Hmmmm, thinking out loud here...........

"A dragon lives forever... Without his lifelong friend, Puff could not be brave..."

So Puff is left to pine forever for his friend, the little boy who did not live forever.

From that perspective, it seems cruel to offer Puff more children to befriend, children who will not live forever and for whom he will eventually pine as well. Sorrow upon sorrow!!

If there's to be a happy "ending" for a dragon whose life never ends, I think it must have to do with his learning to be brave again even though his child-friend is gone. In other words, it needs to become a song about working through the mourning process and carrying on. It would have a more bittersweet ending than the Jackie's-children one, admittedly, but certainly a less saccharine one... and something that kids could remember when one of their friends moves away or passes away.

Sooooo, in this scenario, what happens to Puff to cause him to be brave enough to come out of his cave, regrow his scales, hold his head up and frolic in the autumn mist once again (and forever)??? Hmmmmmmmm....... let me see what I can come up with............... or, if anyone else has thoughts about this concept, bring 'em on!