Winter Orchid

The Late Night Visitor

Too Ticky was assisting the shrews in preparing soup. It was the dead of night, though in Winter nobody could tell whether it was day or night until the midwinter bonfire, which hadn't arrived yet. A shrew then alerted Too Ticky to the lack of wood in the stove.
"Oh," She said somewhat absentmindedly, "I'll go grab some more." She went out and got more wood, but for an some odd reason, she felt she should wander into the forest, which she did. She wandered and wandered, until she stumbled upon something unusual. It was a large bag, with a rolled-up tent attached to the top. She then noticed that the bag was coupled with a person, laying unconscious in the snow. She recognized this person, it was the boy who lived in a tent near the moominhouse, and the boy who Moomin talked about all the time.
"Could someone get the door?" Called Too Ticky, having arrived at the bathhouse, "My hands are full." A shrew eventually opened the door for her. They were all shocked to see her carrying not only wood, but the unconscious body of a young mumrik. She simply laid him on the floor, as there was no bed, and proceeded to instruct the shrews to keep a close eye on him as she went under the ice to wet a cloth for him. When she returned she put the cloth on his forehead, and prepared an extra bowl of soup. About half an hour later, the boy awoke.
"Where is this?" He shouted, jumping up, "What am I doing in a house? Hey, this is Moominvalley! What on earth am I doing here?!"
"Settle down." Said Too Ticky, "You've got a fever, don't get excited like that. All I can say is that I found you laying in the snow."
"I can't believe it," He said, laying back down, "All I remember was it started to snow, and I was walking for hours, and feeling very dizzy, and now I'm here."
"Warm soup outta cheer you up," Remarked Too Ticky.
"Probably not," Muttered Snufkin, taking the soup, "But I think I haven't eaten in a day, so it'd be best to take it." He was quite unhappy that he'd ended up in a situation like this. He was so confused about he could've ended up in the valley, but there he was. Of course his nature was to be free, but right now he didn't feel the need to escape, mostly because he could barely move.