A/N: Another one of my archived The 500 Challenge stories. :D

Flynn Tries Digging to Dahngrest

As soon as the door slammed shut, Flynn was off. He stamped footprints into the grass as he marched away from his house. He knew momma was inside peeking through the curtains. She was going to make sure he didn't wander off. Well, he'd show her! He'll wander off and she'll never see him again!

Flynn paused. Where would he go, though? If he left the yard, he would get into trouble with momma. He wasn't supposed to leave the yard… How was he supposed to wander off without leaving the yard? Then he noticed a patch of mud and the thought occurred to him. He could dig his way to the other side of the world without leaving the yard! He couldn't get into trouble for that!

So he got to his knees and scooped away clumps of mud with his fists. It felt good to be pouring his energy into this task, and he imagined seeing Momma's face when he finally pushed up the grass into Dahngrest. He would find some guildsman to live with and he would be able to play all day without any rules. He was so consumed with his thoughts that soon his anger ebbed away and he didn't even remember that he argued with his mother. He kept digging with both hands, a hole big enough to swallow him whole and send him to the new world he imagined.

Sometime during the dig, his father came out and offered him a glass of milk for his efforts, which Flynn took gratefully.

"So where are we going?" His father asked.

"I'm digging a hole to Dahngrest! I'm going to live there until I'm all growed up and I can make my own decisions!" Flynn swallowed the milk as fast as he could and returned the glass to his father's hands. His father merely smiled and sat down nearby to watch.

"How long do you think it will take to get there?"

Flynn paused long enough to consider. "Well, if I work really hard at it, maybe I'll be there tomorrow," and he continued digging with a new fervor. His determination over powered all other thought and his mind was so set on the dreams of arriving that he forgot to be mad at his mother when she called everyone in for dinner. He sat down, ate his food with the thought that this time tomorrow, he would be eating desserts at some guildsman's table. As soon as he finished, he returned outside to his hole.

Tomorrow came and went. The hole was large enough to swallow a quietta, but there was still a lot of dirt between him and Dahngrest. He guessed that he underestimated the distance by a couple of days. Soon, the hole would be big enough to fit his whole house in and he would be seeing the roots of grass.

Each morning he wolfed down his breakfast and went outside to work until he was called in for lunch and dinnertime, and each evening, he was called in for bed which he did without complaint. He was too tired to argue.

After five days of digging, his father walked up to him and sat down beside the hole. "So, why are we going to Dahngrest again?"

"To live with the guildsmen." Flynn replied, poking his head out of the hole. "I'm tired of living with rules and I'm not going to do it anymore."

"Oh, I see. So is it worth putting all this work into digging to a world with no rules if you go to Dahngrest and never see your mother and I again?"

Flynn stared at his father and he remembered the warm hugs he received every morning, the attention daddy had always given him, and his momma always being there when he got hurt and she always knew exactly what to do. Was it worth losing mommy and daddy…? Flynn frowned. He would miss his parents quite a bit. And it's not really their fault that rules existed, they had to live by them too… Flynn dropped his chin to his chest and dug at the hole with his toe. "I guess not."

"Oh? Well, if you're ready to come in, Momma has some cookies fresh out of the oven."

"Really?! Yeah, I'm ready to come in now! But… Daddy? If I stick around, does that mean I still have to follow the rules?"

"Yup. Every one of them."

"Oh… well, momma's cookies are always worth it!"