Sick

It was a beautiful day in Moominvalley. It was at the height of summer. The sun was beaming down on the valley, brightening it up with beautiful inspiration for creative minds. The river was lit up, sparkling like sapphires. The summer flowers were all in bloom from the spring. Their petals were stretched out like the arms of a ballerina. They stood up tall and proud, soaking up the joyous rays from the sun. The insects like the bees and butterflies settled down on each one. The butterflies drank up the sweet nectar, giving them the energy that they needed for the day. The bees too collected the nectar to make their honey. The pollen covered their small bodies, allowing the insects to carry it away so it could float down to another flower to continue the pollination cycle over and over again. The different woodland creatures scurried around the forest, foraging and collecting food to eat. The birds flew to their nests with insets in their beaks to feed there chicks. Each chick tweeted away, waiting for their parents to feed them. The squirrels collected their nuts, some of of them either shared their finding, while others got into a fight over them. The residents walked around the valley, enjoying the sun while they still could before the cruel time of winter came, forcing everyone to go into hibernation. Mrs Fillyjonk took the opportunity of the warm weather to hang out some washing to dry. Her children were sitting on the grass, reading books for their home school studies. The Hemulen was out with his magnifying glass, looking at the many different flowers to try to find any rare ones. Any ones that he has found, he carefully dug up at the roots and placed them in his sample box for studying. Some of the residents went down to the cool sea to cool down from the weather, while some were out playing in the sun.

However, not everyone was having a great time. Snufkin sat along the bank of the river. He had his make shift fishing rod in his hands and watched the float bounce up and down on the surface of the water. His hat shadowed his eyes from the sun. He sighed a little. He suddenly went into a coughing fit. He covered his mouth with one hand, while the other held on tight to the fishing rod. When the coughing subsided, he took in wheezing breathes to try to sooth his tight chest. He didn't feel too great. He hadn't been for the past two days. He had somehow caught a nasty bug that resulted him have coughing fits and a high fever as well as having a little bit of a chill at the same time. He also had a lack of appetite but he still tried to eat a little to be sure that he was eating, even if it was very little meals. His throat was sore and he kept himself from talking just to try to not make it any worse. He drank some warm coffee to try to sooth it but it wasn't very affective.

He looked up at Moominhouse. He could have gone to the family that was living there. Moominmamma probably would have given him something to help him get better. But he didn't want to worry the Moomins. He thought that he wasn't worth the trouble when the family might have more things to worry about. And he didn't want to pass on whatever sickness that he had onto anyone else. However, the more he puts off going to see them, the worse he felt. He suddenly let out a sneeze. He groaned as his chest felt tighter. He inhaled a little, only to get into another coughing fit. He took in as much air as his chest would let him have.

"Snufkin!"

Snufkin looked up. He saw Moomin running towards him. Snufkin lowered his head. He didn't want Moomin to realise that he wasn't well. Hopefully he wouldn't and also hopefully he wouldn't pass on the bug to his friend. Moomin ran across the bridge and sat down next to him. Being careful, Snufkin shuffled a little away from him.

"Fishing again?" Moomin asked eagerly. He hadn't seen his best friend in a while and wanted to finally have a chance to talk to him. Snufkin nodded. Moomin looked at him in curiosity. Snufkin was being unusually quiet. Normally he would say something by now. And he wasn't looking at Moomin either, making the young troll more curious about his friend's odd behaviour. He looked at the river and noticed that the fishing line was being tugged. "You've got one!" Snufkin looked up. He was about to pull the line when suddenly he sneezed very loudly. Moomin jumped in fright at this. The line slagged, meaning that the fish on the line had gotten away. Snufkin sniffed quietly, feeling more down.