Claus jogged away from the flower garden; his hands lightly folded together. His face was lit up with pride and breathless excitement; it took him the whole afternoon to catch it. Even with his sharp eyes and cat-like reflexes, (in his opinion anyway) this was a challenge. However, Claus had always been one for challenges, and for something like this, he always came away the undisputed champion. He found it hovering around the red, tube-y flowers; he didn't really know the name of them. Then again, he wasn't for learning trivial stuff like that, but Mom would know for sure…he bet. It was fast and unpredictable; he had to try very hard not to kill it. He came very close to hitting it to the ground in frustration, but that way, it'd get hurt. And if it got hurt Lucas would hate him forever and he didn't need that. But, with some patience and ninja-like skill with a bug catching net, he finally had it safe in his hands.
Oh yes. He was the champion at catching small animals.
He also had great skill in opening up the door without his hands. It just needed the use of his foot, shoulder and Boney pushing the unlocked door from inside. (He didn't even need the help all that much, mind you.) Even with all his great grace and agility, he came close to squishing it once or twice. He couldn't have that happening now, Lucas was sad enough as it was. Claus didn't know exactly what happened, but Fuel had said something and the next thing you know, Lucas was running all the way home, sniffling and being a general mess. The first thing Claus did was give Fuel a prompt punch in the face. (That was enough to earn the ire of both their fathers. He was so screwed in the morning.) The second thing Claus did was look for something to cheer Lucas up.
There he was, moping in the living room as always. It was a little odd, how Lucas was sometimes. Instead of sitting on the couch or in a chair or something, he would sit in the middle of the floor with his arms through his bended knees. He looked so miserable, especially when he bent his head down. In that way, he looked sort of like a kicked puppy.
"Hey, Lucas! I've got something for ya!"
Lucas turned around sulkily and gave Claus a look. Even if the stint was hours ago, he still hadn't fully recovered.
"Lookit!" Claus held out his hands for Lucas to see. "Hold out your hands, too. I want you to have it."
Lucas gasped, and out of the space made by his thumbs popped out the shimmering green head of a little hummingbird.
Claus knew he liked small animals ever since he was little. Actually, Lucas liked everything about nature ever since could remember, especially Telly Forest. Lucas spent a lot of time there. Sometimes he'd get lost. Dad would have to find him then, and Dad wouldn't stop until he did. Once, it took him until after the sunset. They had come back together, Lucas crying and holding on tight to Dad's arm. It was easy to get him to cry, but it was also easy to make him happy. In spite of how often he did, it had always disturbed Claus, and he would always try his best to make him smile again.
Even though, Claus did NOT get the reaction he'd wanted. He got something much, much different.
"Oh, the poor thing. How can you be so cruel, snatching him when he's eating?" Lucas said as he touched the bird's emerald head.
"Yeah, it took me all afternoo- wait, what?"
Lucas fixed him with a glare.
"You're so mean, Claus." He turned his attention back to the hummingbird, petting it gently with the tip of his finger. "Can't you see he wants to be free?"
Claus just stood there. It stayed that way for a second, as if he was trying to piece it all together.
"Buh…buh…But it was hard!"
"You shouldn't have caught it then." Lucas sniffed.
Claus inwardly fumed. Lucas was not usually so ungrateful. It took him the whole afternoon and he couldn't emphasize that enough. Whole afternoon.
"Just take the bird, Lucas! You're such a hippie!"
"You don't even know what that means."
Claus fixed Lucas with his own glare. You do not challenge Claus, Master of Small Animal Catching.
"Yeah, I do. It means you-"
"Oh, let loose Claus. You'll suffocate him." Lucas said, trying to pry Claus' hands apart for in his frustration, he had closed up his hands.
"Quit it, Lucas, you don't even want the thing."
"You'll kill him!"
In an unexpected burst of strength, Lucas was able to open up Claus' clasped hands. The good thing was that the hummingbird was free to breathe without fear of being squished.
The bad thing was that it was now loose in the house.
There was a moment of terrified silence before either of them even considered speaking. It was not like a hummingbird could tear up the house and mess up things. The problem was that it could get lost, and possibly die either from injury or starvation. Not only would Lucas be devastated, but their parents would be so angry it wouldn't even be funny.
"You have to get it." Claus whispered as the little bird hovered off the table it had landed on and out on the bookshelf. It began to busy itself with a couple of shiny beads that Claus had left out since before mom's last birthday. It was a touching gesture to make something for her, but he was notoriously lazy when it came to cleaning things up. They sucked in their breath; the hummingbird was close to making the beads fall to the floor. They knew they had to do something, but they sure as heck didn't want to make things worse than they already were. Lucas shot a sideward glance at Claus and hissed through his teeth:
"Are you kidding? You're the one who caught him and brought him in here."
"So? It's your fault you didn't take it, so go get it!" Claus seethed. Who was he to tell him to recapture it when he obviously didn't want him doing that in the first place?
Lucas hesitated, and then moved up to the hummingbird, as if he was going to go after the little thing himself. He raised his hand to grab it, but his thoughts lingered too long and he was startled when the hummingbird became bored and flew past his ear to examine their couch. Drawing back his hand, he shot Claus with a desperate look.
"But I'm no good at catching animals, it's-"
"Boys, are you fighting?" Hinawa said as she stepped into the room. Both of them stopped whispering immediately to the sound of their mother, who in this case was the sound of impending doom.
"Uh, Nothing!"
"He means 'no', Mom," Lucas quickly added. They both focused their attentions completely on Hinawa; they wouldn't dare risk taking a peek at whatever the hummingbird was doing and give themselves away. (Not even if the bird was poking holes in their couch.)
Hinawa studied their faces intently. They were hiding something, no doubt. However, she did trust her boys and it was only a matter of time before she'd find out. It was a mother's way.
"Well, if you say s-"
Just then, the hummingbird landed on the desk behind them, rustling papers as it landed.
It took them all the way until dinnertime before the hummingbird was recaptured. They even had to call Dad in from working from the sheep to get it. He didn't appreciate giving up work to clean up one of their mess-ups, but he was a kind father and wouldn't blame them for it. He first tried to capture it stealthily, waiting until it was resting somewhere until he went for it. All that resulted in was more scattered paper. He then tried covering it with a light cloth. However, he just kept missing and missing until the hummingbird flew on top of the bookshelf to get away. He even tried using Hinawa as bait. Hummingbirds were said to like red and all. After running around, messing up things and many failed attempts he managed to capture it; wiggling around in the gentle grip of his hand. After hearing about how Claus almost managed to choke it to death, (Tattletale, as Claus would bitterly remember) he taught Lucas how to hold it before leaving it in his care and turning to his older twin.
Lucas then sneaked away from the house, trying to close the door as quiet as they could. He didn't want Claus to know; he was already miserable enough because of the talking to mother gave him. From now on, Claus was to think twice before letting a wild animal into the house, no matter how small it was or how sulky Lucas was being. He knew Claus wanted to make him smile, but he just couldn't when he saw the little thing trying to wriggle about in his hands.
It was right before sunset now. Lucas trudged towards the flower garden; the salvia blooms painted yellow from the dying light. He released his grip slowly, palm upwards, so that the little bird wouldn't fall to the ground and get hurt. It turned about, frantically trying to get to its feet before sitting upright and hovering away. Even though he didn't realize it then, Claus did give him something important that day. He held a little miracle in his hands-a warm, living jewel-and a memory for him to keep when the sun fell from the sky and the moon stopped shining.