On his way home, Lumpy sniffled repeatedly and rubbed his nose. Constantly needing to sneeze bothered him enough, but to make his situation even worse, it seemed like everything around him was trying to make him sneeze, even when he didn't want it to. He wanted to try not to sneeze, but Sniffles had warned him not to do so, or else he would have a sneezing fit as he had earlier today. But trying not to resist wasn't as easy as he thought it would be.
Lumpy stopped in his tracks when his nose started twitching and his nostrils started flaring up. Another sneeze was coming on, but he didn't want to do it. He sniffled deeply, trying to stop his nostrils from flaring, but he accidentally snorted up a small cloud of pollen in the air. His hay fever started to act up as his nostrils flared up even more violently, and his breath began to hitch.
"Aaaaaahhhhhh... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..." Lumpy tilted his neck back as he inhaled twice. He could tell that this sneeze was going to be a big one. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Lumpy shot his neck forwards as he released yet another unbelievable sneeze. True to his fears, it was a big one, but that was because this time around, his hay fever and the pollen that induced it made it even bigger and louder than many of his other sneezes. But it wasn't enough to satisfy his itchy nose. Before long, he needed to sneeze again, but it didn't take as much of a buildup as the first one.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! AaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH..." While he was taking a final inhale, Lumpy didn't manage to see Cuddles and Toothy overhearing him and walking up to him. "CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Oh, my gosh!" Cuddles and Toothy said at the same time, in shock. They had heard Lumpy sneeze some loud sneezes before, but very few of his normal sneezes were ever like this.
"Ugh..." Lumpy recovered from his sneezing fit and noticed that his friends were looking at him, both with surprised expressions on their faces. He blushed in embarrassment as he rubbed his nose on his forefinger.
"Lumpy, are you feeling okay?" Cuddles asked.
"Those sneezes you did there sounded like you're getting sick," Toothy added. "Either that, or your hay fever's getting worse."
"Sorry, guys," Lumpy said. "I'm not getting sick. But earlier today, I sniffed this flower, and it made me super sneezy."
"So your hay fever's getting worse?" Cuddles asked. He had seen Lumpy sneeze from flowers before, so he assumed that this was what was going on with him.
"Well, yeah, you could say that. But it's not just that. It's..." Lumpy's nostrils started to flare up again, and he noticed it happening. "Uh-oh. Hang on, I think one's coming..." He turned his body away from Cuddles and Toothy as he began to inhale. "Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Lumpy released another loud sneeze, and hearing it caused Cuddles and Toothy to cringe in shock. A few seconds after the sneeze had finished, Lumpy turned back to Cuddles and Toothy. He sniffled and rubbed his nose on his forefinger.
"Bless you," Toothy said politely, but Lumpy didn't bother to thank him.
"It's not just my hay fever," Lumpy resumed. "It's the flower itself that's making me sneeze. I don't know how long, but I'm gonna keep sneezing like this for a while. I'm really sorry."
"Wow. That's too bad," Toothy said.
"It sure is." Lumpy sniffled again.
"You want us to find a way to stop you from sneezing?" Cuddles asked.
"Thanks, but no. Sniffles told me to not stop myself from sneezing, or I won't be able to stop."
"Oh, okay," Toothy said.
Lumpy's nose started to twitch again, and his nostrils started to flare up. He noticed this almost as soon as it happened, and he knew exactly what was going to follow.
"Guys? Aaaahhh..." he inhaled, tilting his head slightly back. "I think I'm gonna... AaaaaaaAAAAAAAHHHHHH... sneeze... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH..."
Cuddles and Toothy looked confused at first, but they cringed in fear once they got the message. Cuddles hastily reached up and pressed his forefinger under Lumpy's nose, trying to stop the sneeze. Lumpy stopped inhaling for a few seconds, but still had a very desperate pre-sneeze expression on his face.
"Wait, didn't he say that he didn't want us to stop him?" Toothy asked.
"Yeah, but we can't let-" Cuddles didn't get to finish his sentence.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Lumpy sneezed loudly and powerfully again, blowing Cuddles' finger off of his face. This time, the sneeze was so loud that they and Toothy could feel the ground shaking beneath them. An extremely rare effect for a not-so-rare sneeze. Before any of them could speak, Lumpy entered a full-blown sneezing fit. He didn't even have time to speak, rub his nose or even sniffle.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Ughhh... " Lumpy sniffled deeply and brought a forefinger to the end of his snout. He then rubbed his nose repeatedly. He didn't feel so good after the fit; in fact, he actually felt like he was catching a cold. As weak as he felt, he was actually pretty amazed that he had just sneezed five times. Sometimes he had fits, but rarely, if ever, did he ever sneeze more than three or four times.
"Wow. That is one bad case of the sneezes!" Cuddles said with a look of disbelief on his face.
"Yeah, bless you," Toothy added. He couldn't believe the sneezes, either, but he tried his best to stay polite.
"I am so... *sniff* sorry," Lumpy apologized as he continued to rub his nose. "Please don't try to stop my sneezes, or I'll sneeze a lot like I just did." Then he decided to walk away and resume his journey home. "I'm gonna go now. I don't wanna take them out on you guys."
"Okay, see ya," Cuddles said.
"Hope you feel better soon," Toothy said.
Lumpy heard them, but didn't respond to them. It wasn't because he didn't care for them, but because he was just too busy thinking about his sneezing problem. Judging by that sneezing fit that he had just released in front of Cuddles and Toothy, he could safely bet that it was getting worse, and that it would probably keep getting worse.
