Twelve Days of Christmas

Day Ten

ᎾN ᎢᎻᎬ ᎢᎬNᎢᎻ ᎠᎪY ᎾF ᏟᎻᎡᏆᏚᎢᎷᎪᏚ YᎾᏌ ᏟᎪN'Ꭲ ᎢᎬᏞᏞ FᎡᏆᎬNᎠ FᎡᎾᎷ FᎾᎬ, ᎢᎻᎬ ᏴᎾYᏚ ᎻᎪᏙᎬ Ꭺ FᏆᏩᎻᎢ ᏔᏆᎢᎻ ᏴᎪᏞᏞᏚ ᎾF ᏚNᎾᏔ!

***

Mush had just been trying to go home, that was it! He'd finished selling for the day and was ready to go back to the lodge. He was looking forward to a carefree evening in the toasty lodge. A smile crossed his face at the thought... Blankets, maybe something warm to drink...

He was startled from his daydream as something cold splattered on the side of his face. His hand flew up and brushed the snow off of his cheek. He heard a laugh and spun around, searching for the culprit.

"How are ya doin' today, Mush?"

Mush's eyes landed on Elmer who was smirking at him, a snowball in his hand.

"What'd you do that for?" Mush scowled. "Now I'm cold!"

"Big deal," Elmer scoffed. "Have some fun!"

"This ain't fun! It's freezin'!" Mush flinched as another snowball connected with the back of his head. He spun around again with a scowl. "Who was it this time?"

Romeo appeared from behind a wall and raised his hand with a guilty smile. "Yours truly," he said, eyes sparkling.

"That's it," Mush muttered, storming over to Elmer.

Elmer's eyes widened and he stumbled backward, hands raised in surrender. "Let's not be dramatic! I don't think a little snowball calls for any drastic measures, let's just-"

"Yeah Mush! We was only kidding!"

Mush ignored them and grabbed the snowball out of Elmer's hand. Elmer and Romeo flinched, both prepared for the snow to make contact with their faces. Nothing happened and Romeo cautiously opened an eye launched it at Race, who had just appeared from his own day of selling.

Race, unlike Mush, didn't seem annoyed at all. He chuckled as the snow slid down his forehead, then bent down and scooped up a handful of the powdery snow. He threw it back in Mush's direction and connected with Elmer's head.

"Why me?" Elmer complained, trying to hide a smile.

"What're you gonna do about it?" Race taunted.

The response was another snowball soaring through the air, which Race managed to avoid with a quick duck. Within seconds the air was filled with the flying snow and as each boy arrived home, they were all slowly drawn into the game.

It was possibly one of the only games Albert would admit to liking. A game where the goal was to throw things at people could never be beaten. Others, like Sniper, hated the game. Whenever he was hit in the face he would cry. Most boys just avoided his face to save themselves the trouble and annoyance that came with his tears. Albert and Elmer on the other hand, would aim for him.

The game grew fiercer and the boys somehow divided themselves into teams, each gathering on opposite sides of the lodging house lot, though there wasn't any snow to build up any protection. Jojo, focused completely on avoiding incoming snowballs, didn't even notice the boy behind him

He jumped as something cold was dropped down the back of his shirt, the snow sliding down his back and sticking to his neck. His hands flew to the back of his shirt, trying to wipe everything away. His eyes darted about for a second and settled on Race.

"Race! Wese on the same team!"

Race shrugged with a smirk. Jojo glared and grabbed a handful of snow, then leaned forward and shoved it in Race's face.

"Every man for himself!" Tommy Boy called, noticing the interaction.

"You ain't a man, youse barely a boy!" Romeo snickered as all of the boys began turning on each other.

Tommy Boy stuck his tongue out and Romeo laughed, tackling the smaller boy into a snow drift.

It was the scene that Jack arrived home to. Davey looked concerned and Les excited as they observed the chaos.

Romeo was still holding Tommy in the snow, Tommy was squirming and trying to avoid the snow that was being shoved into his face. Albert was scowling at Elmer, who'd emptied a hatful of snow on top of him.

"Watch out Dave," Jack grinned.

"What?"

It didn't take long for Davey to realize what Jack was warning him about. He sputtered as a snowball struck his face. He could see Jack smirking and Les was laughing behind him.

Mush, who'd thrown the ball, froze. So did all the other boys, trying to cover snickers as they waited to see how Davey would react.

"You think that was funny?" Davey asked as he glanced at Les.

Les nodded and Davey smiled back at him. "What do you think now?" Davey reached down and quickly scooped up some snow, tossing it at his brother.

The boys cheered and Les gasped. "Davey!"

It was out of character for Davey, but the change certainly wasn't unwelcome. The boys were enjoying this new side of their friend until, to their surprise, Jack ended it.

"Alright boys, I think we're done here."

"Aww, come on Jack!"

"Don't be such a killjoy!"

"Yeah, what he said!"

Jack shook his head. "Look at you guys!"

They did, and were greeted by bright red cheeks and pink noses. Water was dripping down their faces and most of their fingers had gone numb.

"Wait," Jack paused as he scanned the scene. "Where's Tommy?"

A muffled reply came from Tommy and Jack groaned. "For Pete's sake, Romeo! Let him up before you smother him!"

Romeo reluctantly stood up and helped Tommy Boy to his feet. Tommy huffed and brushed snow off of his coat.

"Youse all gonna freeze! Hurry up and get inside!"

"But Jack-"

"No complainin'!" Jack said firmly. "In the lodge before you get the flu. I don't want nobody stayin' home tomorrow because theyse sick."

The boys filed back into the lodge. They knew Jack was right, but that didn't mean they had to like it. In one last stage of rebelliousness, Race gathered up some snow and aimed at Jack. The ball made contact with a satisfying smack.

"Race!"