13 Who is Santa?

After Little Chooha woke up, he cutely rubbed his eyes and looked around. The sky had already darkened and only the light from the stars and the 5 moons brightened up that small, thatched hut. When he was fully awake, he found himself sitting on Kaal's lap. Upon realizing that he had slept on his lap, he blushed and immediately stood up.

"Sorry Big brother Kaal, I accidently fell asleep on your lap." Chooha said shyly.

"Hey! Half of your bed was my lap too. Where's my piece of apology, huh? Well, I'll forget about it if you give a nice kiss on your big brother's cheek, here." Khajoor said, pointing at his right cheek.

When Little Chooha heard this, he laughed shyly.

"I don't know why my hands have been itching for a very long time. How about this? Let my right hand give a lovely 'kiss' to your right cheek? Perfect, 'right'?" Kaal said, standing up.

"Cough, cough… Little Chooha, your guards had come here many times to ask about you. I think they are very tired standing whole day under the scorching suns. I guess you should go home now and let your guards rest. Your parents should also be worried about you." Khajoor coughed awkwardly.

"Alright, I will see you again Big brother Kaal, Big brother Khajoor. Bye!" Chooha said, waving his hands and leaving their small, thatched hut.

When the guards saw Little Chooha coming out of the thatched hut, they breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. They had been standing outside the thatched hut in the scorching sunlight, wearing full-body heavy armor. Due to the scorching sunlight, their whole body armor had been boiling and they, who wore the armor had almost literally become a hot-dog. First it was heat but then, standing for the whole day, wearing the heavy armor made their whole body very tired and worn out. They were so tired that they cursed their ancestor for not being a horse. At least, they could sleep while standing up.

Looking at the tired faces of the guards, Little Chooha felt guilty. He apologized, "Sorry for letting you stand out in the scorching heat while I slept inside comfortably."

Seeing Little Chooha's big, watery eyes, their hearts melted like a snow that had come in contact of something warm. They shouted in unison, "Don't apologize, Young Master. It was our fault for not being strong. If we had trained enough, then all this would have been a little things for us to accomplish."

Little Chooha nodded his head and looked at the small, thatched hut one last time and then started walking towards his home with all the guards protecting him from all the sides.

'Big brother Kaal, Big brother Khajoor, I think this is the last time we can meet. My father would definitely not let you live peacefully. I just hope that nothing happens to you guys. I still want to play with you guys, go to many places, and eat many different things. We haven't done any of these. You two were the only ones who could understand me. I don't want you to part with me yet. I regret asking about that word now. If I had not asked about that word, none of this would have happened. So, I will do everything in my power to stop or at the very least lessen my father's wrath. Yes! I will to anything for that.' Chooha clenched his fists.

Kaal and Khajoor saw Chooha leading his guards away and then went back inside their house to rest again. Many things had taken place in the span of one day. They were almost killed, then they almost killed someone, then they exhorted, they healed, they comforted, et cetra. So much happened that they were very tired. When they sat on their broken bed that was made of some hay and leaves, their stomach grumbled a bit. Kaal stood up and took out a roll of paper that he had kept there the day before yesterday.

When he opened the roll, he saw some leftover of the food that they had got from one of the place they worked at. The old lady that used to live there was very kind. Most of the time, it was her who always provided them with some leftover, or else they would have been long dead. Khajoor and Kaal were very grateful to her about this. They had sworn that if a day comes when the old lady wanted something, they would do everything in their power to get her that thing. Be it stealing or even killing someone, they would definitely do it for her sake.

Kaal took some of the leftover food in his hands and gave the rest to Khajoor. Khajoor saw Kaal only eating a little and giving him the rest. He felt his heart warming. He didn't say anything but ate everything from the paper roll. As he ate, his eyes became wet but he didn't wanted to show Kaal his weak side and secretly wiped them off.

The light from the moon shone across the whole thatched hut as it come from the hole on the roof. The moonlight was very soothing and calmed down the turmoil inside Kaal and Khajoor's heart. They laid down on the bed and silently gazed at the stars and other heavenly bodies from that hole. Khajoor silently lifted his hand as if wanting to grab the moon with just his bare hands. When he formed a fist the moon disappeared from his vision, only his own fist remained. He once again opened his tightly clenched fist but found that the moon was still in the sky. Kaal just watched his silently without interrupting his action.

Soon, they closed their eyes and the small, thatched hut fell into an eerie silence.

"…Good night Kaal"

"Hmm…Good night"

"...…."

"...…"

"…So, can I hug you when I sleep?"

"Hell no! Just sleep properly and don't you dare to do anything in your sleep."

"…Wuhuhuhu…You are not at all cute."

"Hahahaha…"

"Why are you laughing? Is it funny seeing your brother cry?"

"No, no. It's not that. I am laughing at something else."

"What?"

"I was laughing, imagining the state Old man Hawas is going to be in soon."

"Huehuehueuhehue"

"Don't laugh like that, it's creepy."

"How about this? Hohohohoho."

"That is the laugh of the Santa. Try something else."

"Who's Santa?"

"How would I know?"

"Then how do you know Santa laughs like this?"

"…Just sleep already. It's already late at night. We have to wake up early tomorrow."

"…Okay."