A little earthy foal with a green body and red mane and tail sat up, wiggling its front legs excitedly and looking to his caretaker, Dara.
“Fwuffy gon’ be pwetty?” the little foal asked, its front legs wiggling a little more as it did a little dancie in place, swaying from side to side.
“You’re going to be so pretty, little cutie,” she assured him, grinning and leaning in to press a kiss to the top of his head. “You’re going to make lots of humans very happy, and they’re all going to smile when they see you. For lots and lots and lots of bright times.”
The foal looked up at her with wide, starry eyes, his mouth slightly agape. “Woooowwww…” he trailed off, images of happy human faces in his mind as his mouth closed into a big smile. “Fwuffy su 'cited! Wan gib biggest heawt happies!”
“That’s just what you’re gonna do, baby!” She sighed happily, reaching down and rubbing along his mane with her finger, gently scratching in little strokes. His eyes slowly closed, cooing softly to the attention as he pushed his head back against her finger ever so slightly.
“Wub ou, Mummah Dawa!” he said, almost sleepily.
“I love you too, baby boy,” she whispered to him, leaning in closer, “and… I want to give you a name before you get your big fluffy job to go spread all those heart happies in the world, okay?”
His eyes snapped back open at this, his mouth widening in surprise into a huge smile and his tail quickly swishing behind him with so much enthusiasm it made little thwaps against the table. “…Fwuffy gon’ hab namesie? Weawwy?!”
She nodded to him, thinking quietly for a moment.
“Sugarplum.” She hummed for a moment, whispering it again in an echo a moment later. “You’re my little Sugarplum.”
“Shuw-gaw-… Suw-gaw-pwum? Sugapwum. Sugapwum! Sugapwum WUB nyu namesie! Tankyu Mummah Dawa!” He wiggled excitedly, his glossy eyes beaming up at her.
“You’re welcome, Sugarplum…” she told him, her smile slowly starting to shrink for a moment before it bounced back. “Before you start your job… let’s have a quick snack and a nap, okay?”
“Otay Mummah Dawa! Sugapwum wub nummies!” he told her, scooting over and hugging her forearm, nuzzling his face against her wrist.
She took out a little spaghetti-flavored pellet, holding it just in front of him as he politely opened his mouth, letting her pop it in. His mouth snapped shut, his soft little teeth slowly crushing it up as he made happy sounds, enjoying the delicious treat. While he was distracted, a tiny little needle poked into his backside, and he didn’t even notice it, coming right back out in a moment.
“Alright, Sugarplum. Did you enjoy your snack?” she asked him, gently rubbing along his back again.
“Uh-huh! Sugapwum wub nummies…” His mouth opened slowly for a yawn. “Su gud…”
“Good…” she whispered back to him, feeling more and more of his weight lean against her forearm as his eyelids grew heavy.
Sugarplum didn’t have anything else to say as he slowly drifted off to sleep, and Dara just kept rubbing at his chest fluff until she couldn’t feel his fading heartbeat anymore.
Now was the time to get to work. She had a little bag on the floor next to her, quickly getting out a mold and a few pre-mixed containers of epoxy resin. Some was in the mold already.
First, she put a little plug into his bottom to make sure nothing happened, then slowly began to position his little limbs and pose him, using another needle to inject little paralytic agents into the muscles to hold them in place. Two tiny little stitch lines held his eyes open, and before long, she saw the same smiling foal as he was before.
Just one last touch, as she applied a little bit of hot glue to the rim of a tiny Santa hat, tucking it just behind his ears.
Dara gently lowered his body into the little mould and poured in the rest of the mix to the top, stopping at a few points to watch and make sure everything looked right and to sprinkle in a few little snowflakes.
All done! Time to let it cure. She stepped away for lunch and came back after a few hours, picking it up and taking a close look at her handiwork.
Perfect! She got up and went across the room to a shelf, taking down a little box, segmented into a three-by-four grid of padded cells and put his ornament in next to his eleven siblings and friends, laying a sheet of bubble wrap over all of them and sliding on the lid.
In just a few days, they’d arrive at a family’s doorstep to share their smiles among the bright lights and other ornaments of a Christmas tree.
