Reindeer House pt.22
“Whew!! What luck!! I’m baaaack~ !!” Buritsen bounced into the lounge, absolutely covered in snow, mud, pine needles, and… a dazed squirrel clinging to his sleeve.
“Ohh darling!! You poor thing!! What happened?!!” Bikkusen gasped, already reaching for a towel that would definitely not be enough.
“Well!! I went outside to make a few snow angels, but I kind of slipped on the icy steps, and the momentum got me going so fast I slid through the forest and right off the edge of a cliff and BAM I hit a few rocks on the cliff-face—”
Several of the reindeer audibly inhaled.
“—BUT THEN I remembered I could fly!! So I did!! And then this HUUUGE tree fell on me—”
“WHAT—” Rudorufu snapped his clipboard up.
“—but it was lucky, because it didn’t squash any other trees or stuff!! And when it landed on me, it left my imprint in the snow like a snow angel but fifteen centimetres deep!! And then I got really tired, so I came home!!”
Silence.
Kometto blinked. “You… fell off a cliff.”
“Yes!!” Buritsen beamed.
“And a tree fell on you.”
“Mmhm!!”
“And you’re… fine.”
“Mostly!!” He tilted his head. “My Christmas jumper is a little wet...”
Rudorufu pinched the bridge of his nose so hard it looked like he might fold in half. “That was not luck, Buritsen. That was a disaster stretched out over several kilometres.”
“I know, right?!!” Buritsen said cheerfully. “Amazing!!”
Donaa wordlessly lifted Buritsen by the shoulders and sat him on the couch, wrapping him in three blankets and handing him some hot tea with the calm efficiency of someone who had done this many times before.
The squirrel leapt off and scurried away.
“Should we… maybe tie him to something?” Puransa muttered weakly, peering over his mug.
“I heard that!!” Buritsen chirped. “But don’t worry!! I’m staying inside now!!”
A beat.
There was a loud CRASH from the hallway.
“…What was that?” Dansaa asked.
“Oh!!” Buritsen said. “That might’ve been the door I leaned on earlier!!”
Rudorufu stared at the ceiling.
“Tomorrow,” he said calmly, dangerously, “we are installing handrails. Everywhere.”
Buritsen smiled, cozy under his blankets.
“Wow… today really was a lucky day~!!”
To be continued...