Page 51 of Pick Me Up On Tuesdays

“Yeah, yeah. Come on, Ghost boy. Let’s go find more Wi-Fi horses.”

And just like that, the documenting continued.

I just hoped the bunnies were done haunting me.

We continued trudging along, our group still buzzing with excitement. The air smelled fresh, the sunlight dappled through the enchanted trees, and for once, I thought, “Hey, maybe the rest of today won’t be a disaster.”

I should’ve known better.

Joy smirked at me as we walked. “So, Clark, how does it feel to have your second successful cardio session?”

I groaned. “I chased floating bunnies, Joy. That’s not cardio. That’s insanity.”

“You say that like those two things are different,” she said, giving me a glare I had seen one-too many times.

Max, still hung up on the unicorn, crossed his arms. “I don’t get it. If unicorns are real, do you think Santa’s real?”

Shun finally looked up from her phone. “Santa’s not real, but I bet Krampus is. And I bet he looks exactly like Clark when he runs out of coffee.”

I shot her a look. “First of all, rude. Second of all—”

I had nothing to add up frankly. The point was already made.

Ethan snorted and was about to say something when Mia suddenly gasped. She grabbed my sleeve, almost making me trip.

“Look!” she whispered excitedly, pointing.

That’s when we saw it.

A moose.

Not just any moose—an enchanted moose.

It stood in the clearing ahead, its enormous body partially hidden by a cluster of willow trees, chewing lazily on some glowing purple leaves. It looked normal at first—brown fur, big antlers, that usual I-don’t-care-about-you moose expression. But as the wind shifted, its fur shimmered, shifting colors like the surface of a lake under an Aurora-lit sky. Its antlers weren’t just antlers; they looked like they were made of twisted silver branches, faintly pulsing with golden light. Tiny blue fireflies hovered around it, almost like they were in awe of the thing.

It was majestic. It was mystical. It was awe-inspiring.

Max squinted at it. “Huh. That’s a funky-looking deer.”

Joy immediately smacked him upside the head. “It’s a moose, you walnut.”

Max rubbed the back of his head, frowning. “Same thing.”

Ethan snickered. “Tell that to the moose.”

Meanwhile, I was staring at the creature with growing alarm. “Uh… guys? Maybe we should, I don’t know, not disturb the giant enchanted beast?”

Ethan, predictably, ignored me.

Instead, he grinned, took a step forward, and in the worst decision ever made by a human being, he said:

"Hey there, gorgeous."

I instinctively grabbed his arm. "NO."

Ethan shrugged me off, still grinning. "Relax. I’m just being friendly."

"It’s a moose," I hissed. "You don’t flirt with moose."

---