Poetry for Avaio

“Starlight dazzled down from the- no. Starlight sparkled down and- argh!”

      The Maraquan Gelert angrily crumpled up his sheet of paper, and tossed it into the overflowed trash can. He was a very poetic individual, and he always longed for the perfect poem to get him into the poetry gallery. However, he hadn’t found the perfect idea yet.

      “Whatcha doing?” I asked, cracking open his bedroom door.

      “Can you please go away?!” Avaio snapped, covering his face in his paws.

      “What?” I shrugged. “Who cares about stupid poems. Just write about any ol’ thing and send it in!”

      “Draunt, you know that’ll never work!” Avaio growled. “I’ve tried it twice, but nothing happened.”

      “Write about yourself!” I suggested sarcastically. “Here, I can make a poem about you right now:

      Avaio is a weird Gelert

      Who has a bad attitude,

      He is mean and stingy

      And is very rude.”

      “Draunt, please!” Avaio growled. “Just go away!”

      “See? If I can make up any poem from the top of my head, I bet you can, too!” I insisted. “And another thing.”

      I stormed over to him, and rested my paws on his shoulders. Gazing seriously into his eyes, I declared: “Look at me. Listen closely. You can rhymes with toucan.”

      “Two things,” Avaio said in a creeped-out voice. “First of all, I have no clue what a ‘toucan’ is. And second of all, that was very random.”

      “That’s why you love me!” I laughed, slapping him in the back. “Oh well. See ya around.”

      As I closed the door, I heard Avaio sigh heavily. He’s been spending a lot time on those poems, if you ask me. I realized with a pang of worry, maybe he was spending too much time on those poems.

     * * * *

      The next morning, I passed by Avaio’s room. The door was open. I peered inside, and saw him sleeping with his head rested in his crossed arms. Rolling my eyes, I trotted inside.

      “Boo.”

      “Wha- wha’sat?” Avaio stammered sleepily.

      “Please don’t tell me you were up all night writing poems,” I predicted irritably.

      “Well, I probably fell asleep around 2:00 - 2:30,” Avaio mumbled, reaching for his small desk clock.

      “You’re hopeless!” I growled, throwing my arms into the air. “At least come down for breakfast before everyone misses you!”

     * * * *

      I love fish. Every day I crave fish. And for breakfast, I had a delicious lesser spotted fish. My sisters, Mable and Love_Heart, were sitting at the table.

      “Where’s Avaio?” Mable asked, roughly running a paw between her starry Acara horns.

      “Writing poems,” I answered through a mouthful of fish.

      “Eww! Talk with your mouth closed!” Love_Heart growled in disgust.

      I cast her a long, pathetic look. “Love, that makes no sense.”

      “Swallow, then talk!” The fire Grarrl rolled her eyes. “That’s what I meant!”

      “Riiiight.” I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

      Finally, the Maraquan Gelert dragged himself to the table. When I say ‘drag’, I didn’t mean like he was tired. He doesn’t have any limbs, except for his arms.

      “Good morning.” Mable smiled, sipping some hot cocoa.

      Avaio cast her a half smile and reached for an issue of the Neopian Times. I shook my head. “Let me guess, you’re trying to look for some poem ideas again, right?”

      Avaio shrugged, and flipped through the short story section. “Why would you care anyway?”

      “Because there’s hand soap by the sink,” I answered randomly. That was me. The King of Randomness strikes again.

      “Right, whatever,” Avaio sighed distractedly.

      The doorbell rang. “Oh, I’ll get it!”

      I hurried from the table, and rushed to the front door. I could probably guess who it was. I said he was allowed to come over right about now yesterday. I opened the door and found Jangoe waiting.

      “Hi, Jangoe!” I smiled, giving him a playful shove. “Garden gnomes are about to take over the world.”

      “Heh, that’s great.” Jangoe smiled nervously, edging away a bit. Jangoe was a blue Skeith, and he wore a red bandana around his eyes.

      “Come in,” I called over my shoulder. “Let’s go to my room.”

      We both ran up the stairs. I was heading to my room, but suddenly veered away.

      “I thought you said we were-”

      “Shush!” I hissed. “Just kidding. That’s what I wanted you to think. We’re actually gonna sneak into Love_Heart’s room!”

      “Er, what for?” Jangoe asked.

      “I know she’s hiding something from me,” I explained mysteriously. “Maybe chocolate, or neopoints, or maybe... maybe... I dunno, who cares! I just know she’s hiding something!”

      “So, why should we go looking for something in her room, if you don’t know what it is that you’re looking for?” Jangoe asked, confused.

      “It’s probably something valuable!” I whispered impatiently. “C’mon, let’s go.”

      I opened her door, and stalked inside. I used all my Kougra instincts to prowl quietly through her room. Jangoe shrugged, and quietly followed. He was thin for a Skeith, and had a light step.

      “Maybe there’s something valuable in here,” I murmured quietly, opened up her closet. “Whatever you do, be very very qui-AHHHHH!”

      I screamed and jumped away. A mutant Moehog plushie landed on my face. I thrashed around on the floor, screaming and kicking it off.

      “What happened to being quiet?!” Jangoe hissed, clamping a paw over my mouth. “Shush!”

      I lay there panting and trying to stop shaking in fear. No offense to all you Moehogs out there, but mutant Moehogs creep me out so much! I smoothed out my ruffled ghost Kougra fur.

      “Sorry,” I muttered.

      I nosed around under her bed. Before I got up, something shiny caught my eye. I squinted, trying to see it better. It was some sort of shiny thing. No duh, eh? :) I reached for it and pulled it out. It was a book with a shiny cover. It was a book about Cybunnies.

      “Cybunnies?” I murmured, opening up the book.

      It was quite an old book. I didn’t remember anyone buying this. Its pages were slightly yellowed and ripped with age.

      “What’s that?” Jangoe asked quietly.

      Before I could explain, I heard footsteps clambering up the stairs. Loud footsteps. Love_Heart was coming!

      “Quick, hide in the closet!” I urged, shoving Jangoe towards the closet. “Love_Heart’s coming!”

      We both dove for the closet and quickly clicked the door shut. There was a knothole in the door. Honestly, how many doors would have a spy hole in them? I stared through it, and saw my Grarrl sister enter.

      “That squirt’s been in my room!” she growled to herself.

      “Squirt?” I narrowed my eyes, flattening my ears angrily.

      Love_Heart rummaged through a small wooden chest. Jangoe was probably looking through it.

      “All my stuff... that darn Kougra!” Love_Heart snarled, exasperated. “I ought to burn him to bits!”

      I gulped and pulled away from the spy hole. Both Jangoe and I held our breath as she neared the closet. My blood ran cold as I could see her black skin through the spy hole. Jangoe and I exchanged petrified glances.

      “What the-?” Love_Heart gasped as she opened the closest.

      Both Jangoe and I bolted out, and ran towards my room. But Avaio’s room was closer. We quickly dove inside, and locked the door. I realized that I was still clutching the Cybunny book.

      “That was close,” Jangoe said through a shaky sigh of relief.

      “Yeah, really,” I agreed, setting the book on Avaio’s desk. “And the word ‘Uni’ starts with a u.”

      Jangoe sighed and shook his head. “I’m really happy for ya, Draunt.”

      I heard Love_Heart’s footsteps storm past Avaio’s bedroom door. Then, I remembered something that made my stomach lurch. The lock to Avaio’s bedroom jammed all the time.

      “Er, Jangoe? Can you wait here a second?” I laughed nervously.

      I tried to unlock the door, but it was jammed again, just as I predicted. “Try to open up the window. We’re stuck.”

     * * * *

      “Same time tomorrow?”

      “Of course, Jangoe.”

      I waved to my friend as he trotted toward home. I closed the door, to find that the house was oddly silent. I walked up the stairs, feeling a bit tense. Would Love_Heart strike revenge? As I reached the top of the stairs, I didn’t see anyone.

      I past Avaio’s bedroom again, to find him reading the Cybunny book on his desk. I must have forgotten it.

      “Hey, sorry for jamming your door.” I shrugged.

      “No, it’s fine,” Avaio replied.

      He didn’t look up from the book. He was very intent on reading it, I found. I suddenly had a wicked idea. I bounded away, and came back with a paper bag. I blew it up, and crept silently over behind Avaio. I slammed my paw down on it, making it explode very loudly. Avaio yelped and fell off his chair.

      “SARDINES!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

      “Draunt! Will you mind?” Avaio growled, shoving me backwards. “Don’t ever do that again!”

      Giggling to myself, I walked back to my room. At the back of my mind, I wondered why Avaio liked that Cybunny book so much. He didn’t really like reading anything other than poetry books.

     * * * *

      “Have you seen Avaio today?” Mable asked next morning. “He’s usually down by now.”

      “No, I haven’t seen him,” I answered back. “And fruit rhymes with boot.”

      “Can you go see if he’s in his room?” Mable asked, ignoring my random comment.

      “Fine.” I got up from the table and trudged upstairs.

      I walked quietly to his room. I heard Avaio laughing. I carried on quicker, and opened his bedroom door. There he was, dancing around the room, a wide grin on his face.

      “I told you you’d qualify for ballet lessons!” I laughed.

      “Oh, I uh...” Avaio stopped dancing and cleared his throat. “Er... hi, Draunt.”

      “Why are you so happy?” I asked. “Did you finally find the right poem?”

      “I did!” Avaio nodded excitedly. “I haven’t written it yet, though. But I finally found it!”

      He smiled again, and twirled in a tight circle. “Tell Mable I’m skipping breakfast. And tell her she shouldn’t be surprised if she sees me in the poetry gallery!”

      “Sure.” I smiled, giving him a high five.

      As I turned to leave, I added, “Noodles and Space Faeries can’t compare to the Soup Faerie.” That made no sense, but that’s why everyone calls me the King of Randomness.

     * * * *

      One day, I had to bring up Avaio’s lunch. I opened the door, and found him proofreading his work.

      “So, how is it?” I asked.

      “I’d say it’s pretty good,” Avaio answered, eyeing his work proudly. “Here, let me read it to you:

      Cybunny, Cybunny

      So quick and bright,

      So soft and beautiful

      You’re quite a sight.

      Trudging through snowy fields

      Protected by thick white fur,

      No matter how deep the snow is

      You move as fast as a blur.

      Eyes bright and shining

      Are reassuring and warm,

      And better than a million neopoints

      Even if they came in a swarm.

      Cybunny, Cybunny

      So fabulous and smart,

      Cheering everyone up

      With a warming heart.”

      “Wow, sounds kinda good.” I smiled. Though really, it sounded too mushy for my liking.

      “I know, isn’t it great?!” Avaio gasped excitedly. “I’m going to send it in today!”

      With that, the Maraquan Gelert sped out of his room, with his poem in hand. I felt pity for the desperate pet. If I found it too mushy, what would others think? Would it even be accepted? I glanced over at the Cybunny book lying on his desk. Sighing, I started for the stairs.

     * * * *

      Days passed. Finally, Avaio was out to see if it was posted or not. Jangoe and I were waiting for him in the living room.

      “I wonder if he’ll get in?” Jangoe murmured. “He’s been working pretty hard on it.”

      “I know.” I nodded in agreement. “And apple sauce goes great with many different things. Like meat!”

      “That wasn’t really necessary, but okay.” Jangoe gave me a pathetic thumbs up and a nervous smile.

      The door opened, revealing the massive downpour outside. Avaio loved water, so it didn’t matter to him. He dragged himself miserably inside. Closing the door dramatically, he flopped down on the floor.

      “You didn’t win, eh?” I sighed.

      “No.” Avaio shook his head, snuffling pitifully. “They said it was too mushy! What did you think?”

      “Well, I didn’t, um...” I was lost for words. But then I decided that I shouldn’t lie to him. “Well, maybe just a little...”

      “Maybe I’m not fit to be a poet.” Avaio sighed.

      “Every good poet knows they can’t succeed the first couple times,” Jangoe said matter-of-factly. “Well, at least when they’re just starting out.”

      “Yeah, really!” I nodded encouragingly. “And apples can be red, green, or yellow!”

      Avaio gave me a long, long look. “That’s great, Draunt. But Jangoe, is what you said true?”

      “Sure.” He smiled.

      Avaio got up. “Well, I suppose I’d better keep trying, then!”

     * * * *

      To this day, Avaio never found that one good idea. But now, due to his experience with the Cybunny book, he has bought hundreds of books, and each day he flips through one. I love to fish, and I love to eat the fish afterwards. But from my fishing experiences, he hasn’t hooked the ‘big one’ yet.

      One day, I opened his bedroom door. Avaio was busily flipping through a Neopian Times issue for an idea.

      “So, how’s it coming along?” I asked, walking over.

      “Not so bad,” he answered, still not even glancing at me. “I’ve got a few ideas, but they’re not really the ideas I’d think would be nice.”

      “Oh well,” I shrugged. “But Avaio, let me give you one word of advice.”

      I crouched down, and Avaio stopped reading. He turned to me, as I declared, “Tissue boxes have tissues in them.”

The End