perfect midnight

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"all packed, teedster?" gelatin looked up from the overstuffed duffle bag he was attending to. teardrop gave him a thumbs up and smiled. 

"now, then, let us be off," lollipop said, donning a backpack. "it'd be best to have time to set up camp before dark."

her little siblings nodded and trotted along after her; the three of them followed a meandering path through groves, past a lake, and finally into the depths of the forest. shards of light flickered between tree trunks, dappling the ground with warmth. td hopped through these puddles of sunlight.

"hey, wait for me!" gelatin called, following suit. the day was rather blustery, so the warmth of the sun's rays was appreciated. as the two of them skipped around, lollipop strode beside them.

soon enough, a grassy clearing opened up to them - spotlighted by the sun, sprinkled with wildflowers and dandelions - the little nook in the woods was the perfect spot to set up camp, a cozy little setting for a night under the stars. the stars were yet to reveal themselves, however, the sky still an afternoon blue.

"okay, little droplet, can you get the tent from your bag?" lollipop asked, setting her own bag to the ground.

teardrop blinked in surprise, and pointed to gelatin's duffle after a moment.

"me? i thought lolly packed it!" gelatin turned to his big sister.

td frowned. lollipop sighed with a smile. "alas, i suppose none of us packed it. not all is lost, however - we can simply retire to our sleeping bags in the open air. now, gelatin, did you remember to pack the sleeping bags?"

gelatin fretfully couldn't remember, so he dove into his duffle bag to check. "i don't see them," he sang sheepishly. he continued to dig into it, soon finding himself mostly consumed by the bag, and, incidentally, soon finding aforementioned sleeping bags.

"yes, lollipop. i did remember to pack the sleeping bags," he smiled triumphantly, retreating from the duffle.

teardrop tapped gelatin's shoulder and pointed to the duffle bag, made a swimming motion, then shrugged. 

"yeah, gelly boy, what is all of that stuff you packed?" lolly reiterated their question. "there does seem to be an awful lot of it."

gelatin smiled. "wood."

teardrop looked at him incredulously, and put out her hands in disbelief. lolly chuckled and put her hand to her forehead.

"wood?"

gelatin removed a twig from the duffle bag. "wood. for a fire." he smiled obliviously up at his big siblings.

td patted him on the back and turned him around. they motioned to the armada of trees circling them.

gelatin paused for a second, thinking. "wait," he gasped. "trees... are made of wood?"

lollipop chuckled. "well, they say you learn something new everyday," she said, failing to hold back her laughter. "whoever 'they' are, they aren't wrong."

gelatin beamed. "trees are made of wood? well then, that's more snacks for me!" he dove into the trees and grabbed a number of twigs, before stuffing them into his face. td shook her head in endearment.

"wood? did i hear someone say wood?" a voice called from behind them.

lollipop and teardrop spun around to see firey barreling towards the twig-filled duffle bag. 

"no! wait!" lolly reached out hesitantly. "the duffle bag isn't-"

firey jumped into the bag, setting the twigs ablaze. and the duffle bag.

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