For the days to come, they weren't sure how long they were away from home. They just kept on the run and kept going from one place to another so that no one would keep track of them.It started out OK at first, but when the winter came, they realized that they have sold off most of their clothes to all kinds of places just to afford some food and water. They were pretty much almost down to the freezing point. Snow may not be expected to make everywhere a white city, but it sure bites the bones out of you.
When the weather began to grow colder, they couldn't figure out anything else to sell. The clothes they were wearing now wasn't much of a help to keep them out from the cold. Micki did consider selling the toy farm but Madella was so attached to it that she simply wouldn't give it away, not even when Micki begged and tugged and threw a tantrum at her. After tired of trying and considering the worth of the toy farm, Micki realized that it wouldn't even be enough to buy a sock, lest buy a jacket.
Finally, after searching for hours, they finally came across a huge house that has boxes at the front door. When the two best friends opened those few boxes, they were thrilled that it contained unwanted winter clothes that were too old or too small to be worn.
They were utmost glad that the owner of the house also threw out a box filled with the complete collection of toy farm animals. Each and every single one needed in a toy farm was right there. This was their lucky day and the best Hulama present they could ever get.
They took the boxes to a quiet place in an abandoned worksite and one by one they tried on the clothes, ranging from socks to scarves to jackets to mittens to a whole lot of winter clothes. They truly had a whole lot of fun trying them on. They squabbled for a toy farm animal they both liked, wallowed over the snow and over the other clothes that didn't fit them until they got kinda tired of fooling around.
After picking and choosing and getting the right clothes to wear, they got all bundled up and went on their way. Of course, they didn't forget their latest find for their Hulama present--the toy farm complete collection.
Later that night, as they ate their dinner and played with their toy farm in an old tower, they started to talk about their little run-away-from-home escapade.
"When are we going back, Micki?" Madella asked.
"We can't go back," Micki replied. "If we go back, Mother and Dad are going to start marrying us again. What would become of our friendship?"
"Well...I've benn thinking," Madella said timidly. "Maybe we've been too old-fashioned and keeping on the code too long. What if your mother's right? What if...getting married is not as bad as we think?"
"But what about the code? Are you saying that we should forsake the code and break tradition and go along with this hullabaloo? Don;t you realize that by getting married, we're not going to be friends anymore and we won't be able to appreciate the things we used to do together like right now? Are you trying to forsake me, Madella?"
"No, I'm not!" Madella was shocked to hear such accusations. "I'm just saying that we shouldn't be hiding anymore. Just look at us, Micki! We're no more than common beggars selling things and scavenge for food and have to sleep wherever we can find shelter. I'm tired of running away, Micki! I'm really tired!"
"Better be tired out here than being submissive to the fate that we'll be husband and wife and end our friendship forever," Micki muttered.
"Then how do you suppose your mother and dad got married? Did we actually ever stop to think of listening to them?" Madella began to feel irritated. "Sometimes I think we've been pretty immature back then."
"Fine! If you want to go home with Mother and Dad, go ahead! But I'm not going back! Not in a million years! You can just get married to someone else but I don't care and I won't be there!"
The atmosphere was pretty tense for a minute or two before Madella finally took Micki's hand and said, "I'm sorry. I'm just a little confused, OK? I don't want to ruin our friendship or anything, and I sure want you to be in my wedding when I get married to a good guy. Please, don't be angry, I don't wanna fight, OK?"
So their squabbles were over for now, and their friendship and happiness resumed. They went through the winter together and were there to celebrate the coming of spring through the rain. As usual, they brought out their umbrellas and sat under it to watch and enjoy the spring rain.
After the rain poured for a few moments, Madella started crying. She cried and cried and didn't seem to be able to stop. Micki noticed and tried to comfort her, but he didn't know what to say without finding out what happened.
"What is it, Madella? Why are you crying? Aren't you enjoying the spring rain? You always loved the spring rain."
"I wanna go home~! I just wanna go home~!" Madella sobbed. "I miss your mother. I miss your dad. I miss the continent we're living in. I miss all the other friends we've come across throughout our lives. We've never been so far away and so long apart from them before. I...just...wanna go...home~!"
Micki stared at the sobbing Madella and thought for a whole minute. She's right, he thought. We've been away from home for too long. Mother and Dad would be missing us terribly. They should get the message right now that we don't want to get married, and they might have cancelled the whole thing by now...But then...maybe it isn't so bad being married...I don't know. I suppose we should go home.
"Alright, Madella, alright," Micki whispered to Madella. "You're right. Mother and Dad must be worried sick by now. We should go home. I'm tired of running too."
That finally brought a smile to Madella's face. With their bags and their box of toy farm, they started walking and heading back down the road home.
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