Laura slowly became aware of the reality around her. She rubbed her eyes and tried to chase the dream away (far-away citadels, gnats, elvs... it must've been a dream... Laura blushed slighly as certain events came to her mind... 'yep, dream, definitively'😉.
As she opened her eyes, there was a raven thingy flapping its wings right above her head. 'Hey, would you get me a strawberry margarita, please' Laura asked. '...and stop laughing! ok ok, it is a girls' drink, so what... it's red and that goes with the season... now go get it' she ordered again.
The raven flew away, unsteadily, still rolling around with laughter.
Laura noticed someone standing few meters away, munching on a bun. 'Hello Jizzo, nice to see you. What's up?'
Orophin stood up, wiping the sand from his clothes. He stretched and yawned like he had slept for an eternity.
He looked up and saw the familiar black birds, working ard as usual..."i hope they pay you guys well" he thought.....a raven stopped for a moment in front of him and shruged "meh!!" then continued its task.
He noticed the new visitor and waved at him, then he walked towards Laura smiling. Anwar followed him.
"I could do with 'bloddy mary' right now" he thought
'Hi Orophin... and hi Anwar' Laura greeted them both with a warm smile. Anwar did his usual poking and circling around her feet, purring like a kitten. Laura felt like purring too.
Ravens brought the drinks and the two clinked their glasses. 'Here's to December...'
As luke walks along the moors alone forever watching over those who the story centres around he wishes he could go to them and wish them a happy holiday but after all this time is afraid to approach them and instead just hopes tat somewhere inside them they know what he trying to say to them
bzzt....bling!!! Orophin grinned as the 10 feet (3.05 meters) Finnish pine tree lit up into a myriad of colours.
The swamp was heaped in beautiful alpine snow, soft and evenly spread. "a veritable winter wonderland" he smiled
The animals rolled around palying in this white stuffand the ravens perched on the branches with their little santa hats.
He walked over to Luke..."hey dude, merry christmas" ..... he smiled and shook his hand. The gang suddenly appeared and the carols began.....THE DARKNESS!!!
He snuck up be behind Laura and gave her a big hug..."merry christmas princess"
'Merry Christmas to you too my king' Laura said to Orophin with a soft voice. She smiled, looking into his eyes and holding him close just a little longer. Then she proceeded to greet the newest visitor who looked a bit lost and lonely.
'Hi there Luke and Merry Christmas. You are so very welcome to join us at the Swamp to celebrate the holidays. I just wish JV was here too...' her eyes were a bit sad. 'There not much we can do when there's so few of us left.'
Then she looked up at the Christmas tree with all the beautiful lights and decorations, and the white snow piling on the branches... 'Mmmmm, but aren't we blessed to have all this and each other' she continued - and in her heart she was feeling all mushy 😊
Not so far away...at the outskirts of the swamp...mosquito was preparing himself to ruin their happiness on the Christmas...
"They think they can enjoy their Cdhristmas celebrations togethere while I'm all alone and cold" mosquito said to himself.
"huh!"
"Christmas this year won't be like any other year"
then with snap of his fingers, orophin teleported the sinister fellow to the fore. "hey dude, welcome back!" he grinned mischeviously.
He walked up to Mosquito and offered to shake his hand..."truce on christmas, mate?"
Laura felt somewhat uneasy about the appearance of mosquito. He seemed to be in his human form and not the gnat - which was good - and Laura was glad to see the leg had grown back 😃 But which side of his personality would he show?
She decided to keep her distance at the moment so she stayed behind, quietly chatting along with Luke, while the two (former?) rivals were staring each other.
Everything got silent all of a sudden, no carols, no jingle bells... the ravens were holding their breath...
mosquito didn't fall for the Elf's friendliness...afterall, he still bears the scar from the last confrontation and he knew that the Elf is full odf tricks.
mosquito quickly took shelter and disappeared in one of the many underground tunnels scattered around the swamp waiting for the right moment to ruin the day just like he old freind, the Grinch, used to do...
Orophin smiled as the "freak" slunk off into the dark depths. He shrugged "i tried...." then he winked "....its not over yet!!"
The music resumed, the crew held hands in a circle round the tree and chimed out carols at the top of their voices.
"HO HO HOO" a jolly voice rang through the din and they all looked up to see good ol' Chris Kringle fly by into the moonlight, shimmering fairy dust trailing in his wake.
With a shimer of light, the base of the tree heaved with gifts of all shapes and sizes, each one labelled with the names of all the AAS members new and old.
"But whats this?" he remarked with some astonishment " two boxes for Mosquito, i see".......he thought to himself some more "i'm hope he will accept these with glee"
With that he kissed his princess and set off to deliver these gifts to its rightful owner.
With mosquito gone, Orophin gone and JV gone, Laura feels a bit lonely. She snuggles up with a blanket and opens one of the books Santa had brought her. Nibbling a gingerbread cookie and sipping gl�gg she starts to read.
BOOM!!!......Orophin flew through the air, trailing thick smoke and then landed in the snow with a heavy blow, creating deep hole.
"and stay out!!" mosquito shouted out and slunk back into his hole.
Orophin peaked out and climbed out. Dusting himself off he thought "hmm...i guess he didnt like his gift"...he smiled and burst out laughing...."ow!! my back"
He walked over to Laura and sat next to her. He picked up a cookie and smiled, watching her as she relaxed all snug and warm.
He finished his cookie and sipped his glas of milk, the rested his back on a tree and closed his eyes, remembering a year gone by.
It was so quiet, so peaceful. There was only a slight hum in the backgroung, echoing from a far distance, to remind about the post-Christmas sales that had already started in the outside world. None of that buzz was reaching the Swamp.
Laura had seen Orophin hold his back as he had sat beside her. She knew how busy he'd been so no wonder his muscles ached. Now that he was comfortable, she snuck behind him and started gently massaging his stiff shoulders. Orophin was slightly startled at first but then he relaxed again with a sigh. Laura continued the massage, trying to use just enough force to really ease the muscles, but not too much as to not generate unnecessary pain. There were some especially achy spots in Orophin's lower back and Laura was being especially gentle.
'Hmmm, I guess that did the trick' Laura thought to herself as she noticed a silent snore. The king seemed to have fallen asleep.
A smile formed on his face as he layed there, his head rested on her lap, purring softly as she ran her fingers through his hair. He was content, he had everything he cold ever wish for.......she was his whole life.
Nothin could take away this moment..........
A bauble on the Christmas tree glows slightly brighter than the others and Jadeviper slowly comes into focus. Tiptoeing over quietly so as not to wake Laura and Orophin, she settles herself under the tree next to them, one hand absentmindedly stroking her growing bump as she leans back and closes her eyes...
The days and weeks pass by, as the swamp's life rejuvinates with a warm glow.
A new life is on its way, a new begining.
The elven king bows in her presence, for all the moodswings, the heartburn, the vomiting, the swollen ankles, the backpains and the headaches....are all a prelude to the emence joy to come.
All our blessings JV and Congrats.😃
Jadeviper smiles and thanks the elf, wondering to herself how he came to know pregnancy so well 😊
Orophin grins and reminds her that he has four younger siblins.😊
"Hmm, nice baby mugshot!!"
not bad for just over two inches long 😊