Irhaboggle Pride (2020) Quarantine Edition

Outside

Despite the quarantine and lockdown, Avalon continued to walk through the forest, not a care in the world. The orders were to stay inside unless it was absolutely necessary to go out, but those orders only applied to public places. The wide-open wilderness, though? That was fair game. Surely a secluded forest miles away from everyone else counted as social distancing! Avalon was sick of being cooped up anyway.

"Besides, who wouldn't want to be out on a day like this?" Avalon asked themself as they continued to walk the earthy forest trails, trees surrounding them on all sides and stretching up into the azure sky. Beautiful beams of white sunlight poked through the emerald leaves, illuminating the ground and making the leaves almost seem to glow. It was truly a gorgeous scene.

As much fun as it was to stay indoors, being outside like this reminded Avalon why they'd broken quarantine at all! It was just too lovely a day to waste inside! The weather was warm and sunny, but not too hot, even though it was mid-June. The air was clear, but not too dry. There was a gentle breeze to keep them cool as they walked along.

Avalon crossed little creeks and crunched through old leaves and branches. They climbed over, under and across fallen trees. They posed dramatically upon every large boulder they came across. Perhaps it was a little lonely, talking this walk without a companion, but it was just so liberating and relaxing to be outside again that Avalon did not care at all. Instead, they reveled in their freedom. And even if there was no one to talk to, the air was still full of sound. Birds, bees and breeze!

Avalon knew their name had come from an ancient legend. The real Avalon was supposedly a paradisiacal island where a once-noble king took refuge after his final battle left him mortally wounded. It was said to be a Heaven on Earth. And because only the king and a few others had ever gone there, one could assume that it was mostly uninhabited. It would've been a lot like this forest, Avalon was willing to bet. That was even why they'd started think about the legend at all.

"I'm sure whatever Avalon really exists out there, if it exists at all, couldn't be any nicer than this place!" they smiled up and closed their eyes, standing still for a moment just to listen to the sounds of nature. Chirping birds, scuttling creatures, rustling leaves, running water. It was all very cliché stuff, but it really did sound so harmonious and perfect in this moment.

Not for the first time did Avalon congratulate themself on coming out here. Even though it wasn't an essential trip, it was still wonderful. It was good for the soul! And again, they were so far away from society, it was probably safe to assume the virus wouldn't hurt them here.

Now, Avalon wasn't sure if they believed in souls, but they could still understand the idea. There were things a human needed that went beyond the physical. Of course, Avalon cared deeply about the health and welfare of the world (hence why they'd come to a secluded forest rather than going to a city), but at the same time, there was more to life than just bodily health. The "soul" needed to be nurtured, too. That's why Avalon had come here. They were not a nature freak, but even they could appreciate times like this. No people or problems, just summer and sun.

After a while, Avalon found a large river that stretched out in either direction as far as the eye could see. It was a lovely sight, long and silver and winding, but the real fun was yet to come... Activating their Gift, they dipped a foot into the warm water. Only a few seconds later, that water froze solid. Spreading out from their foot, the ice continued to freeze across the river. Smiling, Avalon put their second foot in the water. Now two circles of ice were rippling out across the water.

It was a bit harder to freeze a river since a river was a moving body of water, but Avalon had been practicing with their Gift for a couple years now. As such, it didn't take them too long to freeze a decent-sized chunk of the river in front of them. It was a small, but sturdy, platform of pure ice. And the longer they stood there, the bigger and sturdier the platform became.

After long enough, Avalon finally raised a foot and dared to test out their icy platform. They sighed in satisfaction as the ice held. A normal person would've found it bitterly, painfully cold, but Avalon could stand barefoot on the ice, no problem! They gave a delighted laugh as they pressed down on the platform. It was nice and solid and safe! They were quick to bring their other foot out of the water as well. Now that they were on the platform, it was time for a little bit more fun.

They walked forward, crossing the entire river, creating a bridge of solid ice. It was a rather thin bridge, since freezing a river was difficult, but it was sturdy, and Avalon was easily able to keep their balance. Once they reached the other side of the river, they turned around to look at their icy bridge and they gave a merry laugh.

"So cool!" they muttered to themself, laughing at their unoriginal pun.

Then Avalon hopped back on the bridge and began strutting along the length of the river, rather than just trying to cross. Lost in their own little world, Avalon pretended they were at a fashion show, and this icy bridge was the catwalk. They strutted their stuff as they walked the length of the river, head high and proud as the ice continued to bloom out in front of them.

"I've got the best dramatic entrance of anyone in the entire world!" they cried as they surveyed the frozen catwalk, water flowing on either side. It truly was a very aesthetic moment, and it was pretty darn epic. And because Avalon was the only person in the entire world capable of creating such a fancy entrance, that it all the more awesome! Could anyone else pretend to dramatically, stoically walk down a river on a bridge made of ice, gray water surging on by?

"Gonna work my strut!" they muttered, still grinning from ear to ear as they walked up and down the length of their new bridge. Since that year's Pride Fest and drag shows were all canceled because of stupid old Aunt Rona, this little one-person fashion show would have to suffice. But hey, there was no right or wrong way to celebrate Pride, so long as nobody was being hurt. Avalon had already attended some online events, but it still felt nice to do something physically.

Finally, Avalon stomped hard on the icy bridge, breaking off the chunk of ice at the very end. Now it was like a surfboard of sorts, and Avalon was going to go sailing down the rest of the river.

"I'M KING OF THE WORLD!" they laughed and held out their arms, mimicking a scene from an old movie they'd watched once. As the platform was pushed along by the river current, the cool breeze ruffled their hair and their smile managed to get even bigger. They felt so cool right now! The only reason they might've wanted a companion was so that someone could film this epic moment of Avalon sailing down the river on a raft of ice.

It was indeed an odd sight, but in a year as weird as 2020, that was only the tip of the iceberg (pun intended).

"And who knows, maybe if I sail far enough, I'll find Avalon!" they joked. Leaving the rest of the runaway to melt, Avalon reinforced their little raft and sailed on.

AN: Based off a camping trip I took in spring of 2020. No cool ice rafts tho, sadly. Also, pun unintended this time, LOL