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Fern’s Perspective

Next

Vermin had been a very good boy packing up all his stuff today! The best! He had his soft toys... his collection of small and unusual items... his favourite coin... and his big snuggly blanket! He’d even managed to not chew on the straps while Daddy made sure it was still perfectly tight around his shoulders - even if his jaws really wanted to - which was not easy but he’d done it! So it was all packed up and ready and everything! Daddy said he shouldn’t put his boots in the bag though because he’d need to wear them when they were walking to the big tree so they were tucked safely next to the bag so he didn’t forget them. Though if he did forget, it wouldn’t be the first time he’d run out into the snow without shoes on... or with only socks... it was just such an easy mistake!

Anyway, Vermin was full of tasty food as he trotted down the hallway toward his bedroom. When the packing was all finished, Daddy had made Vermin and Fern’s favourite casserole! Vermin was sure that it was more his favourite than her’s because it was so nummy scrummy but he didn’t mind sharing favourites. It was a big one too! And Daddy let Vermin eat as much as he wanted as long as he didn’t make himself sick, instead of just giving him one plate like normal! Such a cool idea! Vermin liked getting to eat more casserole. But now it was time for bedtime because the sun was sleeping already and the sooner Vermin joined it, the sooner it would be morning and the sooner he could go to the big tree for his friend adventure!

It was a little difficult scrambling up the side of his bed with such a full tummy but his bed was so soft and warm and fluffy that it was worth it! While he’d packed away a few of his plushies in his bag, he had left one of them out - a large goober that he cuddled as much as he used it as a pillow. Their name was Goobie and they were very squishy! The perfect amount of squishy for Vermin’s little head!

It wasn’t long before his father walked in and to say goodnight. Sitting at his bedside, smiling softly. “We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, my little Daffimin. You sleep well.” The older folk hummed, giving his child a small kiss on the forehead and tucking him in tight before moving to exit the bedroom. Vermin could barely even close his eyes, watching his father’s tail disappear around the doorframe. His entire body wiggled and wriggled with excitement as his mind buzzed loudly in his ears. Sure, Daddy hadn’t specified how long they’d be staying over at the big tree but there was probably so much to see and do that he could stay there for like... three days! That’s one whole paw’s worth of days! So many! There were going to be other kits there too! Friends! Vermin hadn’t really left the house enough to make real friends before but it should be easy enough. Maybe he could talk to them about curses! Or old world stuff! Or maybe even plants!

He was good at plant things... not as good as Fern though. Fern knew a lot about which ones they shouldn’t eat - which was most of them! And ones they shouldn’t touch - which was less than that! Especially the ones which the white in the stem... they made Vermin’s mouth all sore and big and itchy, itchy! Nasty and rude. Hopefully, his new friends wouldn’t be nasty and rude like that kind of plant. The brown kit flopped over onto his back and reached out his golden paw toward to ceiling and flexed it slightly as he imagined it glistening back at him. The soft and fuzzy mit to everyone but his mind’s eye as it projected the bright and shiny surface of solid gold to him. A Midas wish slowly spreading. Would his new friends be cursed like him? That would be so cool! What if they had like six eyes and a skirt made of tentacles? Or mouth ears? Or the face of a cool animal? Very cool, very cool!

Caught up in his own excitement, Vermin barely noticed as he let out a loud yawn. His mind still buzzing yet his vision slowly getting darker... darker... darker still.

—

A muffled birdsong sounded from just outside his window as the first of the day’s sunlight shone through it, casting a bright blue-tinted image of itself upon the darkened room. The brown kit opened his eyes to greet the new day. He didn’t remember when he’d gone to sleep but he must have at some point because time sure had passed! Hopping out of bed, he skittered down the hallway once more, his nose keenly in tune with the smell of waffles wafting down it from the kitchen! Wow! Casserole last night and now morning waffles?! Vermin never got to have morning waffles unless it was a special day! Daddy always made toast and berry porridge or soft-boiled eggs in the morning which was nice but didn’t compare to the sweet rush from waffles and syrup! While it was strange to have two of the best foods of all time in a row, Vermin decided it was best not to question it and just clocked it down to Daddy just feeling really hungry for nice food.

Fern was already sitting at the table talking to Daddy by the time he entered the room and sat down. Greeted by a smile from his father, a small glance from his sister and a big plate piled high with waffles. More waffles than he had ever seen before! But they were no match for this very hungry boy as his tongue worked overtime trying to stop the syrup from dripping down his chin while he stuffed his face. Very sticky and messy but he was one very happy boy by the time he’d had enough. Though he was so focused on gobbling down every last bit that he didn’t even manage to hear what Fern and Daddy were talking about... and glancing across the table it looked like Fern had barely touched her plate. It really wasn’t like her to leave food behind... Maybe... she’d just had more than him? She was awake before him, maybe that was her second plate? Yeah, that had to be it!

“Hey, it snowed quite a bit last night. How’s about we go have a snowball fight after all this food has settled, huh?” His father asked, breaking the silence of the room as he moved to retrieve the brown kit’s plate from the table. Vermin liked snowball fights! He was always extra very careful not to get rocks or ice in his snowballs and he was the best at dodging out of the three of them. Though last time wasn’t fair because he had two thrown at him at once so he dodged one and got the other in his face... but he was usually very, very good at dodging! Not so great at throwing, that was more of Fern’s thing. Together they were unstoppable! So when he looked excitedly toward his sister expecting to see the same excitement about the game reflected, he was a bit taken aback to see her not even reacting. Just staring at her waffles as a small drip of syrup fell onto the table... weird. Probably just full... right? If he’d eaten a whole plate like that and gotten a second one he’d be full too!

“Fern? Did you not hear?” He prompted her with a tilt of his little head, his body wiggling as he tried to contain his excitement for long enough to speak to her. “Snowballs! We can go do snowballs!”
“I know...” her voice was so breathy and quiet that he could barely even hear it. “You go... I’ll... I’ll meet you out there...”
“Oh! Ok!” So she was ok and definitely just full of waffle! “I’ll soften Daddy up so we can beat him at snowballs together!”
“Oh you will now, will you?” The adult chuckled as he finished up washing his and his son’s plates - placing them to dry on the racks next to it with a slight clatter.
“YEAH!” Vermin had a huge grin as this point, his eyes sparkling as he hopped down from his seat and ran off giggling to go get his boots and coat.

—

The next half-hour went by in a flash as the pair threw snow at each other until they eventually decided it was a draw and made the face of the victory snowfolk together. But something didn’t feel right... and it wasn’t the odd decision that his father made to give the snowfolk two different sizes of ears. Fern still hadn’t come out and snowballs was over!
“Come on, my little Daffimin, let’s get inside. We need to be at the big tree in an hour.”
“But... what about Fern? She said she’d come out!”
“She... probably didn’t want to give herself ingestion. Come on, let’s get some hot chocolate! Warm ourselves back up before we go on our big walk, ok?”
Vermin couldn’t argue with that logic... even if it was disappointing. Oh well! They could always all play snowballs together with Daddy when they came back home after the big tree sleepover! Plus! Plus! Hot chocolate! Hot chocolate was always great! Though Daddy always had to put an extra splash of milk into Vermin’s mug because they burnt their whole mouth the first time and cried for two hours! Not a fun day... today was fun already though! And he hadn’t even gotten to the big tree yet!

The warmth of the house stung at his paws as he pulled off his boots and prepared for his promised hot drink. Vermin didn’t like the stinging soreness. Like a million tiny wasps suddenly got really angry at him and started stabbing in one spot. Very rude! Thankfully the water didn’t take long to boil and before too long he was settled down sipping on the drink. The wide red mug now comfortably cupped in his paws. His nose wiggling as the warm steam flowed around muzzle. The steam was fun! Very soothing as he sipped! It made him feel all snuggly and a little sleepy. But he couldn’t sleep! No, no! No napping the day away! Besides he was already almost done! Just in time too because he could hear Daddy calling for him and Fern. Must be time! He needed to go grab his bag!

—

Trotting into his bedroom, he scooped up his carefully packed bag and wandered over to his bed to give Goobie a goodbye head bump, like an affectionate kitten. “I’ll be home soon, Goobie! You take care of my room for me! Love you!” He grinned before making his way back out into the hallway. Though... Fern wasn’t standing at the door with Daddy like he was expecting... No, Daddy’s big fluffy tail was instead poking out from Fern’s doorway! He could hear him talking to her, they were going to be late, she needed to hurry up! Oh no!

With a sudden boost of speed, the brown kit sprinted into the room, launching himself at her bed with a hop, a skip and a jump! Boi-oi-oing! The whole bed moved under him as he looked down at his sister. Her bag was still on the floor and she was staring out of the window. Was she... scared? She looked sad so maybe? He didn’t understand why... this sleepover was going to be fun! In fact, why waste time thinking about it when he could just tell her!

“Come on, come on!” He prompted, patting the bed sheets with all his little paws as he excitedly marched in place. “We need to go! Go! Fern, please. We can go meet lots of friends and have big, biiiiig sleepover at the big tree! We gotta go! Go get your coat on! Get a wiggle on!” On, on, on, get a wiggle on! Oh that was fun to say! Wiggle, wiggle, Wigglewhisker, wiggly words! He was full of giggles now, wiggle giggles! So it caught him completely off guard when his sister whipped around to face him, face like thunder as she snarled and snapped loudly at him.

“I GET IT!”

Silence. Time... froze. Ears pinned, eyes wide. Vermin didn’t understand... he... what did he do? He didn’t do anything out of the ordinary... he... he just wanted to go. Go have fun with his sister. Go see the new place. Meet new people... and yet... she was angry? Why was she angry? She was tearing up now... apologising. Yet, the words escaped him as he watched her be picked up by Daddy. As he told him that she needed space... told him to go get her coat and boots for her. Oh! A job to do! Something to focus on! He quickly shook himself off to get all the weird emotions out of his fur. The feeling of his whole body moving as one grounding and reminding him that he was present before he hopped down with a cheery nod and a big ol’ grin. Coat, coat... boots... where... AH-HA! There they were! And Daddy and Fern were already walking toward him to meet him at the door! Job complete. Now all they had to do was pull their own boots back on... aaaand they were all ready!

Opening the door with a soft click and a creak, Daddy stepped out onto the porch, his two children close behind. Vermin couldn’t help but sneeze as he was met once again with that cold, crisp outside air. Shortly followed by two ‘bless you’s in unison from his family. One paw on the door, Daddy did his outside check. Daddy always had to do the outside check otherwise they’d be locked out of the house or forget something important and that wouldn’t be good!
“Keys... Bag, bag, boots, gloves... Goobie? Daff, where’s Goobie?”
“In my bedroom? I can see him when I get home!”
Daddy pulled a weird face when he said that... had Vermin done something wrong? They didn’t know. “Don’t you think Goobie will get lonely all alone in your bedroom, sweetheart? I’m sure they wouldn’t want to miss out on the sleepover...” He asked causing Vermin’s little muzzle to crinkle up with thought in response. Would Goobie get... lonely? He hadn’t thought of that! OH NO! WHAT HAD HE DONE!? Without a moment’s hesitation, the youngest kit’s bag was being flung into his father’s arms as they sprinted between his legs back into the house. Soft carpet giving way to vinyl flooring to more carpet as he skidded to a stop in front of his bed. Goobie sitting just where he left them... if not a bit more slumped to one side without the other smaller plushies to lift them up slightly. “Goobie!” The kit shouted, flinging their arms around the plush as if expecting a reply. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you lonely!” he snuffled, trying not to cry as he reared up into a bipedal stance and began to walk out of the house again with the plush firmly in his grasp. He was a little wobbly - the plush’s ability to obscure his feet not helping at all with that - but soon he was out of the door once again, reunited with his family and headed toward the big tree.

2616 Words

~~~~~~~~~~

Getting long, might as well make it a monthly prompt, huh? ^w^”

16/77 Acorns

Description

Fern’s Perspective

Next

Vermin had been a very good boy packing up all his stuff today! The best! He had his soft toys... his collection of small and unusual items... his favourite coin... and his big snuggly blanket! He’d even managed to not chew on the straps while Daddy made sure it was still perfectly tight around his shoulders - even if his jaws really wanted to - which was not easy but he’d done it! So it was all packed up and ready and everything! Daddy said he shouldn’t put his boots in the bag though because he’d need to wear them when they were walking to the big tree so they were tucked safely next to the bag so he didn’t forget them. Though if he did forget, it wouldn’t be the first time he’d run out into the snow without shoes on... or with only socks... it was just such an easy mistake!

Anyway, Vermin was full of tasty food as he trotted down the hallway toward his bedroom. When the packing was all finished, Daddy had made Vermin and Fern’s favourite casserole! Vermin was sure that it was more his favourite than her’s because it was so nummy scrummy but he didn’t mind sharing favourites. It was a big one too! And Daddy let Vermin eat as much as he wanted as long as he didn’t make himself sick, instead of just giving him one plate like normal! Such a cool idea! Vermin liked getting to eat more casserole. But now it was time for bedtime because the sun was sleeping already and the sooner Vermin joined it, the sooner it would be morning and the sooner he could go to the big tree for his friend adventure!

It was a little difficult scrambling up the side of his bed with such a full tummy but his bed was so soft and warm and fluffy that it was worth it! While he’d packed away a few of his plushies in his bag, he had left one of them out - a large goober that he cuddled as much as he used it as a pillow. Their name was Goobie and they were very squishy! The perfect amount of squishy for Vermin’s little head!

It wasn’t long before his father walked in and to say goodnight. Sitting at his bedside, smiling softly. “We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, my little Daffimin. You sleep well.” The older folk hummed, giving his child a small kiss on the forehead and tucking him in tight before moving to exit the bedroom. Vermin could barely even close his eyes, watching his father’s tail disappear around the doorframe. His entire body wiggled and wriggled with excitement as his mind buzzed loudly in his ears. Sure, Daddy hadn’t specified how long they’d be staying over at the big tree but there was probably so much to see and do that he could stay there for like... three days! That’s one whole paw’s worth of days! So many! There were going to be other kits there too! Friends! Vermin hadn’t really left the house enough to make real friends before but it should be easy enough. Maybe he could talk to them about curses! Or old world stuff! Or maybe even plants!

He was good at plant things... not as good as Fern though. Fern knew a lot about which ones they shouldn’t eat - which was most of them! And ones they shouldn’t touch - which was less than that! Especially the ones which the white in the stem... they made Vermin’s mouth all sore and big and itchy, itchy! Nasty and rude. Hopefully, his new friends wouldn’t be nasty and rude like that kind of plant. The brown kit flopped over onto his back and reached out his golden paw toward to ceiling and flexed it slightly as he imagined it glistening back at him. The soft and fuzzy mit to everyone but his mind’s eye as it projected the bright and shiny surface of solid gold to him. A Midas wish slowly spreading. Would his new friends be cursed like him? That would be so cool! What if they had like six eyes and a skirt made of tentacles? Or mouth ears? Or the face of a cool animal? Very cool, very cool!

Caught up in his own excitement, Vermin barely noticed as he let out a loud yawn. His mind still buzzing yet his vision slowly getting darker... darker... darker still.

—

A muffled birdsong sounded from just outside his window as the first of the day’s sunlight shone through it, casting a bright blue-tinted image of itself upon the darkened room. The brown kit opened his eyes to greet the new day. He didn’t remember when he’d gone to sleep but he must have at some point because time sure had passed! Hopping out of bed, he skittered down the hallway once more, his nose keenly in tune with the smell of waffles wafting down it from the kitchen! Wow! Casserole last night and now morning waffles?! Vermin never got to have morning waffles unless it was a special day! Daddy always made toast and berry porridge or soft-boiled eggs in the morning which was nice but didn’t compare to the sweet rush from waffles and syrup! While it was strange to have two of the best foods of all time in a row, Vermin decided it was best not to question it and just clocked it down to Daddy just feeling really hungry for nice food.

Fern was already sitting at the table talking to Daddy by the time he entered the room and sat down. Greeted by a smile from his father, a small glance from his sister and a big plate piled high with waffles. More waffles than he had ever seen before! But they were no match for this very hungry boy as his tongue worked overtime trying to stop the syrup from dripping down his chin while he stuffed his face. Very sticky and messy but he was one very happy boy by the time he’d had enough. Though he was so focused on gobbling down every last bit that he didn’t even manage to hear what Fern and Daddy were talking about... and glancing across the table it looked like Fern had barely touched her plate. It really wasn’t like her to leave food behind... Maybe... she’d just had more than him? She was awake before him, maybe that was her second plate? Yeah, that had to be it!

“Hey, it snowed quite a bit last night. How’s about we go have a snowball fight after all this food has settled, huh?” His father asked, breaking the silence of the room as he moved to retrieve the brown kit’s plate from the table. Vermin liked snowball fights! He was always extra very careful not to get rocks or ice in his snowballs and he was the best at dodging out of the three of them. Though last time wasn’t fair because he had two thrown at him at once so he dodged one and got the other in his face... but he was usually very, very good at dodging! Not so great at throwing, that was more of Fern’s thing. Together they were unstoppable! So when he looked excitedly toward his sister expecting to see the same excitement about the game reflected, he was a bit taken aback to see her not even reacting. Just staring at her waffles as a small drip of syrup fell onto the table... weird. Probably just full... right? If he’d eaten a whole plate like that and gotten a second one he’d be full too!

“Fern? Did you not hear?” He prompted her with a tilt of his little head, his body wiggling as he tried to contain his excitement for long enough to speak to her. “Snowballs! We can go do snowballs!”
“I know...” her voice was so breathy and quiet that he could barely even hear it. “You go... I’ll... I’ll meet you out there...”
“Oh! Ok!” So she was ok and definitely just full of waffle! “I’ll soften Daddy up so we can beat him at snowballs together!”
“Oh you will now, will you?” The adult chuckled as he finished up washing his and his son’s plates - placing them to dry on the racks next to it with a slight clatter.
“YEAH!” Vermin had a huge grin as this point, his eyes sparkling as he hopped down from his seat and ran off giggling to go get his boots and coat.

—

The next half-hour went by in a flash as the pair threw snow at each other until they eventually decided it was a draw and made the face of the victory snowfolk together. But something didn’t feel right... and it wasn’t the odd decision that his father made to give the snowfolk two different sizes of ears. Fern still hadn’t come out and snowballs was over!
“Come on, my little Daffimin, let’s get inside. We need to be at the big tree in an hour.”
“But... what about Fern? She said she’d come out!”
“She... probably didn’t want to give herself ingestion. Come on, let’s get some hot chocolate! Warm ourselves back up before we go on our big walk, ok?”
Vermin couldn’t argue with that logic... even if it was disappointing. Oh well! They could always all play snowballs together with Daddy when they came back home after the big tree sleepover! Plus! Plus! Hot chocolate! Hot chocolate was always great! Though Daddy always had to put an extra splash of milk into Vermin’s mug because they burnt their whole mouth the first time and cried for two hours! Not a fun day... today was fun already though! And he hadn’t even gotten to the big tree yet!

The warmth of the house stung at his paws as he pulled off his boots and prepared for his promised hot drink. Vermin didn’t like the stinging soreness. Like a million tiny wasps suddenly got really angry at him and started stabbing in one spot. Very rude! Thankfully the water didn’t take long to boil and before too long he was settled down sipping on the drink. The wide red mug now comfortably cupped in his paws. His nose wiggling as the warm steam flowed around muzzle. The steam was fun! Very soothing as he sipped! It made him feel all snuggly and a little sleepy. But he couldn’t sleep! No, no! No napping the day away! Besides he was already almost done! Just in time too because he could hear Daddy calling for him and Fern. Must be time! He needed to go grab his bag!

—

Trotting into his bedroom, he scooped up his carefully packed bag and wandered over to his bed to give Goobie a goodbye head bump, like an affectionate kitten. “I’ll be home soon, Goobie! You take care of my room for me! Love you!” He grinned before making his way back out into the hallway. Though... Fern wasn’t standing at the door with Daddy like he was expecting... No, Daddy’s big fluffy tail was instead poking out from Fern’s doorway! He could hear him talking to her, they were going to be late, she needed to hurry up! Oh no!

With a sudden boost of speed, the brown kit sprinted into the room, launching himself at her bed with a hop, a skip and a jump! Boi-oi-oing! The whole bed moved under him as he looked down at his sister. Her bag was still on the floor and she was staring out of the window. Was she... scared? She looked sad so maybe? He didn’t understand why... this sleepover was going to be fun! In fact, why waste time thinking about it when he could just tell her!

“Come on, come on!” He prompted, patting the bed sheets with all his little paws as he excitedly marched in place. “We need to go! Go! Fern, please. We can go meet lots of friends and have big, biiiiig sleepover at the big tree! We gotta go! Go get your coat on! Get a wiggle on!” On, on, on, get a wiggle on! Oh that was fun to say! Wiggle, wiggle, Wigglewhisker, wiggly words! He was full of giggles now, wiggle giggles! So it caught him completely off guard when his sister whipped around to face him, face like thunder as she snarled and snapped loudly at him.

“I GET IT!”

Silence. Time... froze. Ears pinned, eyes wide. Vermin didn’t understand... he... what did he do? He didn’t do anything out of the ordinary... he... he just wanted to go. Go have fun with his sister. Go see the new place. Meet new people... and yet... she was angry? Why was she angry? She was tearing up now... apologising. Yet, the words escaped him as he watched her be picked up by Daddy. As he told him that she needed space... told him to go get her coat and boots for her. Oh! A job to do! Something to focus on! He quickly shook himself off to get all the weird emotions out of his fur. The feeling of his whole body moving as one grounding and reminding him that he was present before he hopped down with a cheery nod and a big ol’ grin. Coat, coat... boots... where... AH-HA! There they were! And Daddy and Fern were already walking toward him to meet him at the door! Job complete. Now all they had to do was pull their own boots back on... aaaand they were all ready!

Opening the door with a soft click and a creak, Daddy stepped out onto the porch, his two children close behind. Vermin couldn’t help but sneeze as he was met once again with that cold, crisp outside air. Shortly followed by two ‘bless you’s in unison from his family. One paw on the door, Daddy did his outside check. Daddy always had to do the outside check otherwise they’d be locked out of the house or forget something important and that wouldn’t be good!
“Keys... Bag, bag, boots, gloves... Goobie? Daff, where’s Goobie?”
“In my bedroom? I can see him when I get home!”
Daddy pulled a weird face when he said that... had Vermin done something wrong? They didn’t know. “Don’t you think Goobie will get lonely all alone in your bedroom, sweetheart? I’m sure they wouldn’t want to miss out on the sleepover...” He asked causing Vermin’s little muzzle to crinkle up with thought in response. Would Goobie get... lonely? He hadn’t thought of that! OH NO! WHAT HAD HE DONE!? Without a moment’s hesitation, the youngest kit’s bag was being flung into his father’s arms as they sprinted between his legs back into the house. Soft carpet giving way to vinyl flooring to more carpet as he skidded to a stop in front of his bed. Goobie sitting just where he left them... if not a bit more slumped to one side without the other smaller plushies to lift them up slightly. “Goobie!” The kit shouted, flinging their arms around the plush as if expecting a reply. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you lonely!” he snuffled, trying not to cry as he reared up into a bipedal stance and began to walk out of the house again with the plush firmly in his grasp. He was a little wobbly - the plush’s ability to obscure his feet not helping at all with that - but soon he was out of the door once again, reunited with his family and headed toward the big tree.

2616 Words

~~~~~~~~~~

Getting long, might as well make it a monthly prompt, huh? ^w^”

16/77 Acorns