Wren and the Sand Dragon
The wells are dry. Hurry.
A scorched note arrives on the leg of a dragon no bigger than a sparrow. This time Wren asks first, and this time Papa comes too, with three hundred cinnamon buns.
Far to the south lies the town of Seven Wells, where every well has run dry and the sand dragons who once sang the springs up out of the ground have vanished from their cliffs. All the water that is left belongs to the jolly Duke of Brim, who sells it by the cup, and is never once not thirsty.
Wren is honest now. But in a land with not enough of anything, she starts counting. She tucks a few buns away, just in case. Then a little water. And everything she hides turns to sand in her pocket.
An old woman with a lantern has a flour jar that never empties so long as she keeps giving bread away. Wren will have to learn her secret before the last cup is gone.
This story is still being written, so details may change.
What it teaches
- GenerosityWhat Wren clutches turns to sand. What she gives away comes back as rain.
- Enough for todayOld Tansy’s jar was never meant to be kept. It was meant to be enough for today.
- Fear makes fistsNobody in this book hoards because they are wicked. They hoard because they are frightened.
- Kindness to an enemyThe turning point is a cup of water given to the man who took all the rest.
For parents: the Bible underneath
The story never names God or quotes Scripture. These notes show where each part comes from, so you can make the connection yourself. Each verse has a plain-words summary; read it in your family’s own Bible.
Bread for today
Hoarded buns turn to sand, as hoarded manna spoiled in the wilderness. God gave Israel enough for each day so they would learn to trust him for the next.
- Exodus 16:4, 19-20God sends bread each morning. Some kept extra overnight, and it rotted.
- Matthew 6:11Give us today the bread we need for today.
The jar that did not run out
Old Tansy bakes for strangers out of a nearly empty jar, like the widow who fed Elijah with her last handful of flour.
- 1 Kings 17:8-16The widow shares her last flour and oil, and the jar does not run empty.
A small lunch, shared
A boy offers five buns and two dried fish for a hungry crowd. It is laughably little, and it goes all the way round.
- John 6:5-13A boy’s five loaves and two fish feed thousands, with baskets left over.
Bigger cisterns
The Duke of Brim keeps building bigger tanks and is always thirsty. Jesus told of a rich man who built bigger barns and missed what mattered, and promised a different kind of water.
- Luke 12:16-21A rich man stores up everything for himself and is called a fool.
- John 4:13-14Whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty again.
A drink for an enemy
Wren’s last cup goes to the Duke. That is what breaks the drought.
- Proverbs 25:21If your enemy is thirsty, give him water to drink.
- Luke 6:38Give, and it will be given to you, pressed down and running over.
Talk about it
- Why did Wren start hiding buns? Was she being greedy, or scared, or both?
- Papa gave their water to a stranger’s child. Would that have been hard for you?
- The Duke had more water than anyone and was the thirstiest. How can that be?
- What is something you could share this week that feels a little hard to give?
Good to know
Being written now. Light peril: dust jackals, a sandstorm chase and a bursting cistern.