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Ezanna awoke the next morning with a clear head and
a refreshed spirit. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, glancing at his bedside clock.
"Excellent!" he said, smiling. "It’s exactly
five thirty AM!" The Krawk gently set down his clock and tiptoed quietly into
Zarrelian’s room, pausing to chuckle at how ridiculous the Ixi looked while
he was sleeping, cuddling a bedraggled Mynci plushie and fitfully kicking out
every so often as he dreamed. Ezanna strode over to Zarrelian’s curtains and,
without any hesitation, threw them open, allowing the sun to stream its blindingly
bright rays into the darkened room.
"Rise and shine, Zarrel!" he gleefully exclaimed.
"Eeep!" Zarrelian yelped as he leapt out of
bed, stumbling blindly around his room as he tried to adjust his eyes to the
light. The Ixi turned and glared angrily at Ezanna.
"Ezanna! What time is it?" he demanded. The
Krawk grinned.
"Five thirty AM! And we’re just in time to watch
the sunrise, like any perfect family does!" Ezanna continued, blissfully unaware
of the fact that Zarrelian had fallen asleep once again, his oversized head
drooping down to the floor. Ezanna finally caught sight of Zarrelian and ferociously
shook him awake.
"Come on Zarrel, we have to go and wake Mordegan
before dawn!" the Krawk growled.
"Wuzzafugh?" Zarrelian sleepily replied, still
too weary to communicate coherently. Ezanna grabbed the Ixi’s hoof and dragged
him over to Mordegan’s room, where the peacefully slumbering Lupe was treated
to a similar awakening as his brother.
Ezanna, still bursting with unwavering enthusiasm,
steered his lead-eyed brothers over to the NeoHome’s large picture window. The
Krawk squashed his snout up to the glass and watched in fascination as the sun,
a glowing yellow orb, rose over the lush green hill, trailing behind it thin
wisps of pinkish clouds and illuminating every treetop, rock, twig and blade
of grass in the yard. Ezanna gently breathed out in silent wonderment.
"Isn’t it beautiful?" he exhaled. Mordegan yawned
and twitched his bushy tail as Zarrelain slumped onto his shoulder, softly snoring.
Ezanna narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his scaly chest, glaring
at his brothers.
"No breakfast until you experience this magical
sunrise!" he snarled. Mordegan groaned and Zarrelian shot Ezanna a nasty look,
but they complied. Mordegan propped himself up on the window ledge and Zarrelian
scrambled up to the Lupe’s head so that he could get a better view. They stared
silently at the sunrise for a few moments, but then Mordegan squinted at something
off in the distance.
"Hey… what’s that blue thing on the neighbor’s
roof?" he asked, cocking his head quizzically to the side. Ezanna snorted.
"What blue thing? Here, let me see." The Krawk
pushed the two pets aside and stared out the window, peering at the unidentified
blue blob on the neighbor’s roof. Ezanna gasped.
"Oh no… that’s no blob… that’s Shelly’s Meowclops,
Mr. Claws, and he’s stuck on the neighbor’s roof!" Ezanna moaned in despair
and crumpled to the floor.
"ARGH! Everything isn’t PERFECT! Shelly TRUSTED
me, and what do I do? I ROOF her PETPET!"
Mordegan raised a brow and glanced at Zarrelian,
twirling a paw around his ear. The Ixi nodded in unspoken agreement. Ezanna
continued to sob piteously into the carpet, his black and white scales trembling.
"What I am going to do?" the Krawk whined. Mordegan
sighed and knelt down beside his sniffling brother, twining a comforting paw
around his shoulders.
"Don’t worry Ezanna, we’ll get him down," the
Lupe assured. Zarrelian scowled.
"What do you mean ‘we’? I’m not risking my tail
just to rescue some furry numbskull." He retorted. Both Mordegan and Ezanna
glared at the Ixi, Ezanna rising shakily to his claws. He pointed a finger at
Zarrelian and snorted contemptuously.
"Come on, Zarrel. You can lead the way to the
roof." The Krawk gave Zarrelian a small kick in the tail to get him moving,
and then frog-marched the grumbling Ixi up to the attic, shoving him out a small
window onto a narrow beam that led to the roof. Zarrelian was terribly afraid
of heights, but he still managed to clamber along the precariously swinging
beam and onto the roof. Mordegan followed, strutting confidentially along, not
putting a single paw out of place. Ezanna exhaled, and then crawled carefully
along the beam, spreading out his arms to help keep his balance.
When they had all arrived safely on the roof,
the three Pets shaded their eyes against the glaring sun and peered discontentedly
at the roofed Meowclops, who was mewing pitifully. Zarrelian covered his ears
with his hooves.
"Oh, make him stop! He sounds so cute and helpless!"
he cried. Ezanna rubbed his claws together.
"All the more motivation for us to rescue him,
boys," he stoutly replied. Mordegan rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Any ideas as to how we’re going to get him
down?" the Lupe asked. Ezanna tapped his tail against the shingles, a classic
sign of deep thought. Finally, his eyes lit up and he snapped his claws.
"I’ve got it! We’ll create a bridge, and then
Mr. Claws, being the intelligent Petpet that he is, will simply walk down the
bridge and into our arms," he explained. Zarrelain snorted.
"Great plan, oh wise and inventive Krawk. You
see any bridges around here?" the Ixi replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Mordegan scanned the horizon and smiled. "We
could break a branch of that tree over there," he offered. Ezanna nodded.
"That’ll do. Mordegan, go get us a branch."
The Krawk ordered.
Mordegan loped over to a huge tree that stood
next to their NeoHome, its top branches waving softly in the wind. Mordegan
got as close to the edge of the roof as he could and reached out a paw, snapping
a good-sized branch of the ancient tree. He trotted back to Ezanna, and presented
the Krawk with his branch. Ezanna patted Mordegan on the back and carefully
placed the branch on the edge of the roof, the opposite end resting lightly
on Mr. Claws’ roof. The three brothers grinned as the vivid blue Meowclops ventured
out to the branch. Mr. Claws batted the branch with his paw, and sniffed it
suspiciously. Ezanna laughed triumphantly.
"Okay guys, here he comes! He’s just about to
come walking down the bridge…"
Finally, Mr. Claws placed one paw on the makeshift
bridge. Mordegan gasped, Zarrelian rolled his eyes and Ezanna clenched his fists
in anticipation. Then, without any warning, Mr. Claws began to purr and rub
his head against the wood. Ezanna’s jaw dropped open in shock.
"What is he doing? He’s supposed to be coming
down the bridge, not rubbing his head against it!" the Krawk howled, stomping
on the roof in rage. He was stomping quite hard, too, so it was really no surprise
when his foot when right through the roof, creating a sufficient hole in the
shingles. Zarrelian glanced from Mr. Claws, who was still rubbing his fuzzy
head lovingly against the branch, and then to Ezanna, who was currently immersed
in the difficult task of pulling his foot out of the hole. The Ixi sniggered.
"Oh dear, looks like everything isn’t perfect."
To be continued...
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