I hope today is wonderful for you all. ❤

...

Third Person P.O.V

Jesper approaches the man sleeping inside the shack, looking around his kicked up feet at the man.

The man wore a worn out coat and a cap, and had bushy black sideburns and a stubble along his face, his nose slightly red from the cold.

He huffs with a roll of his eyes, obnoxiously clearing his throat to gain his attention.

"You go back to the intersection, and make a left at the dead tree," Mogens boredly directs, not looking up. "You're welcome."

"What? No," Jesper holds up his hand in aggravation, shaking his head before setting both hands on his hips. "I'm not lost."

"Trust me, you are," Mogens replies in a monotone before shifting to get comfortable.

Jesper forces a laugh, "funny. Say, nice boat," he tightly smiles, gesturing to the ship. "Any chance you might actually get on it today?"

Mogens raises his cap, peering up at Jesper. "What was that?"

"New postman," Jesper speaks like he was talking to a small child, gesturing to himself. "Smeerensburg," he points to the land. "Which is on an island. Which is surrounded by water. Which I need a boat to get to, which you have. Are we starting to connect the dots?"

He forces another wide grin, clasping his fingers together. Mogens looks up at him in disbelief for a moment before smirking and chuckling.

...

The dark grey waters crash against the sides of the ship as they sail along, Mogens whistling a tune while Jesper shivered violently.

"I-Is the weather a-always like t-this?" he shivers out, his teeth clattering.

"Eh, we're having a bit of a heat wave," Mogens muses, shrugging.

Jesper rolls his eyes before pausing, rising slowly and looking ahead at the fog.

"Huh?" he softly breathes out, his eyes widening as the skeleton of a large whale comes into view, hanging over him.

Jesper stares at it as they pass it, his face pale with fear as he slowly looks back ahead.

"There she is. Smeerensburg," Mogens smirks, leaning out and looking up at the island. "Charming, huh?"

The town seemed lifeless, not a single light lit up and a thick layer of snow covering most of it.

"Why, you should see it in the spring!" Mogens continues, amusement lacing his words at Jesper's face. "That's when those greys really pop."

...

After they dock, they set up Jesper's carriage and pony and sit side by side as the pony walks along.

Mogens whistles another tune as Jesper looks around the destroyed town, weapons sticking out of almost every wall.

"What... Happened here?"

"Oh," Mogens lifts his cap, "uh, colorful local traditions. Quirky folklore. That kind of thing," he replies in a light tone. "All part of this quaint town's vibrant culture."

Mogens relaxes once more as Jesper notices a group of kids approaching an old man sleeping in his rocking chair.

They giggle darkly as they start to drag his chair, waking him up as he gasps.

"No, no! Why you--"

He screams as they push him off his deck, his chair sliding down the snow hill.

"You rotten vermin!"

His voice echoes, Jesper watching him with wide eyes for a moment before facing forward.

Jesper hears a door open, making him look to his left. An old woman carrying what seemed suspiciously like a body bag exits her house, another woman helping carry the other side.

A boot falls out of the body-like bag, Jesper's face paling as the old woman grabs it and shushes him, backing inside the building and shutting the door.

Jesper swiftly faces forward, jumping when he spots a few children around a snowman. They slowly turn to him, dark rings around their eyes and their faces ghostly white. A little girl slowly stabs the carrot into the distressed snowman, the group unblinking as they watch Jesper pass.

Mogens and Jesper continue through town, and he pulls his pony to a stop.

"Where is everyone?"

"Everyone?" Mogens questions with a wide smile, his eyes still shut.

"I thought there would be some kind of a reception," Jesper replies, annoyance in his voice.

Mogens slowly opens his eyes, a smirk spreading on his face as he quickly hides it. "Oh! Right, right, the reception! Of course, the reception. It's good you reminded me," he winks. "You just ring that bell over there and, uh... The reception will start."

Jesper looks over at the bell in the middle of town, his nose scrunched up. "The bell?"

"Yep. Give it a go," Mogens encourages, swinging his arm with a grin. "And they'll come out."

Jesper hops off the carriage, slowly walking to the bell as Mogens continues.

"Why, they'll have a band, hors d'oeuvres, and, uh... And the key to the city! All that reception stuff."

Jesper looks at the rope with a sneer, looking back to Mogens. "Really? Out here?"

"Why, of course!" Mogens replies in a 'duh'-like manner. "Well, it's not every day they get a brand-new postman from the big city."

He waves his hands before slouching back, getting comfortable as Jesper looks back at the rope.

Jesper slowly reaches to it, grasping it in his hands and tugging it just as a woman's voice shouts.

"Don't pull that rope!"

Jesper jumps with a startled gasp, the bell ringing out as he turns and looks towards the direction of the voice.

A woman wearing a (outfit) stands a few feet away, (H/C) hair and bright (E/C) eyes and (S/C) standing out in this grey town. Jesper slowly trails over her features with his eyes, softly exhaling at her beauty.

"Now you've done it," (Y/N) groans, bracing herself as people start to swiftly emerge from their houses in a frenzy.

"Huh?" Jesper stammers out in a daze, quickly turning and looking around.

People scream and yell as they burst through their walls and windows, a woman even carrying a bathtub.

Another woman hands slingshots to her young children as they exit the house, letting out war cries.

On one side, they charge. To Jesper's other side, they do the same.

His eyes were wide as he frantically looked around, "what's happening?!"

He screams, ducking down as the two families collide in war, kicking up a large cloud of snow and fog.

"Come on!" (Y/N) urges, startling Jesper as she yanks him up and snatches his hat as a man was thrown her way.

She ducks under him, grabbing Jesper's hand and pulling him along as he gasps in fear, looking around with wide eyes.

"Look out!" (Y/N) shouts, making Jesper scream as they both duck under a large bat swung their way.

A rolling pin was hurled, making (Y/N) yank Jesper back to avoid it as he shrieks once more.

Magdalone roars as she races through the crowd, Jesper looking at her with wide eyes.

(Y/N) shoves Jesper to the right as she dives left and out of the way of Magdalone, Jesper swiftly scrambling to his feet and frantically looking for his savior.

"Ow, they're biting!" a man screams in pain, startling Jesper as he dodges a man covered in children. "Get off! Get off!"

The same unblinking little girl from before slowly stares at Jesper, disappearing into the wall of fog.

Jesper shudders in horror as he staggers, yelping and landing on a wheelbarrow next to his carriage.

"Isn't this nice?" Mogens muses, still lounging as Jesper shakily peers out at the fight. "And you thought they forgot."

"Quick! Get me out of here!" Jesper desperately shouts, reaching for Mogens before screaming as a large man lands on the other side of the wheelbarrow, sending him flying in the air.

He continues screaming as he spirals towards the ground, managing to grab the rope to stop his fall.

The bell rings out, Jesper's eyes squeezed shut as he pants. He slowly peeks an eye open, jumping at the sight of the crowd completely halted and staring at him.

"Uh..." Jesper mumbles in confusion, his eyes spotting (Y/N) moving out of her hiding spot.

"What's going on out here?!" a man demands, his stomach round and a small tophat on top of his ginger hair. "Why's everyone just standing around?"

"Well!" Mrs. Krum's voice shouts from the other side. "Look who's finally throwing in the towel!"

"Throwing in the-- us?" Mr. Ellingboe scoffs as he stomps down the stairs.  "Ha! That's rich!"

"Admit it!" Mrs. Krum shoves past two frozen people wrapped in choke holds. "You weaseled out and rang the bell!" she jerks her boney finger towards him.

Jesper looks incredulously between her and the Mr. Ellingboe before jumping as Pumpkin sniffs at him.

"An Ellingboe? Never! It was one of your critters!"

"Don't you dare raise your voice at me!"

Magdalone pokes Jesper as he cowers into a ball, still holding the rope. Olaf, a big brute like Magdalone, reaches for Jesper, Magdalone slapping his hands away and snarling as she holds Jesper close.

"Oh, there you go!" Mr. Ellingboe throws his hands up in exasperation.

"You rang that bell!" Mrs. Krum shouts, the two face to face.

"You chickened out, and now you want to pin it on us!"

Olaf tries to yank Jesper away as his scream was muffled by Magdalone holding his face. The two play tug-of-war with Jesper, Mr. Ellingboe and Mrs. Krum still arguing.

"Unbelievable!" she rolls her eyes.

"We were plowing the snow, and--"

They notice their children fighting, Jesper screaming in fear (though it was still muffled) as they fight.

"Huh," Mrs. Krum mumbles, adjusting her cane. "What've you got there, children?"

"MINE!" Magdalone bellows as she firmly yanks Jesper from Olaf, shoving him back.

Jesper strains in her grip, unable to breathe as Mr. Ellingboe raises a brow.

"Pumpkin, show Daddy what you found."

Jesper kicks his legs as Magdalone sticks her tongue out at Olaf, stomping to her father.

"Mine," she simply says, setting Jesper on his feet and removing her hands from his face as he gasps for air.

He wheezes and staggers around, his hair in disarray as he pants heavily. "This... This is no way to treat a person! Certainly not this person!" he gestures to himself, continuing to pant as he holds up a finger. "Just one second. Let me just..."

"A postman?" Mr. Ellingboe exclaims, shaking his head. "Pfft. Give me a break."

"When will they learn?" Mrs. Krum scoffs, rolling her eyes and setting a hand on her hip.

"Hey! They sent us another postman!" Mr. Ellingboe calls to the crowd.

The crowd scowls for a moment before erupting with laughter, Jesper looking around in disbelief as (Y/N) shakes her head, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"All right, all right," Jesper waves his hand to get their attention. "You don't know who I am, so I'm gonna let this one slide," he rubs his cheek before sweeping his hair back to fix it. "Okay? But let's just say I'm not really a postman."

(Y/N) raises a brow, looking over his postman uniform as Jesper glances to her, stammering.

"W-Well, I am, because it's our family business. My father's a... Don't even get me started. Because, well..."

"Where were we?" Mrs. Krum mumbles after a moment of her and Mr. Ellingboe boredly watching. "Oh, yeah. Bell, please!"

Olaf giggles in excitement, grabbing the rope and ringing the bell as (Y/N) gasps.

"... Life is too short to go into details, but--"

"Yeah, yeah, now move!" (Y/N) shouts, lunging forward and grabbing Jesper's arm as the villagers start brawling again.

He screams as they run through the fight, (Y/N) tugging him down the steps as he looks back with wide eyes.

"This way," she urges, pulling him out of the way of flying weapons as they enter a gated area with the broken board School over it.

Jesper staggers inside, rolling across the floor with startled gasps as (Y/N) quickly shuts the door behind her. She speed walks to Jesper, grabbing under his arms and yanking him up with a grunt before shoving him forward into the room as he yelps.

She turns and shuts the second door, sighing in relief while Jesper panted heavily, leaning back with his hands pressed on the wall behind him.

"What... What... Just happened?" he wheezes, (Y/N) dusting off her clothing.

"A trip into town full of crazy people," (Y/N) calmly explains with a shrug, walking away down the hall as Jesper quickly follows. "What'd you expect?"

"I-I don't know, more people like you!" Jesper replies, catching his breath. "You don't seem crazy!"

"Thanks, I guess," (Y/N) slowly responds, groaning after a moment. "And thanks for distracting me. Forgot to collect the chicken eggs."

Jesper was quiet for a moment, rubbing his neck somewhat sheepishly. "I'm Jesper," he introduces himself.

"(Y/N)," (Y/N) greets back with a small grin. "Nice to meet you, postman. Here's your hat."

She offers the blue cap to him, making Jesper slowly grab it and jump at the small spark that shoots through his hands when his fingers met hers.

"What?" (Y/N) questions, tilting her head as he quickly shakes his head dismissively, setting his hat back on.

"Hey! You're back!" Alva's voice rings out, making Jesper jump with wide eyes as he looks around.

"All right, listen," Jesper starts in a warning tone, though his voice shook lightly. "Whoever is there, I warn you, you do not want to mess with us, okay?"

(Y/N) leads him through the dark store, large fish hanging around and oozing slime.

"Holy, mackerel! How does that smell not bother you?"

"Fresh out of mackerel," Alva grunts, carrying a large fish to her counter. "Only herring and burbot and eggs today."

"No... No eggs," (Y/N) sighs, Alva grunting as she sets the fish down.

She spins a globe and grabs a knife, easily slicing through the middle of the fish and splitting it open as Jesper gags.

"What? Why not? Is everything... Oh," Alva pauses, nothing Jesper with an eye roll. "Uniform, cold sweat, scared stiff, but not completely shaking in your boots. I'm guessing (Y/N) saved you."

(Y/N) carries another fish to Alva, Jesper watching with a cringe as Alva rips the bones out of one.

"You'd be right," (Y/N) lightly laughs, dropping the fish besides Alva.

"And let me take another wild guess here," Alva hums, slicing another fish and chopping it up. "He is the latest mailman, and the ferryman tricked him into ringing the Battle Bell. Which is why you couldn't get to the chickens."

Alva hoists the large fish head up, walking around the room as Jesper shakes his head.

"The Battle Bell? What kind of town has a Battle Bell?!" he demands, gagging. "Can we open a window in here or something, I can't pretend anymore--"

(Y/N) opens a window, Jesper jumping as an unconscious man falls through.

"Wouldn't recommend it," she says, Alva shoving the man off the window and shutting it for (Y/N).

"Welcome to Smeerensburg, home of the world's finest feuds," Alva sarcastically welcomes.

"Feuds?"

"Yep," (Y/N) nods, preparing a stew with the fish Alva sliced up. "Lots of grudges, nit-picking, bickering, Krums verses the Ellingboes."

The sound of something falling gains Jesper's attention, a man crashing outside and causing the building to shake. (Y/N) sighs and holds her hand out to catch a lantern while Alva lifts her leg, kicking a falling stack of books into place. 

"Are you gonna buy something or are you just here to chitchat with (Y/N)?" Alva boredly demands, Jesper scoffing as (Y/N) continues stirring the stew.

"Wait-- isn't this a school?" Jesper questions, looking around the filthy shop. "Shouldn't there be children and a teacher?"

"Oh!" Alva dramatically gasps, smacking her forehead as (Y/N) sighs. "Yes, oh, thank you, thank you! I knew we were forgetting something, (Y/N). Children! Thank you."

Jesper spins around in bewilderment, looking between the two. "You two are the teachers?"

"I just do electives, like art, dance, music, reading time, whatever," (Y/N) replies, not looking up as she adds more fish slices.

"But-- what--"

"Okay, here's how this works," Alva cuts Jesper off, his eyes trailing over to the photo on the wall behind her. "I sell fish or (Y/N)'s stew or eggs, and the other person on the other side of the counter..."

Jesper sees a photo of (Y/N), her look not changing much next to Alva, who seemed bright and full of life. Both were grinning widely, (Y/N)'s eyes shut and Alva's sparkling as they clutch their diplomas.

"Holy moly! That's you?" Jesper breathes out in disbelief. "I-I mean, (Y/N) hasn't changed, but you?! What happened?"

(Y/N) cringes and shakes her head as her eyes dart to Alva, Alva's eye twitching as she slowly turns with a deadly glare on her face.

"What happened was--"

"That... That came out wrong," Jesper stammers as Alva moves around the counter, snatching a knife from her globe.

"We took teaching jobs together at a place where people don't send their kids to school!"

"Alva..." (Y/N) hesitantly tries to call, grimacing.

Alva slices a rope out of her way, Jesper staggering back as (Y/N) follows after Alva.

"Mingling with their sworn enemy's spawn? Oh, no! We can't have that!" Alva continues, waving her knife in Jesper's face as he trips backwards, yelping.

"So now, we're both reduced to doing this so we can get enough money and start fresh somewhere far, far away from here."

Jesper slips back on a fish, landing on a chair and leaning back in fear.

(Y/N) lightly grabs Alva's shoulder, making her growl in anger before huffing with a nod as she pulls back from Jesper.

(Y/N) smiles and nods before facing the frightened man, making him jump lightly as she bends to his height.

"What Alva meant was, are you going to buy something?" she softly questions, Jesper blinking rapidly as he looks between the two polar opposite women.

"Herring's on sale today," Alva grits out, her glare on Jesper.

"Ah! There you are," Mogens' voice greets as he opens the door. "I wondered where (Y/N) dragged ya off! Morning Miss Alva, Miss (Y/N)."

"Mogens," Alva sharply glares at the ferryman, (Y/N) huffing.

"I hope you're happy. Because of your little prank, I couldn't get the eggs today. Less eggs, less money," (Y/N) grumbles, crossing her arms.

"Oh, I do apologize, Miss!" Mogens chalantly waves his hand. "Tell you what. You can join me and sport."

Jesper looks over with furrowed brows as (Y/N) shrugs, Mogens waving Jesper over.

"Come on, sport! I saved the best for last," Mogens smirks widely.

...

Jesper and Mogens stand outside the run-down Post office, the 'S' falling off and landing in the snow.

"Home sweet home!" Mogens shows off, Jesper's mouth opened in disbelief.

"Got 'em," (Y/N) calls as she exits, slamming the door shut behind her with a grunt of effort as she carries the basket of eggs.

"... Where did you get those?" Jesper slowly questions.

"Where do you think?" (Y/N) laughs, "you're not the only residence here."

A snowball suddenly hit her face, making her gasp and nearly drop her basket as Jesper swiftly turns to the source with narrowed eyes.

"Hey--!"

He yelps as his face was struck by a snowball, (Y/N) rolling her eyes as an Ellingboe boy cackles from on top of a hill.

"Mail that, postman! How'd you like the taste of that snowball, hag?"

"... Hag..." (Y/N)'s eye twitches as she tries to calm herself, ready to bury this child in the snow.

"Now, wait a minute! That's completely absurd to call someone as lovely--"

"Go home, losers!" the boy cuts Jesper off, sliding on his sleigh down the hill with his cousins.

"Oh, yeah? Well, if we're losers, then you're... You're a..." Jesper stammers, (Y/N) laughing.

"They're gone," she muses as he huffs with a nod.

"Yeah, yeah," he deflates with a frown.

(Y/N) laughs again, shaking her head and sighing. "I'm gonna head back to Alva. Enjoy... Living here, I guess. See you."

She waves and walks off as Jesper stammers, waving back. "Yeah, s-see ya!"

Mogens rolls his eyes in amusement before walking forward, ramming the door open as chickens caw in alarm and run around.

Jesper's mouth drops as he drops his bags at the sight of the old office, chickens sleeping in the small spaces mail would go.

"Well, lots of nice natural light," Mogens wraps an arm around Jesper, waving his other hand to show off the place. "Rustic touches, central air, and panoramic views. And perfect for animals lovers, such as (Y/N)."

He muses, turning and walking as Jesper watches a chicken cluck.

"Enjoy!"

"Wait! Wait!" Jesper frantically calls as Mogens tries to shut the unhinged door, grabbing it. "This can't be right! I..."

Jesper forces a laugh, slamming. "Oh, I get it. Did my father put you up to this? Good one."

He forces another laugh with a wink, "you got me. Okay, well enough of that. Show me where I'm really staying. I'd like a hot bath and a look at the dinner menu."

Mogens stares at him for a moment before shaking his head, adjusting the door in his grip. "Here, let me help you out. You're a postman," he quickly smiles tightly, continuing. "In Smeerensburg. Which is on an island cut off from the world. Frigid cold, angry, violent neighbors, and this..."

He slaps the door twice with a forced grin, "is home now. Are we starting to connect the dots?"

Mogens quotes Jesper with amusement, slamming the door as Jesper jumps with a frown. He gasps as snow falls on him from the force, making him groan and shiver with a scowl.

...

Mogens is great 😂 I love how he teases Jesper through the movie.

...