Submission (#2490) Approved

Today was chore day, which meant that there was no way it could be anything else than a dull, boring day.

Marco’s normal routine included several morning chores before he could go out and play for the rest of the day. Every so often though, those chores that only needed to be done every so often piled up and it was up to Marco and Mason to complete them. Marco kept his mouth shut as Mason, his older brother, divided the chores out between the two of them and seemed to keep all the fun chores for himself. Marco wanted to go out to run errands and go to the shop! He wanted to help with deliveries! But no, the chores he was given all involved staying home. He knew better than to say anything, as he wanted to be helpful and mature in Mason’s eyes, but that didn't change his opinion about his chores at all.

The only saving grace was that it was a beautiful day outside. The sun hung high in the crystal blue sky above. Besides the sky, the area surrounding Marco was a variety of reds, browns, and yellowa. There were no trees with green leaves around his home, which meant that all the leaves fluttering in the gentle wind or the leaves that already made their descent down to the ground were vibrant shades of red and orange. In some regions this meant that the leaves were dying and crunchy. However, in Bellmoril they were still as strong and lush as they had been when they were on their branches. Marco stepped over to the wooden fence that surrounded his home and peered out towards the town below. Bellmoril had various mountains, and his home was nestled on one of those mountains. From here he could see a sea of red and orange trees, with a town every now and then nestled in between them. From this angle he couldn’t see the biggest city in Bellmoril, Il'durahn, where Mason had headed off to for one of his chores. The towns below were pretty much smaller versions, made of wood and stone. The grey of the stones stood out as much as the blue sky above, but besides that everything seemed to blend together. Even if it was to one of the small towns, Marco would love to be there instead of here.

The time for daydreaming was over. He had to get everything done before Mason got home. With a heavy sigh that only he could hear, the kittom moved away from the fence and walked over towards the tool shed next to the house. He rifled around the tools and pulled out the leaf rake. The leaves on the ground weren’t dead and crunchy, but they had collected on the ground to the point where they needed to be raked up into piles to get out of the way and storage for future use in building fires when the weather gets cooler. The rake they had was a little too big for Marco, but he still did his best to drag it out of the shed towards the closest area where the leaves had accumulated.

It felt like he had been raking for hours when Marco finally decided to take a break. The yard now had several large piles of leaves and he could see the yellow grass underneath his feet. The kittom propped the rake against the wall of his house and headed inside for a drink. He lingered for a little longer than necessary, already bored with raking leaves and not particularly wanting to get back to it. After drinking some water and eating an apple the pulled himself back out of the house and into the yard.

When Marco went to go get the rake, it wasn’t there. He paused for a moment, trying to think of if he had placed it anywhere else, but he was certain he had placed it in this very spot. Marco also knew that Mason hadn’t returned yet, so where could it have gone and who could have taken it?

It didn’t take long for the kittom to find the rake. However, the discovery brought more questions than it did answers. Marco found the large rake sitting next to one of the leaf piles located on the other side of the house. His pace went from casual to cautious as he stepped closer to the rake and the leaf pile. His caution wasn’t fruitless as he saw the leaf pile begin to shake and rustle! Marco’s fur stood on end, unsure of what to do, but he wasn’t given time to come up with a plan. Whatever was in the leaf pile moved from the middle of the pile and trotted out of the leaves…!

The creature was much smaller than Marco. At first glance it has fluffy black fur, but on closer inspection the fur was actually feathers. The white face of the creature was tilted up towards Marco, watching him with a mixed expression of curiosity and excitement.

Marco had seen creatures like these numerous times with Elnin. Even Mason had one. This was a Pomu!

He was dumbstruck. For the longest time he never had a pomu of his own while his friends met theirs. Was this one lost? Who did it belong to? As Marco silently pondered this the pomu slowly trotted over to Marco and butted it’s head against Marco’s arm affectionately. Before the kittom could say anything the Pomu stepped over to Marco’s shadow, paused, then jumped into it like it was a pool of water! The pomu disappeared out of sight, but appeared several seconds later pulling itself out of the kittom’s shadow.

This was Marco’s pomu! He finally had one!

Needless to say, the kittom was overjoyed. Thoughts of raking leaves or any of his other chores disappeared as he began to prance around with his new Pomu.

“What should we name you? Richard? Xalandin? Puffy? Something cute or something cool and strong?”

Whatever Marco suggested the pomu was happy with. It looked like Marco’s new pomu was just as happy as finding it’s kittom as the kittom was. Eventually Marco decided on the name ‘Slagathor’, with ‘Slag’ being the pomu’s nickname. Marco and Slagathor played for the rest of the day, Marco showing the pomu around it’s new home before teaching Slag all his favorite days.

When Mason returned home from his errands, he was greeted by piles of leaves still sitting out in the yard. He was ready to give his little brother some scolding for ignoring his chores. However, all thoughts left him when he stepped inside and saw Marco sleeping on the floor on the rug, curled up around a pomu with horns and claws the same golden color that Marco had. Mason smiled softly, happy that his brother found his pomu. He carefully picked the two up and tucked them into bed. The two must have had a long and emotional day. Chores could wait until tomorrow.