Marching Orders

"Attention! On my mark, right squadron, march!”
“Miss, I have to go pee!”
“No bathroom breaks! And it’s Miss. Captain to you!”
“Uh, sis, I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be ‘commander.’”
The girl sighed as she took off her army hat and shoved it in the face of the young boy who was standing beside her. “Do you see this Tommy? Do you see the hat?” She asked. Tommy nodded as he sucked on his thumb. “This hat means that I am in charge of the army. Which means,” she stressed, “I get called whatever I want to be called. And I want to be called captain!” And with that, the hat once again returned to the top of the girl’s head as she turned back to face her army with a flourish.
“Sarah, I do not want to hear you shouting at your brother,” a young woman with curly brown hair that matched Tommy’s stuck her head in the doorway.
“But Mom!” Sarah whined.
“No buts. And is that your father’s old military hat?” the mother asked, her hands on her hips.
“Daddy said I could use it today. I need it to command my army! We’re invading the place where the monster lives under my bed.” Sarah said as she proudly gestured to her army. Recruitment had gone well and the numbers reached over 10. There would have been 15 but Tommy wouldn’t cooperate and let his men join. Sarah expected her mother to say something along the lines of, “well done!” or perhaps, “that’s even scarier than the army your father fought against,” but she said no such thing. Instead, Sarah’s mother simply raised one eyebrow as she looked at the army of teddy bears, stuffed animals, and one Cabbage Patch doll. Much to Sarah’s dismay, the army began fidgeting under her mother’s fierce gaze. The stuffed giraffe even fell down.
“Mama, you’re scaring them!” Sarah cried as she rushed to aid the fallen soldier.
“Just clean up when you’re done,” her mother sighed as she walked away. As soon as she left, the army burst into chatter.
“Thank goodness she's gone!”
“Stop pulling on my tail!”
“When’s lunch?”
“I’m tired!”
“I need to go pee!”
“I told you, NO WASHROOM BREAKS!” Sarah said exasperated.
“I think the giraffe really needs to go. He even fell down when Mom looked at him!” Tommy said.
“Fine,” Sarah grumbled as she gave a loud sigh and flopped onto the floor, one arm over her eyes, “but you’re taking him!”
“Why me?” Tommy protested.
“Because Mr. Giraffe is a boy and you’re a boy. I’m a girl and I can’t take a boy to the washroom!” Sarah said, “What if I get cooties?”
“Alright,” Tommy said as he picked up the giraffe and walked out the room. “But I want a cookie for this!” he shouts over his shoulder before slamming the washroom door which was right across the hall from Sarah’s room.
“I like cookies,” Sarah said. She squeezed her eyes shut and tugged on one of her pigtails, something she did only when she was thinking really hard. “I know!” She said as she jumped up and faced the curious stares of her army, “Men, I’m going on a mission. I will be taking only the bravest and strongest soldier with me. It’ll be tough and dangerous. We might not even make it back. But if we do, we’ll be coming back with a plate full of Mom’s chocolate chip cookies! The ones she made yesterday afternoon.” There was a collective gasp of horror. “But, you haven’t had lunch yet! You’ll be captured and taken prisoner for years!” The lion cried.
“You don’t mean-” said the teddy bear with the purple shirt.
“Yes, she’ll be grounded!” The lion whispered the last word. Everyone, including their brave leader, Captain Sarah, shuddered.
“I’ll go!” Mr. Monkey said, “The cookies are worth it.”
And with a final salute to her men, Sarah left with Mr. Monkey securely in her arms. She walked as quietly as she could, her back always against the wall. Sarah reached the kitchen with no incident. There was no mother inside, guarding the chocolaty goodness. As she was about to enter the room, Sarah heard her mother’s footsteps, getting closer. Spotting the cookie jar, Sarah urgently whispered to Mr. Monkey, “She’s coming. We’re about to be caught. I’ll distract the enemy while you get the cookies. Understood?” Mr. Monkey simply looked at Sarah with grim determination. Sarah threw Mr. Monkey at the cookie jar. It was a perfect throw! Mr. Monkeys landed on the jar with his arms firmly around it. The force of the impact sent the jar, with Mr. Monkey still on it, tumbling to the floor. They landed with a loud crash.
“SARAH ELIZABETH JENKINS. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” Sarah reluctantly tore her gaze from her possibly fatally injured comrade to face her mother who was practically steaming with rage. “It was Mr. Monkey!” Sarah said.
“Go to your room young lady! March!” Sarah’s mother pointed a menacing finger towards the stairs. As Sarah entered her room, she was instantly pelted with questions,
“What happened?”
“Where’s the cookies?”
“Why are you back so soon?”
“Where are the cookies??”
“Marching orders,” Sarah said as she lay down on her bed.