The case of missing spare change

Finally it was the weekend.
Working all day long on different projects is tiring.
But I shouldn’t complain, as it’s quite rewarding.
My income is stable, and well above the average.
So what if I have to work a bit overtime every single day?
Well, I am told I think this way only because I have no girlfriend/wife to come home to.
I can’t argue with that logic.
I would choose my partner over those numbers, and laptops any second.
Alas, my luck with women is non-existent lately.
They either are overly obsessed with my job or overly obsessed with themselves.
They aren’t even pretending to be interested in me or my hobbies.
I understand, of course, that at our age, talking about our jobs and views on more general things are the first topics.
But come on…
At the 2^nd or 3^rd date, we should be able to talk about shows, movies, books or some hobbies we are interested in.
And “hanging on social media” tells me nothing.
And it’s a normal hobby, I acknowledge that, but if I ask more questions like: “what do you watch, follow and so on…”
They usually just shrug, laugh it off with a “You know, the usual. Clips from here and there, music, and content created by some influencers.”
Nice answer, that told me something, I guess.
Ugh…sorry, I derailed a bit too much from the topic.
The topic that’s quite important, as it changed my life.
So, as I said, it was finally the weekend and I was relaxing.
I did the laundry, and prior to putting my clothes in the washing machine, I checked all my pockets.
Some spare change was gathered, which I usually left randomly on tables or furniture.
But this time, something was off.
I’ve left the change on the table, just in the living room.
And while I made sure that I’ve done everything I needed to do…
The spare change disappeared.
I checked under the table, under the carpet…but nothing.
I was certain that roughly 10 or so coins wouldn’t just disappear on their own.
And yes, 10 or so, you’ve read that right.
I shop a lot, and I pay in cash a lot, so I’ve gathered a lot of change.
And since I don’t like to fiddle with my wallet, I just throw the change in my pockets.
Now, enough with that, back to the missing change problem.
“Where the hell did my change go?”
I murmured.
And just then I heard a thud in my garage.
I went to investigate.
Of course, not before calling my best friend, and taking a frying pan.
“Yo, Dan, why are you calling?”
My best friend answered his phone.
“Andrew, I heard a noise in my garage, right after some money disappeared from my living room.
Going to check.
If you don’t hear about me in an hour, call the cops.”
I said.
Of course I omitted that the money that went missing, was some spare change.
“Got you mate.
Will call the cops in an hour, but I am getting ready and going to you right now as well.
Don’t do anything stupid.
I know you don’t give a crap about yourself, but there are people who do.”
He said, and hang up.
Damned Andrew, he always knows what to say.
I carefully walked into the garage, and switched the lights on.
There was nobody in there, or at least not in plain sight.
The garage door was shut close, and the windows are of that thin slit type, so I doubt anyone, but a pancake-human could slip through those.
Then, I remembered something.
In a corner, forgotten by me or even time itself, therein lie a possible hiding spot.
A couple of old, humongous boxes that I’ve used to move to this house…
If someone were to hide between those, they could.
So, like any grown men, I steeled my courage, took a hammer from nearby, and threw it at the boxes.
And it made a loud noise, but then nothing.
I went with my trusty frying pan closer, and moved the boxes there was nothing.
As I started to chuckle to myself, I heard a stifled whimper of sorts.
“What the…
I hope it’s not a raccoon, rat or even worse, a huge spider that can whimper.”
I murmured, as I moved away even more boxes.
There, in the now almost empty corner was a hole.
Looking into the hole, I could see unimaginable wealth.
Kidding.
I saw a lot of coins, mostly the spare change I must’ve left around the house in these 2 years since I’ve bought it.
And upon and amidst the coins, there was resting a … dragon.
Well, it looked like a dragon.
It had dark red scales, golden eyes, a spiky tail and emerald green scales on its stomach.
Clearly a dragon, but…
It was the size of a kitten, and currently was looking like it was trying not to cry.
“Did I scare you with the hammer?”
I asked, looking into the hole.
The dragon actually nodded absentmindedly, before realizing I was looking at it, and burying itself into the pile of coins.
Not long after I’ve found the hole, Andrew arrived as well.
“Dan! Dan! You alright?”
I could hear him shout from my entrance.
“Come in! I am in the garage!”
I shouted back.
Andrew came in, and saw me staring at the hole.
“What are you looking at?”
He asked.
“At the hole?”
I said, rolling my eyes.
“What hole?”
He asked, as he kneeled down as well.
“Here? This hole?”
I said, putting my hand in the hole.
He just looked at me puzzled, while the mischievous dragon actually tried to bite me.
Since it was clear something was amiss, I just shrugged.
“Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me.
Never mind, I found the change, let’s go.”
I said.
We went to the kitchen, and had several drinks, before sitting down and playing some games on the console.
But after that, I finally started to have a reason to come home early.
I had a dragon about whom I needed to learn a lot.