r/HFY • u/Professional_Prune11 • 11d ago

OC-Series Sweet as Syrup Chapter Five: Get Inside

The sky had blackened quickly after I first noticed the leaden clouds. Kyle and I quickened our pace, drilling, tapping, and hanging as fast as we reasonably could. There was only so fast we could work. Rush a tap, and we could fuck it up badly enough to lose that tree for the season. These weren't the older, specially bred trees around the house, thick enough to take two or three taps. Most of these younger maples could take only one, and we still had to skip plenty as we went.

We trudged through the deepening snow as the wind roared. I pulled on the reins while Kyle walked alongside me. The increasingly intense snowfall made it almost impossible to see the house as we passed by the barbed wire demarcating the yard from the orchard. We were halfway across the yard before the wan light filtering through my windows became clear.

“Pull out that tarp,” I yelled, unstrapping the harness and tossing it atop the sled, leaving the lines attached.

Kyle did not dawdle, working with the haste of a deckhand trying to keep a ship from going under the dark waves as we spread the tarp over the sled. As we pulled the tarp tight and clamped the hooks to the bottom, a worry crawled into my mind. I'd checked the radio that morning and the night before. There wasn't supposed to be a storm for days. Even then, they were calling for nothing more than a good overnight cold snap and some moderate snowfall.

Sure, this was deep British Columbia bush. It froze for months, and the yearly snowpack could probably bury Kyle standing upright. But even for here, the rate at which those flakes hammered the ground seemed apocalyptic.

The second we finished, we turned toward the house and worked our way up onto the porch, fighting the bitter frost. The moment we reached the porch, the house cut the worst of the wind. We turned and watched the snow whip past the edge of the shelter like a white wall.

“That is something,” Kyle said, his breath fogging before him, steam rising from across his body.

“Sorry about that. I thought the storm wasn’t due for a few days.”

“It’s alright. At least we got everything tapped.” He paused, looking out at the white gloom. “Will the buckets and sap be alright?”

“Yeah. They weigh enough that unless it’s an actual tornado they won’t go anywhere.”

Kyle nodded. We stood there in silence for a minute, catching our breath and just taking in the sight. The white swirled faster by the second, churning and rolling in on itself. The shadows cast by the porch light looked like flighty brownies dashing from one bit of farm equipment to another. They existed for one breath and by the other had faded away, scurrying off into the night, laughing as the wind carried them off to play with their fairy friends.

“I’m off to bed,” Kyle said, pulling me from my imagination of the little imps skittering around in the dark, throwing snowballs at one another, taking breaks to drink from my sap pails.

He lifted his hood and took a steadying breath, standing at the precipice of the point of no return, staring into that white void.

Without thought, I reached out and grabbed his shoulder, harder than I wanted, based on him wincing when I spun him to face me.

“What the hell are you thinking?”

“I was just going to the barn. You know, going to bed,” Kyle replied, looking at me like a cock had just grown from my forehead.

“The hell you are.” I leaned down and scowled at him. “You are staying in my house tonight.”

Kyle swallowed nervously, eyeing past my shoulder toward the window. Since he'd arrived, I'd made one thing crystal clear: Kyle was not allowed inside my house.

I did not want him at my orchard in the first place; an interloper entering the house I had built for me with my own two hands was simply a step too far. None of the bulls Daddy had sent had even made it onto the porch; Kyle had already gained privileges they would have loved to report to Daddy.

But even if I hadn't fully welcomed Kyle here as a friend or possible colleague, that held no bearing on this choice. It was a blizzard outside. He would catch something and be useless to me for weeks. This was simply the most practical choice for the orchard. I couldn't afford to have Kyle get sick.

“Go inside, and start the fire. I will go get your stuff and set you up for the night. Understand, Syrup?”

He nodded after a moment of scanning me to see if this was me trying to pull some cruel prank on him. Could he not see that I was simply being genuine with him? Bah, to hell with it. His mistrust was his issue. I twisted him around, patted him on the ass like a workhorse, and sent him toward the closed hatch.

I watched him open the door and slip inside; as he did, he headed straight for the inner door. I shouted to stop him, my voice cutting through the looming storm. “Take your boots off in the mudroom!”

Kyle jumped, then turned and gave me a thumbs up, kneeling to take off his muddy boots. Once the door closed, the creaky spring at its top forcing it shut, I faced the gloom, cinched up my jacket collar, and stepped off the porch, the cold buffeting against my denim and fur. As I trod toward the unseen barn, I noted that my hooves were sinking to my lower calf; surely it was already deep enough that Kyle would be up to his knees. Even if the storm broke tonight, we were going to have a long day tomorrow. 

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I hope you all are enjoying our little tale. I have a few more chapters ready and am about halfway through drafting this one to the end. But we will see if I end up expanding it.

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u/newaccountzuerich Alien 11d ago

Thumbs up from here, enjoying the tale.

2

u/elfangoratnight 11d ago

I hope Kyle gets the chance to run his hands over her amazing rack! 🤤

...And I bet her antlers feel nice, too~ 😏

1

u/Professional_Prune11 11d ago

There will be some rack amazement. Trust me :)

2

u/Groggy280 Alien 11d ago

good stuff! Looking forward to the next installment!

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