Getting Festive for a Hatchling

Maru awoke with fluttering eyes and smacked his lips. He closed his eyes again, only to open them when a chill rushed through the cave opening. Though he tucked himself away in a smaller area, a cave inside a cave that his parents were too large to fit through, he still felt the cold coming from outside the larger cave, and it smelled like oncoming snow.

In a flash, Maru was on his feet and moving. He dashed from his little secluded cave and into the larger, bypassing his parents without a single call, but he was often too fast and on the move. Any sound he made would have been an echo in the dust he left behind.

Outside, Maru skidded to a stop and stretched into their air, his tail wagging and tongue hanging from his mouth. Morning had hardly broken the horizon. Nothing on the rocky outcropping looked different, neither the forest nor the ocean, but the air held the unmistakable scent of oncoming snow, of unshakable cold weather. Maru’s eyes widened, and his smile grew impossibly wide as he bounced.

He landed flat on his feet and spun around, chasing his tail as excitement overwhelmed. Then, he was off, sling-shotting off the end of a turn and across the rock. He near skidded on the slick surface, but he made it to the grassy inlands and ran as fast as his stubby legs would take him. With practiced ease, he skated around blades of grass, pebbles, and tall flowers. Maru knew the path by heart to avoid the larger rocks and trees.

What would have taken a larger creature seconds took little Maru a long ten minutes, but he arrived at a large open field. He only knew the end of it, where he rushed to the only tree he cared for—from the cave to this tree was his whole world, as he was barely larger than the fruit it bore which he loved so much.

Some days, his trip bore nothing, but the colder winds had brought their first Chumbus gift by knocking the last of the season’s apples from the tree. Maru rushed to the closest one with an overjoyed chirp and a jump. He landed on top of the apple and used his weight to start the apple rolling. As it found its own momentum, he leaped off and rolled through the grass. Chumbus called for more than an apple.

Maru ran back for the tree, already panting, and stopped with a sudden forlorn whine. He looked frantically around the tree base, but the tree still thrived and would for a while longer. Maru lived in a warmer place where the cold wouldn’t truly settle in until Chumbus had come and gone. He sat back and looked up at the tree with a long, quiet croak as he looked up at the different branches. Any one of them would make a marvelous tree for his little nook, but they were all out of reach. Even if he could climb, the trunk was tall, and he wouldn’t make it.

Past his whining, a rustling caught Maru’s attention. He looked back the way he’d came with little hope, but there stood Melon—a soft green and white Draphibi he’d seen with the others. Sometimes sleeping, sometimes swimming, but often on her own. She stood alone now, peaking through parted brush with her wings fluttering in curiosity. Maru jumped, his excitement too much for the weight of exhaustion to contain.

He let out a high-pitched croak as he bounced in place, a chirp and a tiny squeal. Melon’s eyes widened as she listened to his pleas. He already had the apple, but what would he do without a tree? Was Chumbus truly complete without the proper decorations?

Melon’s smile grew, and her heart warmed. She’d seen Maru around, too, though they’d never met. Young and bold, no other hatchling could have gotten themselves into quite as much trouble, so she came to his aid. She waddled from the brush and into the apple orchard. When she approached the tree, Maru ceased his jumping so he could run around in circles at her feet, still whining, chirping, and croaking.

Please, please, please.

Melon fluttered her wings. As small as they were, it took a bit of momentum, but they lifted her off the ground in no time, and she floated up to the branches. There, she hovered, as Maru squeaked and cried. Not a branch too long, not one too thick, and not one too barren. The perfect branch. When Melon found it, Maru jumped into the air with his front legs spread wide with glee. As he fell, he rolled to his back and wriggled. Too much excitement, too little balance.

With a laughing croak, Melon tugged the branch free and gently floated back to the ground. She set the branch at Maru’s side as he rolled back to his feet, then flattened to the ground with his legs tucked beneath him. His eyes flitted from the branch to the tree to Melon, where they stayed, stared, and glistened.

For a moment, Melon stared back, then stepped in to pat the top of Maru’s head. She grabbed the branch again, then took a few steps away. When Maru didn’t follow, she looked back and waited. Maru, still struggling with his size, used all his weight to get the apple rolling again. Once it moved, he continued to push, and the two walked back into the tall grass together.

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When Melon and Maru the cave nestled in a rocky outcropping from which crashed a crystalline waterfall, his parents were waiting. Melon took him to the cave opening; one took the branch from her while the other took Maru’s apple. They exchanged quiet croaks—a thanks for bringing him home—then turned into the cave. Smiling, Melon stepped back and waited until Maru was safe inside the cave, too.

Maru rushed into the cave, his eyes already glittering as he imagined his final set up and went to the entrance of his little nook. The apple and stick were left just outside for him to do the rest.

First, he nudged through the apple. Then, he turned back to the stick and grabbed the thin, broken end with his teeth. It took all he had to pull the stick, but he didn’t stop until stem, leaves, and all, were tucked into the safety of his little room. Then, he plopped with a long, whining sound. Bone weary, he flattened to the cave floor and stretched out his legs. His tail fell, too, and his eyelids drooped.

The day was only a few hours old, but already, Maru was ready for the next. He only had so much energy, and all of it was spent, but his nook quickly filled with the apple’s scent. His favorite smell. Maru let out a long, deflating croak, then pushed himself to his feet. No one could help him in this corner of the cave, too small for them to fit, so he had to do it himself. With another chirp, Maru dove for the next piece of work, more determined than he’d ever been. He would not spend a day of the coming season without the proper decorations.

With the help of his tail and a push off the wall, Maru stood the stick on its end and leaned it against the furthest wall. Panting, he immediately rushed to the other corner, where he kept all of the things he scavenged from around his home. He never went more than a few minutes in any direction, but it left him with a world full of treasure. From shells and soft scraps, he fashioned himself a bed. He had other small, half-eaten fruits he’d pulled in, too, and small cracked piece of clay in which he kept the cave bugs he found.

The bugs were his prize. Maru pulled the piece of clay towards the stick, grunting with effort and tail wagging, then stopped to pant when he reached his destination. He flopped to the floor, legs spread out and tail deflated, and watched as the bugs flocked to the vegetation. They decorated the leaves on their own as they crawled up the stick and found places to sit. As they settled, they glowed, and Maru shut his eyes with a happy smile.

After a few moments of rest rustling caught his attention. He opened one eye to see set just outside the opening to his little nook, a collection of shiny, brightly colored rocks and dried grass. He’d have to collect the berries on his own, but he had the whole season ahead to venture out of the cave and pick them special, like he’d done before. All the energy drained from his little body, Maru had a hard time dragging himself to his feet, but he managed. Slowly, he slumped back across his nook to flop in his little bed of scrap fabric and crunch leaves and curled into a ball with his tail around his face.

The cave bugs glowed, and the little hum they emitted was enough to lull Maru to sleep. He rested easily, knowing he could finish his decorating later in the day, when he’d gained another burst of energy.