And Effie was right. That afternoon Towser was bitten in the garden by a dragon about the size of a rabbit, which he had tried to chase, and the next morning all the papers were full of the wonderful "winged lizards" that were appearing all over the country. The papers would not call them dragons, because, of course, no one believes in dragons nowadays—and at any rate the papers were not going to be so silly as to believe in fairy stories. At first there were only a few, but in a week or two the country was simply running alive with dragons of all sizes, and in the air you could sometimes see them as thick as a swarm of bees. They all looked alike except as to size. They were green with scales, and they had four legs and a long tail and great wings like bats' wings, only the wings were a pale, half-transparent yellow, like the gear-boxes on bicycles. What is the effect of the opening scene with Effie and the creature in her eye? (5 points) a It suggests the events will lead to real physical pain and suffering. b It suggests the events will soon become a brief, painful memory. c It suggests the problem is at first quite small and unimportant. d It suggests the problem will remain insignificant like a dust speck.