Reindeer House pt. 12
It all started on a fairly peaceful morning — nothing had burned down, Buritsen had only been nearly killed twice, and even the icicles outside seemed to sparkle with a false sense of security.
Until Mrs. Claus marched out carrying the biggest gingerbread man any of them had ever seen.
Truly colossal. Could-feed-a-village for winter colossal.
Every reindeer froze. Eyes widened. Mouths watered. Kyuupiddo made a soft squeaking noise of awe. “Whoever builds the best snowman wins this cookie!!” Mrs. Claus declared proudly.
And thus, the massacre of friendship began.
What had once been a peaceful snowy field erupted into a war zone. Snowballs flew like artillery. Shovels clashed. [redacted] screamed, “THAT’S MY SNOW!! MAKE YOUR OWN SNOW!!” Buritsen immediately tried to build a snowman using actual boulders of ice before someone confiscated them for public safety. Only one reindeer wasn’t contributing to the mayhem.
Little Kyuupiddo stood off to the side, staring at his tiny snowball — barely bigger than a baseball — and hiccup-sobbing. “I’m too small… my snowman will look like a sad snow-pea…” Donaa, who never said much but had a surprisingly soft heart, quietly knelt beside him. “…I’ll help you,” he murmured.
Together they began rolling snow — or rather, Donaa rolled the snow and Kyuupiddo trotted after it, lovingly patting it and providing “emotional support touches.”
Meanwhile, the others escalated.
Kometto: “SIZE IS EVERYTHING!!”
Dansaa: “NO STYLE IS EVERYTHING!!!!”
Buritsen: “DEATH IS TEMPORARY, GINGERBREAD IS FOREVER!!”
Rudorufu: “WHY IS EVERYONE TRYING TO CRUSH EACH OTHER’S SNOWMEN?!! STOP THIS MADNESS!!”
By the time Mrs. Claus returned to judge their… creations… the field looked like a natural disaster had hit it.
There was one snowman with six heads, one that looked suspiciously like a tax accountant, one that was simply a mountain of snow with googly eyes stuck on, and Buritsen’s, which was… smoking and covered with glitter. No one wanted to know why.
But then she reached the last one — the one made by Kyuupiddo and Donaa.
A small, round, slightly lopsided snowman with uneven arms (one of which holding a slightly concerning pair of scissors), and a shy little smile. But it had heart. And joy. And one tiny pink bow Kyuupiddo had given it “for confidence.”
Mrs. Claus clapped her hands. “This one wins!!”
The reindeer groaned. Buritsen fell to his knees screaming “NOOOOOO — MY WORK OF GENIUS!!”
Kyuupiddo gasped and clasped his hands, sparkles practically exploding around him. He was handed the ridiculously oversized gingerbread man. He stared at it. Then at everyone else. Then at the cookie again. Then he softly said,
“…Does anyone want to share it together…? I don’t think I could even eat the whole thing on my own…”
A hush fell over the battlefield.
Rudorufu wiped his eyes dramatically. “He truly… is the heart of this herd…”
Within minutes, they were all sitting together in a circle, peacefully sharing chunks of gingerbread like nothing terrible had ever happened.
And for once, all was calm.
All was bright.
And the massacre of friendship ended in sweet, cinnamon-scented restoration of harmony.