Asa Butcher & Thanos Kalamidas ASA BUTCHER & THANOS KALAMIDAS a MIKA MOOSE Christmas a MIKA MOOSE Christmas ASA BUTCHER & THANOS KALAMIDAS A Mika Moose Christmas An Ovi Magazine Books Publication 2021 Ovi Project Publication - All material is copyright of the Ovi magazine & the writer C Ovi books are available in Ovi magazine pages and they are for free. If somebody tries to sell you an Ovi book please contact us immediately. For details, contact: submissions@ovimagazine.com No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the writer or the above publisher of this book. Asa Butcher & Thanos Kalamidas a MIKA MOOSE Christmas ASA BUTCHER & THANOS KALAMIDAS A Mika Moose Christmas An Ovi Magazine Books Publication 2021 Ovi Project Publication - All material is copyright of the Ovi magazine & the writer C Asa Butcher & Thanos Kalamidas I t appeared to be early December , but you couldn’t be too sure anymore. It looked like December and even smelt like December, yet there was nothing to confirm any of these suspicions, which was rather frustrating. Either way, a light snow was being whisked about by an energetic wind and the whisper of distant elf song brought an extra touch of magic to the enchanted arctic tundra. It was also very cold. The world was seemingly at peace, hibernating beneath a large white blanket until spring and nobody would dare upset this fragile tranquil- lity, well almost nobody. “Are we there yet?” squawked a voice that echoed among the trees, evaporating the silence like an icicle thrown on to a roaring fire. The wintry wilderness seemed to take a deep breath to calm itself and prepared to return to the calm from a few moments earlier. A Mika Moose Christmas Once again the screech called out, “Are we there yet, Mika?” If you had been standing in a particular place on the tundra you would not have known where this voice was originating, although all that was about to change. At first all you could see was a small black head with a beak, then something strange happened as the body appeared. It seemed as though this bird was hovering in the air without using its wings and was gaining altitude a second at a time. The cause of this illusion was easily explained, yet it made you blink your eyes in amazement. A magnificent looking magpie with resplend - ent plumage was perched on the antlers of a miserable looking choc- olate moose; the colour chocolate, not the dessert. Matti the Magpie yawned and stretched out his black, silver and white wings to their full span, and then began to groom his feathers. Matti was a beautiful bird, unfortunately, he was the first to realize this and was considerably vane concerning his appearance. “Mika, why don’t you take better care of yourself?” muffled Matti through his wing feathers, “You could have some consideration for your passengers...I mean the smell up here is disgusting!” Mika rolled his eyes and sighed, and then cleaned one of Matti’s discarded feath- ers from his nose. “I think you do enough grooming for the both of us, Matti. Anyway, I had a mud bath at the end of the summer and that was enough for...OW! What was that?” Matti swallowed the little bug he had caught crawling through Mi- ka’s fur, “Sorry, the cleanliness of the transport may be poor, but the catering is fantastic!” The magpie stretched out his wings once more, checked every feather was straight and then remembered his earlier Asa Butcher & Thanos Kalamidas question, “Are we there yet?” Mika was getting bored of Matti’s con- tinually questions, especially since the bird could never remember the answers, which was due to either stupidity or an attention span shorter than a mosquito’s eyelash. “No Matti, how can we be there when we are not going anywhere?” Mika lied because they were going somewhere, they were following the little elf footprints in the snow, but he didn’t want to tell Matti and he also didn’t know where they would eventually lead. “Mika...we should go left. I have a feeling we should go left!” exclaimed Matti pointing his right wing in the air before being distracted by a large snowflake landing in his face. “I’m covered in snow, you’re covered in snow...everything is cov- ered in snow! Left is snow, right is snow, behind is snow, in front is snow, below is snow, up is snow, snow, snow, snow, ice and snow, snow and ice...” Mika was lost in his own thoughts and was ignoring his friend’s ramblings. He needed to find the rest of his herd before the winter became too hard and he didn’t know how long he had. Suddenly, Mika was aware of somebody saying his name, “Mika, Mika, hello! How much further?” A Mika Moose Christmas I f you thought that Matti would be quiet for long , you were wrong. “What do you mean we aren’t going anywhere?” squawked Matti after a particularly vigorous grooming session, which had left plucked feathers hanging from Mika’s head. “We must be going some- where, so where is somewhere?” Mika stopped walking and after think- ing for a while he said quietly “Matti, we are not going anywhere,” and just when Matti was ready for the next question Mika added, “We are not going somewhere, we are going nowhere!” Matti shifted from foot to foot as he considered Mika’s reply. It wasn’t often that Mika answered this way to Matti’s countless ques- tions, so this had come as a shock to the noisy magpie. “So, we are going nowhere, Mika. Of course, I should have realized that from the very start, but you know how everything can become complicated and misunderstood. Nowhere, that’s great,” Matti flapped his wings in ex - citement. “I can’t wait...how far is it to nowhere?” Mika shook his head in desperation and looked far away. Asa Butcher & Thanos Kalamidas “Mika, can I ask you something?” That was a surprise, Matti never asked permission for anything, so how could Mika refuse, “Go ahead!” Matti glided down from Mika’s head and landed on the ground. “Have you noticed that there are a lot of troll tracks in the snow?” Mika stopped walking and shook his head, “Pardon, Matti? What did you say?” Matti was hopping alongside the little footprints in the snow, “Do you think the trolls went in the same direction as us? Do you think we should follow them and see where they lead us?” Mika slowly nodded and looked down at the bird that was now weaving between his legs, “How did you think of that? I am very impressed, Matti.” Mika couldn’t help the praise, even though the bird’s ego was already dangerously inflated, but he wanted to encourage Matti to use his brain much more, well at least once a day would be a good start. “That’s a good plan!” nodded Mika. Matti took off and settled back on his friend’s head feeling very pleased with himself. “Yes, Mika, yes, it would be the wisest decision to follow these tracks to their mysteri- ous destination,” said Matti in a terrible attempt at an intelligent accent. “The trolls can help us, give us some shelter and food, and...what is that?” Mika looked around but couldn’t see what his friend was point- ing at, “What, Matti?” The magpie had swooped back on to the snow and was stood beside the troll tracks once again, “Look! Look! Another bird has been here, probably walking with the trolls...Look at these tracks; they are very fresh and have definitely been made by a magpie!” Just when Mika thought his friend had shown some sign of intelligence, he opened his beak and displayed stupidity beyond all belief. A Mika Moose Christmas Why did they stick together? That was the real mystery. It felt to Mika that Matti had been with him forever. The truth was that Mika didn’t mind the little black annoying passenger; he didn’t even mind his questions. The other truth was that Mika really didn’t know what lay at the end of these tracks but...he had this feeling! Asa Butcher & Thanos Kalamidas T he wind was getting sharper. Its frozen teeth were biting straight through Mika’s thick fur, while Matti had puffed up his feathers the best he could. The only sound came from the crunch of lumbering footsteps in the snow and the occasional moan from the shivering bird. In the distance there appeared to be some shel- ter from the wind, but they had to reach it first. Mika could see the grey clouds in the north were steadily gaining weight and were preparing to dump fresh snow over the tracks they were following. Mika shivered, but not from the cold. He had always been fine with the sub-zero temperatures; it was the worsening condi - tion of his sensitive friend that concerned him. Birds are not designed for Arctic winters, even though they can survive with the right prepara- tions like a warm nest, Matti was certainly unprepared and this looked to be the coldest winter in Mika’s memory. A Mika Moose Christmas “Of course!” Mika exclaimed and then held his breath in fear of Matti asking a new chapter of questions. Matti stirred, looked up and said, “Bless you!” Mika sighed with relief and returned to his thoughts. Of course, that’s how he first met Matti and lost his herd in the same moment. It had been during one of the first big snowstorms and his herd were trying to find some urgent shelter. Mika had been concentrating on walking on the loose slippery snow, while large snowflakes were practising landing upon his nose, but were hitting every other part of his face forcing his eyes to be half-closed. It was near impossible to see further than a few meters and Mika, who was usually quite capable of finding tracks, couldn’t see anything on the whitening ground. He stopped for a moment to take a breath, shake his head clean from the snow and have a better look at what lay ahead when he saw something black in the snow. When everything is pure white the sight of black object triggered even Mika’s curiosity. Upon reaching the black mass of feathers he re- alised that it was a bird, a magpie to be precise. Mika leaned closer to the magpie and whispered, “Hello, can you hear me? Are you okay, friend?” Mika had never spoken with a magpie before, nasty birds, very arro- gant! Always keeping to their own and he knew for a fact that even the other birds didn’t like them much; a seagull he had once met told him that. The magpie moved. Mika positioned himself between the bird and the wind to give the frozen magpie some shelter. He moved his head close to the bird and gave it a nudge with his nose. The magpie opened his eyes and struggled to open his beak to talk, “Hhhhhow dddddoes mmmy hhhhair lllllook?” Asa Butcher & Thanos Kalamidas For the next few hours Mika cared for the magpie and kept him warm by gently laying on top of him. The magpie ate the small insects that lived in Mika’s fur and eventually the bird gained enough strength to start asking questions. The night of that snowstorm had been the last time he had seen his herd and he had been trying to find them ever since, with some companionship in the shape of Matti. Mika smiled at the memory and felt sorry for his little friend nes- tled on his back, ”How are you doing, Matti?” For a moment he didn’t hear anything and then, “It’s quite cold, isn’t Mika!” Mika put his head down and forced himself to increase his speed. They definitely needed to find a warm place and very soon. He checked the faint troll tracks to make sure that they hadn’t vanished yet, when he saw a fresh set of troll tracks in the snow and these had been made very recently. A Mika Moose Christmas M ika’s legs and hooves were aching from walking quickly across the snow. He had tried to keep his muscles relaxed but they seemed to tense on their own accord. He needed to take a break and allow his legs a chance to recover; let the blood flow nor - mally again. Matti was asleep on his back and occasionally mumbled incoherent words in his sleep, but he seemed to be surviving the cold in his own special way. The muscles in Mika’s legs began to relax, his heartbeat slowed to a steady rhythm and his breathing was controlled again; it was lucky Mika was in good health or he would have had no chance of surviving many more nights. Mika’s mind began to think of his herd, his family, of Matti, of food and then settled upon the tracks he had been stead- ily following. He could not be sure, but his instincts told him trolls, or maybe elves made them; he could never tell the difference. He had met one of them a long time ago when he had accidentally Asa Butcher & Thanos Kalamidas stepped upon one sleeping. After the little man called Uuno had stopped shouting and Mika had apologised for the seventh time, they had a brief chat. Uuno was an amazing character, with a long beard, and Mika had been dazzled by his multi-coloured coat and green pointy hat, although the bell was rather annoying. Uuno had a sweet little chuckle and his ‘I know everything’ manner had so much charm that it didn’t bother you. “Hell-lo, Mika!” Matti’s squawking had shaken Mika from his day- dream. “Sorry, Matti, I was just having a rest. How are you feeling?” The poor magpie fluffed up his feathers, made a few dramatic moans and groans, and shuffled a little closer to Mika’s right ear, “I’ll survive, although it will take me ages to sort out the damage the cold has done to my feathers. I’d die if anybody saw me looking like this, especially Sooti, she’s the most beautiful magpie in the world, after me.” “Be quiet, Matti!” hissed Mika. “There’s something or someone moving up ahead in the distance.” Matti jumped on to Mika’s antlers and tried to see through the falling snow. What? What can you see?” Matti sheltered his eyes with his wing and squinted, “Yes! I saw some- thing move under those trees, but it is impossible to make out what it was. It was just a dark shape...” Matti suddenly stopped talking and also seemed to be holding his breath. “Oh, I can see it, Mika. I can see it and it is slowly moving our way!” Matti was hopping back and forth between Mika’s antlers becoming increasingly agitated. “I bet it is fox or a wolf,” gasped Matti. Mika was still straining his eyes to see the dark object, but he couldn’t see anything. They both stood silent and still for a few minutes, until Matti broke the spell, “Why don’t I fly south? I should be one of those birds that fly south and enjoy eating foreign insects in the sunshine” A Mika Moose Christmas “Matti, you aren’t there because you don’t know which way is south and you are too lazy to fly that far. Anyway, I think whatever-it-was has gone.” “Matti sighed and relaxed, “I told you not to worry. If it had been a fox or a wolf I would pecked him first, then hit him with my left wing, followed by my right, and then I would have used my claws...” Mika rolled his eyes and shook his head, and was about to tease Matti when he heard the sound of a bell jingling and suddenly a little man wearing a green pointy hat and red jacket appeared in front of them, “Hello! How are you?” Asa Butcher & Thanos Kalamidas “ O h, stop it Matti, he’s a dwarf!” Matti stopped tunnelling into the snow in a silly attempt to hide and looked over his shoulder, “A dwarf? Oh no, a dwarf! Do they like mag- pies?” Mika started laughing at the sight of his brave friend shaking in the snow and the dwarf began laughing too, “What are you both laugh- ing at?” shouted Matti, who was hiding his embarrassment by shaking off the snow from his head, “If it had been a fox I could have protected you, but a dwarf, a dwarf...anyway, dwarf, where did you come from?” The dwarf took a deep breath and tried to stop his laughter, ‘Sorry, Matti, it was rude of me to frighten you like that, but dwarves also have to be careful out in the open...” Matti suddenly interrupted, “How do you know my name? What’s your name? Who are you? It is time for some answers!” Mika had been watching his feathered friend with amusement and decided to answer Matti’s questions himself, “His name is Uuno, he is a dwarf and he knows your name because he heard me say it.” A Mika Moose Christmas Matti nodded, walked back and forth, stopped and yelled, ”Wait! Mika, how do you know this Uuno dwarf? What is going on?” Mika and Uuno smiled at the confused magpie, “Well, Mika, this is a pleas- ant surprise!” said the little man, “How are you dear moose, it’s been a long time since you squashed me and it also appears our meetings are always...noisy!” Before Mika could reply Matti was yelling again, “Pleasant surprise? Oh yes, it was a surprise, but not very pleasant! Do you know what I could have done to you? My moves are legendary across the Arctic...” A second wave of laughter broke out between Mika and Uuno, and the magpie started to sulk. “I’m not too bad, Uuno. Sadly I lost my herd a few weeks ago and Matti here has been keeping me company while I look for them. It’s just that the cold has been quite tough on us and we should get somewhere warm soon.” Uuno put his little hand into his pocket and pulled out a strange looking leaf that glowed bright orange, “Eat this Mika and it’ll make you feel stronger.” Matti may have been sulking, but he hadn’t stopped listening to the conversation, “What about me, Mr. Uuno? Don’t you care about me? Noooo! Nobody cares about me, who would care about a poor magpie with his wings losing their beautiful shine...ARGHHH” Unfortunately, a strong gust of wind had blown just as Matti was show- ing off his wings and sent the bird sailing into a fresh pile of snow turn - ing him upside down. Mika and Uuno pulled the shivering bird out of the snow and brushed away the flakes. “Eat this, Matti, and it will give you some strength as well,” Matti was about to complain that Mika’s leaf had been bigger, but Asa Butcher & Thanos Kalamidas he was too cold and tired. “The wind is coming back again,” observed Mika, “We really need some kind of shelter tonight.” Uuno looked at the bird, “I can see that you are both really tired, I know where we can go, but we’d better move fast.” Without a word, Matti flew on to Mika’s back and they began fol - lowing Uuno to a small cave on the other side of the hill; it will keep us warm until the snowstorm eases.” The little man noticed the sad face of the moose and said, “Don’t worry young moose, you will find them soon. What can you do in this snowstorm? Anyway, I have a feeling that we will not be the only ones looking for shelter in the cave and maybe somebody there will have information about your herd.” A Mika Moose Christmas T he cave was dark and the sound of their footsteps echoed around them, and they all felt happier now the snowstorm was safely behind them. Mika continued to follow Uuno through the tunnel, although he was really just following the tingling of the bell upon Uuno’s hat. Matti was straining his eyes and ears trying to be on his guard when he suddenly led out a loud squawk that made Mika and Uuno jump, “Mika, there is somebody in here with us!” A soft smell of tobacco mixed with mint filled Mika and Matti’s nostrils, which started to make them both a bit dizzy, but Uuno gave a big sniff of his nose and exclaimed, “Cousin Johan, is that you?” Sud - denly, they were blinded by the lighting of a lamp that revealed they were in a room with a number of other little people. “Ha! I told you we wouldn’t be alone here. Hello everybody! I brought some friends to this cave party!”