"I'd like to be a hunter, sir. You know. Hold a harpoon? Fire a crossbow? I wouldn't mind just reloading for the other hunters until I get the hang of it."
"Don't be silly. You couldn't do that while out in the center of the field, being bait!"
"I wasn't talking about doing that while being bait. I'd rather do it instead of being bait. Sir."
"But nobody else has yer special gift, son."
"I don't think it's all that great . . ."
"Why, sure it is! In all my years hunting dragons, I've never met someone who attracts them like you do. You've got a gift."
"The gift of smelling delicious to dragons? Sir, I never asked for this."
"Just 'cause a gift is unexpected doesn't mean it ain't a gift."
"A knife to the back can be unexpected. That doesn't make it a gift either. Sir."
Alas, of the credit of this rather amusing work goes not to myself but to Brandon Sanderson, a somewhat new and rather brilliant writer. This is an excerpt of an attempt to create a short story based solely on dialogue. The complete story can be seen at:
http://brandonsanderson.com/library/91/Recent-Short-Stories-I-Hate-Dragons
