The Royal Knight Academy

Chapter 2: Chores

I left my bedroom and ran downstairs to go to the fireplace to do the first task of the day. When I got there, I grabbed some wood and placed it into the fireplace. The match I used quickly caught the wood on fire. The wooden kindling burned with bright light as if it was a dragon breathing fire. The next thing I had to do was to feed our animals outside. I passed through the kitchen and went out the back door to our fenced yard. Outside, I soon realized that the rain had stopped.

I walked over to the small pen where our horse was. Her name was Molly. She was a beautiful white horse that was so soft, almost as if she were a cloud in disguise. (Maria thinks she's going to one day sprout a horn and turn into a unicorn.) "Are you ready for breakfast?" I asked her cheerfully. She neighed at me so I took that as a yes.

I grabbed the heavy feed bag that was next to the pen, and dumped some of it in a metal bucket. She started to quickly eat and I patted her back, moving on to get eggs from the chickens. This was the most difficult job by far because it was hard to not make the chickens angry when you tried to get their eggs from them. I grabbed a basket that was next to the coop along with the chicken feed and went inside, hoping for the best. Inside the coop, there were four hens, and a rooster. The rooster's name was Flame because he always seemed angry. I climbed inside the cramped little coop and put some food in each of the five little food dishes. That day, grabbing the eggs from the first three was a breeze. The last hen was a completely different story. She wouldn't budge so it took a lot more effort to grab the final egg. Then I noticed Flame staring at me menacingly.

I left with my basket of eggs but the rooster started to slowly follow me out of the coop. Clearly I had done something to make him mad. He started to pick up speed and run at me as he clucked loudly. His little legs were working at lightning speed as he decided to go after me. "Ahhhhh!" I screamed as I started to run from him. He was chasing me around the small back yard. The chase continued until I jumped into Molly's pen so he couldn't get to me. "Oof," I said as I landed roughly on the ground. Molly looked at me for a moment, then went back to eating, while Flame stood there staring at me until he finally went back into the coop.

I checked the basket to make sure none of the eggs were broken. When I looked, surprisingly, none were. "Phew," I sighed in relief. Then I grabbed another basket and walked over to the nearby garden to see if there was any produce to harvest for the day. In our small garden, we had tomatoes, strawberries, potatoes, lettuce, carrots, onions, beans, and blueberries. There wasn't that much to pick though, barely filling my basket. "Well I guess everyday can't be a good day," I thought to myself.

I quickly ran back inside the house before it started to rain again to wake up Maria. I put the baskets on the dining table and climbed up the stairs to Maria's room. Inside was a sleeping little girl who was clinging onto a small unicorn stuffed animal that my mom had made for her when she was born. I tiptoed over to her bed as faintly as I could, about to wake her up.

I gently shook her as I said softly, "Time to get up!"

Her dark brown eyes slowly opened and her head of soft brown hair rose up off of her pillow until she fully sat up.

"Is it time to wake up already?" she groggily asked as she rubbed her brown eyes. "I wanna go back to sleep."

"You can't. We have a busy day today!"

"But I don't want to have a busy day!"

She looked like she was about to throw a fit with her grouchy face staring at me, so I had to think of something to make her happy. Just then, I had an idea.

"How about you wake up dad for me, okay? He will be so surprised and happy to see you!"

"Yay!" she exclaimed cheerfully, her frown turning upside down. "And one more thing. Did Molly grow her horn yet?"

"Not yet, but I am sure she will one day," I lied as I rolled my eyes, trying not to ruin her happy mood.

Still clutching onto the unicorn, she got up out of bed and ran out of the door to do her task I gave her.

"Finally, my chore list is basically done." I thought to myself.

Happy, I quickly ran out the door and went back to my room to relax after a long morning. I took off my boots, putting them at the end of my bed. I laid down and closed my eyes to enjoy a few moments of peace.