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Tontu was rustling through a box in the Nisse space when they came. He’d been organizing the boxes of clothes, tools, and other junk the previous Nisse had left (many of which were stolen), but instinctively untangled himself when he heard the front door’s lock snap and creak open. It was quiet, nearly silent, but Nisse pick up the smallest of noises as a defense mechanism in case other Nisse attempt to claim their territory; ironically, their padded feet are great for sneak attacks.
Tontu poked his head through a hole, spying on who could be awake at this hour. Though Hilda’s midnight snacks were frequent, Tontu always had to check. He’d been snuck up on one too many times by other Nisse, and wasn’t about to let it happen again, especially when he’d found a family that accepted him. No more sneaking into the kitchen to steal small bits of food the humans wouldn’t notice; in fact, Johanna wanted him to sit at the table for every meal, claiming he was family now, but he politely declined. Tontu wasn’t used to this much attention, and thankfully Johanna was understanding.
But this night creeper wasn’t Hilda, nor was it Johanna; both were sound asleep in their rooms. It was a shadowy figure, slinking through the darkness with a backpack and something gripped tight in its hand. A human, it looked like, eyes shifting as if searching for something. Tontu didn’t know who they were, but he definitely knew they shouldn’t be here. He’d never personally encountered a robber before, but heard about the stories on TV: Family Murdered by So-and-So, Computers Stolen in This Neighborhood, and others.
The robber began quietly searching the house, looking for valuables. Cupboards and bookcases were pilfered, random items the creep considered valuable shoved into the backpack or any available pockets. Tontu decided he should get Johanna and Hilda out, this person was dangerous and he wouldn’t want them getting hurt. Johanna could call the police, and the three of them would camp out in the Nisse space until they arrive. But phone signals don’t work in the Nisse space (this was discovered by Hilda in a near-tragedy), so they would have to be quick and prepared. Best to have a weapon on hand, Tontu figured, and he grabbed the old camping pocket knife on the way to Johanna’s room.
Creeping out from under her bed, Tontu was about to shake her awake when he heard a thump outside the door, followed by grunts. The doorknob jiggled, and Tontu pulled Johanna’s blanket off, rousing her awake.
“Mum, we gotta go! Hurry!”
Johanna groaned, blearily blinking away the sleep. “Mm… what? Tontu?”
Johanna was sitting up when the door opened, the shadow standing on the other side. All she could do was flick the lamp on before it lunged at them, and the sudden light revealed an average sized man enveloped in black clothes. He donned a gray backpack, large knife in hand aimed at the two in bed. "Time to go!" Tontu’s instinct kicked in and his feet moved for him, jumping at the attacker, pocket knife at the ready. He left a large slice in the man’s arm and landed a kick to his leg before tumbling to the ground and into the hallway, smacking his head into the wall. The scream behind him disoriented his already pounding head, but he leapt away from his spot, sensing the incoming jab from behind.
The light illuminated the robber as Tontu backed into the living room, realizing he lost his knife somewhere along the way. He grabbed a random object, and launched it into the man’s chest, and made a mad dash past to find Johanna. He felt a swipe from behind, and suddenly he was smashed into the wall, a seemingly large hand around his tiny body. All Tontu could make out was the scary look on the robber’s face, someone screaming his name, and a bloody knife coming for him. Suddenly something slammed into the robber, and both were thrown to the ground. Quickly picking himself up, Tontu saw the robber fighting off Twig and receive several bites in the process. Someone grabbed him from behind and he fought to escape, but they held firm, and he was carried into Johanna’s room again.
“Sh, sh, Tontu, you’re okay, you’re gonna be fine...” Johanna sounded like she was more so convincing herself than Tontu, but he calmed and clung to her arm.
His head was still pounding, and his arm was beginning to burn. Everything began to feel heavy, and his going slack alerted Johanna to his condition. He could make out Hilda talking to someone; was she on the phone? Tontu had little time to check before he was whisked away again, this time into the bathroom. The air turned quiet, and Tontu realized the man had stopped yelling; what happened to him? Were they still in danger? He tried to check, struggling once again.
“Tontu calm down, you’re safe. I have to get that arm treated, you’re okay, it’s fine now…”
Once again Johanna trailed off into a series of ‘you’re okay’ and shushes as she sorted through a red and white box (when did that get there?). He squirmed when she cut his sleeve, exposing his arm, and suddenly there was a lot of blood. His shirt was stained with blood, Johanna’s hands were slick with blood, and it gave him an uncomfortably squishy feeling. His head pounding increased, and Tontu saw the large gash in his right arm, the trail of blood leading out the bathroom, and Hilda standing in the doorway wearing a terrified look Tontu had never seen her have before. Everything was going blurry, and he could hear Johanna asking him questions, telling him to stay awake, that he’ll be fine…
When Tontu woke the next morning, he was blinded by a bright light shining into his face. Giving a soft groan, he tried sitting up, but discovered a strangely heavy blanket on him.
“Finally awake, are we?”
Glancing around, Tontu realized he’d been lain on the couch. His right arm was tightly bandaged and scattered with red splotches. The heaviness was Twig’s head resting on his stomach; the deer fox raised his body to a sitting position, and Tontu followed suit.
“How are you feeling? Does anything hurt? Sorry about the mess, I wasn’t able to clean your arm properly and I didn’t want to unwrap it in case the bleeding hadn’t stopped.”
Tontu traced the voice to its owner and found Johanna walking from the kitchen, a mug of hot chocolate in hand.
“Perfect timing I suppose, you can have mine. I’ll go make another and we can watch a movie, yeah?” She said, handing him the mug and turning back. He muttered a small ‘thanks’.
“Wait…”
Johanna paused. “Yes?”
Tontu shifters the mug in his hands. “What happened? Are you and Hilda okay?”
Johanna warmly smiled, resting her hand on the couch arm. “You saved us, Tontu. In fact, you nearly lost your life; if I didn’t have so much practice with first aid from Hilda’s adventures, I don’t know what we would have done. Hospitals don’t exactly take in Nisse from what I know. I thank you for protecting me and Hilda but don’t you go and get as reckless as she does,” Johanna chuckled, petting Twig’s back as he rumbled with glee.
Tontu stared into his hot chocolate, going over last night's events. Wait. Did it happen last night? How long was he out?
As if reading his mind, Johanna recalled the event. “Don’t worry, you’ve only been asleep for what I’d call a good night's rest. If you’re wondering what happened to the guy, Twig kept him occupied until the police arrived, which was only a few moments after you passed out.” Johanna fluffed up Twig’s fur. “He’s quite the fighter, this one. Anyways, they took the guy in, turns out he’s done this kind of thing before.”
“Well, at least he’s down and out,” Tontu replied, lightly blowing on his cocoa.
“And I know you’re still getting used to this whole ‘interacting with the humans’ thing, so I asked they don’t mention us in the news.”
Tontu blushed, grateful she remembered. “Thank you.”
“Anyways, let’s get on with those movies, yeah? You can have first pick, I’ll get snacks,” Johanna said, handing him the movie case.
As Tontu flipped through the discs, he felt a warm, fuzzy feeling surge through his chest. It was a feeling he hadn’t had in a long time, and he relaxed into the soft pillow behind him, taking in his surroundings. He could hear Johanna in the kitchen, gathering crisps and other goodies, he could feel Twig’s breathing as he laid his head in Tontu’s lap again. And Tontu embraces the feeling.
This is home.