Birthday Money Rush

    Priam tried to hold in all his excitement while he was slipping his boots on. He was in a good mood that morning because today is a special day. It was his youngest brother's 10th birthday. His brother's name is Quirin. He was a small walking ball of sass. One of the ways he let out his emotions was writing. That's why Priam decided that he would give Quirin a pair of expensive quills. The only problem was that Priam didn't have enough money for it. That's why he decided to spend the day going around their small hometown doing some small jobs. By the time Priam made it out the door, the sun was slowly rising over the distant trees. He took a deep breath and jogged down the street to start his busy day.

As Priam is walking down the street, he sees one of his neighbors struggling to carry a heavy-looking box to a parked wagon. He decided to go over and see if they needed help.

" Hello, Mr. Roy!" Priam waves as he walks up to the man.

" Oh? Well hello there, Priam. What are you doing out of the house so early?" Mr. Roy sounded out of breath as he shifted the big box in his arms.

" Well, today is Quirin's birthday. I'm going around town to see if anyone has jobs that I can do for some extra cash." Priam said excitedly. " Speaking of which, do you need any help with that box? It looks pretty heavy." Mr. Roy gave a small smile.

" That is very nice of you to offer you help. I Have a few other boxes that need to be moved into the wagon. I can get this one myself." Mr. Roy says as he slowly makes his way to the wagon. Priam quickly makes his way to the stack of boxes and picks up two of the boxes. They were heavier than expected and he stumbles a bit. But before anything can fall, he catches his balance and puts them in the wagon. Piram is a bit more careful the next time he picks up the boxes.

After an hour of work, all the boxes were in the wagon. By the time they were done, it was around eight-thirty. " Thank you for all your help Priam. I don't have much to give you but I hope this is enough." He says as he drops four silver coins into Priam's hand.

" It's fine Mr. Roy and your welcome. Have a nice day!" Priam starts to walk away toward the center of town. He puts the small coins into a pouch on his hip and starts to jog.

The closer he got to the town square, the more people he saw roaming the streets. When he got to the main square, people were already putting up venues and having small talk. Soon the square was bustling and the chatter was so loud that Priam could barely hear himself think.

Priam decided that it was a good time to go up to some of the vendors and see if they needed help.

After working with the vendors for hours, Priam had enough money for Quirin's gift. He walked into a small little shop and the edge of the square. The shop was warm and welcoming. Priam looked around the shop for the pair of quills Qurirn was eyeing the week before. After looking through the shelves of quills and papers, he found them. The quills were long and thin. The feathers on the quills were a mixture of browns and bronze. He picked them up and walked to the empty counter. He stood there awkwardly for a moment before he noticed a small bell that said 'Ring Me!' on it. He rang the bell and waited for a moment before he heard a loud thud come from under the counter. A moment later, a man sprung up from behind the counter and looked at him.

" So sorry about that. We don't get a lot of business so I thought I would take a nap." They say as they rub the back of their neck. " So what can I do for you?"

" I would like to pay for these quills please," Priam says as he places the quills on the counter." Oh, and can I get those in a bag, please?"

" No problem." The person said as they took the quills and put them in a bag." Here you go!" They said happily as they gave the bag back to Priam." Have a nice day!"

"Thank you!" was the last thing Priam said as he left the store. The sun was starting to set on the walk home. There was a small breeze by the time Priam got home.

"I'm home!" Priam yelled as he closed the door behind him.

" Your home!" Priam's younger brother, Bou, yelled as he talked Priam in a bear hug. "Where were you all day? You were gone when everyone got up. You didn't even leave a note!" Bou said with a worried expression.

" Sorry Bou," Priam said with a nervous expression" I guess I just forgot."

"Well, a least your back in one piece. Now come on, father just finished cooking dinner." Bou then let go of Priam and ran to the dining room.

"Heh" Priam laughed to himself as he put his gift with the others.

When he went to the dining room, he saw his whole family at the table and around the room.

" I see your finally back." Said his older brother Pavel, who barely looked up from the book he was reading.

" Heh, yeah. I think you should put the book away soon. It will be hard to eat with your face in that book." Priam said.

" Oh shush, you two." His mother said while putting plates on the table.

By the time they all sat down, the food was already starting to cool. Priam got an idea that made him smirk.

" Hey, dad?" He said looking over to his father.

" Yeah?"

" I think we should sing Quirin happy birthday," Priam said. He glanced over at Quirin and was happy to see his brother's scared face. Iver, his father, seemed to get the idea and played along.

" That would be a wonderful idea." Iver stood up and said loudly, " Hey, how about we sing happy birthday for Quirin?"

The whole family got up and started singing.

Priam looked at Quirin and grinned. Quirin was still seated and had hidden his head in his arms. When they were done singing Quirin lifted his head to reveal his bright red face. Priam couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or rage. Either way, it got everyone to laugh. They all sat down and started to eat dinner.

"Time to open presents!" yelled Bou as he dragged Quirin to the living room.

" Slow down!" Said Quirin. " I swear, one day you're going to give me whiplash."

" Sorry," Bou said as he picked up one of the presents and shoved it into Quirin's hands. " Open it!"

After opening some of the presents, it was time for Priam's gift.

" Here you go," He handed the small bag to Quirin. " Hope you like it."

Quirin slowly took a long box out of the bag. The moment Quirin saw the beautiful feather quills, his face lit up.

" How did you know I wanted these!" He said while looking closer at the feathers.

" Let's just call it, 'Big brother sense'." Priam said with a small smile.

" You just saw me looking at them from the store window, didn't you?" Quirin said with a small grin.

" Maybe." They all laughed and continued opening presents.

" Good night everyone," Priam said. He didn't wait for an answer as he walked up the stairs. He was exhausted. He slowly dragged himself to his bed and flopped down onto it. 'Today was a good day.' was the last thing he thought before he fell asleep.