An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
listen... this is so silly.
the newest prompt in the moominvalley community was "parasite". and I instantly knew what I wanted to do. but it went a bit out of control, becoming much longer than intended...
and then my brain can't just do a story without coding it somewhat snufmin, so well, oops, that happened as well.
this is literally based on a wild fever dream I had a while ago, which I decided to write down in my enormous document of story ideas, only to look at later and be like "well, never gonna write that story"
🙃🙃🙃🙃
It's soon gonna be my birthday yipeee. So I decidec to make some decorating for my cake and I managed to make this. It took me like 4 hours to make them🥲(I accidently made Little My bigger then Moomin and Too Ticky so I guess she's Big My now😭).
Finally! I finished my art project (idk if this counts as a project but yea..). I'm pretty proud of the way this turned. Anyways here it is. Hope you like it.😊
Hi hi, I arrive with a little ficlet for prompt blueberry. Pretty PG stuff with a sweet indulgent dose of Snufmin :)
--- Blueberry Summer
"I want to go blueberry-picking," Snorkmaiden announced, sitting up.
"So go," Moomintroll replied lazily from where he lounged beside her.
"Aren't you coming with me?"
"No." He had no plans of moving. The summer breeze was warm on his back, and he'd molded the soft, pliant grass into a perfect Moomin-shaped nest. He didn't feel like stooping among the bushes in the heat, getting his paws stained purple with blueberry juice. He closed his eyes, fully intending to doze off until the dinner bell.
For a few minutes there was no noise but the bird song. Still, he sensed Snorkmaiden waffling. She wanted the berries, but she didn't want to go alone. Typical Snorkmaiden.
Most days he would give in and join her. But… not today. Just now, he really wanted to prolong the peace and quiet. She could do this one thing without him, just this once.
"I heard Snufkin was thinking of picking blueberries this afternoon," she said after a while, sotto voce.
In spite of himself, his ear flicked.
"So you are awake." She sounded smug. Cheeks burning, Moomintroll slowly, slowly uncurled from his oh-so-comfortable position. He stretched his arms with a huge yawn.
"Well," he sighed, "if you insist on it. I guess I'll come with you."
—
They did find Snufkin in the blueberry patch. And not just him - Sniff, Little My, Snork, and Moominpappa and Mamma were there as well. There was no need to pick the blueberries either, as they had already filled several baskets to the brim.
Clearly this was some pre-arranged gathering of sorts, but the truth didn't hit Moomintroll until Moominmamma lifted the cloche off a frosted three-layer cake.
"Oh, it is my birthday," he exclaimed.
"Did you forget?" Snufkin asked in amusement.
"No! But since no one said anything, I figured there was a surprise waiting at home. I never expected the surprise would be in the blueberries."
"There was a reason behind it," Snorkmaiden explained, scooping up a handful of berries and placing them artistically on the top tier of the cake. "Your birthday cake is lemon-blueberry, so we thought why not some fresh blueberries to go with it?"
"Also Moominmamma is going to make jam later," Sniff added.
Moomintroll accepted a glass of raspberry juice from his mother as the others fussed over the cake. The picnic blanket was strewn with daisies. The wireless played cheerful music at a low volume. There were plates of sandwiches and salad, and his friends had set lanterns all around, predicting that the party would extend, as Moomin family parties were wont to do, long into the night.
"Snufkin, don't you have a blueberry-picking tune?" asked Little My.
"Hmm? No…"
"Why not? You have a tune for everything else."
"You should ask him to make a tune for Moomintroll," said Snorkmaiden. "After all, it's his birthday."
Looking for an excuse to hide the mounting color in his cheeks, Moomintroll dipped his head to take a big bite of sandwich. To his surprise, Snufkin seemed equally off-balance, stammering through a weak reply about not being good at composing on the spot. (Which was rubbish - Snufkin could compose melodies in his sleep to make Apollo jealous. Not that Moomintroll was any expert in judging music… or could sing or play himself… anyway, everything Snufkin played sounded wonderful, at least to him, and that must mean something.)
"I do have an idea for a blueberry-picking song," Snufkin went on in a hurry, shaking loose pebbles and leaves from his pocket as he drew out his mouth-organ. He played a quick scale to warm up before launching into a merry, staccato tune, which reminded Moomintroll of grasshoppers jumping in tall grass.
Although they'd picked enough blueberries to last all winter, Moomintroll, Sniff, Snorkmaiden, and Little My ran laughing into the bushes, impelled by the song. Snufkin trailed after them languidly.
There were no more empty baskets, so they competed to see who could carry the most in their paws (or, in the case of Little My, who refused to be left at a disadvantage due to her smaller-than-average paws, in their frock). The bushes still teemed with berries even after the earlier harvest. He picked and picked, cradling the berries in the crook of his arm when he could no longer hold them in a single paw.
Sure he was bound to win, he glanced up, only to spot Sniff tossing blueberries into his mouth.
"Sniff! You won't have a chance to win if you do that."
"What do I care about winning when there isn't even a trophy or a bag of gold? This is tastier."
"I concur," Little My said, and bit into a ripe blueberry still on the bush.
Moomintroll turned to Snorkmaiden in appeal. But he stopped short on seeing the tell-tale spots of purple dotting the edge of her mouth. She blushed and covered her face. "Well, they just taste so good!" she giggled.
"Sniff's right." Snufkin sauntered over. He nudged Moomintroll with his elbow. "Besides, instead of picking berries, you can have a blueberry-eating contest."
Little My's lip curled in a smirk. "In that case, you lot might as well forfeit here and now. No matter how much you eat, none of you will ever outdo me when I swallow this."
And she produced the biggest blueberry any of them had ever seen. It was easily twice the size of the largest they had gathered, and bluer than a cornflower.
"A mutant blueberry!" Sniff let out an awed gasp.
"Gosh, can you even eat that? It'll get stuck," added Snorkmaiden.
"Cut it in half like a cherry tomato," Sniff suggested.
"No way." Little My's bun jiggled furiously as she shook her head. "I'm eating this baby whole in one gulp."
"That's not a good idea, Little My…" Moomintroll said, but he knew trying to warn her off the idea was useless. Little My always did exactly what she wanted.
Sure enough - "Watch me," Little My said flippantly, and popped the blueberry into her mouth.
She didn't chew. They all waited with bated breath, but Little My had gone still as a statue, unmoving except for a twitch in her brow.
"She's choking!" wailed Sniff.
"How can you tell? She looks the same as always," Moomintroll said. But as he looked closer at her face, he thought her skin did have a strange blue tinge. Her eyes rolled back and her paws rose to her throat.
Sniff squeaked, jumping up and sending blueberries flying. "Now she's drooling! She's going to die! Who knows the Heimlich?"
"What's the Heimlich?" Snufkin asked. "Just give her a good smack, here -"
He pulled Little My in front of him, drew back his arm, and gave her a few sharp slaps between her shoulder blades. She made a gurgling noise, but nothing more happened.
"Let me try," Moomintroll said, switching places with Snufkin. As the heel of his paw came down on her back, she jerked forward and the blueberry shot out of her mouth like a marble.
Snufkin gave an approving nod. "Good work."
"You enjoyed that," Little My glared at him, her voice hoarse but strong as ever.
"Hitting you? Of course not," Moomintroll protested.
"I was hoping I'd get a turn…" Snorkmaiden looked away wistfully.
"Me too," said Sniff.
"You're a bunch of violent louts. But I don't care. I won at least."
There was a sudden uproar.
"You didn't win!" Moomintroll cried. "You didn't swallow one blueberry! We had to Heimlich it out of you!"
"Well, are you going to try to swallow it?" she demanded.
They looked down at the mammoth blueberry lying on the grass, soggy and deflated.
They looked at each other.
"... Like I said, there isn't even a bag of gold to win," Sniff replied with a shrug. "I'm going to see if Moominmamma's cut the cake yet."
"I'll pass too." Gathering as many unbruised berries off the ground as she could, Snorkmaiden followed Sniff to the picnic blanket. "We've already picked more than enough blueberries. Some bird or squirrel will be very grateful we left the biggest one for them."
Everyone knew what Snufkin's answer would be. That left Moomintroll to bear the brunt of Little My's dagger eyes all alone.
"Alright, alright!" he groaned. "You win, by virtue of being the stupidest of us all! Even though it's my birthday and if anyone should win for no good reason, it should be me."
She grinned, satisfied. As she strode away, Moomintroll took some small comfort in the conspicuous dark stain down the front of her dress. That would take some work to wash out, and Mamma would make her do it herself too.
He must have seemed rather forlorn, because after a minute Snufkin wandered over and slipped an arm around him.
"Purple's not really her color, is it," he offered.
Moomintroll shook his head. "No, it isn't."
"I prefer normal, non-mutant blueberries anyhow. But not the teeny tiny ones. They tend to be extra sour."
"Exta extra sour."
Snufkin gave Moomintroll's shoulder a sympathetic pat. "Race you up the hill?"
It bothered him a little, to be coddled by Snufkin. He expected it from Snorkmaiden. But he wished Snufkin would see him brave and decisive and grown up - someone to respect, not pet. His tail stiffened. "I don't know…"
"Oh, I guess your legs are rather short for sprinting."
"What!" Moomintroll cried, but Snufkin had already taken off. He was laughing so hard it was a wonder he could still manage to run. The wind blew his hat off his head and right into Moomintroll's snout.
"I'm winning, Moomintroll!"
Moomintroll absolutely did not yell out what the others later claimed they heard him yell at that moment. Snatching up the hat, he dashed after the old green trickster, who was only less of an annoyance than Little My because he was worlds lazier, and one day Moomintroll was going to smack him for it.
Yes, smack him. And afterward maybe Snufkin would let him kiss it better.
… It was his birthday, after all. "One day" might as well be "today."
Later, Little My would swear she had never seen a Moomin move so fast, or a Snufkin go from unflappable calm to abject terror with such alacrity. It was a good thing there were so many blueberry bushes around to conceal them once Moomintroll got a fistful of Snufkin's smock. It was less of a good thing that they'd eventually have to return, exhibiting the proof of their little misadventure in the stylish form of numerous purple polka dots.
But after that neither of them could ever manage to eat blueberries without breaking out in laughter. Little My drew a picture to commemorate her enormous blueberry find that Sniff claimed was greatly exaggerated. And "the blueberry summer" became a point of reference for the Moomins whenever they wanted to think on a time when they had been particularly happy and particularly content.
