The next day after the morning skate at the Honda Center, the three residents of the Monarossabergie House are now lounging in the spacious, modern-themed house that once belonged to Ryan, Rickard, and Hampus.

The foyer, living room, and kitchen displays a modern theme with its leather sofa and reclining chairs, glass coffee table with a silver outline, and sleek kitchen appliances and ceiling lights.

Brandon and Joseph are sitting next to each other on the sofa, watching a muted March Madness matchup between the University of Kansas Jayhawks and the University of Connecticut Huskies on the flat screen television.

Nick is behind them in the kitchen, scavenging through the massive double-door refrigerator.

“I can get used to this,” Joseph starts, crossing his arms behind his head. “I’m already used to this. I like the NHL.” A smirk forms on his face.

Brandon peers at his relaxed state. “Yeah, not only the arena is bigger, but the houses are too.”

“And so is the fridge!” Nick proclaims from the kitchen.

Joseph faces the television displaying the basketball court. “I never want to go back to the AHL again.”

Brandon stares at the moving screen as he begins to get lost in his thoughts. “But don’t you think it’s odd?” He slowly turns to face his roommate. “That it’s odd to all of a sudden be in the NHL and everyone’s okay with it? To just have the Ducks swap out with us?”

He shrugs. “I like it.”

“I don’t know…” Brandon knits his eyebrows. “To be honest…I really don’t feel comfortable with this.”

Joseph slides his eyes under his heavy eyelids over to him. “How much more comfortable can you get with this?” He holds a hand out. “This is the life.”

“No, no, no, no, no--” He waves his hands frantically in front of him as he adjusts himself to face him. “Trust me, this is a really REALLY comfy sofa, I’m just talking about the situation.” He then pauses as a possible reason crosses his mind.

Brandon then slowly leans toward him and mutters softly, “Do you think Icemare is behind this?”

Joseph narrows his eyes at him with a disapproving frown. “Come on, Monty, don’t bring him up now—”

“No, I’m not joking!” he exclaims louder, immediately straightening up. “Joey, it only makes sense: the Ducks randomly come to our house, we’re somehow in the NHL--this spells out Icemare!”

“How can Icemare do this if the Ducks have nothing from our house?” he shoots back. He then slightly smirks as a good counterattack comes into his mind. “It only works on cursed objects from our house, right?”

Brandon’s face drops. “Ohhh…”

Joseph’s smirk grows into a victorious leer.

Brandon’s eyes immediately go wide as he stares ahead in realization. “No... Wait.” He whirls to him. “The postcard.”

Joseph’s expression morphs into a scowl. “You’ve gotta be kidding me--!” He then launches from the sofa to his feet and swipes his hands across the coffee table, throwing all the nicely stacked sports magazines to the white rug below.

Brandon arches back against the sofa’s leather cushions with wide eyes at the mess.

Joseph peers behind his shoulder to face him with sharp eyes. “And what do you think the cure is?”

“Hello, buddies!” Joe’s voice is heard calling out from behind them.

Brandon looks behind his shoulder as Joseph looks ahead: Joe, who has a satchel hanging on his shoulder, with Stu and Bryan are bounding from the foyer, over to the living room where the residents are.

Joseph’s eyebrows drop over his eyes. “Great.”

“Whooooaaaa!” Bryan exclaims as he gazes in awe at the front interior of the house. “This is such a huge house!” He then reverts his gaze at them. “But not as big as ours!”

Nick lumbers over to the three visitors with a tray displaying an assorted array of chip and dip. “Food?” He holds the tray toward them.

Stu holds the palm of his hand out at him. “Oh, no thanks.”

Nick immediately turns around and shuffles away, indulging in the snacks himself.

Brandon gets up from the sofa and makes his way toward them. “What are you guys doing here…?”

“Well,” Joe starts, “we’re so happy that the Ducks swapped with us, so we want to write a postcard back to them!” He flashes a giant grin at him.

Brandon knits his eyebrows and mutters, “Postcard…”

Joe skips over to the island, which is directly perpendicular to the sofa. Brandon with the two friends follow him over to the table; Joseph joins them from the other side of the room.

Joe then pulls out a box from his satchel and plops it on the table. He pulls the lid off, revealing a stack of postcards inside.

Brandon stares quizzically at the contents, then at the captain. “Where’d you get this from?”

“From your guys’ house from the day before yesterday!” Joe answers brightly. “Got ‘em right as we left!”

Joseph glowers at him, unhappy that an item from the place he lives in was stolen without him even knowing.

“Yeah, why do you guys have an Anaheim postcard in your house if you’re in San Diego?” Bryan asks with his eyes up only visible from the island’s gray granite edge.

“Oh, those are for me whenever I go up to Anaheim,” Nick explains from the other side of the island, licking his dip-caked fingers.

Joe peers at his teammates. “So what’d you want to say to these great fellows?”

“'Hope you’re doing well in San Diego,'” Joseph answers in a dull tone.

Joe nods happily as he whips out a pen, uncaps it, and scribbles: Hope your doing well in San Diego.

“And don’t bother coming back up to Anaheim!!!” Bryan yells at the postcard, pushing himself up to his tiptoes.

“Bryan!” Stu hisses at him.

Bryan lowers himself and peers up at him. “What? I really don’t mind them staying down there.” He then takes the pen from Joe and scribbles his name on it.

The postcard then goes around as the other four sign it, along with other postcards for all of the Ducks’ residencies.

“Thanks, guys!” Joe tells them cheerily as the collects the signed postcards. “I’ll send this to them right now!” He puts them away in his satchel then turns to the three roommates.

“You guys are invited to our place for dinner! We’re gonna watch the Gulls take on the Reign!” He pumps his fist in the air and declares: “Let’s go Gulls!” He then turns around and begins galloping toward the front door.

“Bye, peoples!!!” Bryan exclaims as he waves his hand at them, walking backward.

Stu nods at them while drifting over to his friend. “See you later, guys.” He then takes Bryan by the shoulder and guides him to the captain.

The three then amble through the front door and close it behind them, disappearing from sight.

The house is back into its still silence. Nick spins around and trudges back to the fridge.

Joseph steps over to Brandon and leans over to him. “What if that postcard is also cursed?” he asks him lowly, his arm resting against the island’s cold surface.

Brandon flicks his eyes up at him. “I think only one thing is cursed: We’ve found the cursed object, so we don’t need to worry about that. The thing is finding the cure.”

“Which is in San Diego.”

Brandon grimaces at him. “Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhh…”

“I’m staying up here.” Joseph pushes himself from the island, strides over to the sofa, and plops himself on it.

Brandon steps over to the other side of the sofa and settles back down on it next to him.

Joseph stares ahead at the television, which is still broadcasting the basketball game, with a smugly smile evident on his face. “This is the best curse yet.”

---

That night, all of the Gulls-magically-turned-into-Ducks can be found in Joe’s new place sitting around a large dining table filled with all sorts of barbecue food.

Yet all of their focus is on a television which is situated on the wall facing the end of the dining table, displaying the AHL-status quality matchup of the San Diego Gulls versus the Ontario Reign.

It is apparent that Rickard, in his black Gulls’ attire, is on a breakaway, speeding down the empty ice in the Reigns’ zone.

From the cordial dining room, all of the teammates are chanting: "Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go--!”

And Rickard wrist-shoots the puck between the goalie’s arm and leg pad then skates around the bend of the ice in celebration.

“YEAH!!!!” the watchers cheer, throwing their hands in the air and high-fiving each other.

“Four to one, baby!” Bryan yells, slapping his hand against Shea’s and Jaycob’s hands. “Woooooo!!!”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they go up to ten!” Stefan Noesen exclaims with a goofy smile and wild hair.

The teammate next to him, Harry Zolnierczyk, eyes him. “There’s only seconds left in the game— That’s impossible!”

And it is true: the time winds down and the scoreboard hits all three zeros in a row: The Gulls win with the score of four to one in the Reign’s territory.

“WOOO!!!” The teammates holler and cheer as they high-five and fist-bump each other once again as a celebration for their team’s win.

Now it is time for them to win tomorrow in the big league! If nothing else happens, that is.

Notes

E.12 "The Ducks Are In Town"
Part 5/6
Episode 12/20