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Flaky stood in the living room, staring at the scene Gretyl had arranged. Toy dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes were lined up in two neat rows, with a plush T-Rex towering in the center.
“It’s a dinosaur chicken fight!” Gretyl announced proudly.
Flaky blinked. “A…what now?”
“You climb onto the T-Rex, I’ll hop on the Stegosaurus, and we’ll see who can knock the other off first!”
Flaky groaned. “This sounds dangerous.”
“Flaky, come on,” Gretyl coaxed. “It’s our last big adventure of the season! Remember how much fun the zipline was?”
Flaky hesitated but eventually sighed, a small smile tugging at her lips. “Fine. But if this ends with frosting on the curtains again, I’m blaming you.”
Gretyl and Flaky each scrambled onto their respective dinosaur steeds. The T-Rex wobbled slightly as Flaky climbed aboard, her arms wrapped tightly around its plush neck.
“This is absurd,” Flaky muttered, but there was a flicker of excitement in her voice.
Gretyl, already perched confidently on the Stegosaurus, yelled, “Charge!”
The two dinosaurs lumbered toward each other with Gretyl energetically bouncing and Flaky cautiously gripping the T-Rex’s head. The toys collided with a soft thunk. Flaky nearly toppled off.
“Not bad for a snow elf!” Gretyl teased.
“Don’t underestimate me,” Flaky shot back, loosening her grip and leaning into the fun.
Their laughter echoed through the room as the battle escalated. But as Gretyl lunged for a final dramatic blow, her Stegosaurus tilted sideways, knocking over a line of toy dinosaurs like dominoes. The chain reaction sent the T-Rex sprawling, and Flaky tumbled to the floor in a heap of laughter and dinosaurs.
“Uh-oh,” Gretyl said, surveying the scene.
Flaky’s laughter faded as she sat up, looking at the mess. “Uh-oh indeed.”
Gretyl plopped down beside Flaky. “Come on, Flakes, it’s not that bad.”
Flaky sighed, readjusting her hat. “I wanted to end the season on a high note, not a catastrophic one.”
Gretyl placed a hoof on Flaky’s shoulder. “You know, messes aren’t the end of the world. We’ll reset the stage before Sabine gets up.”
Flaky hesitated, then gave a small grin. “You’re right. It was fun.”
Flaky sighed happily as she looked out the window at the softly falling snow. This season might have been messy, but it had been the best kind of messy.
“Alright, Gretyl. Let’s re-set the scene.” But when she turned back to the room she found the scene already set. And there, standing in the lineup of toy dinosaurs, was Gretyl. Her playful expression forever stitched on her face.
She was posed perfectly, as if ready for the next round of their game. One hoof rested on the Stegosaurus, her head tilted slightly as if to say, “What’s next, Flaky?”
Flaky chuckled softly and climbed onto the T-Rex. “Goodbye, Gretyl.”
a pinch of homestead 