by Mia Hileman

An Excerpt from An Arrow in the Chamber, A Sword in the Sheath Mia Hileman Community Writing Center Participant

Mia Hileman is a ten-year-old writer living in Freeland, Michigan. She’s always had an interestinwriting—and all things animal—from a young age. She started attending the Bay Community Writing Center when she was nine and loves the help of her many tutors. When she’s not completing NaNoWriMo’s Young Writer challenges, you can find her playing outside, crafting, coding, and building virtual worlds in Minecraft.

The following excerpt comes from the first chapter of Mia’s novel.

Tyson woke to the birds chirping right next to his small window. Bright sun glanced through the curtains as if to see if he was awake. He got up and put on his tunic. Tyson shook out any dirt from his tunic and went to cook a rabbit that he shot with his old bow and arrow. The small house was silent now that his mom and dad had passed away. He soon realized that in a couple of days, his test would choose his lifetime. “It’s time already?” he whispered into the small house. He chewed down the rabbit like it was the drumstick of a chicken. He went to his bedroom to carve the new bow he was making. The carvings flew into his face, but Tyson knew that when it was done it would be perfect. Tyson walked out of the small, neatly handmade door. Clouds rumbled over as if they were going hunting too. Yes, that means the animals will be moving, Tyson thought. He passed by a fox sniffing for a mouse through the brambles. The fox stepped too far into the bramble and scratched its nose. It yelped and darted into a hole under a nearby tree. The spruce trees loomed over him, leaning and moaning as the wind started to pick up. A rabbit poked out of its hole and looked around. Tyson darted behind the nearest big bush he could find. He silently pulled an arrow from his stiff quiver. He pulled the arrow back and aimed. The arrow flew into the rabbit’s head and it fell to the ground. “Yes!” Tyson whispered softly. A fox darted from under the snow, its white coat blurred in front of Tyson’s eyes. Tyson jumped out from the brush and tackled the fox. The fox responded by scratching Tyson and then running back to his den. “Oh, good,” Tyson prayed to the gods. Tyson ran back to his house and jumped inside right as the heavy snow started to blow in. When he looked back, a man stood in front of him. Tyson jumped back and stood up straight to recover from the shock. “Hello, Tyson,” the man said. Tyson nodded a greeting, then did a hand movement to tell him to move on. “It is time for your test; you will meet in the castle at sunrise, ” the man said and walked out of the small cabin before Tyson could move a finger to shut the door. “Well, you better start cooking,” Tyson said to himself.