Harvick wrapped the cloak around them tight and said “Okay, on my command, we begin to walk. Be careful not to stumble over the steps!”. They then began to waddle out the house...

Luckily nobody saw them doing their little prison break. For it was not very convincing, to say the least…

When they were only few meters away from Owel’s house, Harvick lifted the cloak like a curtain and let out his two small followers. Joss came out breathing like a mad horse. He hadn’t thought that it would be so stuffy, being hidden underneath the thick cloak. William on the other was wheezing because his steps were a lot smaller than the others. To keep up with the other boys, he had to turn up his tempo to a million!

****

Owel’s house was a little more rundown than the others. It was also situated on the outskirts of the village.

Buff Minorca chickens were pecking the still frozen ground. They were looking for grains that might have been missed by the flock. William stood and watched these orange creatures, when suddenly, Harvick let out a short yelp. Apparently he had forgotten to bring along two slingshots to compete with. So he quickly ran back to his own house to fetch them.

While waiting for Harvick’s return, Joss went ahead and began stomping and kicking around pebbles. William’s legs were exhausted, so he sat down on his butt to rest. The ground was ice cold and spiky. He kind of regretted this action…

William wriggled around, trying to get up again but failed. Why!? Listen to me! You’re my body! He screamed at himself. In his frustration there suddenly appeared a feathered face, with piercing black pupils... A chicken?

William made a cunning smile, unbefitting of a cute baby and took hold of the chicken. He thought: Thank you for signing up to be my personal stand… He tugged on the chicken, using it for balance.

Joss who saw this sight was blown away. First of all, how sly was his little sister to use an innocent bystander like that? Secondly… Why wasn’t the chicken resisting!? To all who saw this, it seemed like the chicken was William’s servant. It waited patiently while the toddler climbed up along its scrawny body...

Then out of nowhere, like the chicken had finally realised that it was being out of character, it squawked and ran away. In its sudden panic and hurry to get away, William lost his balance yet again and fell flat onto the harsh ground.

His inner dialogue began spinning: How dare this chicken trick him back!? It really hurt, falling on the frozen ground like that, okay!? Come back here and have a taste. So William wobbled up with the fire of revenge burning in his heart! When he at last regained his balance, the small body began chasing after that traitorous chicken.

Joss shock his head and laughed out “That’s what you get when you try to use a chicken for help… Why don’t you give up? You’re never going to catch it with your stubby legs…”. But William was stubborn and didn’t give up…

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Seeing his little sister so determined, inspired Joss as well. So he said “You know what? I’ll help you!”.

Then Joss began chasing the chicken as well. Both children tried cornering the chicken but it flapped its useless wings and escaped their pincer attack. Then it tried to mingle among its peers. They were all technically copies of themselves. Indistinguishable…

So they began chasing all the chickens around. Every miss and failed capture turned into a fun game that was more about just tumbling around, than actually capturing the beaked fluffy animals.

Harvick came back and was confused… Why were they running around creating chaos among the chickens? Don’t they know that spreading them will make it harder to hit them later?..

Before the kids noticed Harvick’s return, they tried to help each other catch a chicken on the roof of a shoddy henhouse. Joss lifted William up, who grasped after the chicken's tail feathers. They were so close! But it jumped off the roof and scattered among the flock once again.

But the sibling-pair weren’t disappointed, instead they giggled and laughed at how stupid the chicken looked. Because in its confusion when it tried to jump of off the shed and land, it almost landed on one of its own sisters! “A ba oue, umbf ick!” William said...

What he really tried to say was: “That’s what you get, dumb chicken!”.

Harvick just stared at the huffing kids, that had been running wild while he was gone and said “So Joss… Are you ready to see who can hit a chicken?”. Joss panted lightly and gulped, before saying “Of course! Let’s do this!”.

The boys pulled their string and began aiming after the harassed creatures. Both Joss and Harvick were surprised to be able to hit them. Even killing 5 in total… Harvick gathered his own kills and said “Wow! Usually it's not so easy to hit a chicken… I guess its because you made them tired before we started?”. Joss was grumpy while saying “Yeah… So thank me for letting you feed your family…”. Harvick had shot 4 while Joss only got one…

It was clear to see who was the victor, from the catch that hung on their backs.

William who stood on the sidelines was impressed! To think that these kids were so talented?!..

Dazed, the feeling of admiration quickly transformed into something else...

A heavy stone landed on William’s heart... He thought, that even though they were both so young they still knew how to do so many things… In his last life, he was not at all as cool and capable as the boys who shined in front of him… Yet… Now William was given a whole new start on life. Maybe he could become just as awesome as them!?

This thought motivated William to do his best too! In a world that is as competitive as this, one most perfect oneself. There is no greater possession than one’s own body. Everything else could be stolen, killed or whisked away in the blink of an eye. Making oneself useful is the best way forward!

As William felt a kindle burst into flames in his heart. Another flame was brewing a short distance away… It was their mother!

She was fuming with anger to see her precious son walk around using a slingshot! She quickly went over and scolded the boy “Joss! I’ve told you to stay put these days! Haven’t I repeated countless times, what will happen if that stitch snaps!? You’ll die! Go back home, and that’s NOW!”.

Joss got flustered for being chewed out in front of his rival. He forked over the borrowed slingshot and hurried back to his room. Vanessa picked up William and told Harvick: “Don’t entice my son to do such a thing again… Or it will be my husband who finds you the next time…”. Harvick shivered from this threat.

He knew that her husband was not to be messed with… His eyes sank to the ground in defeat. Then Vanessa added “We’ll eat dinner soon… As promised with your mother, you can eat with us, since you are so helpful these days”. Then Vanessa left the boy in the dust.

Without knowing it, William had gone long distances that day and trained his balance a great deal. Along with the new found motivation he gained, he continued to learn how to talk, walk and do more subtle actions.