Chapter Text
One of the benefits of traveling with a circus throughout Europe was the various loot it allowed Skipper to stash. In preparation for the holidays, Skipper found himself in the cover of night and early morning sneaking away to retrieve gifts for his boys. He knew his brothers well enough to know they were sound sleepers. Secretly he made off, with his list, to classified destinations in England, Russia, and Scotland. And the clever penguin would be back before any of his men awoke. They were none the wiser. But, the oldest penguin had to admit, all that running around was tiring. Not to mention, they still had their penguin festivities to attend to. He could never miss their holiday traditions. He wouldn’t. Not even for the entire world’s remaining stock of Cheezy Dibbles.
The circus animals had just completed their last show before the holiday. Skipper and the zoosters had planned for them to take their vacation in a perfect secluded spot in the mountains. It was snowy and just far enough away from civilization. Just how Skipper liked it! It would be the perfect holiday with the perfect gifts he had acquired, just him and his family.
The zoosters had begun making their way off the train to set up camp. Even they were impressed by the location.
“What a place to break for Christmas,” Alex sighed looking over the snowy valley.
Marty happily chimes in. “It’s not New York, but the Alps sure are crack-a-lackin!”
Just then Gloria stepped out of the train with Melman by her side. She cuddles up against the giraffe. “And romantic.”
“Let’s just hope no one catches hypothermia.” Melman sighs nervously. It appears his anxiety was already getting to him. “But if they do, I am trained in emergency winter first aid.” He reassures himself.
The Penguins were next to get off the train. Private and Rico rushed off into the snow. Kowalski and Skipper lagged behind watching the two youngest. They shook their heads and chuckled. These knuckleheads were acting as if they’d never seen snow before.
“It’s Christmas!” Private cheered. He bent down to scoop up a bunch of snow. Then, he threw it up in the air. The powdery mix fell down on his head and returned to the ground.
“Yeehoo!” Rico exclaimed. He leapt into the air and landed flat on his back in the snow. This sent waves of it up, as Private shielded his face and laughed. The wild penguin then proceeded to make snow angels in that very spot.
Soon enough Private plops down and joins Rico in making snow angels.
“Kowalski,” Skipper admired the scenery for himself. “I think you’ve picked the perfect spot. It’s remote, snowy, and does not extradite Danish criminals.”
Kowalski nodded, pleased with himself. “I kept all those criteria in mind, sir.”
Skipper slapped his flippers together. “This is shaping up to be quite the holiday.”
Private then sprung up from the snow as if on cue. “Oh I know! I can’t wait for the North Wind to join us here!”
Skipper jerked his head back. This was news to him. And it was bad news… at the very least jarring. “The who?”
“I believe that’s a 70s rock band, sir.” Kowalski responded to Skipper.
“No, the North Wind!” Skipper shook his head.
Private smiled giddily. “Why yes! I invited them several months ago.”
Kowalski filled Skipper in on any details he might have remembered. “The Private’s pen pals with Corporal.”
“Oh, that’s right.” Skipper sighed. He knew nothing good could come from staying in touch with that team. He turned to Private, trying to hide the sudden surge of pressure he was feeling. “So, when’s this delightful, double holiday going to start?”
Private, who was already back to sitting in the snow, looked up at his leader. He tapped his chin trying to remember what his friends had written. “They said they would be arriving sometime… on the 20th.”
“Which is today,” Kowalski clarified.
Skipper placed a flipper up to his face. Now this was going to complicate his plans for Christmas tremendously. “Private, you can’t just spring things on me like this.”
Private winced. He didn’t mean to make Skipper so stressed. He noticed his oldest brother had already been doing a lot of running around for the holiday. In fact, he usually gets flustered around the holidays. For some reason, it appeared Skipper put a lot of pressure on himself this time of year. Private felt guilty for adding to any of that stress. “Sorry, Skippah.”
“Actually, Skipper, if my episodic memory serves me correctly, I believe Private told us they were coming back in November.” Kowalski didn’t want Private to take the wrap for something that wasn’t his fault.
“Oh.” Now, Skipper felt a little silly. How could he have forgotten this important detail? He didn’t even remember Private telling him such a thing.
“You have been doing a lot of running around since then on solo missions. Perhaps, you just forgot.” Private smiled forgivingly up at his big brother. He knew Skipper meant no malice.
“Hm, must have. I’m sorry, boys.” Skipper rubbed his chin.
That’s when the abrasive sound of the North Wind’s vessel alarmed the whole campsite. Animals of all kinds were getting out of their tents or looking up from their luggage to catch a glimpse at the source of the commotion. None of them but the Penguins understood what was happening. Honestly, things like this were a common occurrence with them. As soon as the circus members saw the Penguins were unphased, they pretty much went back to their regular activities.
“Ooh! There they are now!” Private hopped to his feet. He rushed off to greet their guests.
The North Wind vehicle eventually landed in the middle of the field. The wind from the ignition had the Penguins and small animals, like the dogs, struggling to maintain their footing. When the massive machinery came to a complete stop, a long ramp jetted out. Classified was the first member of the team to walk out and scan his surroundings.
“Ugh… that guy.” Skipper frowned, glaring at Classified from afar.
“Judging by the inflection in your voice, my guess is you and Classified still have your differences to work out.” Kowalski looked over at his leader.
Skipper shrugged, looking rather defeated. “I just want to make this year special for you boys - give you a holiday to remember.”
Kowalski had already gotten side tracked from the conversation. Once he spotted Eva soaring off the vehicle, it was the point of no return for his concentration. “Oh, I will. This is my chance to properly woo Eva!”
The tall penguin certainly hadn’t forgotten the brief kiss they had shared in Manhattan after defeating Dave. Thoughts of the snowy owl still sent Kowalski’s heart aflutter. Sure the odds were stacked against them - he was a penguin and she was a bird of prey - that and this would be a long distance relationship. But he was certain their love would overcome it all. They would make it work for sure!
“Welp, just you and me, compadre.” Skipper turned to Rico.
This does not last long either. Rico’s eyes lit up as he stared at the North Wind’s arrival.
“Presents!” Rico took off in a dash as well.
“Huh?” Skipper stuttered. He hadn’t anticipated the North Wind joining them, let alone them bringing gifts as well. Not only did this mean he had to do even more … shopping, or acquiring let’s just say, but also knowing how over-the-top these north polars were, he had to compete with their lavish gifts.
Skipper took his time to join the team at the North Wind’s landing spot. Reluctantly, he decided to greet their guests. He figured he better before he got a lecture from Private or Classified’s disapproving glare.
However, he is hardly even noticed. The much larger animals were tossing around presents much bigger than him. He felt like an ant in the presence of elephants.
Corporal stood on the edge of the ramp. Two wings of a snowy owl reached out to hand him a present. Quickly, Corporal the polar bear tossed the gigantic package to Short Fuse the seal. The seal stood in the snow beside the ship.
“Head’s up.” Corporal warned Short Fuse.
However, the present fell short of Short Fuse’s flippers. Instead, it dropped right in front of him. Unfortunately for Skipper, he just so happened to be standing in its path. The unintended trajectory sent the package crashing into the little penguin. Under its weight, Skipper found himself trapped and smushed up against the snow below.
“Oops! Sorry about that.” Short Fuse found some humor in the slapstick nature of the situation. He had to stop himself from chuckling has he lifted the present off of the penguin.
Skipper wobbled to his feet. By the time he was up and the world was no longer spinning, Classified had made his way out. Skipper slapped a flipper up against the side of his head to knock the dizziness out.
Then, he placed his flippers on his hips and looked up at CLassified. The penguin fought to keep any signs of stress or inferiority, for that matter, hidden.
“So, are all these gifts for us?” Skipper asked.
“Well, yes.” Classified barely looked up from the thermos he held in his paws. He was going to need coffee and lots of it if he was going to get through this holiday with these butterballs. “There are four of you - thus four gifts. Don’t worry. We didn’t do anything too elaborate.”
That is when one of the presents began glowing. The gleam was visible through the wrapping paper. Still, Skipper had no idea what type of contraption could be underneath there. He let his imagination run wild.
“My bad!” Short Fuse called, before slapping the gift. He must have pressed the right spot as the glowing immediately dulled back down.
“Huh?” Skipper was overwhelmed by this, not to mention overstimulated by all the gadgets and gizmos that naturally came alone with the North WInd.
At this point, Private was already wrapped up in a big hug from his pen pal Corporal. The massive polar bear swept up the little penguin in an excited hug. Private giggled happily. He had been waiting so eagerly to see his friends again.
“I’m so happy you guys are here!” Private cheered.
Corporal lowered the penguin back down into the snow. This is when Private got to see Eva and Short Fuse. Eva spread out her wing and placed it on Private’s back. The littlest penguin was rather endearing.
“And we’re happy to see you, too.” Eva smiled warmly.
This is when Kowalski slyly… or not so slyly, slid in. “It’s uh, good to see you, Eva.” He tried to put on a charming smile but it ended up just being awkward.
This garnered looks from everyone around them.
“Oh yes, Kowalski. It’s good to see you too.” Eva seemed surprised by the intense attention this penguin was giving her. They were not particularly close according to her memory. Sure they had shared that one kiss, but that didn’t really mean anything. Right? She was starting to feel embarrassed in front of her team.
“I got you something!” Kowalski smiled nervously. He was a bundle of excitement and anxiety. “I mean it’s nothing big… but uh, not small either. I mean - it’s a present! For you, because it’s Christmas.” He was tripping over his words completely.
“Rico?” Kowalski turned to his brother.
Upon request, the penguin spits up a big poinsettia.
The owl was not used to her gifts being regurgitated. Slightly repulsed, she reached out for the present. She tried to hide the fact that this was a disgusting way to store a present. Though the plant was rather pretty… wait, if he gave her a flower, did that mean… he liked her?
“It’s a poinsettia!” Kowalski smiled proudly. “It’s the official flower of Christmas. In Guatemala and Mexico, it’s known as the ‘flower of Christmas Eve’.” He could never resist sharing his trivia knowledge.
“Oh, okay…” Eva inspected the plant. She doesn’t quite know what to do with it at the moment. “It’s lovely, thank you.”
Short Fuse smirked at Eva and chuckled. He just knew he would be able to tease Eva later for this. Eva, not wanting to hurt Kowalski’s feelings, elbows Short Fuse sharply.
Private, sensing how awkward that all was, turned to Classified and Corporal. He bounced with excitement. “Well, what do you all have planned while you’re here? Any sightseeing? I hear the Alps are beautiful this time of year!”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Classified chuckled and waved the penguin off. Unlike the penguins, his team was always prepared. “We already have a jam-packed itinerary - tighter than the belt on Father Christmas himself.”
“Oh, well,” Skipper was looking for an excuse to spend as little time with Classified as possible. He was pleased to hear they already had their own plans. That meant this didn’t have to interfere with his plans at all. “I’m glad to hear that, Classified. We’ve got a few plans of our own.”
Classified lifted a brow and glanced down at Skipper unimpressed. “Oh really?”
“We’re cutting down our own Christmas tree!” Short Fuse exclaimed, somehow he had gotten his flippers on an ax in the past few seconds.
“Ooh!” This peaked Rico’s attention.
“Baking cookies,” Short Fuse continued down the list. Now he had the long, literal paper list in his flippers.
“Yum!” Private looked eagerly towards Rico. He knew Rico would find cookies just as exciting as he did.
“Sled riding, ice skating, decorating the tree, and to top it all off, caroling!” Short Fuse finished his list.
“I love caroling!” Private clapped his flippers together. It was true, the kid did like to perform. The question wasn’t whether or not he was good at singing… but he enjoyed it regardless. Plus, no one would dare hurt Private’s feelings like that. He turned to Skipper. “Skippah, can we join them?”
Skipper glanced at his team. All of them looked at him with pleading eyes. How could he say no at this point? Maybe Classified would do that for him. He looked up at the wolf who just so happened to be looking down at him at the same time. Perhaps, they had the same thought. But as soon as the two made eye contact, their gaze darted away.
“I mean…” Skipper scratched the back of his head. “if it’s all right with Classified.”
“Oh, yes, well.” Classified straightened up and cleared his throat. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to intrude on any of your… penguin plans.”
Skipper looked down to his own paper itinerary. Since none of the Penguins, except Private, could read, it was all pictures. He flipped halfheartedly through the mission file filled with drawings of the Penguins doing various Christmas activities, like putting up lights, watching movies, making a bonfire, and riding a sled of their own invention.
But when he looked up, he saw the hopeful faces of his team. That meant more to him at the end of the day. His team’s happiness is more important than some cliche traditions, right? He sighed. “We are a-go for a Penguin-North Wind holiday.”
Private, Corporal, Rico, and Short Fuse all let out a roar of cheers. Skipper and Classified were less pleased but they mutually acquiesced for the sake of their teams.
Kowalski leaned over to whisper to Skipper. He caught the older penguin off guard. “Thank you, Skipper!”
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
And just like that, the holiday festivities start. The first item on their itinerary is sledding. Perched on the side of a mountain, the teams have found the absolute perfect sledding slope. The Penguins all hop into their own sled. Being as crafty as ever, the Penguins used a spare panel of the old plane as their base. Skipper dusted off some snow and leapt in the front. In his flippers, he held gears, also from the plane, to steer the contraption. Kowalski sat behind him to provide tips for maximizing their speed, while Private sat in the back and waved at the North Wind.
Skipper also glanced over at the North Wind. It appeared they were still scraping together their own sled. Skipper smirked. He knew his team would have the better sled. They’d been doing this for years. Rico trotted up from behind and gave the sled a good shove before jumping on himself. Now that’s what you call a good start. They were rushing down the mountain, snow was flying out from behind them. He thought, there’s no way those mammals would catch up now.
Unfortunately for Skipper, he was proven wrong. It looks like the North Wind souped up their sled. The team of larger animals zoomed right by the Penguins in a flash. Much to Skipper’s chagrin, the North Wind had hitched a few of Short Fuse’s rockets to the back of their sled. Team Penguin Skipper growled as the North Wind surpassed them significantly. While Rico and Private stared over in awe, Kowalski was more interested in what was in front of them.
“Uh. Skipper - Skipper, the - Skipper, look out, the -” Kowalski stammered. Skipper was no longer paying attention to what was ahead of them.
Skipper was too busy glaring at the North Wind. He did not notice the massive fir tree right, smack in their path. But when Skipper finally turned to look, it was too late. The Penguins crashed right into the tree. THUMP! The Penguins were thrown from the sled and each individually smacked into the tree. As they fell from the tree bark to the snowy ground, this caused a stir within the tree. Just when they were able to sit up and steady themselves, they found a whole heap of snow rushing down from the tree and headed their way. Under the heap up snow, the Penguins stick their orange beaks out like carrot noses on a snowman.
Next, the two teams squared off for a rather intense snowball fight. Skipper, with his military strategy, had ordered his men to build a trench. It was rather impressive how deep they managed to dig their trench in that short amount of time. The North Wind took a much different approach. They were all hiding behind a massive snow mound as they reached out to lob snowballs.
The snow flew back and forth from base to base. When seemingly randomly a carriage, led by their dancing horse friends from the circus, pulled up.
Kowalski smiled eagerly at the sight. He then chuckled nervously and checked his breath. Then, he took a flipper and slicked by his already smooth head feathers.
“Kowalski?” Skipped asked under the heat of fire. “Earth to Kowalski!”
The tall penguin doesn’t respond. Instead he leaped out of their trench and dashed his way towards the opposite side. All the way on his trek, he was pummeled by snow all after snowball. But the penguin was far too infatuated to care. Eventually he made his way to the North Wind base.
Skipper watched on with disgruntled horror as his soldier abandoned post to go flirt with the enemy. Kowalski was, as clear as the beak on his face, extending a flipper to Eva and guiding her to the sleigh.
Skipper shook his head and glared. He watched the whole betrayal occur. This also meant he left himself completely vulnerable as he lifted his head out of the trench. Soon enough he, and the rest of his team, were completely overcome with snow.
Classified, with Corporal and Short Fuse by his side, claimed the penguin base for the North Wind. He stuck a big North Wind flag amidst the snow. Corporal held onto Skipper by the foot. He extended the penguin far from his chest as the feisty penguin was still trying to slap him even while being held upside down. Short Fuse had Private and Rico handcuffed.
The third activity started, as Skipper poked his head out behind a tree. From afar, he scoped out the North Wind as they picked out a tree of their own. Unlucky for them, Skipper had this tree that was much grander. Private had joined the North Wind in this activity. Again, Kowalski was off in lala land with Eva. She had joined him in making snow angels, less enthused than he was with the activity. At least, Skipper still had Rico by his side. He wanted to surprise all of them with this beast of an evergreen he found.
“Now this is a tree!” Skipper remarked. “Rico!”
The loyal penguin hacked up a massive chainsaw. Skipper laughed maniacally as Rico pulled the cord back. The engine revved once. He cranked it again… nothing. All that emerged was a puff of black smoke.
“No fuel.” Rico shook his head.
“Hmm…” Skipper turned to think.
While Skipper’s back is turned, Rico spewed up two plastic butter knives. It’s the only other tool he packed today. The sound caught Skipper’s attention. Rico shrugged and offered Skipper a butter knife. Skipper nodded and smirked.
“Nice.” Skipper affirmed his soldier, ready to get to work.
The two penguins got to work sawing away at the tree bark. Though it took a while, neither penguin broke his resolve. They were both eager to show off their massive find. Unfortunately for them, by the time they were halfway through the trunk of the tree, the North Wind was already loading theirs onto the ship. Private sat on top, as Corporal and Classified carried it up onto their vessel. Short Fuse was quick to leap up and tie it down.
All of this distracted Skipper. He was too busy watching the others, including his youngest soldier, enjoy themselves. He didn’t notice that his own tree was starting to tumble down. Right in his direction.
“Timber!” Rico shouted from the other side.
But it was too late. At that point, all Skipper could do was wince as he saw the massive tree headed his way. He squeaked.
The tree crashed down onto Skipper and landed in the snow below. The impact of the fall caused all of the needles to evacuate the branches. Turned out, the tree may not have been as healthy as either penguin thought.
Rico rushed over to check on Skipper. He grabbed a hold of the older penguin’s flippers and tugged him out from under the trunk. Skipper was quick to his feet. He found himself covered in pine needles. Some poked into his feathers. Worse still, the sight of needles, even the tree kind, set Skipper immediately into a bout of fear. His fear of needles was so intense that, upon inspection of the needles sticking from his feathers, he passed out and dropped to the snow.
Rico sighed. He bent down and grabbed ahold of his leader. Skipper was still limp, as Rico lifted him and carried him over his shoulder. Rico had to carry him all the way back to camp.
Ice skating came next. The Penguins had created a makeshift rink for the circus animals to skate on during their vacation. It appeared everyone was out on the ice that day. The lemurs were doing their own thing, as Mort chased Julien’s skating feet. The zoosters skated around as Gia taught Alex how to do a lutz jump. Or… at least she modeled it for him. He was not as graceful in his attempt. Gloria was still convincing Melman he wouldn’t break anything if he fell on the ice.
Skipper was much more confident in his abilities here. Kowalski awkwardly skated up to Eva. The owl, who was talking to Short Fuse, looked over to find Kowalski offering to skate with her. She didn’t want to be rude. So, she acquiesced and grabbed onto his flipper with her wing. Private, who had been skating around greeting everyone, finally made his way to Skipper. The little one always liked to watch his big brother do tricks on the ice. He would stare on with awe, wonder, and the biggest smile. It was also a good stroke to Skipper’s ego to see his little brother look up to him. Sometimes he would teach Private how to do the move. Private also saw it as a good bonding moment with his Skipper.
Skipper was in the midst of one of his best moves. He took a couple strides back. Then, he burst forward, gliding and picking up speed. Private watched him with anticipation. He leaned forward.
That’s when Classified launched himself into a triple salchow, a few feet from where Skipper intended to make his move. To avoid a collision, Skipper had to make a quick stop. Since he didn’t expect to stop himself so abruptly, he began to trip over his own feet. The now grumpy penguin landed flat on his tail feathers. Then, he proceeded to spin out onto the ice.
What he didn’t expect then was for his flipper to be grabbed. A big, white paw held onto his flipper and swept him onto his feet. It appeared now he was part of a skating chain, instigated by Corporal. Private held onto the opposite paw of the polar bear. He happily joined in as they found more animals to join their chain. Skipper was much less enthused.
Then it was baking cookies. Kowalski and Rico were working with the dough. Skipper had delegated the task of overseeing the oven and overall operations to himself. Private, on the other hand, was laughing and having a great time with Short Fuse and Eva. Kowalski cut out heart shaped cookies, as he gazed over at the owl of his dreams. Rico, who determinedly rolled out the dough, kept finding the dough sticking to the rolling pin. He was getting frustrated and eventually dropped the rolling pin. It just so happened to land right on top of Kowalski’s flipper.
“Yaa-owww!” Kowalski yelped. He grabbed onto his throbbing, swollen flipper.
Skipper was too busy checking on the cookies in the oven. He lowered the door and peaked in. Still doughy. He checked over at the North Wind. Their cookies were all mostly done by now. Private was icing cookies shaped like members of the North Wind. Skipper grumbled. He lowered the oven door again. He peeked inside. A bellow of smoke puffed out into Skipper’s face. The penguin coughed. That wasn’t a good sign. Once he recovered, he reached back into the oven. The resulting tray of cookies were shriveled and pitch black. A couple were even on fire.
Rico rushed over with a fire extinguisher under his flipper. He blasted the area indiscriminately with foam. What resulted was Skipper having a full beard of white foam.
“Heheh… sorry.” Rico shrugged, before sliding the fire extinguisher down his gullet.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Finally, it was one day before Christmas. Christmas Eve was here at last. For both teams, this meant it was the pinnacle of all their celebration and all their festivities. Every year the Penguins finished their tree decorating on Christmas Eve. They had to prepare the tree for the Big Man, Santa Claus himself, to see it that night. Just as Skipper’s file had shown, the Penguins always stacked on top of each other to put the angel on the very tip top of the tree. Private was always the one to put it on. And it wasn’t just any angel, it was a penguin angel. The little penguin had constructed it with Kowalski. Well, Kowalski made it and Private helped decorate it by gluing on the eyes and wings and coloring in the details.
The Penguins were all going about their activities, while they waited for Private to return. Once he got back into the tent, they would begin their decorating party.
“Oh wow! That was such fun!” Private waddled in happily.
Rico looked up from the fish he was wrapping. The present was still flapping around. “What’d ya do?”
“I just came back from writing my letter to Santa!” Private skipped deeper into the circus tent.
Skipper chuckled to himself. The little one always got so excited around the holidays. Yet, a part of him was also amused by the North Wind’s lack of understanding of Big Red. He pulled out some bright, sparkly red tinsel from a box. “On Christmas Eve? Don’t you think it’s a little late for the jolly, old man to get your letter?”
“Classified said it’s about what’s in your heart.” Private closed his eyes and put his flippers over his heart. Then, he opened his eyes back up and shrugged. “Santa can tell apparently.”
From behind Skipper, Kowalski whipped out a notepad. He began scribbling down this new revelation. “Hmm, didn’t know that Santa was omniscient.”
“Yeah, yeah. That sound enchanting” Skipper crinkled his face. Then, his expression lit up like a Christmas tree. He slid over to Private and gave him a playful elbow in the ribs. “But are you boys ready to deck out this tree tonight? Penguin style?”
The rest of the Penguins grow silent. They looked at one another, before Kowalski cleared his throat. Kowalski cleared his throat and spoke up first. “Actually, Skipper, I have a date with Eva tonight. I don’t know, but… things seem like they’re starting to get a little serious between the two of us.”
“Ooh, la la!” Rico mused.
“That’s all right!” Skipper wrapped his flippers around Private and Rico on either side of him. “Who needs him, right?”
Kowalski folded his flippers and whimpered. “I’m right here, Skipper.”
Skipper ignored him. Sure, the tall penguin felt left out but he’d get over it. “We;ll decorate this tree by ourselves - just the three of us.”
“Skippah,” Private stepped out of Skipper’s hold. “The North Wind was going to decorate that tree. We can help them, though!”
Skipper whined. “But we always do our own tree and you always put the angel on top, see?”
He pulled out the file. He gave Private the drawing of the Penguins stacked up with Private on top. His little flippers are extended out towards the tree top with the makeshift angel in his flippers.
Private smiled at Skipper, before giving him back the paper. “Well, maybe this year we can start a new tradition. I’ll still put the angel up on the tree.”
Rico spat up the angel and handed it to Private. “Here ya go.”
“You should join us!” Private lifted the angel up to Skipper.
“Uh, that’s all right, Private.” Skipper turned away. He forced a smile onto his beak. “I might use this time to get some last minute things together. You know, some top secret - Christmas - hush, hush sort of stuff.”
“Oh,” Private slouched down a bit. He tilted his head sadly, as he watched Skipper waddle out of the tent.
“Ooh! Time to decorate that tree!” Short Fuse called, as the North Wind approached the tent.
Private is left watching Skipper exit the tent. His eyes grew big with disappointment. “I’ll see you after decorating the tree, then?”
“See you then, Young Private.” Skipper half-heartedly exited the tent. He didn’t want to be here when the North Wind got there.
[To Be Continued}