Tiff's Birthday Gift
by Martial Arts Master
Kirby and all related characters are copyrighted by Nintendo, the Fox Box, and the original Japanese creators. I made up the Shape Changing Beast, however. Anyway, this takes place after the Kirby episode aired on October 4, 2003 in which the Cappy Town people try to throw Kirby a surprise party. Alrighty then, let the story begin!
***
Cappy Town was a bright, peaceful "small town" community.
It was one of those places where almost everybody knew each other.
Let us start with the worst, shall we?
The king of Cappy Town, a penguin with a Southern accent named King Dedede, was actually the least popular citizen.
And no wonder. He was mean, arrogant, and selfish.
Sometimes he would order a monster from NightMare Enterprises, and terrorize the townspeople with it, just for kicks.
He had been doing this for a while, until a certain Star Warrior came along.
Enter Kirby, a pinkish roundish warrior with red feet. He had been cruising through space, fast asleep in his spaceship.
He actually wasn't supposed to wake up for at least a thousand years or so, because by then his brain would have advanced enough to be able to handle NME, the scourge of the universe.
However, his spaceship detected a monster that King Dedede had sent to ravage his own citizens.
So, the spaceship landed on the planet, and Kirby woke up too soon. His mind, not yet developed enough, was only a little more than that of an infant.
He did, however, prove himself a hero, and the rest is history.
King Dedede had a sidekick, of sorts. His name was Escargoon, and he was a talking snail.
A rather petty and troublemaking snail at that.
Luckily the people who worked for King Dedede were nicer people.
There was Waddle Doo and his Waddle Dees. Except for Waddle Doo, none of them could talk, and not a whole lot of them had any personality whatsoever.
There was Fololo and Falala, two floating orbs with eyes, voices, arms and legs. They were actualy the male and female components of a monster called Fofa, sliced in two by one of NightMare Enterprises's monsters.
There was Meta Knight, a mysterious character who had once, along with allies, taken part in a long battle against NME and lost, choosing now to work with King Dedede but secretly helping Kirby.
There was Sir Ebrum, a rather submissive man, and his way, Lady Like, who was more independent-minded, but also a little more silly.
And of course, there were their two children, Tiff and Tuff.
Tiff was actually the moral center and had the most common sense of Cappy Town, which actually was surprising, since Tiff was only a little girl.
Her brother, Tuff, was more adventurous, but a bit of a showoff.
Then there were the citizens of Cappy Town.
There was Chief Bookem, the only police officer needed in such a small community.
There was Chef Kawasaki, who owned his own restaraunt.
Chef Kawasaki, however, was an extremely bad cook.
Therefore, usually the only person who liked his food was Kirby.
But then, Kirby would eat almost anything.
There was the town curator, and the fortune teller.
There was the mayor and his wife, and last and definitely least (in the eyes of Tiff and Tuff, anyway), Tokkori, the yellow bird who had an attitude problem but who, in an accident of fate, ended up being Kirby's roommate.
Very recently, during the 1-year anniversary of Kirby's arrival in Cappy Town, the townspeople threw Kirby a surprise party to celebrate.
But now, our story begins, as another special occasion is coming up...
***
It was, in fact, Tiff's birthday tomorrow.
Her parents had originally thought about throwing her a surprise party, but when they last tried that with Kirby, it had almost ended in disaster.
King Dedede thought the decorations were for a party for after overthrowing him, and had deliberately ruined the first decorations.
Also, Kirby thought no one liked him thanks to Tokkori, and ran away.
Eventually, however, everything was worked out.
However, just to be safe, this time Tiff had been told in advance of her party tomorrow.
Cappy Town was abuzz with excitement, since it was, after all, one of those towns where everybody knew each other.
Besides, Cappy Town life was simple, so anything new and interesting was looked upon with great favor.
The kids were discussing amongst themselves what to get Tiff as a present.
"I think she'd like a pearl necklace; maybe my Mom could buy one," one girl said thoughtfully.
"Maybe she'd like a football!" a boy declared.
"At any rate, I'm gonna make my sister a gigantic birthday cake!" Tuff shouted, a grin on his face.
Kirby was jumping around excitedly, happy when everyone else was happy.
Of course, Kirby was happy for another reason.
Tiff happened to be one of Kirby's very best friends. Often it was Tiff who would pray to Kabu to toss out the Warp Star for Kirby to ride on during battle.
In fact, Kirby was trying to think of what he'd get for Tiff.
His infantile mind couldn't come up with much.
He thought of jacks, balls, dresses, maybe an ice cream sundae or two.
That was all he thought of, really. He should have spent more time in the spaceship, because his mind was infantile!
He was, however, once competent enough to take care of a Galbo even younger than he was.
***
Anyway, King Dedede was in the castle, plotting to himself as usual.
"I just know there's a way to use Tiff's birthday to get rid of that there Kirby once and for all, but how?!" he screamed.
Escargoon was staying far away, in case the King decided to take his rage out on him.
"Kirby keeps messing with my plans to have fun with the Cappy Town doofuses!" King Dedede was ranting. "I have to get rid of him, and there's something in my brain nagging at me. An idea to use Tiff's upcoming birthday tomorrow to get rid of Kirby. But I can't place how."
"If I may make a suggestion, sire?" Escargoon asked rhetorically. "Why not convince Kirby to get Tiff the Rainbow Pearl from the Shape Changing Beast as a birthday present?"
King Dedede burst out laughing.
"That there's actually a good idea, Escargoon!" King Dedede declared. "Kirby will never be able to defeat the Shape Changing Beast! It'll surely do away with him! I've got to convince Kirby to go to his death right away!"
King Dedede took off before Escargoon could say a word.
***
Kirby was wandering around Cappy Town, trying to look for the perfect present for Tiff.
He wasn't having much luck, however.
Flowers were no good, because Tiff belonged to a family that served royalty, and they could probably get flowers whenever they wanted.
Money was out for the same reason.
Tuff was already making his sister a cake, so Kirby didn't want to give Tiff a repeat present.
Then he noticed King Dedede in his tank riding up to him.
Kirby wasn't smart enough yet to remember that this was the same King Dedede who tried to kill him many times.
So, his natural response was to jump around and cheer.
"Say, Kirby, how'd you like to get Tiff the perfect present for her birthday?" King Dedede asked Kirby rhetorically.
Kirby nodded very quickly.
"Well then, I have an idea," King Dedede said. In a conspiritorial whisper, he told Kirby, "North of here, there's a desert. And in this desert there's a horrible monster called the Shape Changing Beast. It guards a pearl called the Rainbow Pearl, and it's the most beautiful pearl in the universe. It has all the colors of the rainbow. I'm sure Tiff would like your present the best if that was the present you got her."
Kirby grinned.
It sounded perfect.
"Of course, there's the Shape Changing Beast to defeat," King Dedede added.
But Kirby, as King Dedede predicted, was too excited to care.
After jumping around and making baby noises, Kirby shot off to the north of Cappy Town.
King Dedede just stood there, and began laughing to himself.
***
It wasn't hard for Kirby to find the desert, considering there was a fork in the road and a huge sign saying: "Beware. The Shape Changing Beast's desert is to the right. Go there at your own peril."
So, of course, Kirby took the right path, and ended up in the desert.
The first thing he noticed was that it was friggin' hot.
Really hot, as in scorching.
But Kirby was the nice sort of Star Warrior who would go to great lengths for a friend.
Therefore, he bore the heat and trudged on.
He was daydreaming to himself of how happy Tiff would be to receive such a rare pearl for a present, when suddenly he heard a loud roar from somewhere in the distance.
That had to be the Shape Changing Beast.
Kirby hurried to the source of the noise, and saw that a huge lion was devouring a buzzard who had gotten too close to his already decayed meal of a dead mouse.
As the lion devoured them both, Kirby swallowed nervously.
Hey, even infantile minds know danger when they see it.
Kirby, however, was so obsessed with getting the Rainbow Pearl for Tiff that he didn't stop to think that maybe Tiff would happy with a lesser present.
So, Kirby drew a sword out of his backpack.
He sucked up the sword, and became Sword Kirby.
That, you see, is why he had brought the sword in the first place.
He then charged at the Shape Changing Beast and slashed it across the back.
The Shape Changing Beast turned around and roared in rage.
It transformed itself into a humongous vulture, proving that its title of Shape Changing Beast really fit, and began nipping Kirby repeatedly.
Kirby moaned in pain and then jumped away.
The Shape Changing Beast transformed itself into a boa constrictor and wrapped around Kirby's body.
The boa constrictor then started squeezing the life out of Kirby.
Kirby was desperate to get out of this situation, because its body was being crushed.
He managed to get his arm free and slash the boa constrictor across the face.
However, the Shape Changing Beast then transformed into a ferocious-looking wolf, and that was when Kirby realized that every time it transformed, its wounds healed.
But this was no time to despair at that, as the wolf jumped at Kirby and tore at his flesh with its teeth.
Kirby screamed in pain again and slashed the wolf across the face.
This caused the Shape Changing Beast to transform into a gorilla, who primarily began to beat the living tar out of Kirby with its fists.
Kirby then had an idea: if it could stab the beast's brain, the brain wouldn't be able to control the body's shape-changing function, so the wound couldn't heal.
Kirby let the Shape Changing Beast pound the snot out of Kirby some more, and then the beast lifted Kirby into the air, ready to kill him.
That's when Kirby struck like lightning, stabbing the beast in the brain.
The Shape Changing Beast screamed, and then fell to the ground, dead.
Then, a rainbow-colored pearl seeped out of the beast's brain.
Luckily Kirby was too young to know that he was supposed to be grossed out by this, and he extracted the pearl.
However, he was weakened by the battle, and the desert wasn't getting any cooler.
Reluctantly he trudged through the desert, pearl in hand, hoping he wouldn't pass out along the way...
***
1 day later...
***
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIFF!!!" all of Cappy Town screamed, as confetti was thrown into the air and party favors blown, and the gigantic cake Tuff had made was served.
Tiff was, of course, really happy. She lived in such a nice town, since everyone was being so nice to her. Of course King Dedede and Escargoon didn't bother to show up, but she didn't like them anyway, so no big deal. Anyway, they held a big party like this for every Cappy Town member's birthday, so the fact that one was happening right now for her wasn't that big a deal.
But she wondered where Kirby was.
However, no time for that, it was time to open the presents.
One by one, Tiff opened each of her presents, and gave the generous Cappy member behind each one the appropriate thanks.
Tiff was a little hurt, however, that Kirby hadn't shown up.
But Tokkori, Kirby's roomate, had shown up.
"Well good evening to ya Tiff," Tokkori said in unusually good cheer for one as cranky as he normally was. "I got you a present from Kirby."
Tiff's eyes lit up as Tokkori dropped the present into her hand.
She opened the present, and gasped when she saw the most beautiful pearl she had ever seen in her life.
It was rainbow-colored, and very shiny.
Tiff thought it was nice of Kirby to get her such a wonderful present, but...where was he?
"Hey Tokkori, where is Kirby, anyway?" Tiff asked Tokkori.
"Oh, he's still lying outside the cottage," Tokkori responded indifferently. "When he dragged himself to the cottage to give the present to me, he looked half-dead. Quite frankly, he looked like he picked a fight with a lawnmower and got his butt kicked. No, actually, he looked like he picked a fight with teeth and claws and lost. When I left him, he looked like death warmed over."
"What?!" Tiff screamed.
Tokkori's announcement, of course, caused a few of the Cappy Town doctors to immediately head for Kirby's house...
***
Later that day, Tiff walked over to Kirby's house after the doctors had treated him.
Tiff had finally figured out where Kirby had gotten the pearl from.
Tiff had heard stories in school of the horrible Shape Changing Beast that guarded the Rainbow Pearl.
Tiff was no dummy. Obviously Kirby was so stupid he took on the Shape Changing Beast all by himself to get the pearl.
Tiff peeked her head into the cottage worriedly and saw Kirby peacefully napping. That was a good sign, it meant he was going to live. The doctors had treated him well.
Tiff walked into the house and waited for Kirby to wake up...
***
Kirby awoke to the wonderful sight of Tiff looking down at him.
"Are you okay?" Tiff asked worriedly.
Kirby nodded and gave a few happy chirps.
"That's good to hear," Tiff replied, sighing in relief.
Then Tiff's eyes narrowed.
"Kirby, are you insane?!" she asked. "You don't go risking your life just to get somebody a gift! Not even me! You could've been killed!"
Kirby's eyes saddened.
Then Tiff's eyes softened.
"Still, it's really sweet that you would do something like that for me," Tiff told him. "But really, Kirby, you should know that I would've liked any gift you got. You're like a brother to me, like Tuff is. I love you just as much as I love everyone else. Now go to sleep, Kirby, and try to get better."
Tiff gave Kirby a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead, and then left the cottage, secure in the knowledge that her friend would be safe...
***
The End
***
E-mail all questions and comments to bleifer@comcast.net.
by Martial Arts Master
Kirby and all related characters are copyrighted by Nintendo, the Fox Box, and the original Japanese creators. I made up the Shape Changing Beast, however. Anyway, this takes place after the Kirby episode aired on October 4, 2003 in which the Cappy Town people try to throw Kirby a surprise party. Alrighty then, let the story begin!
***
Cappy Town was a bright, peaceful "small town" community.
It was one of those places where almost everybody knew each other.
Let us start with the worst, shall we?
The king of Cappy Town, a penguin with a Southern accent named King Dedede, was actually the least popular citizen.
And no wonder. He was mean, arrogant, and selfish.
Sometimes he would order a monster from NightMare Enterprises, and terrorize the townspeople with it, just for kicks.
He had been doing this for a while, until a certain Star Warrior came along.
Enter Kirby, a pinkish roundish warrior with red feet. He had been cruising through space, fast asleep in his spaceship.
He actually wasn't supposed to wake up for at least a thousand years or so, because by then his brain would have advanced enough to be able to handle NME, the scourge of the universe.
However, his spaceship detected a monster that King Dedede had sent to ravage his own citizens.
So, the spaceship landed on the planet, and Kirby woke up too soon. His mind, not yet developed enough, was only a little more than that of an infant.
He did, however, prove himself a hero, and the rest is history.
King Dedede had a sidekick, of sorts. His name was Escargoon, and he was a talking snail.
A rather petty and troublemaking snail at that.
Luckily the people who worked for King Dedede were nicer people.
There was Waddle Doo and his Waddle Dees. Except for Waddle Doo, none of them could talk, and not a whole lot of them had any personality whatsoever.
There was Fololo and Falala, two floating orbs with eyes, voices, arms and legs. They were actualy the male and female components of a monster called Fofa, sliced in two by one of NightMare Enterprises's monsters.
There was Meta Knight, a mysterious character who had once, along with allies, taken part in a long battle against NME and lost, choosing now to work with King Dedede but secretly helping Kirby.
There was Sir Ebrum, a rather submissive man, and his way, Lady Like, who was more independent-minded, but also a little more silly.
And of course, there were their two children, Tiff and Tuff.
Tiff was actually the moral center and had the most common sense of Cappy Town, which actually was surprising, since Tiff was only a little girl.
Her brother, Tuff, was more adventurous, but a bit of a showoff.
Then there were the citizens of Cappy Town.
There was Chief Bookem, the only police officer needed in such a small community.
There was Chef Kawasaki, who owned his own restaraunt.
Chef Kawasaki, however, was an extremely bad cook.
Therefore, usually the only person who liked his food was Kirby.
But then, Kirby would eat almost anything.
There was the town curator, and the fortune teller.
There was the mayor and his wife, and last and definitely least (in the eyes of Tiff and Tuff, anyway), Tokkori, the yellow bird who had an attitude problem but who, in an accident of fate, ended up being Kirby's roommate.
Very recently, during the 1-year anniversary of Kirby's arrival in Cappy Town, the townspeople threw Kirby a surprise party to celebrate.
But now, our story begins, as another special occasion is coming up...
***
It was, in fact, Tiff's birthday tomorrow.
Her parents had originally thought about throwing her a surprise party, but when they last tried that with Kirby, it had almost ended in disaster.
King Dedede thought the decorations were for a party for after overthrowing him, and had deliberately ruined the first decorations.
Also, Kirby thought no one liked him thanks to Tokkori, and ran away.
Eventually, however, everything was worked out.
However, just to be safe, this time Tiff had been told in advance of her party tomorrow.
Cappy Town was abuzz with excitement, since it was, after all, one of those towns where everybody knew each other.
Besides, Cappy Town life was simple, so anything new and interesting was looked upon with great favor.
The kids were discussing amongst themselves what to get Tiff as a present.
"I think she'd like a pearl necklace; maybe my Mom could buy one," one girl said thoughtfully.
"Maybe she'd like a football!" a boy declared.
"At any rate, I'm gonna make my sister a gigantic birthday cake!" Tuff shouted, a grin on his face.
Kirby was jumping around excitedly, happy when everyone else was happy.
Of course, Kirby was happy for another reason.
Tiff happened to be one of Kirby's very best friends. Often it was Tiff who would pray to Kabu to toss out the Warp Star for Kirby to ride on during battle.
In fact, Kirby was trying to think of what he'd get for Tiff.
His infantile mind couldn't come up with much.
He thought of jacks, balls, dresses, maybe an ice cream sundae or two.
That was all he thought of, really. He should have spent more time in the spaceship, because his mind was infantile!
He was, however, once competent enough to take care of a Galbo even younger than he was.
***
Anyway, King Dedede was in the castle, plotting to himself as usual.
"I just know there's a way to use Tiff's birthday to get rid of that there Kirby once and for all, but how?!" he screamed.
Escargoon was staying far away, in case the King decided to take his rage out on him.
"Kirby keeps messing with my plans to have fun with the Cappy Town doofuses!" King Dedede was ranting. "I have to get rid of him, and there's something in my brain nagging at me. An idea to use Tiff's upcoming birthday tomorrow to get rid of Kirby. But I can't place how."
"If I may make a suggestion, sire?" Escargoon asked rhetorically. "Why not convince Kirby to get Tiff the Rainbow Pearl from the Shape Changing Beast as a birthday present?"
King Dedede burst out laughing.
"That there's actually a good idea, Escargoon!" King Dedede declared. "Kirby will never be able to defeat the Shape Changing Beast! It'll surely do away with him! I've got to convince Kirby to go to his death right away!"
King Dedede took off before Escargoon could say a word.
***
Kirby was wandering around Cappy Town, trying to look for the perfect present for Tiff.
He wasn't having much luck, however.
Flowers were no good, because Tiff belonged to a family that served royalty, and they could probably get flowers whenever they wanted.
Money was out for the same reason.
Tuff was already making his sister a cake, so Kirby didn't want to give Tiff a repeat present.
Then he noticed King Dedede in his tank riding up to him.
Kirby wasn't smart enough yet to remember that this was the same King Dedede who tried to kill him many times.
So, his natural response was to jump around and cheer.
"Say, Kirby, how'd you like to get Tiff the perfect present for her birthday?" King Dedede asked Kirby rhetorically.
Kirby nodded very quickly.
"Well then, I have an idea," King Dedede said. In a conspiritorial whisper, he told Kirby, "North of here, there's a desert. And in this desert there's a horrible monster called the Shape Changing Beast. It guards a pearl called the Rainbow Pearl, and it's the most beautiful pearl in the universe. It has all the colors of the rainbow. I'm sure Tiff would like your present the best if that was the present you got her."
Kirby grinned.
It sounded perfect.
"Of course, there's the Shape Changing Beast to defeat," King Dedede added.
But Kirby, as King Dedede predicted, was too excited to care.
After jumping around and making baby noises, Kirby shot off to the north of Cappy Town.
King Dedede just stood there, and began laughing to himself.
***
It wasn't hard for Kirby to find the desert, considering there was a fork in the road and a huge sign saying: "Beware. The Shape Changing Beast's desert is to the right. Go there at your own peril."
So, of course, Kirby took the right path, and ended up in the desert.
The first thing he noticed was that it was friggin' hot.
Really hot, as in scorching.
But Kirby was the nice sort of Star Warrior who would go to great lengths for a friend.
Therefore, he bore the heat and trudged on.
He was daydreaming to himself of how happy Tiff would be to receive such a rare pearl for a present, when suddenly he heard a loud roar from somewhere in the distance.
That had to be the Shape Changing Beast.
Kirby hurried to the source of the noise, and saw that a huge lion was devouring a buzzard who had gotten too close to his already decayed meal of a dead mouse.
As the lion devoured them both, Kirby swallowed nervously.
Hey, even infantile minds know danger when they see it.
Kirby, however, was so obsessed with getting the Rainbow Pearl for Tiff that he didn't stop to think that maybe Tiff would happy with a lesser present.
So, Kirby drew a sword out of his backpack.
He sucked up the sword, and became Sword Kirby.
That, you see, is why he had brought the sword in the first place.
He then charged at the Shape Changing Beast and slashed it across the back.
The Shape Changing Beast turned around and roared in rage.
It transformed itself into a humongous vulture, proving that its title of Shape Changing Beast really fit, and began nipping Kirby repeatedly.
Kirby moaned in pain and then jumped away.
The Shape Changing Beast transformed itself into a boa constrictor and wrapped around Kirby's body.
The boa constrictor then started squeezing the life out of Kirby.
Kirby was desperate to get out of this situation, because its body was being crushed.
He managed to get his arm free and slash the boa constrictor across the face.
However, the Shape Changing Beast then transformed into a ferocious-looking wolf, and that was when Kirby realized that every time it transformed, its wounds healed.
But this was no time to despair at that, as the wolf jumped at Kirby and tore at his flesh with its teeth.
Kirby screamed in pain again and slashed the wolf across the face.
This caused the Shape Changing Beast to transform into a gorilla, who primarily began to beat the living tar out of Kirby with its fists.
Kirby then had an idea: if it could stab the beast's brain, the brain wouldn't be able to control the body's shape-changing function, so the wound couldn't heal.
Kirby let the Shape Changing Beast pound the snot out of Kirby some more, and then the beast lifted Kirby into the air, ready to kill him.
That's when Kirby struck like lightning, stabbing the beast in the brain.
The Shape Changing Beast screamed, and then fell to the ground, dead.
Then, a rainbow-colored pearl seeped out of the beast's brain.
Luckily Kirby was too young to know that he was supposed to be grossed out by this, and he extracted the pearl.
However, he was weakened by the battle, and the desert wasn't getting any cooler.
Reluctantly he trudged through the desert, pearl in hand, hoping he wouldn't pass out along the way...
***
1 day later...
***
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIFF!!!" all of Cappy Town screamed, as confetti was thrown into the air and party favors blown, and the gigantic cake Tuff had made was served.
Tiff was, of course, really happy. She lived in such a nice town, since everyone was being so nice to her. Of course King Dedede and Escargoon didn't bother to show up, but she didn't like them anyway, so no big deal. Anyway, they held a big party like this for every Cappy Town member's birthday, so the fact that one was happening right now for her wasn't that big a deal.
But she wondered where Kirby was.
However, no time for that, it was time to open the presents.
One by one, Tiff opened each of her presents, and gave the generous Cappy member behind each one the appropriate thanks.
Tiff was a little hurt, however, that Kirby hadn't shown up.
But Tokkori, Kirby's roomate, had shown up.
"Well good evening to ya Tiff," Tokkori said in unusually good cheer for one as cranky as he normally was. "I got you a present from Kirby."
Tiff's eyes lit up as Tokkori dropped the present into her hand.
She opened the present, and gasped when she saw the most beautiful pearl she had ever seen in her life.
It was rainbow-colored, and very shiny.
Tiff thought it was nice of Kirby to get her such a wonderful present, but...where was he?
"Hey Tokkori, where is Kirby, anyway?" Tiff asked Tokkori.
"Oh, he's still lying outside the cottage," Tokkori responded indifferently. "When he dragged himself to the cottage to give the present to me, he looked half-dead. Quite frankly, he looked like he picked a fight with a lawnmower and got his butt kicked. No, actually, he looked like he picked a fight with teeth and claws and lost. When I left him, he looked like death warmed over."
"What?!" Tiff screamed.
Tokkori's announcement, of course, caused a few of the Cappy Town doctors to immediately head for Kirby's house...
***
Later that day, Tiff walked over to Kirby's house after the doctors had treated him.
Tiff had finally figured out where Kirby had gotten the pearl from.
Tiff had heard stories in school of the horrible Shape Changing Beast that guarded the Rainbow Pearl.
Tiff was no dummy. Obviously Kirby was so stupid he took on the Shape Changing Beast all by himself to get the pearl.
Tiff peeked her head into the cottage worriedly and saw Kirby peacefully napping. That was a good sign, it meant he was going to live. The doctors had treated him well.
Tiff walked into the house and waited for Kirby to wake up...
***
Kirby awoke to the wonderful sight of Tiff looking down at him.
"Are you okay?" Tiff asked worriedly.
Kirby nodded and gave a few happy chirps.
"That's good to hear," Tiff replied, sighing in relief.
Then Tiff's eyes narrowed.
"Kirby, are you insane?!" she asked. "You don't go risking your life just to get somebody a gift! Not even me! You could've been killed!"
Kirby's eyes saddened.
Then Tiff's eyes softened.
"Still, it's really sweet that you would do something like that for me," Tiff told him. "But really, Kirby, you should know that I would've liked any gift you got. You're like a brother to me, like Tuff is. I love you just as much as I love everyone else. Now go to sleep, Kirby, and try to get better."
Tiff gave Kirby a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead, and then left the cottage, secure in the knowledge that her friend would be safe...
***
The End
***
E-mail all questions and comments to bleifer@comcast.net.