Tsugi and Lugo hid in a barn behind a bunch of stacked hay.

The festival was starting and the musicians began playing their music. The joyous melody sent Tsugi’s heart into a flutter and he closed his eyes, taking in the music, not realizing that he was slowly swaying side to side.

“You like music?” Lugo whispered.

“This is only my second time hearing music.” Tsugi breathed deeply. “My first time was when Maki played the flute.”

“Really?”

“Shhh!” Tsugi covered Lugo’s mouth and they froze briefly.

The sounds of pitter patter feet ran by.

“I love music.” Lugo whispered after the coast was clear. “I know how to play, I can show you sometime.”

“Really?” Tsugi’s voice was a little too loud so Lugo quickly covered his mouth as they waited quietly. Footsteps slowly approached the barn and rummaged through the area. They could hear the haystacks being moved and shifted in the far corner. Then the footsteps came closer and closer and hand reached over the haystack, touching Tsugi’s head and face. A very quiet giggle erupted and the little girl jumped over and sat next to them.

“Shh.” She whispered and giggled again. They all sat in silence and soon another person entered the barn, repeating the same thing.

“Ow.” Lugo hissed. “You poked my eyeball.”

“Sorry,'' the boy said as he hopped over the haystack, crouching next to them.

Then another person found them, then another. They were all getting squished and packed into the corner. Some were sitting on the ground, while some knelt, some crouched, and some just laid right across the lot of them.

“I swear…” a girl whispered, “...if one of you farts…”

Just then, a loud rip and the smell exploded like a smoke bomb of diarrhea, filling the corner.

“AHH!” Everyone screamed and pushed off each other, racing out of the barn, running for their lives. Some kids even bent over in the streets and puked.

“I could taste it in my mouth!” Another screamed.

“Gross! Who did that?!” Said another.

Tsugi and Lugo laughed thunderously as they stumbled away. They laughed so much that they felt weak in the knees, nearly collapsing on to the ground as if slowly dying from lack of oxygen.

“Was that you?” Lugo asked Tsugi when he was finally able to take in air.

“Yeah.” He wiped away a tear from his eye. “I couldn’t hold it anymore and they squished me.” He laughed some more and took a deep breath. “Sorry, it just kind of happened.” He chuckled.

“Did you just poop yourself?” Lugo chuckled, wiping a tear from the brim of his eyes.

“No, but I feel better.” They both laughed so much, they felt an enjoyable high off of it.

“It was a fun game, but I think they might be done after that stunt you pulled.” Lugo nudged Tsugi hard enough to knock him off balance briefly as they strolled through the dark alley back to the town square. “You could kill an animal with your fart. What in the world did you eat?”

“Just what we had for lunch at the orphanage. Oh, and that candy that you got me, it was really good by the way.” Tsugi smiled.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Well, remind me to never get you anymore candy then. Or if I do, let’s just make sure we are not in an enclosed space.” He chuckled and shook his head. “I still can’t believe you did that.”

“If it’s going to come out, there isn’t much I can do about it. I’ve already tried holding it in, but it didn’t work, obviously.”

They returned to the town square which was now filled with people and the snow was coming down harder. The giant snowflakes continued to float down like feathers and cover the ground in a thick white blanket.

“Ruzo?” At Tsugi’s call, Ruzo came running out of the tent. He spun and jumped into the snow before sliding to a stop by Tsugi. Ruzo looked utterly ridiculous as he had patches of white snow all over him, to include his muzzle and even the tips of his ears. Tsugi laughed and ruffled Ruzo’s fur, brushing the snow off of him. Tsugi then proceeded to pick up the snow and packed it into a ball, while Ruzo sat and wagged his tail so excitedly that he cleared a spot on the road where he sat. Tsugi grins at the dark gleaming eyes of his best friend and tosses the snowball into the air. Ruzo leaped so high into the air, he nearly lost his balance. As his mouth closed on the snowball, it exploded and by the time he landed back on his feet, he looked utterly confused as to where his new ball went. He kept spinning in circles and sniffing the area around him as Tsugi just chuckles as he picks up another handful of snow.

Laughing children ran across the town square, picking up piles of snow and tossing it into the air as if they wanted it to snow more. Others were packing them and throwing them at each other, making a loud splat as it smashed onto their bodies.

(GASP)...Tsugi froze in the middle of packing a snowball. His neck had caught a giant snowball as it melted and slowly dripped down his back, soaking into his shirt. He slowly turned around and saw Lugo sneering and packing another snowball in his hand. “Oh, you’re dead!” Tsugi threw the snowball at Lugo, but he ran. Ruzo got so excited, he had forgotten all about the lost snowball and ran along with them, trying to catch the snowballs that were being thrown between them.

Lugo stuck out his tongue and packed a new snowball, grinning, showing the whites of his teeth. Tsugi bent down to pick up more snow and caught another one in the side of his face.

“Hey!” He retaliated and threw another snowball at Lugo, catching him right in the leg in the middle of running. “HA! I got you!” Tsugi celebrated and caught the next one that Lugo threw, throwing it right back at him, smacking him right in the middle of his face.

“Pfft, pfft, pluah!” Lugo wiped the snow off his face and spat out the snow that got into his mouth. The middle of his face was now all red from the impact of the cold snow. “Oh I’ll get you back!” He laughed and picked up another snowball, running away and dodging Tsugi’s attacks.

The other children found their excitement alluring and soon they all joined in on the fight. It was everyone for themself and they all threw snowballs at each other. Ruzo was in heaven as he had never seen so many balls before. He caught a few of them and ate them happily before lunging into the air to catch another.

“Sorry!” Tsugi had accidentally hit an old man in the back of the head when Lugo dodged at the last minute. He watched Lugo and timed it to hit his face, but as he threw it, Lugo jumped into the air and the snowball hit him perfectly at the junction where his legs met his body.

“AH!” Lugo grabbed himself between the legs, curled into a ball and groaned in pain on the ground. Tsugi had never seen anyone drop to the ground so fast.

“Are you okay?!” Tsugi ran over. “What happened? I didn’t even throw that hard.”

“Ogh. You…hit me…in my balls.” He grunted and clenched his eyes shut. He looked like he was going to be sick.

“Balls?” Tsugi tilted his head.

“My testicles!” Lugo screamed.

“But I didn’t even throw it that hard. How did it hurt so much?” Tsugi tilted his head, very confused.

Lugo glared at him angrily. “Have your balls not dropped yet? How would they not hurt if someone threw something at it! Or have you never been hit down there?” He groaned.

“Well…” he glanced around sheepishly, “I’ve never been hit down there.”

“Come here and let me show you how much it hurts!” Lugo screamed and Tsugi quickly backed away. Lugo tried to get up and fell back down clutching between his legs. “Oh, my left nut.” He kicked his feet like they were little nubs, as if the motion would make the pain lessen.

“I’m sorry. Are you okay?” Tsugi came a little closer, still wary of Lugo’s anger. “I didn’t do it on purpose. I aimed for your face, you were the one that jumped into it.” Lugo groaned in retaliation. “Well, that’s what happened. Sorry.”

After a long while, Lugo finally breathed normally and stood up on his shaky legs, parting them like he had just taken a very spicy poop. He adjusted his trousers briefly before starting to walk. “Phew, man, that was painful.” He sighed. He was able to walk now, but he kept parting his legs every now and then.

“Sorry.” Tsugi kept apologizing, as he felt really bad seeing how much pain Lugo was in.

“It’s fine, it happens. Just…don’t aim for it on purpose, now that you know.” Lugo chuckled nervously. “I think I’m done playing for now.” They both walked over and sat in the snow by the musicians and listened to the music. Ruzo laid next to Tsugi, panting with his face covered in snow, just as more snow continued to fall and landed on his fur, turning him white.

“So do you know how to play all of those?” Tsugi pointed to the instruments.

“No. I only know how to play the ocarina.” Lugo responded, not even lifting his head as he covered his groin with the snow on the ground, exhaling in relief from the cold snow.

“What is that?”

“It’s like that flute right there.” Lugo pointed to the man playing the flute. “But it’s more of a round shape. It sounds like that, but it’s not as high pitched, it’s a little lower.”

“Oh, okay.” Tsugi nodded and found himself swaying to the music again. It soothed his heart and the melody made him feel joy and a sense of peace. “How’d you learn to play the ocarina?”

“It was the only instrument I had when I was little. Teaching myself how to play it, helped me keep my sanity, for the most part anyways.”

Tsugi looked over at Lugo who now looked wistful, remembering that Lugo’s an orphan just like him. “It’s okay. Now you have me.” Tsugi smiled at him. “You can stay with me as long as you want. As long as you don’t drive me crazy, that is.” He added and chuckled when Lugo playfully pushed him over.

Lugo looked at Tsugi, who was smiling gleefully, and also let out a little smile. He was glad that he was able to help Tsugi smile again.