Made for this dialogue prompt on Tumblr.~
Henry fell on his knees on the gravel, lungs burning and head spinning wildly. The rush of adrenaline was still coursing intensely through him but he forced himself to keep his breaths steady in an effort to calm himself enough to form a rational thought. They were on the clear it would seem since he no longer hears Gregorio's angry shouts behind them. He couldn't remember a time when he had to run that fast.
"That went well..." He heard Matt say beside him. He was lying on the ground also breathing hard as he tried to hold onto the flailing chicken that wanted to get away from him.
"It would have gone well..." Lizzie quipped behind them. She was also trying to catch her breath, her ponytail coming loose from the recent chase. "But you had to knock over the pile of paint canisters and wake up the whole damn farm!"
"It was dark! I couldn't see anything!" Matt defended and the chicken clucked with him. "See? He gets it."
"It's a hen, you idiot!" Lizzie shouted, her voice echoing all over the field. She turned her attention to Henry and her demeanor softening a little. "Are you alright?"
Henry nodded, gulping hard to give some relief on his dried up throat and gave a thumbs up.
"Good." She said as she dusted the bits of hay that got stuck on her yellow, baggy sweater. "This is good. We have the chicken. All we have to do is give that to Manny and he'll let us practice in his studio for as long as we want."
The chicken flapped it's wings wildly and nearly got out of Matt's grip.
Lizzie rolled her eyes and walked towards the road. "Let's just go home. You two better decide who's going to take that chicken home because I am not keeping that thing in my house."
Henry gestured that he'll be the one to take it home as they started to trail behind Lizzie.
"I can't believe this worked." Matt said, shaking his head still in disbelief.
Me too! Henry signaled and the two boys laughed.
"We're like the three musketeers. But dysfunctional." Matt added and Henry nearly choked will laughter. If he was capable of laughing out loud, he would have but all he could manage were a series of gasps and snorts as tears formed in his eyes.
"Stop dicking around, you guys. Seriously." Lizzie warned, shooting the two of them a withering stare but had to turn away immediately to hide the chuckle that she couldn't push down.
Lizzie never thought that the three of them would be together again like this and she was glad that they were. She would give everything for more moments like this.
Even if they had to steal another chicken.