A/N: Just a little sweetness. Turns out, Molly is very fun to write!
Title: mother hen
Summary: When little Molly fins an egg, she's determined to take care of it. Unfortunately, things don't always go along plan...
Word count: 1,120
Characters: Molly P., Fabian P., Gideon P.
Genres: Family, Hurt/comfort
Mummy took Molly to the farm with her. It was all great fun. The pigs rolling around in the mud made her laugh, the baby ducks quacking in the pond were so cute and chasing the chickens around the yard was exhilarating, just a spatter of tangerine hair running after poultry.
Molly was running after a hen, a particularly red one, with all of its feathers ruffled and clucking terribly, when suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks. In front of her was a perfect, round, white egg. Molly's eyes opened wide with surprise. The hen clucked away, happy to have finally been left alone.
The little girl crouched down and carefully picked up the egg. It was still slightly warm in her hands. She placed it against her cheek and it was almost as if there was a little noise coming from inside the egg. Molly squealed, delighted, before slipping the egg into her pocket.
"You're mine now!"
Molly was filled with great thoughts of keeping the egg until it hatched and became a cute little chick just for her. It was going to be so much fun! And it would be her secret. No one had to know about the egg. Especially not Fabian or Gideon, or they would hurt the egg.
"Molly!" Mummy called, and Molly ran up to her.
Mummy thanked the lady who owned the farm. She had a big box under her arm with two hens in it. They were clucking even louder than the one Molly had been chasing.
"Did you have fun, Molly?" Mummy asked.
Molly nodded, but didn't say anything about the egg she had found. She couldn't wait to get home to take care of the little egg.
Once they were home, Mummy went to the chicken pen to put the new hens in. Molly didn't go with her. She was in too much of a rush to go to her room and make a bed for her egg.
She took it out of her pocket and smiled: "No one's going to hurt you," she promised as she began to climb the stairs, "not while I'm around."
Unfortunately, it seemed like it wasn't going to be so. When Molly reached the landing of the stairs, still coddling her egg, Fabian and Gideon appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
"Molly!" Fabian said.
Molly ignored him and brought the egg to her chest, covering it with her hands so that they wouldn't see it.
"What have you got there?" Gideon asked with a teasing smile.
"Nothing," she muttered.
"Oh, really?" Fabian said. "What's that you've got in your hands?"
"Nothing."
Fabian and Gideon exchanged conspirational glances and proceeded to attack her with tickles.
"Stop it, stop it!" Molly shrieked as she tried to stop laughing. In the hubbub, the egg slipped out of her hands. Molly watched in horror as the egg fell towards the floor. Fortunately, Gideon's hand was there to catch it. Molly let out a breath.
"An egg?" Gideon said with surprise. "Why do you need an egg?"
"Give it back!" Molly tried to get it off him, but he held it high above his head. Molly was far too small to catch it. The poor egg! Surely all of this tossing around was not good for it! She had to get it back as soon as possible.
"Hey! Pass it, Gid!" Fabian called and his brother threw it to him.
"Stop!" Molly shrieked. "You're hurting it!"
Fabian laughed and threw it back to Gideon.
"Stop! Stop!"
Gideon passed it back to Fabian as Molly desperately tried to jump up and grasp it. This was exactly why she hated playing piggy-in-the-middle with her brothers. She would always loose. Except, now it wasn't a ball they were throwing around but her very own precious, white egg! She was determined to get it back.
"Hey, Gid!" Fabian called, dangerously close to the banister.
Gideon threw the egg again, and Molly saw as it sailed straight over Fabian's head and down the stairwell. There was a crushing splat. Molly and Fabian peered down. When Molly saw what had happened, her face drained of colour and tears began to well in her eyes. When Fabian saw what had happened, his face drained of colour and he quickly shot a look at Gideon before the pair of them scampered off before Molly could start crying.
Molly rushed down the stairs and to where her beloved egg had met it's untimely end. Yellow and white were blitzed together and the shell lay in sharp fragments all over the floor. A huge sob began to bubble from Molly's chest and came out as a long wail. Tears and snot rushed freely down her face.
Mummy came rushing in. "Molly, what's wrong?"
"Mummy! My, my egg- Fabian- Gideon! Egg, splattered-" Molly blubbered.
Mummy took one look at the mess on the floor, took her daughter in her arms and kissed her cheek. "Now, now, Molly. Hush now, dearie."
Molly wiped her nose on Mummy's cardigan, and the tears stopped a little.
"Fabian and Gideon threw my egg!" she wailed.
"It's okay," Mummy murmured into her ear. "Now, tell me. Where did you get that egg?"
"From the farm," the little girl said, rubbing her eyes slightly.
Mummy sighed. "And why did you take the egg?"
"I wanted to raise it, so it could become a chick."
She gave small laugh. "And how were you going to do that?"
Molly shrugged. "I dunno."
Mummy took out a tissue and gave one to Molly so she could blow her nose, before taking one for herself so she could wipe the snot from her clothes.
"Molly, darling. The egg was never going to become a chick if you take it away from its mummy," she told her. She didn't mention that the egg probably wasn't fertilised and therefore was never going to become a chick anyway.
Tears began to pool in Molly's eyes again. The egg wasn't going to become a chick? After all Molly had done for it? How was this possible? Molly would have been such a good mummy for the egg...
Mummy quickly intervened before more crying could happen. "But," she said with a small smile, "maybe we can look at the eggs in the coop and see if there are any chicks coming?"
Molly's face lit up with a smile. "Do you think there is a chick?"
"Not right now, but maybe soon. Why don't you go and check?" she suggested
"Yay!"
Molly ran out of the door, into the garden and her mother smiled. She quickly vanished the egg mess on the floor. her little girl was happy again. Now, her brothers on the other hand…
FOR HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
House: Ravenclaw
Assignment #8: Magical and Mundane languages: #6 Furbish – write about raising something that is non-living
All aboard: Blue train 5) surprised
Founder says: Helga says 8) "No one's going to hurt you. Not while I'm around."
Fortnightlies: Scorpios appreciation: 4) Telling someone a hard truth.
Writing club:
Show time: 10) white
Amber's Attic: 15) white
Elizabeth's Empire: 20) Hurt/Comfort
Forecast says: 15) Kissing someone's cheek
Autumn seasonal:
Chemistry: 11) Surprise
Princess: 20) Hard truths
2nd October: World Farm Animals Day: children visiting a farm
Pet peeves: 9) taking care of a new pet
Colours: 9) tangerine
