Hector (aka George), the Hero Gargoyle
When I first met Hector, he was on the back porch of my granddaughter’s new house. Maya, my great granddaughter, was frightened by his eyes, so he had to go. I, however, felt drawn to him, and so I took him home with me.
As all 50 pounds of him was placed in my garden, I said, “Your name should be Hector.”
“No, no ,no,” he pleaded. “Please, my name is George.”
“But, but,” I sputtered, “I just feel your name is...”
“Quiet!” He demanded in a loud whisper. “Can’t you see, I’m missing one wing and one ear?”
“Yes” I said, “I had noticed.”
“Well, how do you think that happened?”
And with that he began telling me his story.
“I became at the beginning of eternity in a place beyond infinity. I was trained to be Guardian of the Stewards. I learned quickly and did my job well. Maybe too well. I accumulated a few enemies along the way in the form of fire breathing dragons.
“I was assigned to guard the home cave system of a long line of Earth Stewards. This lineage was very benevolent and always championed the populations of Earth. This did not go over very well with the dragons who wanted to enslave the Earth’s populations, and control all Earthly resources.
“A True Dragon, the most feared beast of Dominaria, began circling the area; checking out the fortifications...which consisted of me. I was much, much, much bigger then. This happened millennia ago.
“Diablo Respiración de Fuego Dragon (that was his name) started attacking the caves entrances, which meant he was also attacking me. It was my job to protect the caves and those who lived within them. It was a ferocious attack, lasting many earth years. In the course of wing and fang to claw combat, I lost one wing and an ear. But I battled on. One day I decided I had enough, and I starred Diablo down with such a fierce look, that I literally took all the fire from his breath. That’s why my eyes glow fiery red today.
“Diablo slinked off in disgrace. There were parades and feasts in my honor, but he had one more card to play. My name went at the top of the Most Wanted List of the Fire Breathing Dragon Consortium. I was no longer of any use to my assignment. I changed my name to George and went into obscurity. All of that caused my body to shrink down to the size you now observe. I’ve had to move around a lot, the last place where you found me...that back porch...where I was not wanted and, most importantly, unloved. I haven’t known love in so long...
Hector began sobbing softly; huge tears ran down his cheeks.
“Oh, Hector, I’m so sorry.”
“For the love of all that’s Galactic, don’t call me that! Do you want to bring the Consortium down on our heads? I’m in no shape to fight them!”
“George, I’m truly sorry. Look, I’m going to do some research on the Consortium, and I’ll get back to you. In the meantime, you just sit here enjoying the sunshine and your new home.”
It took a while, but I hit pay dirt and rushed back to give George/Hector the good news.
“George! Woo hooooo! Listen up!
“About a millennium ago, all the records in the Most Wanted Library burned. Nothing was left but fine ash. It seems that the Fire Breathing Pre-School was next door to the Library. One little whelp, just learning how to breath fire, under-estimated his new-found ability. He took in one deeeep inhalation of air, held it in his internal furnace, and, with a powerful Wooooooosh, let it rip. Right into the Library. All the Most Wanted records were right in front and they went up in flames.
“As time went by, the old dragons started not remembering so well. They forgot to pass on vital information to the youngsters, and soon the Most Wanted list was forgotten. There is not one fire breathing dragon alive today that remembers what you did to Diablo! They don’t even remember that there was a dragon named Diablo! You’re free! HECTOR!”
“How can I ever thank you? If I wasn’t 50 pounds of solid stone, I’d jump up and down for joy! You can call me Hector, or anything else you want! I haven’t been this happy in literally Ages!”
I set about decorating his new home by planting mums all around him.
I swear he smiled.
