Donmino Winning Entry

It was dark, and cold. Evening had fallen, and the day had gone quickly from fun, festive, and bright to tense and cruel. There was one spot of color midst the white of whipping snow and black of the sky - a January Kohal, trudging towards home with her head down. The cold had little effect on a creature made of stone. It was the lot of a Kohal to silently accept their fates, but when she looked up, she couldn't help but wonder what could be improved. She hadn't left Boreal's domain for nothing, she decided with a sudden rush of passion. Surely the situation could be bettered - yes! That was it! They'd have fun this evening if she had anything to say about it.
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"Hey! You pinched me!"
"Did no-ot!"
"Don, she pinched me, I saw!"
"No way, mama! She pinched ME!"
Donmino rubbed her temples, turning away from the bickering Jinx and Haruba. It seemed that nothing had been going right since the sun had gone down; her pets had been arguing nonstop, and they all wanted her to back them up - when she failed to, they would invariably pout and sulk and refuse to talk to her for hours. She ran a hand through her hair, then stood up, leaving the bickering pair to it in favor of pacing anxiously. She was freezing and, on top of it all, Corundum, her Kohal and newest addition to the family, hadn't come home yet, and she was worried. The darling thing was much too timid to stand up for herself if she got into trouble. Just as she was seriously contemplating screaming to vent her frustrations, the door slammed open, and a small, bright red Kohal appeared.
"I'm home." she said in her quiet, soft voice.
"And where have you been?" Donmino hadn't meant to be harsh, but the tension she'd felt all night were at an all time high - the Jinx and Haruba were now chasing eachother around the room.
"I-I had an idea." she said, staring at the floor at her feet. "I brought it with me."
Intrigued, Donmino stepped closer, looking out the door. Her eyes widened in surprise - her young Kohal had gone to find the biggest Mistmas tree she could, and then dragged it home through the snow.
"I- uh, wow, Coru. I... had no idea. Here, let me help."
As they began pulling the tree through the door, the other pets stopped their contentious arguing, looked up, and ventured over to help, one at a time. When they had it in the room, and had closed the door, the Kohal stood in front of it to address the others. "I thought we could d-decorate it together."
This idea was met with a chorus of murmurs. Donmino spoke up. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. Accorsi, Thestra - come with me. We need to go dig our old Mistmas decorations out of storage."
"Hey, Don." Tath the Ricket spoke up. "I can make some cookies, or something."
"Yeah, and I can do eggnog."
"Ooh, I think we need a fire in the fireplace..."
"And maybe a garland over the door..."
Corundum's Mistmas tree seemed to have ignited a fire of activity, all of the pets now cooperating where they had been arguing previously. Some time later, Donmino and her helpers emerged from the basement, laden with boxes, and each grinning widely. She set the boxes next to the other pets, gave them some words of encouragement, and stepped over to her Kohal.
"This was a great idea, darling. I'm so proud of you."
Corundum looked up at her with wide eyes. "Really? Did I do alright?"
"Of course. We needed a good dose of Mistmas spirit to shake off the cold, and you delivered. Not even Mericlaus herself could have done better."
The young Kohal looked up at her silently, positively radiating happiness, and the two of them made their way over to the others to share a mug of eggnog, and perhaps hang an ornament or two.