Dawn

Chapter 1

"Dad! Dad! It's sunlight!" Dawn jumped out of his stall and ran towards his father, who was standing by the stable entrance overlooking the morning sky. "Yes I see that." Rouldolph responded, looking at his son. "You said we could see the peaks at sunlight." Dawn reminded him. "And I ain't getting any younger so let's go!" Dawn continued, racing out of the barn and into the snow. He turned to look at his father who let out a yawn before walking towards him. "Alright. But we can't be out here too long, you do have training today." Rouldolph reminded him. "Doh, that's just a bunch of boring nonsense we already know." Dawn retorted. "Those 'boring things' are-" Rouldolph tried to tell him. "Important because they teach us how to operate the sleigh." Dawn cut him off. "But dad. What's the point? We can't even fly without the reins!" "Well you need to know what to do when you're in the air. Such as where to apply your weight, the motion your legs should make, steering, which command means what, and so on." Rouldolph explained. They continued walking, seeing birds, evergreen trees, a rabbit or two, and A LOT off squirrels. Dawn saw the old tree with no bark that he liked practicing head butting on and practiced fighting-or at least he would have if Rodney, his friend wasn't there on the backside of the tree. "Hey Dawn! Whatcha doing?" Rodney greeted. "Me and dad are going to see the peaks!" Dawn told him. "I was just head-butting this tree." Rodney responded. "Funny, I was about too do the same." Dawn replied, going to head-butt the front side of the tree. "You know I could use an opponent that isn't as stiff!" Dawn whispered to Rodney. "Bring it neon!" Rodney playfully teased, chawing the ground. "Ha, in your dreams Rot!" Dawn retorted, chawing the ground as well. "You boys be careful!" Rouldolph advised them. "We will!" Dawn and Rodney looked up and responded. They looked at each other, aimed, and charged, butting heads like two soldiers in a sword fight. Just when Rodney thought he had the upper hand as he had just knocked Dawn over, Dawn got up and flipped the situation on its head, figuratively and literally as he knocked Rodney to the ground. "Alright you win." Rodney got up. "But mark my words." He continued, clearly annoyed. His mother called Rodney's name and he raced off. "Well we better get going if we want to see those peaks." Rouldolph told Dawn. "He should really get better about that." Dawn remarked. "Oh I'm sure he'll get better. In the meantime you should work on being a little bit more humble." Rouldolph responded as they walked onward. When they finally got there, Dawn raced toward the edge to look at the climbing sun. "You can see everything up here." Dawn remarked as his father stood beside him. "Just wait until you're grown. Seeing neighborhoods and trees from way down below, all the while flying. It's an experience that I believe all reindeer should have at least once in their lives." Rouldolph turned to look at his son, telling him the same thing he had heard a million times. "Which is why your training is important." Rouldolph reminded Dawn. "Ok, ok. I know. But can't you forget about work for a couple minutes and appreciate the view?" Dawn asked. Rouldolph paused for a moment, deep in thought before a smile formed and he responded. "Sure, I will." They both looked out for an hour before heading back home. "Oh I hope we didn't miss your training!" Rouldolph exclaimed. "Don't worry, you didn't. An elf responded. "I'll take him from here." The elf told him, placing a hand on Dawn's back. "Come along Dawn, the trainer's waiting." The elf beckoned Dawn. "Bye dad!" Dawn told his dad. "Goodbye!" Rouldolph responded, heading back to the barn.