy saying, "Help Needed to Slay the Dragon," I knew that was what I wanted to do.

   "You?" the man looked at me suspiciously. "Do you even know anything about the dragon?"

   "Not too much." I replied. "But I know that the world has fallen under its curse, and I want to help

   The old man looked about at the many people hurriedly rushing around his cart. "Well, I guess I will take who I can. Come with me to the village and I will teach you how to track and fight the dragon who is slowly sucking the life from this world."

   It was the first time I had left the walled city, the first time I had left my parents. The old man took me to the forests, so dense and dark I felt that if I ever strayed off the path I would be unable to move between their branches. "This course is two-fold. The first is to learn the markings of the dragon, to see what is really happening here. You will see the dragon's footprints soon." Just then the road made a turn and before me was a long trail of stumps, a graveyard of trees. "And the second part," we continued on down the trail, "is to find the medallion, the only thing that can slowly make a dent in the dragon's progress."

   The old man took out of his pocket a crumpled map. "I am becoming too old, but if you follow this map that has been created from trial and error, it should lead you to where the medallions are kept." Then the grey eyes of the old man looked seriously at me and for the first time I could see a hint of kindness within them. "You are not the first to go through this training, others also have medallions and continue to use them against the dragon even today. But there are those that don't make it that far, for this is a difficult journey, and you must be strong."

   I took a deep breath and watched the forest slowly space out into white barked trees, and in the distance I could see an opening in the canopy where sunlight filled a field. "I can do it, I know I can." I said in a voice that was not as confident as I wanted it to sound.

   The little brown horse pulled us to a small village near a stream that coursed through the open fields. The people came to greet us with smiles saying, "Oh you will slay the dragon for us, won't you?" I felt like a hero already, but had no idea what was to come.

   For the first two years of my training the old man taught me about the strange barren markings in the forest, and to listen for the loud growl and crashing of the dragon. "Be very quiet," he told me. "You are not yet equipped to combat such a beast, we must just follow it."

Soon I learned to walk silently in the woods, to scurry up the tall rocks quickly without leaving any trace behind me. Soon I could track the dragon easily and silently, enduring the cold and ice of the winter.

   But as the food of the village was scarce, I had packages of food sent every day from the city for myself, the already-cooked bread and rice would still be warm as I opened up the bundles. And although I was very generous, the people usually crowded around me with hunger in their eyes.

   For the third and fourth years the old man told me to start following the map on my own. I was nervous, but said my sad goodbyes to the old man as I took his horse into the dense forest alone. I packed with me many rations of food and kept the map in my bag at all times. But one night, as I slept curled next to my fire, the dragon came and took all my belongings, my map included. I woke with nothing, nothing to eat, and no direction to go to. But I could see the clear footsteps of the dragon and decided to follow him so that I could get my map back. own food from what the woods provided, but I didn't even know how to cook what I collected. For many nights I slept through pains of hunger. But as the snows of winter began to melt I mastered making fires and cooking delicious meals from the woods. light as I entered the dark cavern. For many miles the cave wound deeper and deeper, until at last the tunnel began to curve up again. Soon a bit of light shone at the end of the tunnel and I walked out into the courtyard of the Royal Palace.

   Without my packaged food I tried to remember what the old man had taught me about getting my

   Finally I found that the trail of the dragon led into a large cave and I lit a branch coated in pitch for

   And there before me lay stacks of wood and food, and on top of that my map was placed. One of my friends from the city who became a house builder walked up to the pile of wood and I ran up to him, waving my hand. "Hey!"

   "Oh hello Sondja," he smiled and then looked over my dirty clothes. "Where have you been you look terrible." But just then I felt the hot breath of the dragon blowing my hair into my face, and I turned to see two red eyes in the shadow of the pillars. I screamed, running to my friend who only laughed at me.

   "Hey, it's alright, that's just our friend who helps us builders get supplies to make houses."

   I was horrified, "You are friends with the dragon?"

   "I know he looks scary, but he really is sweet and would never hurt anyone. See, he brings us resources, and we feed him dandelions." He took a handful of dandelions out of his pocket and let the great big tongue of the dragon reach out and grab them. "I mean even you owe everything to this dragon, that's how your nice house was built and all the food of the city is made."

   I stood in shock for a moment, and then as my friend said his goodbyes I grabbed the map and headed out of the city.

   After a few more weeks of trying to pick up my trail on the map, I discovered that it only led in a circle, back to the village where I started. I arrived and the old man was very pleased to see me. "Did you find the medallion?" he asked with a big smile.

   "No." I said a bit angry.

   He began to laugh, "Of course you haven't, here come this way and I will give you what you deserve."

   I was not pleased about this joke that the old man had me go through so much for no reason. "I know where you have been - to the palace, am I right?" he asked. I nodded as the old man led me into a small hut on the far edge of the village. "Then you know who the dragon is?"

   I wasn't quite sure what he meant. "Well yes, I met the dragon face to face, but he was very nice, he only ate dandelions." The old man laughed again.

   "Yes, yes, yes, come and I will give you your medallion." We entered the house and he opened up a chest and rummaged through the clattering of many objects. "Here it is," and the man turned and handed me a small pendant on a chain. I looked at it carefully and noticed that although one side was silver, the other side was a mirror.

   "Now you know that you too are the dragon. But don't be discouraged, we all do terribly things sometimes, and unless we are educated about it, these atrocities will continue to happen through ignorance."

   I looked into the mirror and noticed how much I had grown. "Now go back to the city," the old man told me. "Be who you have become and slowly but surely this world will heal."

   Epilogue:
   This story is a metaphor for what I went in search of in my Human Ecology degree. I wanted to save the world and was told that with Human Ecology I could. And I can, but what I have learned more than anything that it is not a piece of paper that is powerful. It is what I have learned along the way that will affect this world for the better, and that this integral learning should never stop.