Raising Rocs #atozchallenge

 

For the A to Z Challenge, I'm featuring twenty-six flash fiction pieces from my Foxwick Kingdom and its surrounding neighbors. A to Z Flashes of Foxwick is now available from Smashwords and Amazon and includes the bonus short story "Lady Death." You can add this to your Goodreads list here.

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Raising Rocs

Sarya lugged the bucket of worms into the baby roc coop. The bucket plopped upon the hay-strewn floor, and a couple worms fell to their freedom. She scooped a handful of the wiggly creatures and turned toward the baby rocs.

They were the size of a medium-sized dog, even though the rocs were only a few weeks old. Instead of the gentle cheeps like a baby chick, these creatures screeched their hunger and hurt Sarya’s ears with their racket.

“Calm down. Breakfast is coming.” She dropped the fat worms into their awaiting mouths. These babies never seemed to get full of the treat. Why hadn’t papa let the mama rocs care for their own children? But she knew the answer. Full-grown rocs wouldn’t fit in the roc coop nor were they any use to her family when they were without flight. After all, her family was the best roc trainers in the Valdale kingdom.

She continued feeding them until the bucket was empty.

When she left the coop, she gulped the fresh air and tilted her face toward the morning sun.

“Sarya, you finished feeding the little ones?”

“Yes, papa.”

“Then, start cleaning out the coop and put the fresh hay down.”

“Yes, papa.” She stomped to the barn to get out the fresh bales of hay, a water bucket, and some brushes to clean the coop. This work was never done. Day in, day out. Always cleaning and feeding the monstrous birds.

Ugh, why couldn’t they raise sheep instead!

Now if you want to learn more about authors, I’m featuring up to three per day on my blog Surrounded by Books Reviews. To find the other participants, click here.