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roesslyngTitle: You carry what they load on you
Fandom: A Redtail's Dream
Characters: Jouko Kuikka & the twins
Rating: 0+
Length: ~500
Summary: It was a long day, but a good one. ...And it's still a good one, even if nothing is ever quite perfect.
Other: Prompt was "Any Kuikkas - the little timber sledge". [Original post]
You carry what they load on you
Jouko tilted his head back and looked up at the sky. The cloud of his breath fogged the crisp afternoon air.
Four thirty. Plenty of time to get home and prepare supper.
Snow had fallen overnight, draping a soft clean blanket over the village. What would have been an ordinary day off, staying at home with the kids, had turned into something brighter.
Plenty of snow, and the weather just right. It was a day for scarves and gloves and hats and frost pinching at his cheeks. A day for going out to the place just outside of the village where there was a hill that rose just so, the place where children had gone sledding for years, for as long as anyone could remember. The cold had grabbed his breath as, huffing, he pulled the old wooden toboggan, towed it behind him even though it was doubly heavy. They both insisted on sitting on it.
It had been a good day. A long day, but a good one. Their joy had brought something back, something he'd buried under the snow of his childhood.
Now, the day over, he pulled them home as the setting sun painted the world gold.
It would have been poetic if not for the high-pitched arguing behind him.
"Move over!"
"No, you move over."
"Shove off! There isn't enough room!"
"Get your own - ow!"
"Shut up!"
"Dad, Jonna's pulling my hair!"
"Well, you started it!"
Jouko pinched the bridge of his nose. "Stop it," he said. Loud and sharp and clear. "Jonna, keep your hands to yourself. Joona, make room for your sister."
The arguing continued.
"If you don't behave, you're walking home. Both of you!"
That got their attention, at least. Sometimes, it took more than that. Sometimes, he had to press them. Get stern with them. Be firm with them. But today, they were just as tired as he was, and the argument came to neither punching nor protests.
Jouko turned to look back at them.
There they were, the two of them. Wrapped up like little loaves, their cheeks flushed red, their hair dishevelled beneath their matching bobbled caps. The setting sun was at his back and they squinted up at him in the too-bright sunlight.
"Are you going to behave on the way home?" he asked.
Nodding. And a bit of pouting, maybe. But nodding. Good enough.
"Okay," he said, and turned forward once again. Pausing, he tucked his scarf more securely around his neck. His shoulders were starting to ache. It had been a good day, and still was, but it was long. A little too long, now.
Muttering came behind him, the kind not meant for his ears, even if they weren't half as quiet as they thought they were.
"Jerk."
"Weenie."
"Butt face."
"Fart brain."
They can bicker all they like, Jouko thought. Just as long as they don't start shoving each other.
Retracing the sledge's tracks in the morning's path, he pulled his heavy cargo home.
Fandom: A Redtail's Dream
Characters: Jouko Kuikka & the twins
Rating: 0+
Length: ~500
Summary: It was a long day, but a good one. ...And it's still a good one, even if nothing is ever quite perfect.
Other: Prompt was "Any Kuikkas - the little timber sledge". [Original post]
You carry what they load on you
Jouko tilted his head back and looked up at the sky. The cloud of his breath fogged the crisp afternoon air.
Four thirty. Plenty of time to get home and prepare supper.
Snow had fallen overnight, draping a soft clean blanket over the village. What would have been an ordinary day off, staying at home with the kids, had turned into something brighter.
Plenty of snow, and the weather just right. It was a day for scarves and gloves and hats and frost pinching at his cheeks. A day for going out to the place just outside of the village where there was a hill that rose just so, the place where children had gone sledding for years, for as long as anyone could remember. The cold had grabbed his breath as, huffing, he pulled the old wooden toboggan, towed it behind him even though it was doubly heavy. They both insisted on sitting on it.
It had been a good day. A long day, but a good one. Their joy had brought something back, something he'd buried under the snow of his childhood.
Now, the day over, he pulled them home as the setting sun painted the world gold.
It would have been poetic if not for the high-pitched arguing behind him.
"Move over!"
"No, you move over."
"Shove off! There isn't enough room!"
"Get your own - ow!"
"Shut up!"
"Dad, Jonna's pulling my hair!"
"Well, you started it!"
Jouko pinched the bridge of his nose. "Stop it," he said. Loud and sharp and clear. "Jonna, keep your hands to yourself. Joona, make room for your sister."
The arguing continued.
"If you don't behave, you're walking home. Both of you!"
That got their attention, at least. Sometimes, it took more than that. Sometimes, he had to press them. Get stern with them. Be firm with them. But today, they were just as tired as he was, and the argument came to neither punching nor protests.
Jouko turned to look back at them.
There they were, the two of them. Wrapped up like little loaves, their cheeks flushed red, their hair dishevelled beneath their matching bobbled caps. The setting sun was at his back and they squinted up at him in the too-bright sunlight.
"Are you going to behave on the way home?" he asked.
Nodding. And a bit of pouting, maybe. But nodding. Good enough.
"Okay," he said, and turned forward once again. Pausing, he tucked his scarf more securely around his neck. His shoulders were starting to ache. It had been a good day, and still was, but it was long. A little too long, now.
Muttering came behind him, the kind not meant for his ears, even if they weren't half as quiet as they thought they were.
"Jerk."
"Weenie."
"Butt face."
"Fart brain."
They can bicker all they like, Jouko thought. Just as long as they don't start shoving each other.
Retracing the sledge's tracks in the morning's path, he pulled his heavy cargo home.
