Story Two. Theme: Snowball Fight

Denny ruffled his curly brown hair for what seemed like the hundredth time that afternoon. It wasn't like he didn't like the winter, but there weren't a whole lot of things he could do to keep his ADHD tendencies under control. And simply sitting around in the snow making little clouds with your breath wasn't exactly the most thrilling thing in the world. Well, at least not for two hours straight.

Oh, sure, there were plenty of things that he COULD do to occupy his time. Ice fishing was always something he enjoyed doing, but after doing that for the past few days, he didn't really seem all that up to it this particular morning. He could hang out in the warm café just down the street from his little shack, but winter fishing didn't really bring that much income and his pockets were already as empty as they could get. He could hang out with his little bird, Popper, which usually stayed perched on his shoulder. Lately, however, it was too cold for the little black bird to be outside for long, causing Denny to feel lonelier than ever.

As a last resort, he could go visit the ever talkative Lanna, but the poor girl had been out of commission since yesterday with the flu. And, as much as he didn't really like spending alone time with the girl, anything was better than what he was doing now. Which was him to walk the snow covered streets with nothing but his boredom to accompany him, Denny stopped in the middle of the bridge that connected two of the Islands together and let out a loud grunt.

"Uggggggghhhhhhhhhh! I can't deal with this!" He groaned, throwing his arms over the bridge rail and peering down at the frozen water below. Usually you could see a few fish swim by, but this winter had been colder than the last few, and the water was now completely frozen over. Denny sighed as he rubbed his nose. "If I don't find something to do, I'm gonna lose my freaking mind."

If there were three things that Denny hated most in the world, it was loneliness, boredom, and the quiet that occupied the town. Denny was experiencing all was still staring at the unmoving water below, hoping that maybe something would break through the ice and distract him, when a small ringing sound caught his attention. Denny turned his head quickly toward the sound and spotted something that caught him off guard: his best friend and his annoying rival leaving the familiar animal shop.

Denny didn't know what compelled him to quickly hide in the bushes on the other side of bridge when he noticed the two begin to walk in his direction, but the they were so absorbed in their conversation that they didn't notice him, anyway. Denny crouched on his hands and knees, peeking through the snow covered branches as the two began to cross the bridge. Denny didn't know why he felt annoyed when he saw the two together, but he could feel irritation rising in him like hot water in a kettle.

He had to do something, anything, to break this up in any way he could. However, in his current situation, simply jumping out of the bushes would probably cause alarm and confusion that he didn't want to have to deal with. And that's when the idea hit him. Or, should he say, would eventually hit the two lovebirds now passing his hiding place.

"And then you should have seen how much smoke there was. Elliot almost had a heart attack coming home to a house completely filled with black smoke," Chelsea chatted, emphasizing her hands whenever she could. "Thankfully Felicia was there to help stop the fire before it got too out of hand, but I guess those cooking lessons with Pierre haven't helped Natalie very much."

"Mhhh," Vaughn hummed absent mindedly.

"But I have to admit, the scolding we got from Taro was pretty funny when all you could smell was burnt fish and turnips."Denny quickly gathered some snow around him and packed it into a small round ball. He threw it up and down quickly to test its durability before aiming at the back of Vaughn's head and throwing with all his might.

"Ack!" Vaughn grunted as a sudden burst of cold collided with his back, causing him to almost topple over.

"Shoot, too low." Denny smiled as he began making another snowball. He waited until Vaughn had stopped looking around murderously for the culprit before he peeked over the bushes once more. Denny brushed his curly bangs out of his face and wound up his arm once more, making sure that, this time, his snowball would fly straight.

Which it did.

Straight into Vaughn's stupid head.

"Bulls eye!" Denny shouted, jumping to his feet and raising his hands in a triumphant fist bump to the air, completely forgetting his hiding place behind the bushes.

"Bird Brains!" Denny heard Vaughn growl viscously. Denny cursed under his breath for giving himself away before quickly allowing himself a devilish grin.

"Yeeeeeeesssssss?" Denny purred, allowing him the satisfaction of Vaughn's current appearance. Denny had completely knocked the cowboy's hat clean off, revealing his messy silvery hair that almost blended in with the white chunks from Denny's snowball. Vaughn's face was a bright red, either with embarrassment or rage, Denny didn't know or care. He was more focused on the brunette beside him.

Her traditional red bandana had been traded in with a red knitted hat, and her chestnut hair cupped around her cheeks, hiding beneath her matching red scarf. A playful smile grew on her round face as her sapphire blue eyes rested on Denny's could feel his heartbeat quicken and his own smile grow. He didn't want her to stop watching him.

Denny had been so preoccupied with looking at the young rancher that he didn't notice the cold hard impact of a snowball till it had hit his face and sent him flying onto his butt. He brushed it off quickly and glared at the culprit, who was wearing a very smug smile on his face that made Denny's blood boil.

"Ohhh, so that's how you wanna play, do ya?" Denny snarled, shaking the snow out of his hair.

"You started it, feather head," Vaughn answered, folding his arms. Chelsea picked up his hat, dusted some snow off it, and had to use her tiptoes to put it back on Vaughn's head. That got Denny annoyed.

"You don't know what you're getting into, cowboy. Better turn around now before you get too big for your own boots," Denny said, getting off the ground and brushing the remaining snow off of him. "This is one fight you don't wanna start."

Vaughn's frown deepened as he tipped his hat down, keeping his intense stare on Denny. Denny almost forgot how fierce Vaughn looked when he got serious. He hated how those violet orbs seemed to pierce him like a sword.

A coy smiled quickly crossed Vaughn's face. "Big talk from a little man. I didn't know hanging around that bird so much would actually turn you into such a chicken."

Denny could feel his cold hands clench. "That's it. You just declared war." Denny dropped to the ground, and before Vaughn or Chelsea could react, he made a few snowballs and cradled them in his arms.

He shot back up and with a giant smile on his face and yelled as loudly as he could.

"SNOWBALL FIGHT!"

It all happened so fast. Before Denny knew it, snowballs were flying all around in the air. Eliza and Charlie, who had been practicing making a snowman nearby, quickly joined the fight and were laughing loudly as they threw snowballs at each other. Julia and Elliot, who had exited their peaceful date at Halia's café to see what all the commotion was about, were now running around and throwing snowballs at everyone. Well, mostly Julia. Elliot was just running around trying to avoid getting hit by a snowball, which he wasn't doing very well. In a matter of minutes, almost the entire town was involved in the unofficial event, everyone laughing and smiling and basically making an uproar as snowballs through the air.

Just the way Denny liked it.

Denny felt something soft hit the back of his neck and a bell like laugh follow quickly after. He turned around and spotted Chelsea holding another snowball in her hand. She was covered from head to toe in snow, but she was beaming brightly as she brought a finger up to her red lips and pointed a few feet in front of the pair. Denny followed her gaze and noticed Vaughn, who was currently fighting off the power house Julia and her little accomplices, Charlie and Eliza. He was so distracted with making sure snow didn't further enter down his shirt that he didn't even notice Chelsea and Denny creep up on him.

When the two were close enough, a cheeky grin appeared on Chelsea's face that made Denny's heart race. "Hey Vaughn!" the brunette called.

Vaughn immediately turned around and was just as immediately greeted with a face full of snow that knocked him clear into a snow bank. Denny and Chelsea would have dropped down to the ground themselves from laughing so hard if Vaughn didn't recover so quickly and gave chase, sending Denny and Chelsea down the very bridge that started everything in the first place.

"Yeah you better run, you traitor," Vaughn called after Chelsea, who squeaked excitedly in response. "I'm going to shove snow so far down your pants, you'll have frostbite in all the wrong places, Bird Brains!"

Denny grabbed Chelsea's hand in order to make sure she was able to keep up, and turned his head back only long enough to stick his tongue out at Vaughn. "You'll have to catch us first, frosty," he laughed.

He gripped Chelsea's hand even tighter as they ran, and liked the way her little hand fit within his own. Even if Vaughn was chasing them, her smile and laugh could easily be enough reason for him to run at full speed. Anything would be enough of a reason if it meant he could stay like that forever. Running and laughing.

And even if it were just for a moment, Denny had solved his three problems. He wasn't bored. He wasn't deafened by the silence around him.

And he wasn't so lonely anymore.