AAOOOSC!: Gulls' Adventures!

The sun rises the next morning, shining its rays through Brandon’s new room. Brandon is lying on an actual bed on ground level, snuggling up in its quilts.

Ding dong!

Brandon’s eyes fly open.

Ding dong!

He groans as he shifts under the quilts and pulls himself up to a sitting position.

Ding dong! Ding dong! Ding dong!

He rubs the sleepiness out of his eyes. “Who the heck is at the door at this time?” he mumbles.

With a sigh, he slides out of his bed and pads across the house to the open foyer, where the grand front door is situated. He unlocks the door, then opens it; his eyes immediately fly open at the sight.

On the other side are the three teammates again: Ryan, Rickard, and Hampus.

Ryan immediately makes a bewildered expression. “What the—?” He gains his stern composure. “Montour, what are you doing here?”

Brandon rubs his eyes with his fist. “We, um, are sleeping here because we live here.”

Ryan rolls his eyes. “Pfft, when you’re in the NHL.” He crosses his arms, landing his eyes back on him. “But for now, this is our house.”

Brandon instantly freezes in place, processing what he had just said. He then holds his hands out toward them and says calmly, “Wait, let me ask you this: Which team are you guys on?”

“Ducks!” Rickard exclaims.

“Yeah, Ducks!” Hampus chimes in after him.

Brandon gawks at them in complete shock.

“Oh, and nice joke with this,” Ryan adds in, whipping out a folded version of the Anaheim postcard that was sent yesterday.

Brandon snatches it from his grasp and peers at it and its whitened fold marks. “Well, you guys were in San Diego, right?” He lifts his eyes up at them.

Ryan shrugs at him. “I have no idea why. But now we’re in Anaheim, so move out.” He jabs his thumb over his shoulder. “We have a game tonight in Winnipeg. Gotta get our stuff and be well rested… Curse road trips with these two.” He then scowls at the two Swedes.

Rickard and Hampus giggle at him with innocent looks in response.

“Okay, um--” Brandon whirls his head from one side to another before fixing it back on Ryan. “I’ll go get the others—”

“Others?” Ryan’s eyebrows shoot up.

“Yeah: Joey and Nicky.”

He pursed his lips. “Right. Well, let’s go inside.” He then nods his head before following Brandon into the house; the two Swedes happily follow him in.

Brandon then pads into the hallway, leaving the actual residents of the house behind in the living room. He opens a door to his right and slowly slips in.

In the grainy, dim light of the room, the Ryan Kesler-themed decoration is now visible, an attribute that was not there yesterday. Lower, in the bed, is Joseph, resting on his right side in a deep sleep.

Taking a sharp breath, Brandon tiptoes over to his roommate, being extra cautious of not abruptly waking him in order to avoid an unnecessary strife. He then quietly halts at the edge of his bed, looming over his head, which is showing the left side of his face.

Brandon frowns at what he must do. He does not want to wake up his roommate, but he must since it is apparent that the curse has been broken.

“Joey…?” He whispers to him. There is no response. “Joey…?” He gradually leans toward his sleeping roommate. “Joey!” He pokes his hair repeatedly with his finger. “Joey! Wake up!” he hisses at him.

His hand is immediately swatted by Joseph’s left hand.

Brandon retracts his hand at the unexpected smack. He stares at him to see if he would fully wake up. Yet he remains still.

He glares at him, then resumes patting his head. “Wake up gently, please— !”

He quits talking when his hand is held in the firm grip of Joseph’s same hand. Holding his breath, his eyes trail up to spot Joseph’s now opened eyes, appearing colder than before.

“What?” he spits at him.

Brandon scrambles mentally as to how to explain the predicament they are in now. “I think the postcard we sent yesterday was the cure. Kesler and the Swedes are back and are convinced that they’re the Ducks.”

Joseph peers behind his roommate. He then slowly turns his head to see the other side of the room. It is difficult to not miss all of the Ryan Kesler collectives hanging on the wall.

“Dang it.” He lets go of Brandon’s hand and sits up on his bed. “Curse cures.” He then swings his legs over the edge, throws himself on his feet, and storms across the room to another door, entering in it and closing it behind him.

Brandon flicks his eyes from the rumpled bed to the door Joseph just entered through. “Statements you make when you just wake up,” he mutters to himself. “Or if you’re Joey.”

He then strolls across the hallway to his bedroom to dress into his day clothes. Afterward, he makes his way through the hallway, and into the main room of the house.

There, Ryan is conversing with Nick, who is already in his day clothes with his luggage by his feet. The two Swedes are nestled on the leather sofa, flipping through the channels of the television.

Brandon approaches his friend in subtle shock. “Whoa, you’re already awake?” He halts next to him.

Nick peers down at him with a small smile. “Yeah, time to head back down to San Diego.”

Ryan nods his head at Nick. “Good talking to ya.”

Nick reverts his gaze at him. “Yeah, same here.”

Rickard twists his body to get a good view of the visitors. “Bye, Big Ritch!” He waves excitedly at him.

Hampus does the same actions as his friend. “Bye, bye!”

Nick shuffles up to them with a small grin. “Bye, Ricky and Hampu.” He pats their heads.

They return to him sweet smiles.

Joseph then flounces into the room in his day clothes. “You can’t be kicking us out now,” he grumbles, making his way to Ryan.

Ryan crosses his arms with a small frown at him as he halts by him. “Sorry, bud. Next season.” He then pats his shoulder.

Joseph casts his eyes to a side. “Hm.”

“Alright, we’re leaving now!” Brandon announces. He then waves at the Ducks’ skaters. “Bye, guys!”

“Bye, Monty!” Rickard waves to him giddily.

“Bye, bye!” Hampus joins in.

“Drive safely,” Ryan tells him with a nod.

Brandon nods at him. “Will do.” He then faces his roommates. “Come on, guys, let’s go.”


The three roommates are back in Brandon’s Jeep in their same places from their trip up to Anaheim. The Jeep comes to a stop at an intersection with the red streetlight shining over them in the cloudy skies.

A familiar small car pulls up to them in the next lane to their right.

Bryan’s head then pokes out from the back of the car. “Ugh, can’t you guys believe it?!” he cries out in an over-dramatic tone. “We’re going back down to the AHL! OH, THE TRAGEDY!” He places the back of his hand against his forehead.

“Well, they’re now being so sharing and giving us a chance to play in the AHL!” Joe pipes in cheerily from the driver’s seat. “What nice people!”

“I knew it was too good to be true,” Brandon mutters to himself with a small frown.

“OH, GOODBYE, ANAHEIM!” Bryan continues bellowing into the street. “GOODBYE, NHL! SO SAD TO NOT HAVE BRYAN MOORE IN YOUR LIFE!”

“They’re kicking you out for a reason and we all know why,” Joseph points out brusquely with a glare down at him.

Bryan narrows his eyes up at him. “Well, look who’s getting kicked out too…!”

He bares his teeth at him. “Shut it.”

“Make me!”

“Bryan…!” Stu sing-songs from the passenger’s seat.

Bryan smirks at his friend from behind his shoulder mischievously. “Heh, heh, heh.”

The street light turns green.

“See ya in Sunny San Diego!!!” Bryan shouts as the small car begins picking up speed, crossing the intersection.

It then goes out of view as Brandon guides his Jeep down the road.

Joseph is glowering ahead with crossed arms. “Can’t believe he’s on my team.”

Brandon looks at him from the corner of his eyes. “Well, at least he’s usually in the ECHL?”

“I’m also sometimes in the ECHL…,” he growls.

Brandon sighs, unable to make an encouraging comment about that fact. “Well, one day…” His eyes drift back to fully face the road. “I know one day, we’ll be in the NHL. Without magic.”


The End.

Notes

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