Submission (#732) Approved

The Almost-Goldietart Getaway (600+ words)

Latte carefully rearranged the frame on the wall and stepped back to make sure everything looked flawless. After cleaning for the past 4 hours straight– the house and yard were finally clean and the food feast was set for the new lunar year!

They drew up a chair and sat down with a sigh. It was rewarding to finally get rid of the thick layer of dust, wipe the cobwebs, and clear out their (admittedly overstuffed) refrigerator but maybe they really pushed themselves too far… no matter, everything was set for family and friends to arrive. All that’s left is to set the table and take out the desserts.

Latte got up and stretched while grabbing some extra cutlery for the table until BAM!
They swirled around and saw– was that Misha here early?

“Latte! Where’s your bug net?”, Misha barreled inside already taking off their cloak in haste.
“My bug net? It’s in the broom closet why?”
“I spotted a goldietart! And their friend!”

“HUH– is that where my gold crackers have gone?” shrieked Latte, “I worked hard to find those!!!”

With net in hand (paw?) Misha opened his mouth to speak– when there was a distinct sound of a plastic bag crinkle.
Both baos turned around to see a yellow round tail poking out from a fresh bag of gold crackers!

THWACK! The net hit the bag but the only thing it caught was gold crumbs.
Instead, the goldietart had jumped onto the decorated dinner table and was dodging between the dozens of soy sauces, trampling the mushroom and vegetable platter, and pushing over the pot of noodles!

Latte froze staring at the ruined dining table, the perfectly layered nappa cabbage with carved shiitake mushrooms that now decoorated the floor. Well… maybe since the floor was cleaned they could rinse them-

“Enough staring, hurry after them!” Misha yelled as he proceeded to step on every single cabbage leaf and squashed shiitake without remorse.

Well.
That was it.

Fires hotter than a thousand furnaces burned deep in Latte’s eyes, and they ran to catch up with BOTH of the trouble makers before anything else got ruined.

THWACK! A frame fell off the wall.
SMACK! There went the arranged flower centerpiece.
CRASH! Annnd there went the tea set that Latte bought on sale weeks ago…

“MISHA– work on your aim for baos sake!”
“Do YOU wanna try?”
“Enough!! The goldietart is escaping through the door you left open!”

Misha swiped the net to hit again, but the sharp goldietart drifted across the freshly shined floor and leapt through the door. In the sun, another brightly golden bun lifted their head to see their friend running towards them– with two outraged baos right behind!
The buns didn’t hesitate and ran off into the bushes, but not before getting scooped up into a net!

“Got them!” Misha announced proudly, holding the net up like a fisherman with his prized catch.
“Oh..good” huffed Latte, going to the gym was going to have to be taken seriously this year they thought.

Misha brought the two buns and set them safely in an enclosed area in the backyard, while Latte surveyed the damage.
Well, looks like everything got ruined, perhaps they could quickly cook something up? Or mabe order takeout, although all the restaurants must be bursting and markets were closed for the holiday. Discouraged, Latte briefly considered calling everyone to cancel the event, but figured they could try and make an effort first.

They opened the fridge to see what was left… and was immediately greeted by their prepared desserts! The 10-hour jello-dish, a delicate tiramisu, pineapple cakes, red bean tapioca soup all were safely set in the fridge, and looking pristine as they were when made a few hours ago.

Perhaps their new year diet low-sweet goals could wait until tomorrow~!