Journey Through Neopia

     I sighed. Electro Battlertok was a young yellow Xweetok, but still very eccentric. "Yeah, and while you're at it, get an omelette from Tyrannia. Take Flametok and Pocca with you."

     "Yes!" cried Electro, grabbing three shovels, and in a blink of an eye, he was gone.

     I settled lower down into my Kauvara Bean Bag Chair and reopened Purple Power. The poor purple Tuskaninny in the story was once again being tormented by Jetsams.

     I saw Flametok slink out the door, with Pocca stumbling behind him. Flametok Battler was also an Xweetok, redheaded and shadowy. Pocca Chan was a Christmas Grundo, newly adopted from the Pound. I shook my head and dove back into the story.

     ***

      It was eleven o'clock. I had finished Purple Power, The Magic Paw, Adventure Bound Xweetok, and A Guide To Lupes. My brain was fried. No noise came from the bedrooms, so I figured my pets had already gone to bed. I gulped down some KauKau Farm milk and went to sleep.

      I woke up at ten-thirty the next morning. I was surprised I hadn't been rudely awakened as usual by Pocca or Electro. Either they were already digging again, were still asleep- or hadn't even come back last night. I hoped the latter was not true.

      I walked into the kitchen. There was none of the usual cereal mess. Now I was getting scared. I peaked into Electro's room. It was empty. So were Pocca's and Flametok's. My heart pounded as I frantically searched my Neohome.

      Finding nothing, I ran outside. I searched the front, the back, the garden, and the shed. Nothing. Then I remembered.

      "The hole!" I said, remembering the last activity my pets had been doing. I finally found it in the far corner of the yard. It was big enough for Pocca to slip into, but not nearly large enough for me.

      "Pocca! Electro! Flametok!" I called down into the hole. No answer. Frantically, I grabbed my bike and sped towards the Chia Police station.

     ***

      Six days later, there still was no sign of my pets. I had almost given up hope of ever seeing them again when the back door opened. In trudged three grimy figures coated with dirt, mud, and- was that marshmallow? I couldn't tell. Finally, one placed a plain omelette down on the table.

      "Here's that omelette you wanted, Mom," said Electro.

     ***

      Many baths, tears, and hugs later, Flametok, Pocca and Electro were once again seated around my dining table. After dinner, the three pets trooped off to their beds. I smiled with happiness.

      A few minutes later, a tired-looking Flametok reached into his back pocket and pulled out a musty journal. He smiled, said good night, and walked- if you could call it walking- back to his room. I heard him hit his bed with a thud.

      I stared at the journal on the table. Very slowly, I opened the cover and started to read.

     Day One

     Electro proposed the idea to Mom. She didn't seem to be listening, but said we could dig, as long as we brought back some omelette from Tyrannia. Electro gathered supplies: 6 shovels, food, drinks, blankets and pillows, lanterns, 3 stuck-together tape measures, 3 weeks of allowance (one "taken" in advance), a Symol (for when we got tired) and instruction books on how to Learn Tyrannian in 5 Minutes and Learn Altadorian Knowledge in 5 Minutes. I slung all this into my pack, along with this journal and 12 pencils before we took off into the backyard.

      Though one might think it simple, there is a true art to digging. For example, since we live on Mystery Island, we must dig in a northwesterly direction. Electro's plan was to dig to the other side of Neopia, so we had to dig straight down and we would arrive in Altador. Then we would dig in a northeastern direction before reaching Tyrannia. After that, we would dig to the southeast until arriving back at home.

      Anyway, we worked long and hard that day to get as far down as we could. We widened our hole, spread out our blankets, and laid down to sleep. I wrote today's journal by lantern light just before I fell asleep.

     Day Two

      We reached the center of Neopia! By 10 o'clock p.m., we had hit something that was definitely not dirt. We kept digging, and found marshmallow! We laughed our heads off as we ate the gooey treat. It turns out that it really isn't made of ice cream after all (see issue 248's editorial, the last question)! When we were full, we had eaten our way through the core and continued on digging.

     Day Three

      We did it! We have reached Altador today! After repeating our story several times to the Altador guards and even King Altador himself, we were allowed to spend half a day resting and recovering. However, in our haste to reach Tyrannia, we only stayed for two hours. We made good progress, and after a long while we dug up to see where we were. We were in the Haunted Woods, about halfway to Tyrannia. Judging by my watch, we had enough time to dig under the Haunted Woods and make it to Neopia Central that day. We did not do as well that afternoon, and made it only to the outskirts of the Woods. That was enough, however, and we quickly fell asleep.

     Day Four

      Today, we reached Tyrannia, were almost sacrificed to the Beast, grabbed some omelette on our way out, and nearly made it back to the hole when Sabre-X caught up to us. He said something in Ugg-Ugga and we ran. We dove into the hole just as he reached it.

      We immediately started digging towards home. Two hours later, after some marshmallow and milk, we all fell asleep.

     Day Five

     We were almost home, so we rested. Pocca danced with Electro while balancing the giant marshmallow Grundo I made for her on her head. We slept a lot and just talked about nothing. We slept the rest of the day and promised we would be home by tomorrow night.

     Day Six

      We made it! I am too exhausted to write more, so this is my last entry. This trip has proved to me, Electro, and Pocca that anything is possible, and you can do anything if you try. I hope Pocca doesn't read this and decide to try to fly because "she believes she can." This is Flametok Battler, signing off.

      I closed the little notebook, tears running down my face, but instead of tears of happiness, they were tears of joy. My pets had done what no other pet or owner had succeeded in doing: they had truly dug to the other side of Neopia. My pride would never end. I went to sleep smiling, but hoping tomorrow would not end in a trip to the hospital because Pocca had leapt off the roof.

The End

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Obviously, Pocca_Chan, Flametok_Battler, and Electro_Battlertok are mine and I am still proud of them for digging to the other side of Neopia, and I highly believe Flametok when he said the center of Neopia is made of marshmallow. Hey, it's possible, right? Neomail and tell me what you think, I am desperate for feedback on this! See ya!