Daxen

777 RC, Dragon moon 2ndTtriface; Family farm, in the valley of Geatan, Central Arundel.

Daxen bound out of bed, excited to start the day’s harvest. Today was the first day of the strawberry harvest, his favorite snack. A mischievous twinkle lit his eyes as he pounded down the stairs ahead of the first rays of the rising sun. His mother, Raina, was already up. She was fixing breakfast for his father, Heinz. Sleepy groans and angry grumbles echoed faintly down the hall after the echoes of his rapid passage died away in the still sleeping house. The closed doors to his brothers’ rooms banged open one by one as his family woke with the sun.

“Well you’re up bright and early today Daxen.” His mother said smiling at him. Daxen grinned back at her.

“Of course mom, today’s the day!” Daxen exclaimed happily. He snagged a sausage link out of the still hot pan and dashed outside to avoid his brothers’ wrath for waking them early. The smell of dew drenched grass greeted him as he watched the rooster strut proudly up too his perch on the fence rail. Daxen watched bemused as the rooster carefully ruffled his feathers to settle them after his short climb, then puffed his chest up to crow loudly greeting the sun. His youngest sibling Milia came pelting around the side of the house chasing after one of her escaped rabbits. Daxen pounced on the furry white bolt before it could dart past him and held gently out to her.

“Bad Fernando! You know you’re not allowed out of your cage, the fox will eat you.” Milia said wagging a carrot under Fernando’s whiskered nose. Daxen chuckled as the rabbits ears dropped. It was most likely because Milia pulled the carrot away before he could take a bite, then from any feelings of remorse for his most recent jailbreak.

“You should listen to her, young buck, foxes aren’t the only thing that likes to eat rabbit around here!” Daxen snarled at the rabbit and tried to bite its ear. Milia squealed, running off towards the rabbit hutches clutching her charge protectively. Whistling, Daxen picked up the dropped carrot and brushed it off. He quickly ate it along with his pilfered sausage as he waited in the wagon for his dad and brothers to get up. After what felt like hours, His Dad walked out of the kitchen wiping his mouth on a red handkerchief he always carried. Heinz was an impressively large man, at well over six feet tall he towered over all but the tallest men. Most men as tall as him tended to be thin, but not Heinz, he was as broad and sturdy as an oak. He could still hold Daxen, even though he had just turned 12, up in one giant hand. He towered over all of his family except Godfrey, Daxen’s oldest brother. As large as a mountain in Daxen’s eyes, and just as sheltering, he was a soft spoken man. Kind to his neighbors and loyal to his family, Daxen hoped to grow up to be just like him.

“You beat me out here today Davey.” Heinz said ruffling Daxen’s uncombed sandy blonde hair. Daxen simply shrugged trying to look casual. Heinz laughed at his show of nonchalance and boosted him up onto the driver’s seat. Even sitting on the driver’s seat, Daxen barely came up to his shoulder. His brothers Kurt and Axel plodded out of the house yawning they pulled on their summer work shirts. Daxen fingered the rough woven silk shirt he also wore. He was thankful that their sister Lulu had convinced their Mom and Dad to invest in silkworms. She had apprenticed to the local seamstress and was in the process of starting her own loom house from the back of their largest barn. He could still recall the rough burlap they had had when he was younger, and definitely preferred the smooth silk. Even if they were “mistakes” at least to Lulu’s critical eye, he was happy to take them off her hands.

He scooted over as Axel clambered up next to him and took the reins to the mule that Kurt had just finished hitching to the cart. Daxen wished he had a way with the animals like his younger brother Kurt did. He was never bitten by an angry horse, or stepped on by a disgruntled milk cow. Daxen made a face as his Mom and Dad exchanged kisses at the door, but he smiled when his Dad swung his Mom around in a quick circle before setting her, laughing, back down on her feet. Whistling, his Dad swung a hamper of food for lunch into the back of the wagon. It fit snugly beside the empty baskets for the strawberries. He pulled Kurt in beside him as Axel clucked at the mule and they started off with a lurch. Daxen waved at Milia as they passed, she stuck her tongue out at him still clutching her rabbit protectively, making him smile.

Daxen watched their large house fall out of sight as they bumped along over the first hill. The whitewashed walls and gleaming windows winked goodbye at him. The unfinished addition stood like a skeleton awaiting their return to work on it. Once finished, it would make it so they all finally had their own rooms. Kurt flopped down on his back and was quickly snoring. His Dad held his feet up slightly so they didn’t drag in the dirt. Daxen glanced up at the sky, a strange feeling had crept up on him steadily the further they got away from the house. It was hard to describe, he glanced again at the sky and watched a solitary white cloud make its’ lonely way lazily across the empty sky. Daxen finally recognized the feeling, it felt like a storm was brewing somewhere over the horizon. His frown made Axel poke him roughly in the ribs, Daxen swatted his hand away. At his raised eyebrow, Daxen simply shrugged and went back to watching the fluffy white cloud overhead. Axel lifted one shoulder letting Daxen be, their dad watched the exchange but said nothing, a family as close as theirs could say a lot without words. Axel concentrated on driving as they neared the Strawberry fields that had ripened fully.

Daxen hopped down smoothly from his perch next to Axel as the wagon slowed. He started off down the row that was his to pick for the day. A sharp whistle from his Dad made him stop short and look back, Heinz waved an empty basket at him.

“Forget something Davey?” He called out. Daxen blushed and hurried back to snatch the basket out of his hands. “Try to get a few in the basket this year, okay short stuff?” Heinz said as he took his own basket and strode off to pick another row of berries. Daxen nodded and dashed off with his basket. Kurt laughed and chased after him taking the row next to his. Daxen gleefully stuffed his mouth full of sweet, sun ripened, strawberries. After the first dozen or so he even started putting them in the basket, he glanced around and saw that he had fallen behind everyone else as he gorged himself. Speeding up he made sure only to only eat every third berry. After his first basket was so full he could barely lift it, Daxen dragged it carefully back to the wagon and kicked off his shoes. Once his feet touched the fresh turned soil between the rows of plants the feeling of something building intensified nearly making him jump in the sudden rush of pent up energy that seemed to run up his legs. Rubbing one foot then the other against his shin he tried to shake the tingling feeling off. Kurt looked at him strangely from a few rows away.

“Do you feel anything weird?” Daxen asked him, Kurt shook his head.

“Like what?” Axel asked as he took off his shirt now that the morning dew had burned off and the sun beat down on them, making sweat break out on everyone.

“Don’t know exactly.” Daxen said still trying to shake the tingles out of his feet. “Kinda like there’s a storm coming, or something.” He tried explaining.

“Hey Dad! You feel a storm coming?” Axel called out to Heinz who was still working.

“No! Why? you boys know something I don’t?” He called back pausing to straighten up and look at the three of them.

“Daxen feels something coming.” Kurt said. Heinz looked sharply at Daxen. Daxen was their weatherman, always the first to notice a change coming.

“Well we better pick fast, Axe, you run home and tell your mother. Make sure your sisters help her get as many vegetables out of her garden as they can. Bring your brothers back with you to help us get this crop in. We need it to buy grain for the winter.” Heinz looked concerned. Axel nodded and took off without a backward glance. He was the fastest out of all of them, Daxen watched as his stride lengthened and steadied into a steady pounding that would carry him all the way back to the house without him being out of breath. Daxen blushed at his Dad’s confidence in his feelings and prayed that he this wasn’t his first time to be wrong.