The youngvengers

Chapter 3- Cora's story.

"It's too heavy," an eight-year-old girl whimpered, a handgun being shakily held in one of her hands. With a quivering sigh, she let the firearm drop to her side and turned to face her dad. "What do I do Daddy?"

"It's okay sweetheart," he assured her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "I know you can do this. You're a strong little lady."

With a gentle smile, he held onto her forearms and picked them up again. Now she was holding out the gun, using her left hand as well to support it.

"See? It's easier when you use all of your resources," he stated, allowing the little girl to have another quote of advice to store into her mental reserves. With a couple of wide-eyed blinks as she tried to memorize the placing of her fingers. Then, once she had a fairly good grasp on the situation, a wide beam spread across her face and childish innocence sparkled in her eyes.

"What now?" Cora giggled excitedly. Even though her arms were growing more tired by the second, it was plenty bearable for her now.

"See those cans over there? We're going to hit them," he explained, momentarily stopping his support on one of her arms to gesture to some empty soda and beer cans lined up on a fence rail. Then, seeing that her hands were wavering, he quickly returned to her wrists and held them. "You know what? How about a challenge?"

Cora laughed and bobbled her head up and down. "Yes!"

"Okay," he chuckled. "Try to knock five of the nine cans down."

Not knowing how difficult it was going to be, she hastily aimed towards one of the targets and pulled the trigger. She frowned a bit when it missed, but quickly straightened out and turned to the next. This time she was much more careful with her actions when she shot. It still didn't hit the can, but she was much closer now.

"Third times a charm," her dad assured her brightly.

She nodded, then tilted her gun towards the next object. After taking a deep breath, she fired and watched as the bullet hit the metal with a loud crack. She lightly bounced up and down, scared to jostle the gun too much, then turned to her father. "I did it! I did it!"

"Impressive," he noted with an approving nod. "But there's still six more to shoot at. Do you think that you can win the challenge?"

"Duh," she boldly stated, a smirk spreading across her lips. Without much hesitation, she turned back to the cans and continued firing. She made the next three, two of which dead in the center, then furrowed as she swung the barrel of her gun towards the last three. These ones were quite a bit further away and were surely going to prove to be harder. Her hand was a little shaky from all of the weight that she had been holding for a while, but she decided to try her best and take the shot. She sighed defeat as she watched the bullet sail above the can and off into the woods.

"Not so cocky now, hmm?" Her father teased, gently taking the gun from her hands. "Give yourself a little break. Never carry out a task when you haven't set yourself up for success."

"Set yourself up for success," she echoed thoughtfully, looking up at the sky as she pondered the words. After flexing her hand a couple of times and letting her tense muscles relax, she nodded to her father. "I'm ready to continue Daddy."

"That's the spirit kiddo," he cheered, handing her back the gun and returning his hands to their supporting positions on her forearms. She took a slow and steadying breath, then carefully aimed and pulled the trigger. This time, the bullet managed to collide into the can and send it flying from the fence.

Cora cheered to herself, then excitedly turned to the last can. However, before she could take the shot, she felt her father's hands slip away and his presence back up. "Daddy?" She asked, a frown tugging on her lips as she turned around to look at him.