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Rex Draco Farm

Chapter 3: Unexpected Gifts

By Chris JamesPublished 3 years ago 8 min read
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Rex Draco Farm
Photo by Jess Bailey on Unsplash

The following day after the party, Arthur woke up, got dressed, and went downstairs, forgetting the box wrapped in brown paper that Mia’s father had given him. He Found Mia inside the kitchen, a cup of coffee in one hand with a plate of toast with a jar full of strawberry honey on the table beside her.

He poured himself a coffee cup and held the pot up to offer to pour her a fresh cup. “So, would you like a fresh cup?” Putting some bread in the toaster and walk over with the pot of coffee. Holding out her cup, he pours the remains of the first pot of coffee of the morning into her cup and restarts the machine to make a fresh pot.

Bringing the steaming cup of coffee up to her nose Mia takes in a deep breath and smiles. “Thank you. So what are we going to clean up or fix today?” taking a drink from her cup, then sets it down, picks up a slice of toast, and takes a bite.

Arthur grabbed the hot toast from the toaster and putting it on a plate. “Ouch, hot, I thought we could clean up the front flower beds. I fell into them last night while talking with your father, so it might be worthwhile cleaning them out. Maybe we can get them ready to grow some flowers.”

Mia reels back and lets out a hearty laugh as she hears that Arthur fell into the flower bed. “Let me guess, dad, knocked you into the flower bed? Well, no time like the present; how about we start clearing out the old flowerbeds? I have a few flowers I would like to see planted when we get the chance.”

As he finishes his coffee cup and quickly eats the slice of toast, He thought about the words she said. “No time like the present,” Whispering to himself. Suddenly it dawned on him, “The present her father had handed to me for the farm.” Jumping to his feet, Arthur rushed to the door “meet me outside. I just remembered something.” Running down the hall, Throwing open his door, he found the gift wrapped in plain brown paper. Looking at the package turning it over in his hands, and saw it written on the side to Mia and Arthur at the King Dragon Farm. With a smile tugging at the edge of his face, Arthur walks outside to start working on the flower beds with the gift firmly in his hands as he closed the door.

Stepping out the door and going down the barn to pick up a few rakes and shovels, Mia thinks about the party the night before and the care taken to keep the surprise. Her heart raced, and she blushes a deep red. Calming down and smiling as big as Texas itself, she made her way back up to the front flower beds.

As Arthur steps out the front door, He looks out across the farm and takes in the first deep breath of fresh air of the day, filling his lungs, and slowly lets it all out. He sets the box on the table beside their chairs on the porch, Walking down the steps to find Mia already hard at work. He grabs a shovel and starts turning over the dirt and mashing it apart to help break up plants from the soil. They work in silence for what feels like a few hours pulling the weeds from the freshly loosened soil and cutting old dead bushes out from the corners.

Pulling with all her might, Mia flies back as a particularly stubborn root gives up its hold on the earth. “I guess the whole world was pulling on the other end of this root.” Tossing it aside and dusting the dirt from her pants. Mia walks up the stairs and sits down for a rest. Fanning her face, she notices the gift. “Arthur, what is this?” Holding the box out over the edge and shaking it so Arthur could see.

Looking up to see what she was referring to, “Oh, that was a gift Pops gave us. He said it is a gift for the farm. I thought we would wait until lunch before opening it.” Tying the end of a full trash bag of weeds and roots and climbing the steps to take the other open seat. “If you want, I will go inside and fetch us a couple of glasses and a jug of water?”

Shaking the box, Mia hears a dull thud. “It wouldn’t hurt to open the box now.” Flipping it over in her hands, she finds the same message on the side and decides to wait. Put the box aside back on the table, she leans back in her chair and shuts her eyes.

As Arthur steps out the door, he looks down at Mia with two cold glasses in his hand and a pitcher of water in the other. Seeing that she is resting, Arthur gently brushes one of the cold glasses across her cheek. “Time for a drink, sleepyhead.” She wakes with a start and rubs her cheek where the glass had touched her. Smiling at her as he sets the pitcher down after pouring them both a drink. “So what kind of plants do you think we should plant once we get the flower beds cleaned out and ready?”

Taking a drink of water, “I would like it if we could plant some marigolds. They were my favorite as a child when I would come and visit here, but I could never get them to grow at my house. I would also like to try some roses if we can find a few small bushes that are ready to plant.” Picking up the box, turning it over in her hands. “Let’s open it and see what is inside.”

Looking over, Arthur rolls his eyes and shrugs his shoulders. “Alright, you win. I will go in and whip up some lunch right quick, and we can open the box then.” Walking inside the house to the kitchen, He puts together a few ham and cheese sandwiches and grabs a couple of small bags of chips. Stepping outside and handing her a plate, he sits back down and starts to eat his lunch. “So you want to open the box, let’s open it up.”

With the box in her hands, she turns it over in her hands, finds the tape, pulls the paper free from the box, and lifts the lid slowly. Mia holds out the box with a small gasp of excitement to show what her parents had given them. Inside was several packets of seeds and a small garden statue of a dragon lifting it from the box. It is warm to the touch and feels slightly heavier than it should be. Setting the dragon on the table and returning to the seed packs with a scream of delight, she hands over the first packet of seeds.

Taking the seed pack, she offered and turning it over. “Oh, it seems your parents seem to know what we would be planting.” One packet of marigold seeds and snapdragons came out of the box next to the last items inside a message and a few large seeds. Handing him the seeds, Mia unfolds the message and reads aloud the message.

“Dear Mia and Arthur, these are special seeds for a rare plant that can only be grown on your farm. Once you care for the plant and fully mature, you will understand the purpose of this gift. Love Mom and Dad.” Looking at the large seeds. “What kind of plant did they give us?”

While holding the seeds in his hand, a slight warmth flows from them. “Well, how about we plant them and give them the care we would provide any of the flowers and see what happens.” Setting them aside, He finishes lunch and returns to the task of clearing the flower beds for the new seeds they just gained. Removing the weeds took another hour or two.

Gently sprinkling the seeds for the marigolds into the areas cleared first, Mia covers them and pats the dirt down gently. “There we go, not too soft and not too firm, just like tucking in a child for sleep.”

Arthur takes the strange seeds and looks for where to plant them. Looking at the edge of the flower bed near the porch corner, he found the perfect spot for the plant, good sun, and enough water to flow down to the rest of the flowers. As he was patting them down, a sudden thought came to his mind. rushing to the table where they had left the little statue and places it beside the freshly planted seeds inside the garden. “Now, you can help watch over the flowers, little dragon.”

Standing up and shaking the dirt from her hands, Mia looks upon the flower bed with a smile. “We did it. This place is starting to feel like the farm of old.” Walking over, she places her hand on Arthurs’s shoulder and kisses him on the cheek. “Come on, Arthur, how about we go inside and get washed up and get something to eat?”

Putting an arm around her, he follows her gentle tug, and they go up the steps and into the house for the night; as he locks the door behind them, he turns around and looks into her eyes. “Mia seeing how tomorrow is the weekend, how about we go out and enjoy a day for ourselves?”

Walking closer to Arthur, giving him a soft kiss, “Sure, I think we have earned a day to relax. How about we go to the Aquarium?”

Short Story
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About the Creator

Chris James

A simple writer for fun. If I think a topic is interesting enough my mind races to fill in a story around it. Any genre is fair game. However I do enjoy writing horror and science fiction and fantasy.

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