Luke and Sofia's Morning Chores A Bunny, Chickens, and the Egg Elizabeth Ciobanu

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, digital or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

Written by Elizabeth Ciobanu

Book Cover / Illustrations by Vali Ciobanu

1st Edition 2025

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On a cold morning in February, a little girl and a little boy opened the door to their house, bundled in warm hats and mittens. They had an important task to do.

The frosty air nipped at their noses and their frozen breath hung in the air. Spring was around the corner, but for now, winter still held a firm grip on the landscape.

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Luke held a box full of tasty treats for the animal friends waiting outside. Sofia helped mama carry the pitcher of warm water.

Carefully, they went down the steps onto the icy path and out back to do the morning chores.

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"Let's start with Charley this morning," Luke said excitedly.

So all three trudged through the deep, crunchy snow to where the lop-eared bunny waited in his hutch for his morning food and water.

When the bunny heard his human friends approaching, he thumped his foot loudly on the floor of his hutch, and hopped around to the door to wait for his treats.

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"Can I give him the lettuce?" Sofia asked.

She carefully took the green leaves and put them inside Charley's hutch. Charley's bunny nose twitched as only bunny noses can do, and he munched away happily on the crispy greens.

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"I'll give him the water," Luke said.

He poured water from the blue pitcher into Charley's water dish. Charley lapped eagerly at the fresh water.

"We'll have to give him more water this afternoon," said Mama. "The water freezes fast on a day like today."

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Luke went to the shed to get out the bunny food. The door scraped noisily over the frozen gravel as it opened.

The sweet smell of hay filled the small shed, and Luke paused to enjoy the sensation for a moment.

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Sofia also hurried to the shed, not wanting to be left out of anything.

"You do the food, and I'll get the hay," she said. Luke agreed, and they set to their self-appointed tasks.

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With her mittened hands, Sofia grabbed a large handful of the sweet-smelling hay, and carefully carried it back to Charley's hay rack.

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"I can't reach to put the hay in!" Sofia cried in dismay. "I'm too little!"

"Let's trade jobs," Luke suggested. So Luke took the handful of hay to put in the bunny hutch.

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Sofia took the feed scoop and carefully counted out scoops of Charley's daily ration.

"One, two, three, four scoops." She did it all by herself, with only a little bit of help from Mama.

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"Make sure the top of the food container is closed tight," Mama reminded, after they were done. "We don't want mice getting in to it."

Luke turned the top closed tight and returned the container to its place in the shed.

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"Can I pet Charley?" Sofia asked.

Mama carefully picked up the cuddly bunny from his hutch.

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Sofia carefully held Charley, following Mama's instructions.

"Hold his back feet up. Hug him so he feels secure, but don't squeeze too hard."

A happy grin spread over Sofia's face as she realized she was finally big enough to hold the bunny all by herself for the first time.

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Big brother Luke didn't want to be left out.

"Can I have a turn?" he asked. Mama carefully helped to shift the bunny from Sofia's arms to Luke's.

"He's so soft," murmured Luke. "I think he likes me."

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“We shall be friends forever!” Luke said, holding Charley tight against his body.

Charley wiggled his nose in agreement.

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"The chickens are waiting for their food," Mama reminded. "Let's put Charley away and go do the chickens."

She scooped him up, giving him her own quick cuddles, before putting Charley back in his hutch.

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The three walked across the yard to where the chicken coop waited.

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Luke opened the latch to the run and stepped inside. Then he lifted another latch and opened the chickens' door to let them outside to get their breakfast.

They stepped carefully down the ramp, clucking excitedly, expecting treats.

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"We need to get more water," Luke said. He picked up the water container and walked across the yard to the faucet.

With a full water container, Luke, Sofia, and Mama went back to the chicken coop.

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"They're hungry! Let's go get them their food," said Luke.

He took the food container into the workshop where the bin of chicken feed stayed.

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Luke put in several big scoops of chicken feed.

"I want to do some too," Sofia insisted noisily. So Luke gave her the scoop to put some more feed in.

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Since the full feed container was now too heavy for Sofia to carry, Luke took the full feeder back to the chicken coop.

He opened the door, shooing the chickens out of the way to put the feeder back in its place.

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The chickens hurried over to get their breakfast, clucking and squawking.

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The little flock put their heads down, pecking quickly to gobble up the tasty tidbits.

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"I'm so glad we have chickens," said Luke. "They're so much fun!"

"Me too," chimed in Sofia. "My favorite is Penny!"

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"One last task to do," said Mama, as they stepped out of the chicken run.

"Check for eggs!" Luke and Sofia said together.

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"Can I open the egg door?" Luke asked.

"You can try," Mama said.

So Luke worked on the latch of the egg door. After a few moments he said, "I can't get it open."

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"I'll push on the door, and you try the latch again," said Mama, who knew the little trick to getting the door to cooperate.

This time Luke was able to slide the latch over. He yanked the door open to see if there was a little round treasure waiting inside.

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There it was, lying in the nesting box. A large red egg, just waiting to be picked up.

"It's Oreo's egg," said Sofia knowingly. "She lays the red ones."

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"Too bad it's not a chocolate one," said Mama. Luke and Sofia looked confused for a moment.

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"Mama," Luke asked, his eyes lighting up as though a lightbulb had gone off in his mind, "Do bunnies lay eggs?"

"Only at Easter, son," said his mother as she chuckled softly, closing the chicken coop. "But they're not chocolate either."

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"Now that our chores are all done—the chickens are fed, the bunny’s been petted, and the egg has been found—let’s head back inside to warm up and enjoy some breakfast," said Mama.

All three headed over the snowy yard toward the house on that chilly February morning.