"AHHH!"
A body fell on top of Norbert; he was once more woken from his slumber. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he looked around, expecting to see something of a panic around him. Seeing nothing amiss, he looked around at his latest guest. The boy was lying on top of him, staring at him with a smile and reaching for the covers, trying to pull them off.
Keeping up resistance, Norbert not wanting to leave the confines of his pillowy domain. Getting off the bed, the boy tried his hardest to pull, face nearly going completely red. Sighing in defeat, not wanting the boy's mother to get involved, Norbert raised his hand in the air, signalling defeat.
Grabbing onto the covers tightly with both hands, the boy whipped the covers off the bed, the cool air of the day hitting Norbert all at once. With a shudder, Norbert moved his legs off to the side of the bed, reaching down and putting his shoes on. With a yawn and a stretch, he exited the room, his buddy leading the way. Looking around, Norbert could still see Obsius somehow able to sleep still, silently sitting on the pillow.
As Norbert looked at the table, he noticed that the food had already been served and was steaming hot in its bowls. Norbert, the last to sit down, looked around, the family once more saying the exact words as before, Norbert trying to follow along but butchering most of it. Still, Norbert thought he received a slight nod from the father, some recognition finally. He wouldn't be kicked out of the cabin tonight, at least.
Finishing up, Norbert looked around while sipping his water. Watching the rest of the family finish eating one by one, Norbert rose from his chair and quickly picked up the rest of the bowls and cutlery, making his way to the sink and washing them.
Instinctively Norbert's hands went to the top of the sink to turn the taps on, only to find no tap to turn on, only the faucet. Looking expectantly around him could not see anything poking out from it. Looking back, Norbert saw everyone looking at him, all smiling at the situation. With a pleading face, Norbert looked from one person to the next. The father, a slight smirk on his face, the mother grinning from ear to ear, not wanting the moment to end, and the son looking back, mouth open wide, that someone would not be able to see something he deemed so obvious.
Quickly the son shot from the chair and ran towards the sink. Looking again, he pressed to an area on the right of the faucet, and water started shooting out into the sink like magic. With that, Norbert started washing, the boy next to him drying the plates and putting them away in his cupboards. As the bowls were cleaned, the water pressure started to die until nothing was left. With confidence, Norbert pressed the area the boy previously indicated, and nothing happened.
Confusion once more overcame him. Norbert thought with what he had seen, magic would be possible. Looking into himself, Norbert closed his eyes, trying to feel what the tap was trying to pull. Feeling something stir within him, it slowly made its way to the sink, only to fall apart when it did, and still, nothing happened. Now everyone in the room's jaws dropped open, not believing that it could not be done. Once more, the little boy walked towards the sink and pressed, water shooting out instantly; Norbert quickly finished off the cutlery, rinsing down the sink and washing his hands, moving to the side and indicating the boy to wash them.
Hearing a sigh, the boy again stuck his hands and moved them around. With an expression saying, "There happy?"
With a smile, Norbert turned around to judge the parents' reaction. Both of them were still staring, not believing what had occurred.
Wetness came down his back. Quickly turning around, Norbert looked behind him, the boy's hands up in the air; pulling a face, the boy ran out the back door. Smiling, he ran out of the cabin, making sure not to slam the door when closing, leaving the couple to their thoughts.
Outside, breathing in the air, the boy ran up the hill, clothes flapping behind him. Not wanting to be beaten, Norbert rushed up the hill, yelling as loud as he could. The boy turned around and started laughing further away from the cabin. Looking ahead, making sure he could always see the boy Norbert saw bushes and grassland, little animals like rabbits scurrying this way and that, being scared at the noise he was creating. Spotting things he would never have, prints etched into the ground, the claw marks of animals pushing off.
Twigs falling and cracked, and the smells of the forest, something that was indeed alive. Looking back once more, Norbert was surrounded by bushes and pathways dividing them. Looking around, Norbert had lost track of the boy. A head popped up a little to his left; grinning, the boy started chanting something, a little ball of water appearing in his hand before he threw it at Norbert. Stunned at what he once more saw, Norbert was hit with the water right in the face.
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Splattering onto him, it slowly dripped down onto his shirt. Slowly opening his eyes, a grin forming; Norbert looked at the boy, who suddenly gulped. Quickly Norbert leapt over a bush running to the boy's last known location. In response, the boy dropped back down to the obscured ground, the bushes around him shaking around Norbert as he looked.
When Norbert arrived at the boy's location, he popped up from his right, water already in hand once more, throwing it; Norbert started to move to the side before stopping and letting him get hit, a laugh filling the air around him. He raced off towards the boy once more, giggling from both sides.
Norbert saw both parents leave the cabin through the back as the two chased each other. The father, wearing a bow and knife strapped to himself, stalked up the hill, going past and further into the bushes, like the son quickly crouching down and disappearing. Turning back to the house, Norbert saw the mother and waved at her, receiving a smile and a wave in return, before getting hit in the back of the head once more drenched with water, a teasing tone coming from behind him.
With a final wave, Norbert turned again and ran towards the boy when he finally caught him, not letting him escape. More running happened as the boy started to slow down. Norbert saw that he was somehow able to make the bushes move without being there, and a quick flash of fabric was able to pin the boy down on the ground. On top of him, Norbert, covered in water dripping from head to toe, looked down like a wolf on a lamb, grinning and showing teeth. Norbert placed his hands on the boy's side and started tickling him. Screams echoed from both of them.
The boy struggled as hard as he could trying to escape, but Norbert had none of that, the resulting movements only digging the boy into the ground, making it harder and harder to escape. For what felt like hours, Norbert tickled him, laughing harder and harder as he saw the kid squirming away, slowly the boy curled up.
Knowing it was enough, Norbert let up slowly before falling back on the ground next to the boy, staring at the cloudless sky. Happy, the laughs slowly died down, and the breathing returned to normal. Norbert stared up at the sky above him, not knowing if he was covered in sweat or water anymore.
Looking at the insects buzzing by, from bush to bush, Norbert is not tracking them, just letting them zip by. Seeing the occasional bird come by, the weirdest one he had seen was extremely long and had four wings next to each other, looking more like a dragonfly from Earth rather than something a bird should be able to do.
After resting, the boy quickly got up, pulling Norbert again and returning to the cabin. Smiling, Norbert followed, passing the pile where he placed the wolf bodies; what was once just a bundle of bodies was now carefully chopped pieces of meat and some of the fur neatly in a pile, nicely folded. Looking around, Norbert saw the one completely hanging up, looking to be drying at the moment; not sure of the process, Norbert continued following.
Looking around, seeing if anything else was happening, Norbert saw the father come back, holding something that looked like rabbits from their ears and the typical size of them; looking at them closely, Norbert was able to make out instead of the usual buck teeth it had incisors sticking out. This was not something made to eat plants but meat. Looking towards the forest, Norbert wondered what else he could find out there, other strange items he could consume, other strange places waiting for him to explore.
Feeling the skin pull tighter as Norbert smiled at what the future could bring, Norbert looked once at his path. Standing outside was the mother, a look Norbert had seen many times, knowing they were about to get into trouble. As they both stood next to the house, the mother started scolding them, looking down from the steps.
Even though he did not know the words being said, it did not hurt him any less; with each sentence, their smiles started to drop, Norbert turning once more into a boy being scolded. He looked towards the ground slowly, hoping for it to be done.
CLAP
With a clap of her hands, the mother's face brightened, looking happy that her ideas were met. Showing them both away, she also walked down. The boy ran off and stood in a spot, indicating Norbert to follow. Looking at the two of them, he followed the boy, who was standing spread-eagled.
Copying the same position, Norbert looked at the mother as she smiled again before she began talking and holding her hand out. First, a torrent of water hit them, washing away any dirt and sweat that may have stuck to their clothes or bodies. Looking in surprise, Norbert started to walk off; turning around, he was stopped by the boy holding his hand, shaking his head.
With a sigh, Norbert retook the position, standing there and waiting before the mother began chanting. Holding both hands out, the air whipped towards him, blowing his clothes. The longer he stood still, the warmer the air began, until Norbert started to see steam coming off the both of them.
It stopped as quickly as it started, leaving Norbert bewildered at what had just happened. He was cleaner than when he went off that day, cleaner than how he cleaned himself. Staring at the mother, Norbert slowly squinted his eyes, looking and trying to read her. With a smile, knowing she could have cleaned him the other day, she turned around, waiting for the two boys to follow her. For Norbert had quite thoroughly been schooled.