Day 56: The Last Laugh

The Prompt: Write a story around this psalm: Kings of armies flee, they flee and she who remains home divides the spoil.  Psalm 68:12

There once was a little girl named Amanda, or Mandy for short.  Mandy had a weakness for chocolate, but she was not allowed to have it very often because her parents cared about her health.  One day, Mandy's cousins came over to spend the week with her.  She loved playing games with them, since she was an only child, and they had great fun together.  The second afternoon they were visiting, Mandy's parents announced that they wanted the children to do some chores around the house.  If they were going to share in the fun, they would also have to share in the responsibilities in the house.  Mandy's parents assigned Mandy and her three cousins with various chores then went to work on their own, Mandy's father mowing and weeding outside and Mandy's mother scouring the kitchen.

Mandy and her cousins started their work with a cheerful attitude, but soon the cousins became distracted.  One constantly complained how his arms hurt.  Another kept taking breaks by getting a drink or snack.  The third simply refused to work anymore.  By the first hour, Mandy was the only one still working.  She was tempted to join her cousins and quit, but she kept on.

At lunchtime, Mandy's mother called them all downstairs to eat and asked how their progress went.  The cousins fumbled with their excuses about why they weren't done working yet while Mandy gently explained to her mother all the work they did.  She was disappointed with the cousins because she had planned to give them all a special treat for working so hard.  However, she praised Mandy for sticking with her work to the end and said she could have part of her cousins share of the treat.  Mandy happily sat on the couch munching on her triple chocolate brownie bites with chocolate frosting while her cousins sorrowfully finished their chores upstairs.