There is a tale about a dragon who can never be killed. Not by harming her body anyway. Because the secret of her power is hidden not within her fearsome chest but far away in the middle of a lake on which a church squads with a well, home to a duck whose egg rests in a nest.  It is within the egg the dragon’s heart resides.

I always think of this tale as an allegory for becoming a parent.  Quietly, God has given you the gift of immortality.  You (the dragon) can die but part of you will live on via your child (the egg).  But the gift comes in exchange for what has been taken away. Your peace of mind. You no longer fear your own death but you fear your child’s all the more.  The egg is out there, the danger is preying on it.  And you know, should anything happen to it you will be crushed in hell.