A Princess Summoning

A Princess Summoning: Training

Princess Summoning chapter 3

            In the middle of the woods an arrow pierced the air, dodging the long rows of pine trees. The grown out waves of grass leaned forward from the sheer force of the wind the arrow made as it passed by.

Dong.  The tip of the arrow snagged into the red circle, painted on a tree stump ten feet away, the feathers attached to the end of the arrow bouncing up and down from the force. Ben smiled, jumping up from his crouched position on the patched yellow and green grass, fist pumping the air. He hit the mark. He did it. He looked at Mary who was standing behind him, a spare bow in her hand. He puffed out his chest in triumph. She has to admit, Ben thought. I’m pretty boss.

            Whack!

            “What was that for?” Ben yelled, rubbing his head where Mary hit him with the bow.

            Mary’s smile twitched as she tapped her shoulder with the bow, each light hit vibrating with evident amused frustration. Ben just looked away, his lips turned down into a frown as Mary said, “Did I tell you to hit that target?”

            “But I hit a target. Right in the middle! Ten feet away!” Ben complained, plopping back onto the ground and thumbing the grass. He sighed and gestured to the arrow to show it to Mary, in case it wasn't obvious enough. And it was true; the arrow was exactly in the middle of the bull’s eye. Sure, he did accidentally hit the small tree stump instead of the taller tree next to it, but still…he was just proud that he was able to get the arrow to stick to something instead of bouncing off the target.

It had only been a month since he learned how to use the bow and arrow.To come from barely knowing how to hold the arrow to shooting it perfectly was pretty darn good, if you asked him. He probably held the world record: no one else he knewcould learn how to make and use a bow and arrow in a month. Why couldn’tMary be satisfied?

            “Yes, you’re right Benjamin,” Mary said, her voice slow as if trying to make the boy understand. That annoyed him. It made him sound as if…as if I was a little kid, Ben thought. That she needs to speak a different language to me, cause I obviously do not understand adult words.

Mary kicked Ben’s back from behind. Ben could feel the exasperation from the light tap, but he didn’t look at her. His cheeks were inflated, his lips turned down into a pout, fingernails scratching the dirt and coming out grass stained green.“Don’t mess with the grass and listen.”

Ben stopped. He clumped the grass in his hand and sprayed it at Mary’s feet. She sighed. “Ben, you hit the mark…but it wasn’t the right one. I told you to hit the tree trunk that was next to the stump.”

“What’s the difference?” Ben muttered. He made a hit. Such tiny nit picking was stupid. He was only nine-years-old; really, Mary needed to remember that. I can’t always be perfect, he thought.

            “Because, lets say we are facing a dragon and I told you specifically to hit its eyes. Would you hit its toes instead?” Mary said.  Ben just sighed and squint his eyes. The arrow that he was so proud of began to blur the longer he stared.

            Mary was right. Ben knew that. Even though Ben knew he couldn’t be perfect, he had to be. If he does not become perfect, he’d be a failure.  And failure was not an option. Not with his sister on the line. Sweet Sara who sacrificed herself to the Princess’ Curse- the curse that would eventually lead to the Princess’ Fate where she would die all alone in the highest tower of a castle with no windows or door. Just for Ben and everyone else in the village.