Winter Sniffles (Happy Tree Friends, Lumpy, multichapter)

[SarahGirl]

This isn't finished yet, I'm sorry ^^; But I hope you still enjoy it.

 

CHAPTER 1

 

It was a cold, snowy evening, and Lumpy was waiting at the bus stop for a ride home. He was wearing a scarf for this weather, but since it wasn't enough clothing to keep him warm, he was shivering constantly. Even worse was that the bus was running late, as well as the fact that staying out in the cold for so long was beginning to affect Lumpy.

Lumpy shivered pathetically as a gust of exceptionally chilly wind blew. He really wished that he wore more winter clothing than a scarf today. His nostrils turned a slightly red tinge, and a small amount of clear mucus began to ooze from his nostrils. He sniffled, sucking up the mucus, but as he inhaled the cold air around him, his nose continued to run. A few seconds later, the mucus dripped back out of Lumpy's nostrils again.

Lumpy sniffled sharply, and brought up his hand to wipe his nose. He sniffled again, trying to keep his nose from running, but it wasn't working. In the process, his throat began to feel sore. He cleared it quietly, but it wasn't much help.

"Ugh..." Lumpy sniffled again as his nose itched slightly. He rubbed his nostrils with his forefinger, trying to wipe the mucus off them as well as trying to stop his nose from itching. "I don't feel so good..."

The itching sensation gradually got worse, until his nostrils began to flare up. He tilted his neck back as his breath hitched. He was going to sneeze.

"Ah... Aah... Aaaahhh--" Lumpy tilted his neck really far back, then put his hands over his mouth and released an uncharacteristically cute sneeze. "Chyeeewww!"

Lumpy could feel a small amount of mucus spurting from his nose with the sneeze. It had been almost the complete opposite of his usual large, loud sneezes, but no less forceful. Lumpy removed his hands from his mouth and rubbed his runny nostrils on his forefinger, sniffling several times.

"Ugh. Excuse me," he said to nobody in the area. He sniffled again as his nostrils continued to run. "Ugh, what's wrong with my nose? Maybe I'm getting the sniffles..."

"Wait, am I?" Lumpy thought almost immediately afterwards. "The sniffles don't make me sneeze. That's a cold. The sniffles isn't a cold. Is it?"

He suddenly remembered that his nose was still running. He sniffled again, but his nose just stayed runny. He removed his forefinger from his nose, took his scarf and wiped his nose with it. It was all he could use, since he didn't bring any tissues or a handkerchief with him at the time. The mucus was cleared from his nose, but he continued to sniffle repeatedly.

"Okay, maybe the sniffles can make me sneeze, sometimes," he thought. "But not as often as a cold."

The bus finally came, to Lumpy's slight relief. He got up from the bench and got onto the bus, taking his seat as quickly as he could. However, the second he stepped on the bus, the mere smell of the interior caused Lumpy's nose to start twitching again. He sniffled sharply, but only ended up taking more of the stink that was already irritating his nostrils. Another sneeze began to build.

"Ah, aaah..." Lumpy rubbed his nose, trying to stop it from itching, but it didn't work. He then removed his hand, grabbed his scarf and covered his nose with it. "Aaaaaahhhhh-chyew!"

He wasn't even trying to stifle the sneeze, but it naturally came out like that. It was hard to tell whether it came from a male or a female. Lumpy removed his scarf and rubbed his nose with his forefinger, groaning quietly. He made the mistake of sniffling again, however, and once he had caught the slightly unpleasant odor of the bus's insides, another sneeze escaped from him, without warning.

"Aaah-chyewww!"

This time, Lumpy had no choice but to sneeze into his hand, coating his hand with a small amount of mucus and saliva. He removed his hand and rubbed his nose with his forefinger again. And after a few seconds of this had gone by, he took his scarf and wiped the mucus off his hand and nose. He didn't take another sniffle this time; he had learned his lesson.

The bus finally reached the next bus stop, the one closest to his house. Lumpy stepped off the bus, continuing to wipe his nose with the scarf. He watched as the bus pulled away from the bus stop, and then he slowly walked home, shivering and sniffling every step of the way.

Once he had finally gotten home, he opened the front door, took off his scarf and put it on the rack. Walking into his house, he closed the door behind him and walked into his bedroom. He lay down in his bed, pulling the blanket over him as he took a box of tissues and put it by his bedside. He was still feeling cold, so he took an extra blanket - a different one than the one that was covering him - and wrapped himself in it.

His nostrils were still running, so he tilted his neck back and gave the biggest sniffle he could, trying to clear his nose. However, as he took the sniffle, he accidentally tickled his nostrils, causing them to flare up and causing a sneeze to build. Lumpy briefly tilted his neck back to normal before he began to inhale.

"Ah... Aaah..." He tilted his neck back again, waiting for the sneeze to release. "Aaaaaaaah-chyeeeeeewwwww!"

Lumpy shot his neck forwards as he released a slightly more forceful sneeze than the last few he had released. The sneeze also caused a slightly larger amount of mucus to release from his nose. Ironically enough, it still managed to sound cute, although the mucus aspect wasn't.

Once he had recovered from the sneeze, Lumpy rubbed his nostrils with his forefinger. Then, since his nose was so runny, he took a tissue from the tissue box, held the tissue to his red nostrils and blew them briefly, but loudly. They were still running, to his dismay. He wiped his nose repeatedly on the tissue, continuing to sniffle.

"Yep, I do have the sniffles." He sighed to himself. "Not as sneeze-filled as a cold, but not much better than a cold, either..."

After the sun had completely set, Lumpy removed the tissue from his nose and lay down in bed, trying to fall asleep. While he was waiting, he sniffled repeatedly, trying to stop his nose from running, but no matter how hard he tried, it just wouldn't stop. He couldn't resist wiping his nostrils with his tissue a few more times.

"I'd almost rather sneeze a lot than have my nose run a lot..." He yawned into his hand as his eyes grew heavy. He removed the tissue from his nose and set the tissue aside.

"Maybe the sniffles will go away tomorrow. But it's alright if they don't, I don't mind. It's just weird that I haven't sneezed a lot, even when my nose is all sniffly..."

Lumpy closed his eyes, finally falling asleep for the night.

[SarahGirl]

CHAPTER 2

 

It was the start of the day after Lumpy had come down with his sniffles. The morning sun slowly arose from the mountains, changing the sky from dark blue to a slightly lighter shade of blue, before it gently became an even lighter shade. Lumpy was still sleeping in his bed, having wrapped his body in both of the blankets from last night.

Lumpy opened one of his eyes, then the other, and slowly sat up in his bed. His nose was still looking pretty red, his throat was feeling as sore as it was yesterday, and he was feeling pretty tired. He rubbed one of his eyes with his hand, trying to clear the internal fog that was normally there when he woke up in the morning. He then pulled his hand away and sniffled audibly. His nose had started to run again, a small drop of mucus oozing out of each nostril.

"Ugh..." Lumpy sniffled a couple of times, trying to keep the mucus from hanging out of his nose. But each time he managed to get it all back in there, it just flowed back out. Due to his sniffling, his nostrils flared slightly as he felt an itchy tickle form in his nose.

Lumpy raised his hand up to his nostrils and rubbed back and forth, trying to relieve the tickle. To his dismay, it wasn't working. His nostrils continued to flare up, but his snout began to twitch as he felt a sneeze coming on.

"Aah..." Lumpy pulled his hand away from his nose and tilted his neck back. Both of his hands moved up to the end of his snout, preparing to cover this sneeze. "Aaaah..."

"Aah-chew!" Lumpy doubled over as he let out a small, quiet sneeze that he covered with his hands.

Lumpy pulled one hand away from his nose, and rubbed his nose with the other hand. He sniffled loudly, and sighed in sadness.

"I'm still dot feelidg good..." he lamented, his voice sounding slightly stuffy. He still had the sniffles, and he could tell by how quiet his sneeze had been. If the mild illness had mutated into a cold, or at least any more severe, his sneeze would have been a lot louder than that.

The moose grabbed a tissue from the box on his night stand, and blew his nose deeply into the tissue. It felt a lot better than the sneeze itself, but he could still feel his nose running. Lumpy continued to sniffle as he wiped his nose with the tissue, and then threw it into the trash can.

Lumpy then sat on the side of his bed before getting off. He walked out of his room, sniffling every step of the way. He just couldn't help himself; his nose was pretty runny. No matter how much he sniffled or wiped his nose, it always felt like there was at least some mucus flowing through his nose.

He entered the living room, pulled his scarf from yesterday off the rack, and put it on. He then opened the front door and walked outside. The moment he stepped out of his house, a severe chill surged through his body, causing him to shiver. It was still snowing outside, and Lumpy quickly went back into his house, shutting the door. He was going to need more warm clothing than just his scarf to survive in that weather.

Lumpy went over to the closet and looked inside of it, seeing a light blue wool sweater. It was about the same shade of blue that his fur was. Lumpy briefly took off his scarf, removed the sweater from the clothing hanger it was on, and then slipped the sweater on.

As he put it on, however, he felt a small but noticeable tickle in his nose. The sweater had become dusty from the lack of use; both the insides and outsides of the top had a thin layer of dust, and Lumpy could smell it. He brought his hand up to rub his nose, but the scent of the dust was quite strong, and he could feel a sneeze coming on.

"Aaaah... Aaaaaaah..." Lumpy tilted his neck back as he removed his hand from his nose. His snout was twitching and his nostrils were flaring up to several times their normal size. Maybe this was going to be a bigger sneeze than any of the ones the sniffles had caused, however... "AAAAAAAAH..."

"Chyeeeeeewwwwwwww!" At worst, however, the sneeze was at least forceful and a bit long-lasting, but not very loud. Lumpy could feel a small amount of mucus spurting out of his nose. But now that the mucus was removed from his nasal passages, he could smell the dust more clearly, making him sneeze again. "Aaaah-cheeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww!"

This sneeze released just as much mucus as the one before it did. Lumpy sniffled, rubbing his nose repeatedly with his forefinger. When was the last time he had worn this sweater? The dust that he had just sensed was still tickling his nose, even after those sneezes.

Lumpy pulled the sweater off of his body, and then shook out the sweater, trying to get the dust off it. The dust quickly swirled off of the sweater, but now it was in the air, and it continued to tickle Lumpy's nose. He tried to hold back another sneeze, but his allergies just didn't want to listen to him, and he had to stop and throw out some more sneezes.

"Ah-chew! Aaah-cheeew! Aaaaaah... Chyeeeewww!" These sneezes weren't nearly as forceful - or satisfying - as the last two sneezes he had released, but at least they weren't enough to make mucus spurt out of Lumpy's nose.

Sniffling again, Lumpy rubbed his nose with his forefinger several times. Well, at least he could at least wear his sweater. He slipped it back on, looking relieved that he couldn't smell nearly as much dust as he did before, and then wrapped his scarf around his neck.

Lumpy went back to the front door and pushed it open, cringing slightly as he walked out of the house. He could still feel the freezing chill, but his sweater and scarf would keep him warm. He closed the door behind him and walked away from his house. He wanted to meet up with Sniffles and see if he could help him out.

Along the way to Sniffles' house, Lumpy continued to shiver from the cold air around him. He also sniffled repeatedly as his nose continued to run, mostly due to his sniffles, but also because of the amount of cold air he was breathing in. Lumpy frequently rubbed his nose on his hand or arm, trying to stop his nose from running, but neither of these were helping.

Lumpy arrived at Sniffles' house and walked up to the front door. He rang the doorbell and waited for a response, sniffling constantly as he did. After a few seconds had gone by, the door finally opened to reveal Sniffles.

"Oh, hi, Lumpy," he greeted Lumpy, but then noticed his condition. "Oh, my. Are you feeling alright?"

Lumpy sniffled in response. "No, I dod't feel so good..."

"I can tell you don't," said Sniffles. "Would you like to come in?"

"Sure." Lumpy did as he was told, wiping his nose with his hand. He sat down on the couch, shivering and still feeling cold. Sniffles walked up to him and felt his forehead.

"You don't have a fever," Sniffles said. "Perhaps you just caught a cold."

"Aaaah..." Lumpy tilted his neck back, his nostrils flaring slightly, and then covered his nose with one hand. "Tchyew! Ugh..."

Lumpy pulled his hand away from his nose, but then rubbed his nose with the forefinger belonging to said hand. Sniffles looked at him, not believing what he had just heard. That sneeze had been the complete opposite of what he thought it was going to be.

"Gesundheit," Sniffles said.

"Thadks, but I thidk I'd rather hear 'bless you' for a while..." Lumpy said, still rubbing his nose.

"Alright, if you insist. Bless you," Sniffles replied. "I have to admit, I didn't think your sneeze was going to be that small."

"Yeah." Lumpy sniffled and blushed slightly, finger under nose. "I thidk I might have the sdiffles..."

"Well, if you'd like me to cure you, I could make a potion for you," Sniffles suggested.

"Um, no, thadks," Lumpy said, politely so as not to make Sniffles feel bad for him. "It'll probably taste bad, ad you've told me before, you cad't make it taste good without it not having ady effect."

"Well, alright. Would you like me to take care of you?" Unbeknownst to Lumpy, Sniffles was actually looking forward to hearing more of Lumpy's sneezes.

"Yes, please..." Lumpy sniffled again. "That's pretty much why I came over. Cad you do that?"

"Of course, Lumpy." Sniffles smiled at him. "I promise, it won't be a problem at all."

"Thadk you..." Lumpy smiled weakly, and then lay down on the couch. He shivered slightly as he sniffled again, his nose still running and looking red.

Sniffles took a blanket and placed it over Lumpy's body, except for his head and arms, to provide him with some extra warmth. He also took a box of tissues and placed it by Lumpy's side.

"Thadks for doing this for me, Sdi... Sdiffles..." Just as Lumpy managed to get the final word out, his nose twitched and his nostrils flared up. He needed to sneeze. "Aaah..."

Realizing what was about to happen, Sniffles took a tissue and held it over Lumpy's twitching nostrils.

"Aaaaah--" Lumpy tilted his neck back, and then sneezed into the tissue as he shot his neck forwards. "Cheeeew!" He then took the tissue and blew his nose into it.

"Bless you," Sniffles said as Lumpy wiped his nose.

"Thadks," Lumpy replied. "Hey, could you pass me the remote?"

Sniffles did as he was told, and then Lumpy turned on the TV.

"Let me know if there's anything else you need," Sniffles advised.

"Sure." Lumpy continued to sniffle as he looked through the available channels.

Sniffles walked out of the room for now, and Lumpy finally found something that he wanted to watch. As he did, he sighed to himself, occasionally sniffling and rubbing his nose on his forefinger, hand, arm or a tissue. His nose was still red and feeling runny, and his throat was still hurting. Even if his sniffles were less severe than when he had a regular cold, this was probably going to be a long stay.