Welcome to Issue 26
fallenstars Winning Entry
Mistmas
I sat calmly by the fire, enjoying the warmth while I waited for my pets to awaken to open their presents. They would be waking soon, I was certain. All but Chrimmer had shown an unnatural tendency to wake hours earlier than normal on holidays. Of course, Chrimmer was the last to awaken no matter what day it was. I glanced over at the small cluster of presents around the tree. I had not been able to afford much, but I knew they would be happy with one present each. It would be worth it to see their faces grow bright as they got something suited to their particular interests.
In the next room, their room, I heard the sound of movement. It was slow and quiet at first, then suddenly intensified in volume as whichever it was scrambled up. A moment later, my Phelocan - Hielo - stumbled out of the hallway, clumsily making his way towards me. I lost his attention as his eyes fell on the pile of presents.
"Hielo. I want you to wait until the others wake up, okay?" I said warily.
He nodded reluctantly, shaking with excitement. A moment later we were joined by Goron. Both of them I had adopted from the pet pound, and so far I did not regret it. Goron had been somewhat annoying since I had used a poppet to change him into a Stignightus. From the first second after the tranformation, he had been vain and irritating, but it made our family interesting.
"Do I look ruffled?" Goron asked, gazing back along his fur and especially his tail.
Hielo ignored him. All of my other pets found his vanity extremely annoying. I smiled and answered, "Very fine, Goron. Are the others awake yet?"
"Sphinxa is doing his morning routine. The others are still asleep." was his reply. Sphinxa's morning routine had been the same ever since he had been bitten by a gender bug. Checking to see if he was female again. So far, he had had no luck, but we were all wishing him the best of luck. The Cheran's gender issues had kept us awake for weeks after he was bitten.
As if on cue, to prove Goron wrong, Thundrae charged out of the hallway, her rainbow tail flying out behind her. She, like Goron and Hielo, had come from the pound, and she had swiftly situated herself as troublemaker of the family. I doubted any of the pets would be surprised by her present.
As Thundrae sprang at the presents, I warned, "Wait for the others."
Pouting, Thundrae sat back, staring hungrily at the gifts and continuosly glancing over to try and catch my eye. I ignored her. Sphinxa entered the room tail-first, dragging a loudly snoring Chrimmer. Thundrae and Hielo hurried to help him drag the Aetra toward the tree. Once all were around it, I nodded. "Thundrae can go first - before she wets herself with excitement."
Thundrae reddened abruptly and pawed at the presents, separating hers from the lot. The other pets nodded at the shape of it - obviously a book. None of them had to wait for her to rip off the wrapping paper to know that it had come from the Haunted Library - the only other books Thundrae laid her paws on had to do with battle.
"Swampy Tales!" Thundrae said excitedly as she ran a paw over the cover. "Thank you!"
I smiled. "You're welcome. Sphinxa?"
Sphinxa's gift was resting under one of his paws. He pulled back the paper to reveal a toy I had seen him eyeing a few days ago at the store. He nodded at me to show his appreciation, then looked away. Since being bitten, he had been very glum. "Thanks."
Goron went next, and all my pets tried their best to tolerate him as he recieved a classy looking navy shirt. I could have sworn Thundrae looked genuinely sick as her adopted brother pranced about making sure we all had a good long look at him. After Goron, we made a group effort to awaken a very sleepy, and later, guilty Chrimmer to open his present - a soft plushie. Minutes later he was lying next to the fire holding it. I couldn't help smiling.
Hielo gladly received a gift of some of his favorite spider pops, making my other pets shy away in disgust.
"Happy Mistmas..." I said warmly, catching their attention. Thundrae looked up from her book, and Chrimmer managed to open one eye to look at me. Then all five pets clustered around me. Yes, it was a strange family, but it was a happy one nonetheless, and there was no one else I would have ever chosen to spend Mistmas with than them.
