Pitchfork in a Haystack

The smell of fresh hay and dirty animals fills the dry air as a young man plops a barrel of hay in a pasture, the greenish-yellow grass covering the ground as rough as ever. The sun burns the sky up above as some nearby cows wander over to him and the stack of food. The young man tugs at the top of his shirt to air himself as he wipes the sweat off his forehead.

"Billy! Billy! Are you done Billy?!" A group of kids exclaim as they run up to the pasture's fence..

"Just 'bout," He replies with his country accent as he turns to the kids.

"Where's Bessy? We want to pet her," The leader of the group says.

"She's in the barn," He nods towards the barn sitting next to his house, "Y'all know she just had a baby, so you're gonna have to wait a while before you can pet her".

"Awww," The whole group whines, "Still?"

"Yes. Now, go on back to your homes, I'm sure your parents are looking for ya,"

"Okay. Well, see ya later!" They shout as they run off, waving goodbye. BIlly cracks a smile as he waves back at them. He watches as they disappear into their homes and looks around to see if anyone else is walking about outside. Seeing no one, Billy walks over to the gate where a pitchfork is sitting up against it.

As he picks it up he glances around once more to double check no one would be able to see him. He turns around to face the pasture before getting into a battle stance, the trident side by his left hand.

"Hm!" He takes a step forward, thrusting the lower half of the handle, "Huh!" He swings the trident side downward with another step, "Hah!" He thrusts the pitchfork forward at his invisible target. He starts swinging it around in different directions and styles as if it were a lance.

"Billy what are you doing?" Billy loses his grip on the pitchfork but barely manages to catch it before it can hit the floor.

"Uh, nothing," He says quickly standing back up and turning to his mother. She looks at his nervous expression and the pitchfork, letting out a sigh and looking at him with worry.

"I saw you twirling around that thing like you were fighting off some invisible army," She states,

"Come on, put that back in the barn and come have breakfast,"

"Alright ma," He says, looking away in embarrassment as he exits the pasture and follows her towards their house. They split ways when they reach the barn, his mother continuing to the house as he steps into the barn.

Inside the air is warm and stuffy, the smell of dirt and rusty metal filling your nose. Some stray chickens that always get out of their coop are walking around, their heads bopping back and forth with every step. He passes by a stall where Betty and her calf are sleeping peacefully as he walks over to a large hay pile that he sticks the pitchfork into. He walks out of the barn and heads inside his house, a large two story wood cabin. Entering he sees his two younger siblings, his younger brother Avel whose four and his younger sister Belle whose six, sitting at the dinner table already eating some eggs.

His father is asleep in a chair on the far side of the table, his plate already clean. Billy walks past the table and goes to the kitchen where his mother is waiting for him.

"Here ya go," She says handing him a plate of freshly cooked eggs, steam still coming from them.

"Thanks," He says a bit awkwardly as he goes back to the table and takes a seat. His mother soon joins him, sitting by the father.

"Mama told daddy you were fighting people again, is that true?" Belle asks, eyes wide and full of curiosity.

"Uh," He glances at his mother whose just enjoying her breakfast, "Yeah,"

"Really?! Was it the ninja's from last week?! Or, or pirates?!"

"Mmm, It wasn't people this time," He says between bites. Belle gasps, Avel also now listening in.

"What was it?"

"It was...a monster,"

"Was it a big scary one? Like the ones that have those big teeth and claws?"

"Oh yes, but even bigger,"

"How big?!"

"I'd say, maybe as tall as this house,"

"No way!"

"Mmhm, yes it was,"

"Why did you fight it?"

"Well, I was out feeding the cows and than I saw that giant thing appear out of the forest and it tried to gobble up the cows as a snack,"

"What'd you? Did you beat it?"

"Of course I did. I grabbed my pitchfork and jabbed it, right in the face," He pokes his fork forward as if it were the pitchfork, "It went running back into those words crying like a baby," His younger siblings burst into excitement.

"Wow! Momma did ya hear that?! He saved the cows from a giant monster!"

"Mmhm," She says with a slight chuckle, "He sure did,"

"Momma you gotta let him become a soldier, he's always fighting things all the time!" Belle blurts out, unknowingly changing the feel of the room for Billy and their mother, "I hear him talking about it all the time," Billy and Momma exchange looks before she turns to Belle.

"Sweetey, if he left to become a soldier who'd protect us from all the ninjas, and pirates, and monsters that attack our farm?"

"Me and daddy can!" She says with excitement, her legs swinging back and forth.

"Huh? Someone call my name?" Dad asks as he wakes up from his nap.

"Daddy we gotta start getting up early in the morning so we can protect the farm so Billy can become a soldier,"

"What?" He looks at Billy and Momma.

"Uh, I gotta go check up on Bessy, thanks for breakfast Momma," Billy says quickly getting up and leaving. Closing the front door behind him, he lets out a hefty sigh as he runs a hand through his short, dirty blonde, hair. He heads off to the barn and goes to the stable with Bessy. He spends the rest of the trying to find chores to do to avoid going back inside for as long as possible.

Doing everything he can, he spends the rest of the day in the pasture with the cows until it starts to get dark and his mother calls him for dinner. Entering the house, some lamps provide a warm and comforting light to the room. No one but him and Momma are downstairs, meaning his younger siblings and father must already be in bed for the night.

Momma walks around picking up the leftover dishes as Billy sits down to eat his now cold dinner.

"...about what Belle said, it's not true…" Billy says looking down at his food.

"Billy," Momma says in a tired voice, "I've caught you time and time again out there with whatever tool you could find practicing like you're some Sahirian soldier about to go fight at one of the borders," Billy just pokes his food with his fork as he avoids looking at her, "Why do you want to be a soldier so badly?" She asks worryingly.

"Because I wanna make a name for our family," He says with a shaky coie as he gathers the nerve to look up at Momma, "I wanna help this family by doing more than just tending to the animals. I wanna make sure I can keep you guys safe from those, ruffians, that come by every other week to take our hard earned stuff," Momma looks away for a second.

"Billy, I already have to live everyday worrying about if some new group of ruffian comes by to destroy this town, I don't want to have to also worry about whether or not you're out there dying or something,"

Billy looks down back at his plate and stares at it quietly before he starts to eat his dinner.