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Three Neopets stood outside a house in Neopia Central,
loading items into a small minivan.
David, a blue Usul with somewhat messy and not-quite-coordinating
old clothes, stood behind the minivan. He looked at Trina. "Is this it?"
"It's all of mine and yours. Sally?" the yellow
Usul replied. Her clothes, on the other hand, didn't have a wrinkle in sight,
matched as though she had a fashion consultant handy, and looked brand-new,
as always.
"Yes, all my stuff's packed," said the young
green Usul, wearing somewhat-new and reasonably neat jeans and an only slightly
faded T-shirt, scowled at the car. "Do we have to drive six hours? Can't we
go on a plane?"
"Tyrannia doesn't have an airport," David, Sally's
father laughed. "Anyway, the lines at the airport would be longer than driving,
I bet." He slammed the trunk closed. The three piled into the vehicle; about
five minutes passed in silence.
"Finally, we're off," Trina, Sally's mother
said, relaxing and looking out at the scenery. "Three weeks of rest, relaxation,
warm weather, and no cell phones or pagers or laptops whatsoever... but we're
already running a little late. We probably need to hurry breakfast a little
if we want to make it to the hotel in time--"
"Oh, no!" Sally gasped, sitting up suddenly.
"I left my Usuki sets at home, and I need them! Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease!"
"Can't you do without them for just a few weeks,
Sally?" Trina said, looking back at her daughter.
"No! I NEED them or else Usuki won't have anything
to wear on vacation except what she has on now! Please?! Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease?"
David chuckled and looked at the passenger seat.
"I think that's a good enough reason, and I don't mind going back. Tri?"
Trina's face started to take on an annoyed frown.
"All right. This is the ONLY time. Just ONCE. Do you understand that?"
"Of course," Sally replied, sulking at her mother's
tone.
"Seven times, like our last trip to Tyrannia,
is a bit much," David replied soothingly, "but I'm sure you've gotten
a bit better at packing since last year, haven't you, Sallers?"
"Yes," Sally grinned at her father, her good
mood quickly restored. "I know exactly which ones I want to take. I just have
to get them."
The minivan pulled into the driveway. "Two minutes,"
the yellow Usul said, looking at Sally. "I'm timing. If you aren't back by then,
we're leaving without you. Hurry it up."
Sally threw open her door and burst out--only
to be snapped back by her seat belt. She quickly pressed the button and raced
out.
"You're timing?" David asked, looking at Trina.
"I mean, it's not like this is a big deal--"
"No, being lenient brought us back seven times
last time. She gets one shot. That's it." Trina sighed and unbuckled her seat
belt. "I'm going to go get some green pepper omelettes out of the back. I don't
think we'll have time to stop and eat breakfast, so we'd better eat as we drive."
"Time? We have three weeks," David said. "Don't
we?"
"We're going to cut it rather closely with the
Neolodge--they don't hold your reservations if you don't check in by a certain
time. And there's some sort of convention going on, so rooms will be snapped
up more quickly than Krawks at the Tyrannian Petpet shop," Trina said, stepping
around to the back. "We lost too much time with last-minute preparations this
morning--again Sally. She didn't fold the clothes, so I had to iron about seven
shirts for the two of us."
"Oh, I wondered about that. It did seem funny
that I was the first one ready to go," remarked David, laughing.
Trina wasn't quite so willing to laugh at it.
"She's less organized than you are."
David, still grinning, shrugged. "Oh, well."
***
Meanwhile, inside, Sally was rooting through a pile in her room. Nope, nope,
nope, nope--ah-HA! She yanked her Winter Woolies set out from underneath a pile.
She glanced at the pile. None of the others were in there, probably. Sally dashed
for the bathroom (not the same way you would after three hours in a car
with three liters of Neocola). Any 'Sukis? No--yes, there! She pounced on the
black belt Usuki set lying next to the sink. Another over there--she dashed
to the corner. Got it! She threw the Usuki shipwreck set into a bag she held
and ran to another corner, where she was pretty sure she'd sighted another of
the ten she wanted. Yep, the Usuki Clown set--three down, seven to go, and she
still had one minute and forty-five seconds. One minute forty-five of two was
seven of eight, so... so... thirty-five of forty, and seven of ten was twenty-eight
of forty, so she should still have extra time if she kept going at that rate.
(She had picked up two in the dining room as she figured the fractions in her
head.)
She grabbed up another set--but it wasn't the
one she wanted. She hurried for the cabinet and threw it in; she should still
have a bit of time, so she might as well. Sally raced through the kitchen, grabbing
three of the last four, and into the living room--
She tripped! She sprang up and glanced at what
she had tripped on. The last of her 'Sukis! Her Usuki poetry set! Yes! She turned
and ran for the car.
***
The green Usul came running back. "I made it! I got them all!" she gasped,
stopping, bending, and clutching her side. Usuls weren't exactly good runners,
and Sally wasn't athletic even by Usul standards.
Trina looked at her daughter, amused. "Are you
sure?"
Sally glanced through her bag, still short of
breath, and nodded. "Yes!"
"Then get in. We've got some Neolodge rooms
to claim."
Fifteen minutes later...
"Oh, no!" Trina gasped. David jerked the wheel
in surprise and nearly ran into a Nimmo and his owner on the sidewalk.
"What is it?!"
"I think I left the iron on!"
The End
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