Wingfeather Saga: the next generation

Janner's Birthday

Esben Wingfeather sat in front of his parents room, rocking back and forth on his feet. He held a smooth, blue gray stone in his hands. Today was his father's birthday and the rock was a birthday present.

Suddenly, the door cracked open. Esben jumped up and cried, "Happy birthday Pa- oh."

Papa had not opened the door, it was his mother, Sara.

"Ben? Why are you standing outside the door?"

Esben felt his face go red and toed the floor, "Sorry mama, I wanted to give papa his birthday present."

Sara knelt down and kissed Esben's forehead, "That's very sweet honey, but since it's Papa's birthday, why don't we let him sleep in?"

Esben nodded and held his rock out for Sara to see, "Look! Me and Uncle Artham were in the garden and I found this! Isn't it pretty?"

"It is very pretty," Sara said, smiling, "Can you go get dressed? I'm going to wake up your siblings."

"Yes mama!" Esben chirped and skipped over to his room. He set the stone down on his nightstand and pulled on a tunic and pants. He looked out the window at the clear, bright day ahead of him. He folded his arms on the windowsill to watch the pretty birds flying about, amd stayed like that as he heard his family waking up and leaving their rooms. A knock  came from the door.

"Es? Are you okay?" He heard his mother telling him.

Esben grabbed Papa's rock before running over to the door and opened it, "I was watching the birds, mama!"

"That's wonderful, sweetheart," Sara said. Esben's twin siblings, Oliver and Dawn, were standing sleepily behind her.

Esben walked downstairs to the kitchen where the rest of his family was sitting. He saw Uncle Kal sitting with his wife, Galya, and his cousins, Lorle and Nicolas. He saw Aunt Leeli and Uncle Thorn with their baby son, Wendell. He plopped himself in a seat next to Uncle Artham and kicked his feet merrily.

Everyone was seated and chatting when Janner walked down the stairs, yawning.

"Thanks for letting me sleep i-"

"Happy birthday!" Everyone yelled. Janner looked a bit startled, but he smiled and sat next to Esben. 

"Papa!" Esben said, "I have a present for you!"

"Really? Do I get it now?"

Esben nodded and pulled the blue grey stone from his pocket, "I found it when I was gardening."

Janner smiled and brushed his hand across the smooth surface of the rock. "Thanks, Esben."

He leaned over to hug Esben, who was feeling quite elated.

Esben's grandmother, Nia, cleared her throat. "Janner, what do you want to do for your birthday?"

"Yeah," Kal said, "Thirty is a special number. You're getting old."

Janner leaned across the table to swat at his brother, who snickered.

"I'm not really sure," Janner said, picking at his food, "I think I'd like to go to the beach with the family. We could have a picnic lunch."

"I want to go to the beach!" Lorle said. He had always loved being by the ocean, something that he and Esben had in common.

"Alright, so we leave for the beach after breakfast."

Esben ate his breakfast quickly and stood up from the table. "I'm done!"

Janner put a hand on his shoulder, "Wait until everyone else is finished."

Lorle was chatting wildly to his mother what he would like to do during his birthday, while Oliver would interject randomly and loudly. It seemed like breakfast would never end, but of course, it did. Lunch was quickly packed, and the Wingfeathers began the short journey to the beach north of Castle Rysen. 

Lorle tried to run down to the water before Uncle Kal scooped him up.

"Nope! Can't have you being washed away!" He said as Lorle sulked.

"Papa! That's not fair! I'm almost five so I'm too big to be washed away!"

Uncle Artham chuckled, "The sea isn't like a pond or a bathtub. It can sweep even grown men away in a heartbeat."

Esben shuddered a little. He imagined his father sing swept away by waves. It made him feel a little sad, even though it had never happened.

Nia spread a blanket out on the ground where Leeli and Thorn sat down. Little Wendell started crawling around in the sand. He threw a handful of sand at Thorn before his mother giggled and scooped him up.

Esben walked down to the ocean. He felt his feet sinking in the wet sand and the tiny waves lapping over his toes.

"Hey! Stop that!" Lorle ran over to Esben and grabbed his arm.

Esben rolled his eyes, "Lorle, the sea can only sweep you away if you had go out really far. I'll be okay."

"Oooh, that makes sense because the waves are just babies! You're smart, Esben."

Esben nodded and smiled, "It's because I'm six!"

"I wish I was six," Lorle mumbled.

"You will be!" 

Esben felt a hand tugging at his shirt. He turned around and saw Dawn.

"Esben," She said, "Will you help me build my sand castle." She pointed a crumbling pile of sand.

"Sure, do you wanna help, Lorle?"

"Yeah! Lets get my papa to help. He's the best at building sand castles!" Lorle cried and then waved Kalmar down.

The children sat down to build their castle (although Kalmar was probably the one to do most of the work) by the end of the hour the castle was finished, with three stories, turrets, windows, and even a flag at the top that was made of a stick and a price of seaweed.

"Wow," Dawn said, sitting back to admire her work, "You really are the best at building sand castles, Uncle Kal!"

Kalmar smiled and ruffled her hair, "Thanks Dawnsy."

The rest of the afternoon passed in a comfortable blur. When the sun started to set, Esben laid down on the blanket, next to his mother and yawned. 

"Did you have a nice day?" Sara asked.

"Mm hm," Esben said, sleepily.

"Oh no," Sara said, "Your castle just got knocked down."

"Oh, too bad..." Esben mumbled, but he was already falling asleep.