Eep

Cynthia was never one to like critters.  Big barking dogs, a snake in the garden, a mouse in the garage, her heart would jump and her brain would race with initial surprise.  She was jolted back with a sledgehammer to the chest in the face of a papier mache lion dragon the size of an SUV that was staring her down just a nose length away.

The wind had been knocked out of her from the fall despite the empty boxed breaking it.  She panicked to gather air back into her lungs.  She already felt like she was dying and the beast had not even touched her yet.  She wiggled to back away through the crushed boxes until she hit the wall behind her. She froze.

Eep…  she squeaked through gasping short breaths. Gathering her wits she reached for her sword pointing it to the beast’s nose defiantly.

Bad!  Bad… um… dragon.  The dragon snorted sparks and a plume of smoke.

She gave the dragon a wap on the nose with the flat of her sword that surprised it enough to blink and shake its head.  As the dragon was distracted she rolled herself between its thick legs and launched herself to leap over its thick waving trunk of a tail. She ran past the beast and around the corner of the hallway.  Dead end.