Blackberry Bun's Journal: Chapter 10

[Blackberry Bun]

Chapter 10: Gift in Hearts


Days passed after the ice show day, and Christmas was getting near. In fact, the next day would be the Christmas day. The weather also somehow became warmer than usual in the last few days although snow still covered the land. I wanted to give all my friends a present, but I had no idea what to give and where to get the presents. So, I decided to go to Blueberry's place and ask for advices. The trip to Blueberry Valley was not so easy because of the snowy terrain, but I still managed to arrive there anyway because of my new device. Blueberry was home and warmly welcomed me. Inside her house I told her about my intention.

"Well, you know... We have the same exact thinking," She said.

"So, do you know where we should go and what to get?" I asked.

"Well, to get Christmas presents, there's always Holidayland," She answered.

"Holidayland? Raspberry mentioned that name before. What is that place?" I said.

"It's an absoloo-tely perfect place to get presents for Christmas, that's all I can say," She answered.

"Then let's go there right away," I said.

"The thing is, that place is quite far and the snowy terrain doesn't make the trip any easier," She said.

"Well, didn't you notice how I came here?" I said. "Come outside,"

Both of us went outside and then she saw the new device I had made a few days before, which was a snowmobile.

"This is Arrowhead. It can run through snowy terrain without much trouble. It has seats for two people so you can go there with me," I said.

"Wow, you are absoloo-tely amazing!" She commented, which made me blushed.

"Not really. It's just an ordinary snowmobile after all," I replied. "Anyway, shall we go?"

"Yes, of course. I'll get my warm clothes and we're ready to go!" She replied, going inside the house and came back out again shortly after. "I also brought some berries and books with me. Did I mention that we must have something to trade if we want to get anything?"

"Well, no. That means I have to go home first and take some things. Here, have the helmet," I said, giving her a helmet as I wore mine, and we set off to my home and then Holidayland.

The trip back to my home and to Holidayland was quite smooth and we arrived in Holidayland without much trouble. The town itself amazed me because the people living there are mostly dwarves with colored skin, with some living puppets and fairies accompanying as well. However, we had no time to waste so we entered a shop and see if we could find something. Once we were inside, suddenly a purple fairy appeared and greeted us.

"Welcome to Sugar Plumdales. Can I help you?" The fairy asked kindly. "But first, have a plum," she continued, magically made two plums and gave them to us both. I ate one and commented on how good the plum was.

"I'm not called the Sugar Plum Fairy for nothing. So tell me how I can help you," She said.

"We're looking for a present for our friends," I answered.

"Hmm, tell me about them," She asked.

"Well, there's Strawberry Shortcake..." I said before the fairy interrupted.

"Wait, is there by chance someone named Orange Blossom among your friends?" She said.

"Yes, how did you know?" I asked.

"Yesterday a girl in strawberry hat traded a sugarplum bush for a friend with that name. Hearing the name you just mentioned made me remember," She replied.

"Oh... that means we cannot trade for that one," I said.

"Why not?" Blueberry asked.

"I can't give the same present. That won't feel right. Let's see if we can find another thing here," I answered.

In the end, we didn't find anything in that shop. However, I gave the fairy some of the berries I had brought from home anyway in exchange for her patronage. Then we went through the town and arrived at a place named Candy Cane Mart. Inside I got the information that Strawberry had been there as well and had gone bringing a lot of candy canes and cookie cutters, as well as a wagon. That meant there was nothing we could get from there as well.

We proceeded again and arrived at a place named Holy Woods. In there an angel greeted us and once again I got to know that Strawberry had been there as well and had gone bringing all the wood could offer. Both of us then went from the wood in disappointment.

"Now this is what I call progress. Nothing at all for hours," I said.

"Well, we can try going to the northern outskirts but... that place is not so safe," Blueberry said.

"Still better than going home with empty hands," I said, driving Arrowhead towards the northern outskirts.

The northern outskirts was indeed not as safe as the previous places. The snow there were somewhat more slippery, and to make it worse there were steep slopes and crevices. I tried not to fall into any of those, but the windy weather and the dark night sky didn't make it any easier.

"*Sigh* I guess we have no choice but to go back with empty hands..." I said.

"I guess so... Watch out!!!" Blueberry yelled, warning me about a crevice ahead which I didn't notice. However, it was too late and both of us fell deep into the crevice.

Both of us didn't know how long we had been unconscious. When I woke up, I looked around and saw that Blueberry was still unconscious near me. I shook her body trying to wake her up.

"Blueberry! Wake up!" I said.

"Ugh... Blackberry? Where are we...?" She replied slowly.

"We fell into a crevice and it seems we are now at the bottom of it. Are you all right now?" I asked.

"Yeah, I guess..." She replied.

"Now we should try to find a way out," I said while looking around.

The place where we ended up was narrow and quite dark, but I could see the sky far above which was bright blue. That meant it was already Christmas day and we were too late. However, I put that aside because the main thing at that time was to find a way out.

"Blackberry... I can't move my legs," Blueberry said. I looked to her legs and noticed that her legs were stuck under broken Arrowhead. I tried to move it aside but it was no use because it was very heavy. I kept trying but it was futile, until I heard a voice.

"Let me help," The voice said.

I looked at the source and found that the voice came from a reindeer with purple tail.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"The name is Ralph. Let's move this thing together," he answered.

With Ralph's help, I finally managed to move Arrowhead aside. Arrowhead indeed had become broken because of the fall.

"Can you stand up?" Ralph asked Blueberry, who then tried to stand up but with no success.

"Ugh... I think I have a twisted ankle," She said, holding her left leg.

"Mount her on my back, will you?" Ralph said to me, which I did right away.

"Do you know the way out of this crevice?" I asked.

"If I had known I would have gone away from this place since ages ago," Ralph replied. "I have been living under this crevice for months, or maybe years?"

"What? How did you survive here for that long?" I said.

"Me as a purple-tailed reindeer does not need any food to live. For drink I can swallow some snows and let them melt," Ralph replied.

"Oh... That means me and Blueberry won't last for long..." I said with a deep sigh of despair, but I saw that Blueberry was still calm. "Hey, Blueberry. How come you are still calm in this situation?" I asked.

"No worries, Blackberry. Have you read about another special ability of a purple-tailed reindeer?" She said.

"Well, no," I answered. "What is it?"

"If it swallows one purple hair from the tail, it can fly for the next one minute," She answered. "More than enough for us to get out,"

"Indeed. I know about that and have tried several times to bite my own tail, but with no success at all," Ralph replied. "Pull one hair from my tail and feed it to me. With that I can get you all out of here,"

So, Blueberry pulled one hair off Ralph's tail and fed it to Ralph. I then mounted on Ralph as well and he flew upwards and out of the deep crevice.

"Finally I'm out of that place after this long time," Ralph said as he landed on ground. "And it was all thanks to both of you,"

"Don't mention it. We met because both of us fell down there by coincidence anyway," I said.

"By the way, why did you come to this northern outskirts of Holidayland?" Ralph asked. Thus, I told him everything about my intention to give my friends a gift and the misfortune of Strawberry already gotten the same gifts. After hearing those, Ralph offered to give us a ride to a special place in northern outskirts, which I agreed.

Ralph brought us to a house similar to some I had seen in Holidayland. As we entered, we all saw quite a number of dwarves walking around.

"What is this place?" I asked Ralph.

"This is my home. Ho-ho-ho!" A voice answered from behind us. I looked on the source and realized that it was Santa Claus himself.

"Santa! This must be the absoloo-tely luckiest day in my whole life!" Blueberry said.

"Santa! I missed you!" Ralph said.

"Well, well. If it isn't my dearest reindeer Ralph. You have been missing for years! Where have you been?" Santa said.

"I fell into a crevice and today these two kind people helped me," Ralph answered. "I thought you would have known,"

"Even though I am Santa who knows things, there are still some things I don't know, dear. I apologize for my ignorance," Santa said.

"It is fine. Anyway, these two people need your help," Ralph said.

"I'll be glad to help. Now tell me," Santa said, and I told him everything.

"But forget all that. Now my only wish is to bring Blueberry back home safely," I said after that. "She's injured and need immediate treatment,"

"Why should you forget? You already have your gift!" Santa said. "They're all in your heart, and in everyone's heart as well,"

"What? I don't understand," I said.

"You will figure that out soon," Santa replied. "Come with me. I will take both of you home on my sleigh,"

So, me and Blueberry had a ride on Santa's sleigh. The trip back to Strawberryland was the best trip I have ever had in my whole life, and it seemed the same for Blueberry as well. She kept looking at the astonishing scenery we could see from the heights.

"Thank you, Blackberry. This whole trip is absoloo-tely the best gift for me," She said, which rendered me speechless.

We got off right in front of my house. As Santa flew away, I could hear him yelling ``Berry Christmas!`` with laughter. I then remembered about Blueberry's twisted ankle, which had gotten better but still made walking quite difficult for her.

"Wait here, Blueberry. I will come back soon," I said, going inside my house. Then I came back out bringing Phoenix Tear and then I used it on Blueberry's leg.

"Wow, this is absoloo-tely amazing!" Blueberry said.

Both of us went inside my house. As I put Phoenix Tear to the shelf, I asked Blueberry if she knew about what Santa had meant about my gift. She shook her head, telling that she was actually confused too. Then, suddenly someone knocked on my door. I opened it and saw that the guests were Raspberry, Lemon, Apricot, and also, to my surprise, Peppermint.

"Merry Christmas!" All four of them said, which made me speechless.

"Hey, Custard got your tongue?" Raspberry said.

"Umm... no. It's just that... You all surprised me, really," I answered.

"It's all we could give, actually. We couldn't find any gifts to give," Lemon said.

"Hmph, no luck for me either," Peppermint said.

"Blueberry is here as well, huh? Now that we are all here, why don't we go now to Strawberry's house? I think everyone else are there as well," Raspberry said.

"Yeah, that would be totally cool," Apricot added.

We all agreed and began the trip to Strawberry's house. On the way I kept wondering about what Santa had said about my gift, but since he had said that I would figure it out soon, I didn't bother thinking too much about it because I believed in all his words. Soon I would figure it out.

--End of Chapter 10--