Punishment

"Dragon! It is once again time for you to fulfill the contract with the state, and perform your duty as executioner."

The huge beast opened his eyes, stretched out along the ground and awoken from his slumber. He glanced at the fox in chains and then at the uniformed big bear guard. A booming voice came in reply, "Brought me another murderer, have you?"

"No, sir, the condemned is a lawyer.”

“Well!” said the dragon with no shortage of delight in his voice. “Just starting with one?”

The guard shook his head, “Sir, he has been convicted of robbing a bank and arson.”

With his bottom lip stuck out in a sad attempt at a pitiful expression, the fox nodded.

The dragon blinked, “Those have become serious crimes, have they?” He turned his gaze toward the fox. “Just how much did you steal?”

After a long moment of watching the fox but only hearing silence, the bear reached into his pocket and flipped through a small notebook. "Two thousand and one dollars." He looked up to find the dragon with a rather bemused expression on his snout. "Ah! But there's the matter of the arson," the bear continued, reading the notes, "for burning the stolen money."

The fox shuffled on his feet, still remaining silent.

In contrast the dragon looked more confused than ever. "And that's worthy of capital punishment?"

"Actually, sir, it says here the convicted had more than enough to cover that amount, plus damages, in an account at that very same bank. The bank was willing to drop charges, but that amount was just over a threshold that mandates prosecution.

"For the trial he insisted on representing himself. But in court, the convicted did nothing more than throw insults at the judge. The contempt of court addition automatically triggered some old 'three strikes' law still on the books. And here we are."

The big scaly beast shook his head, and turned to the fox. His deep voice slow and deliberate, "And you put up no fight to this, sent to be fed to me on some technicality? Have you nothing to say at all?"

“Well?!” said the guard with impatience at the fox’s continued silence. He raised a paw and smacked him across the back. “Answer the dragon!”

Startled, the fox finally opened his mouth, only to have a plastic bag stuffed full of white pills fall out.

“What is this?!” The bear snatched the bag off the ground and looked at it closely. “... Antacid tablets? Why do…”

“I think those would be for me,” the dragon said with a single nod.

“What? Did you think this would neutralize stomach acid so you could escape?! This would only delay it at best. What are you…” The bear trailed off as blinked with realization, the last to put it all together. He gasped. “You planned for this to happen all along! You knew exactly what it would take, and .. engineered this, this…” He turned toward the dragon. “Sir, no! We can’t do this, he wants this to happen! This isn’t punishment…”

With a swipe of a paw the huge dragon backhanded the bear away, sending him backward a few feet. “I have no problem with that at all.”

“Squee!” said the fox, as he flew through the air toward the wide open mouth.

Trophy To Be

She unlocked the display case, opening the glass door. Inside were various items, old and new, ranging from swords to necklaces and pendants. Her dust wand carefully touched each item, meticulously maintaining the cleanliness of each.

One shelf was special, prominently displayed yet a relatively sparse collection of similarly organized items. She dusted the picture frames, each showing a portrait of one critter, then the neatly folded clothing next to it, and finally the skull sitting atop that, acid etched but thoroughly cleaned. The dragon's favorites.

She paused upon reaching an empty spot on the shelf, turning around and pointing inquisitively at the space.

The dragon looked up, then gave an affirmative nod. With a lick of his lips he pushed himself from his chair, and went to fetch the camera.

She smiled, paws smoothing out the wrinkles in her skirt, making sure she looked her best. She left the display cabinet as it was. There was no need to lock it now, it'll be opened again shortly anyway.