Rex Draco Farm

Spring is almost over, and summer is right around the corner. A thin ray of light slides in between the blinds to the bedroom, falling upon the sleeping occupant’s face squinting from the light on his face hitting his eyes; Arthur rolls over and proceeds to drop out of bed. Getting up, he rubs his side where he hit. “ouch, that rather hurt. I guess that means it is time to get up.” Walking to his dresser, he pulls out some clothing and gets dressed. Leaving his room yawning, he walks down the hall to the kitchen where he finds Mia already dressed, her lengthy hair braided today as it hung over her shoulder, her light brown eyes peering at Arthur over a cup of coffee set to her lips. “Good Morning Mia. I see you look amazing as always.”

Setting her cup on the table and giving a smile. “I was wondering if the loud bang I heard meant you were awake.” She pushes a secondary cup towards him and points to the coffee pot. “Hurry and get some while it is fresh. We do not need you falling asleep out in the barn as you did yesterday. We might never finish then.”

As he walks to the table and grabs the offered cup, he notices the small vase of flowers sitting in the middle of the table. With a smile, he bends over and gives them a smell. “The marigolds sure do smell amazing today. I sure am glad they finally gave us flowers.” Arthur pours a fresh cup of coffee, and Mia holds her up to get filled as well.

Taking a long sip allowing the warm drink to fill her with warmth and energy to start the day, she sets down her cup and resting her head on the back of her hand, staring at Arthur. “So I think we should work on finishing the prep work for the barn and chicken coop.” Pushing herself away from the table, she stands, and after gathering her dishes, placing them in the sink walking towards the door, she turns her head and blows him a kiss as she steps out into the morning.

Standing up from the table, he sets his cup down and rushes out the door full of energy, ready to start the new day. Grabbing a hammer and nails from the tool room in the barn, Arthur walks over to the new coop that they had built. A small pile of lumber sitting beside is all that remained of the roof that remained that day as he picked up and placed a board on the frame with a loud boom of his hammer hitting the first nail home. Looking inside from the still open roof of the coop, he can see Mia arrange beds for when we finally get a chicken or two. “Mia, how are the nests coming along? Are mom and pops still coming around for lunch to let us know about their friends?” Banging home a few more nails, he bends down and picks up the next board as she stands up, her head poking out of the open roof.

She rolls her eyes at him as he stumbles back at her sudden appearance. “Yes, they will be around sometime after two to join us for lunch and tell us where to go if we want the best breeder in the area.” Dropping back out of sight, she returns to arranging the nests. Finally satisfied with her results, she looks around and notices that the roof was complete. She hurries out the little door they had given the coop just as a car pulls up the drive.

Walking out of the barn after putting the tools away, Arthur notices the car as it pulls up to the house. With a smile on his, face Arthur walks to the car to greet mom and pops to the farm. Looking over, he can already see Mia hurrying up to meet her parents. As Arthur reaches the car, he holds out his hand to shake Pops’ hand. “How are you doing?” a soft and warm smile on his face.

Taking Arthurs, hand in a grip, firm and tight, a slight grin on his face. “Good to see you as well, Arthur. I hope you have been taking good care of Mia.” Pulling him in for a mighty hug, Pops lets him go and slaps him on the back. “It is good to see you, Arthur. You know you should invite us out more often.”

With a lurch forward, Arthur refrains from being tossed to the ground by the pat he receives. “You are always welcome to stop by when you want.” Standing up, he walks to the steps leading to the porch and leans against the rail.

Rushing forward and jumping into his arms, Mia wraps her arms around her father and hugs him. “So happy to see you. I hope your drive here was pleasant.” She walked around the car and hugged her mother, and then walked to stand on the other side of the steps leading to the porch.

Looking from side to side, Pops, with a smile, lets out a booming laugh. “Well, it seems you put our gift to good use.” Walking down the neatly trimmed path beside the front flower beds, he examined the marigolds and admired the snapdragons, finally pausing in front of the funny little plant that had by now grown into a small bush with bright green and purple leaves. A smile on his face when he sees the dragon statue and turns back around to face Arthur and Mia. “Very good to see such a magnificent set of flowers. I am very proud of both of you.”

With a smile and nod of the head, “Please, Pops, would you and mom like to steps inside? It is about time for lunch.” Arthur opens the door for them to enter the house.

The kitchen was a flurry of sound and activity as Mia and Arthur scrambled to get lunch together for everyone. A stack of plates, cups, and silverware went out the swinging door with Mia and soon followed Arthur with the meal.

After lunch, Arthur set down his cup of water and looked across the table. “So, Pops, what can you tell us about the breeders you know?”

He looked back across the table at Arthur, a smile upon his face. “I would think you have heard about the bear couple by now? The wife is famous for her work in bringing the panda population back from the brink of extinction. She is a little odd but is good-natured. She goes by the name of Panda or Pan; I do not precisely know her proper name. Her husband John helps care for the other animals. They live on the other side of the mountain on a big ranch. If you want, I will leave the address with Mia and give them a call to let them know to expect you in the next few days?”

Her eyes growing wide, a soft squeak of joy escaped Mia as she listened to what her father had to say. “So I will finally get to meet the panda breeders?” She reaches over and grasps Arthurs’s hand and gives it a soft squeeze. “I think the barn and hen house is ready. I want to go tomorrow and meet them and hopefully pick out a couple of animals, alright?”

Turning his head in response to her question, Arthur nods. “Yes, Mia, we can go tomorrow.” Looking back to Pops, a half-remembered question forming in his head. “Pops, I have a question for you.”

Getting up from the table quickly looking at the clock, “My look at the time we really should get going. Mia, we love you. Take care of yourself. Arthur, remember what I told you before.” As quick as a flash, both of her parents are back in their car and down the road.

Shaking his head as they wave the car goodbye. “They have to leave just as I remembered. I wanted to ask them about that mystery bush and dragon statue. I swear it moves around at night because I keep finding it on another side of the bush no matter how many times I move it back.” With a shrug of his shoulders, he turns around and takes a step up to the porch.” Oh well, I guess I will have to ask next time. Mia, should we call it a day and enjoy the rest of the day inside watching movies or maybe play a game or two?”

Turning around and joining him at the door to the house, Mia gives Arthur a soft kiss on the cheek. “Yes, we should call it a day. It will be a hard day tomorrow once we get back from Pandas ranch.” Closing the door behind her, they go to the main room and snuggle up as they watch the first movie they find in their collection.