What is Your Father?

5-year-old Folco tries to explain to a playmate what a Councilhobbit is. (Short story on two characters from my books. Written for a 100 words or less contest)

Folco and Lindo sat cross-legged together on the grass during lunch. The taller child asked “what’s your family like?” Lindo laid down. “My brother’s two. A baby.” “Lucky!” Folco exclaimed. “Mine’s bigger. There’s… four?” He lifted a finger. “Nora, Xenia, Jillian, Odo, me. No, five. And my mother and father. Father’s never home. Too busy” Lindo looked over. “Your father’s a councilhobbit right? Mine said so. What are councilhobbits?” Folco frowned, wondering how to explain, “he’s sort of one of Dremeadow’s parents? Teachers? They make rules like them. But they’re different. People pick who they like best to be councilhobbits. So he has to make sure people like him so he stays one, not like teachers where it doesn't matter if we like them. And he doesn't make kids read and draw and write and count.”

Author's Note

Folco Foxtrot and Lindo Rivers are two characters seen in several of my books and stories. This takes place when they are 5- 8 years before Democracy's End and 13 before Fallen Ones and Traitor Princess

Reviews

[Mila]

I like the way you kept with their age, and Folco wasn't a 100% expert on what it was that his father did. I know at that age, my mom was a microbiologist and I used to tell people that she made things go 'boom' in a lab, which was the farthest thing from what she did! XD

Just one thing:
"councilhobbit, right?" put in a comma right there.

Well done! :)

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

Thanks! And now that FF group no longer exists, editing a tad so Folco adds in "He has to make people like him so he stays one, not like teachers where it doesn't matter if we like them. And he doesn't get rooms of kids"

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

And lol making things go boom in a lab

[Mila]

XD I was like 5 or something!

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

My mom's disabled so I hated being asked what she did, always got very weird judgey looks for it

[Mila]

People are the worst :(

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

Seriously. That was also age where I was homeless so any questions, especially seemingly innocuous ones like "what do you live in" made me have the 5-year-old version of a F.M.L. reaction. Even worse in first grade because I had this awful teacher who told me talking about aspects like that in my life were "inappropriate for school"

[Mila]

See, that's just messed up. If anything teachers should know better!

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

Yeah. She's a GREAT teacher.... if you're a "normal" cookie-cutter kid. If you're special needs and/or have an atypical home life, good luck, you'll need it! She's a nightmare to low-income kids

She got teacher of the year once to give you an idea of the idiocy of the school district I grew up in...

[Mila]

Ugh, that makes me so mad. People who don't deserve what they have celebrating it like they do. That's why I immortalize it in my stories and books so, if and when those people see it, hopefully it's my way of punching them in the jaw.

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

bwahahaha I should find a way to do that. Oh, i forgot the part where she made a prediction to another kid's parent that I'd end up in jail and not graduating because of my contempt for authority T_T Contempt for HER, yes, cuz she was a b***h... I hope she saw I graduated high school as salutatorian and with an athletic record!

[Mila]

I hope she did too, that's a double punch in the jaw!

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

Maybe I can find a way to sort of mess around with that by making someone be a dick to the refugee kids! Or a shadow of it in someone who in the Council era who lets their political opinions affect the way they treat Councilhobbit kids like the Foxtrots

[Mila]

Omg yes!!!! Do that, that would be awesome!

[jjwilbourne]

This is pretty age accurate. I love that about this. I love seeing Falco and Lindo at this age.

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

Yasss. Aren't little kids a trip?

[NoelHC]

Amusing, you were able to get into the young minds of these, and how they perceive the adult world.

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

Thanks! Yahh, little kids are so cute

[Christopher Robin]

Hiya SpeedyHobbit,
I'm here purely as a response to this being an entry into my short story competition. I'm afraid you may have skimmed over the rules of the competition as this does not meet the requirements at all and cannot be considered as a submission. If you'd like to submit a different piece that fits the criteria, by all means please do so!

-Robin

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

Hey, apologies, you're right on that- guess I shouldn't read contest requirements half-asleep xD I'll pull it and seek out something else!

[Christopher Robin]

I've reset the competition to allow 2 submissions because so many people have entered without reading the rules, it's fine, looking forward to what you upload next :)

-Robin

[Tegon Maus]

What Mom and Dad do is always confusing at that age... very entertaining !

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

Definitely, haha.

[AMMD]

My favorite genre is fantasy, so I look forward to reading more about these characters as I'm able to read the books they're found in =)

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

Thanks! Yeah, I've got three in progress on this site, though needless to say they're much older than five in them (:

[AMMD]

I got that from your reviewer note :)