Picture Prompt #7
Again, my inspiration has come from my brilliantly imaginative five year old. We found a beautiful, white stone on the beach, and she brought it home because it is a dragon’s egg of course.
Everything Has A Price
“Just the shells alone are worth a lot of coin. What you have here is a fossilised egg of sorts. If the eggs didn’t hatch the mothers would bury them. Over hundreds of years the shell and insides would harden into this rock like substance. I could find someone who would take this off your hands.”
Sayed may as well have shouted kerching if the look in his eyes is anything to go by. Horton knew his friend too well. He may be able to bluff his way through a high stake game of poker, but he couldn’t dupe Horton. Not that he ever would.
“What cut are you in for?”
“Twenty five percent.”
Horton laughs. “A quarter? Have a word with yourself, man. You know I never go higher than fifteen.”
“This is worth a lot of coin, Hort- a. lot. of. coin,” Sayed says, turning the egg in his palms. Horton raises a brow. “There is not even a scratch on the shell, and judging by the markings it’s a rare beast. Even in the time of the dragon’s this species was a thing of legend.”
“How much?” Horton presses.
“To the right buyer… between three and four million.”
Horton nearly coughs his drink out of his nose. “You’re shitting me?”
“I shit you not, my friend. This sale is going to require a touch of decorum, but I have a man in mind. He’s been having some intriguing conversations with people he shouldn’t be seen conversing with. He’s good for the money and he’s in the market of unblemished dragon’s eggs- rare ones in particular.”
Horton takes the egg from Sayed. It is an ugly brown colour and speckled in black spots. “Who would spend that amount of coin on this ugly paper weight.”
Sayed smirks, it is as if he has been waiting for Horton to broach the question. “The rumour mill says that they are more than just ornaments. I assume you’ve heard the legends about the dragon’s ability to regenerate? Apparently, they could lose a limb and grow another in mere months. That’s what made the buggers so hard to kill. Well… it seems that the unblemished, unbroken eggs may just hold the key to that regeneration. That, my friend, is why they’re worth a fortune.”
“Are they extracting D.N.A?”
Sayed shrugs. “I couldn’t give a monkey’s ass. I want twenty five percent and that’s my final offer.”
Horton shakes his head at his friend’s brazan approach to coin. “If you get four million for this ugly lump of rock, I’ll give you thirty.”
All written works and images are the property of K.J.Chapman
