Hope is the Thing With Feathers

Chapter 2

"Blathers, hurry up and finish your breakfast before school!" Orbit yelled across the house as Blathers fixed a few pointed feathers. Fuzzle was in the bathroom, helping Celeste place a bow in her hair, as had become custom by this point. Blathers supposed he would never be able to imagine his younger sister in his mind without a bright pink bow at the top of her head.

"I'm going to learn so many exciting things this year," Blathers explained to his father as he took a seat and began gobbling up a seeded muffin his mother had especially baked for the first day of school.

"Don't forget," his father said, pushing a small cup full of dark liquid toward him.

"Yuck! I don't wanna drink it," Blathers complained, crossing his wings in defiance. "It tastes sour."

His father let out a sigh. "Blathers, the older you grow, the more your body is going to naturally convert into its nocturnal nature, and in order to combat that, you need to drink some coffee every day, okay?"

"Because of the caffeine?" Blathers further inquired.

"Yes, because of the caffeine," his father confirmed.

"You know, I was talking to one of my friends at school about having to drink coffee, and he says that chocolate has caffeine, too. Can't I have a chocolate bar before school every day rather than drink this icky juice?" Blathers questioned.

His father let out a sigh. Blathers' sharp mind and naturally curious nature meant that these arguments were a common occurrence, with Blathers constantly proving his father wrong and his father having to atone for that by telling Blathers that what he said was the law of the house and Blathers needed to abide by that.

"You know sugar isn't good for you. That's why I'm teaching you to drink coffee black. Plus, coffee has more caffeine than a mere piece of chocolate. Now, drink up! You and your sister still have to walk to school," his father commanded.

"Celeste doesn't have to drink that icky stuff," Blathers murmured, swaying his feet back and forth.

"She will in time," Orbit stated, his brows furrowed. He was eyeing Blathers with a stare that Blathers couldn't quite avoid.

Letting out a sigh, the now ten-year-old chick reached for the small glass of coffee and chugged it quickly, gagging as he did so.

"Swallow," his father commanded. "Don't throw it up like last time."

Blathers grumbled and obeyed, though he was quick to gulp down a glass of water soon after. At that moment, Celeste emerged, looking ready for the day.

"Well, don't you look pretty as a peach?" Orbit commented.

"Doesn't her new bow look nice?" Fuzzle asked, though Blathers didn't see how it was any different from the bow Celeste had worn last year, and the year before that. In fact, if he had to bet, she probably had an entire drawer full of those identical pink bows.

"Better hurry, before you two are late," Orbit said with a glance at the clock.

"Mom, don't forget to save my magazine for me when I get home! There's a new issue coming in the mail today," Blathers stated as he headed for the door, his book bag slung around his chest.

"I'll leave it on your bed," she promised him.

As a birthday present a few years ago, his parents had gotten him a monthly subscription to an archaeology magazine. When Blathers had first received the magazine, he mostly looked at the pictures, since his reading skills weren't yet phenomenal. Now, he eagerly waited that time of the month when he was able to sit in his room and read the issue for hours until dinner was served. And, on the days he had no new issue to read, he liked to read adventure books, and occasionally, some nonfiction about all there was to discover in the natural world.