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Untitled Document
Erin the yellow Ixi scribbled away in her diary, recording
all her thoughts.
Dear Diary,
Today has been horrid. I can't believe
my owner could be so evil! She got annoyed when I accidentally knocked the jar
of forest fruit baby food on the floor, so she locked me away in my bedroom.
Meanwhile that smelly brat that she calls my sister gets maximum attention and
special treatment.
Then, I had all my toys taken away from
me - for a week! Guess who gets to play with them? My little sister Baby Bella,
the baby Grundo. So, lucky me, I get to do all my homework and all the chores.
Anyway... I need some sleep, it's going
to be a busy day tomorrow. I'm going to stay with our neighbour because Scarlet
(my owner) is taking Bella to the zoo. And our neighbour has a really messy
garden, which I have to clean up. Oh, and that's forgetting her gruel cake.
Love,
Erin XXX
"ERIN! ARE YOU STILL AWAKE? I SAID LIGHTS
OUT FIVE MINUTES AGO!"
"Sorry, Scarlet," Erin called back.
She flicked her lamp off and settled down on her stiff mattress.
Just as Erin's eyes began to droop,
a rattling at the window woke her fully.
She sat up and tried to see who, or
what, was making the noise.
When she realised that it was her best
friend Julianne she smiled. She stumbled over a wire as she went over to say
hi. However, as she got to the window, Julianne (who had been floating in mid
air) disappeared into thin air.
***
"Ugh - this bacon is all fatty," Scarlet complained. "I told you to cut all
the fat off it, Erin."
"Sorry, I thought it looked fine," Erin
panted, darting around the kitchen. It was her early morning chore time, and
she still had to wash up, mop the floor and wipe down the work surfaces.
"Yes, well maybe you should look more
closely next time." Scarlet strolled into the hall and stared at herself in
the mirror. Bella crawled towards her from the front room, where it was Tiny
TV Time (basically, they played an hour of baby programmes.).
"Ooh! You have yucky yogurt on your
top!" Scarlet cried. "ERIN! I thought I told you to buy her cereal. And I told
you not to spill it on her, either."
"Sorry, but she threw the pot on her
head and things got messy. I cleaned her the best I could. And as for cereal,
they didn't have anything she liked."
"Excuses, excuses. Come on, Bella, let's
change you - we don't want you looking messy and the zoo!"
Erin, seeing her opportunity, grabbed
the telephone and dialled a number all too familiar.
"Yes?" croaked a voice. "Who is it?"
"Hello, Mrs Yesterpep. It's about me
coming around to tidy your garden later."
"Aah! That reminds me - you'll have
to replant my Atrabuds. Those darn Wockys came back last night and attacked
them."
"That won't be possible, Mrs Yesterpep.
You see - " Erin froze as the bathroom lock clicked open and the top stair groaned.
" - Er... I'll be over at 1 this afternoon." Erin quietly placed the phone back
down and pretended she was polishing the vase next to it.
"Were you on the phone, Erin?"
Erin jumped, the table shook and the
vase cracked on the floor.
"ERIN! YOU IDIOT! That was PRICELESS!"
Scarlet spat. "Now TIDY THAT MESS UP!" Scarlet snatched her keys. "I'll be back
at about 5. You'd better be on your best behaviour for Mrs Yesterpep."
***
The day rolled by. Erin, having got a splinter of the vase in her paw (kind
Mrs. Yesterpep had bandaged it up and even cured her throbbing hand with the
help of some tweezers and antibacterial cream), had not had to do any chores,
apart from handing Mrs. Yesterpep the salt and pepper shakers during their unusually
tasty lunch of fish fingers, baked beans and chips.
"You see, I have my shopping delivered
by this clever system, where you place an order and they deliver it to your
home," Mrs. Yesterpep explained whilst chewing some potato. "If they don't have
what you want, they give you something similar. As they didn't have my salmon,
peas or potatoes, they gave me this stuff."
Seeing as Mrs Yesterpep had decided
to hire a gardener, they didn't have anything to do. Luckily for Erin, Mrs.
Yesterpep's son (a handsome young Lupe, who just happened to be a neomillionaire)
popped round with his new machine, which played movies. He had even brought
with him the coolest movie of the year for them to watch.
They even went to town in Mrs. Yesterpep's
son's sports car, where they spent lots of money on clothes, toys, books and
music. While there, they went swimming and had so much fun that Erin didn't
want to leave.
In the end, though, Erin left at about
4.45 p.m., with, in her left hand, shiny gold Neopoints and, in the other hand,
some chocolates and jelly sweets.
She unlocked the front door and was
immediately faced with a growling Scarlet.
"Where do you think you've been, eh?"
"At Mrs. Yesterpep's house."
"Why aren't all the chores done?"
"Because I didn't have time, sorry.
I'll do them now if you'd like."
"WHAT'S THAT IN YOUR HAND?"
"Some things Mrs. Yesterpep gave me.
She bought me the stuff in this bag."
"What are we, a charity case? Go upstairs
and tidy your room. I want you in bed by 8. If you want something to eat, make
it yourself and tidy it up."
***
Erin had barely fallen asleep before she was woken up again. She had gone
to bed at 2 a.m. (Scarlet made her do all the gardening and washing as punishment)
and hadn't got to sleep until 3.30. Scarlet had deliberately set Erin's alarm
clock for 5 in the morning so that Erin would be woken early.
She forced her eyes open and slammed
her hand down on the button to stop it from chiming.
Erin wandered over to the window and
inhaled some fresh air before dressing and washing in the bathroom down the
hall. She knew she would be greeted by a nice long chore list, so she decided
the earlier she got started, the earlier she would finish.
She threw some toast into the toaster
and got cracking on the polishing in the Lounge while she waited for it to pop
back up.
Suddenly, the thought struck her. She
hated it here, so why not run away? She knew Scarlet wouldn't be up until 6.45
to bath Bella, which meant that Erin had way over an hour to make her move.
She consumed the crispy toast in record
time and crept back up the stairs, leaving the polish on the table next to the
sofa. She now knew where the creaking stairs were and the exact point where
her bedroom door started squeaking.
She swiftly gathered up her few clothes,
toys and other belongings in less than two bags. She remembered to take the
things Mrs. Yesterpep had given her the day before, however she left all photos
behind, as they would just bring back horrid memories.
She was packed by 6 a.m. and ready to
go. She decided to do a few chores so that Scarlet wouldn't be suspicious as
quickly, and she also shoved some old jumpers into her bed to make it look like
she was in there.
Finally, at 6.30 she scribbled a note,
saying:
Scarlet I'm sick of you
bossing me about. I've gone for good, so don't even think about tracking me
down. I did a few chores before I went; I hope they were done to your standards.
I hope Bella doesn't grow up to be as much of a witch as you.
Yours,
Erin
Erin left it beside the phone in the
hall and hoisted her backpack onto her back. She took a handful of Neopoints
from the collection jar and was just about to leave when she heard Scarlet coming
out of her bedroom and down the stairs.
Erin panicked and, as she only had 4
seconds to decide what to do, hid behind the curtain and shoved her bag behind
the chair.
Scarlet picked the note up, confused.
As she read, her expression changed from one of confusion to one of devastation,
much to Erin's surprise.
Scarlet fell into a chair and started
to sob gently. Erin frowned. What was going on here? Scarlet didn't even want
her! Or so she thought...
Erin knew that she couldn't come out
until Scarlet was out of the way, so Erin decided to make herself comfortable
as there was a long wait ahead. She curled up on the Windowsill behind her and
made sure none of the neighbours would see her by wrapping the net curtain around
her.
Fortunately, Erin was behind Scarlet
so she wouldn't see her. As Erin fidgeted, a spec of dust flew up her nose.
Before she knew what was happening, she was sneezing like mad.
Scarlet leapt up and pulled back the
curtain and screamed. "ERIN! YOU'RE ALIVE!" She squeezed Erin tight and promised
to never let her go... for another few seconds, anyway.
In the end, everything worked out perfectly.
Erin got to spend more time with Bella and Scarlet and they were a happy family.
I guess you never realise what you have until it's gone, eh...?
The End
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