Still thwarting Sloth's mind control... Circulation: 174,960,683 Issue: 376 | 23rd day of Sleeping, Y11
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I'm Seeing Double!


by strawberrycakeshort

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"I would do anything to ride that..." a longing red Poogle, Pammie, said, staring at the boat leaving Mystery Island.

     "Tell me about it," Cameron, a green Kougra, said, keeping his eyes on the boat. "Where could we go, anyway, if we were to go?"

     Another friend, Samantha, a yellow Flotsam, exclaimed, "Well, why not, Cameron? I hear you can just ride in it and not even get off, except for coming back." Her big, round eyes shifted over to Katie, a red Kacheek.

     Katie just squinted her eyes to see the boat from the distance. When it was good and gone, she turned to the others."We can go tonight." A wicked grin curved upon her lips.

     "Sure," Cameron agreed, looking from Samantha to Pammie.

     Pammie just smiled that excited smile of hers everyone enjoyed looking at, and said, "See you at..."

     "Ten," Samantha informed. She had agreed, too. "See you then."

     Everyone said their good-byes and left, awaiting ten o' clock, when they would sneak out and ride the boat away, watching their island get smaller.

      * * * * *

     At nine forty-five everyone was already there, awkwardly waiting for someone to say something.

     "Ready?" Katie said, forcing a smile nervously.

     Linking arms, the four young Neopets made their way to the harbour, where a tiny JubJub made sure they were all set, though they would only come back to the harbour. "Have fun," he said, waving, as the oversized boat creaked away from the island...

     "I hear that, even though the boat comes back in a few minutes with the same passengers, the ride seems to take hours!" Pammie said, wide-eyed.

     "Maybe it's one of those illusions someone told me about," Cameron marveled, wrinkling his forehead to remember. "He said-"

     The boat started to move quickly, swaying, cutting Cameron off. All four friends started yelling in joy about how fun this was going to be, blurring each other out. The boat turned sideways, swirling.

     The ride did seem to take hours. Every now and then one of them said, "Wow, look over there!" and "I could ride this forever!"

     Eventually, they noticed the shore to the famous Mystery Island. Just then, a mysterious light shone, dazzling the Neopets.

     "What's that light for?" Katie asked, shielding her eyes.

     "Yeah, it's still night!" Samantha exclaimed. She closed her eyes, but she couldn't avoid the brightness. She couldn't help but chuckle because not seeing anything only made life more fun in a way.

     After a while, the light dimmed, and soon it was as dark as normal. Little did they know, the Kacheek, Poogle, Kougra, and Flotsam were already at the harbour.

     Eyes adjusting, they heard a voice. "Welcome back to Mystery Island! Have fun, youngsters?" It was the same JubJub running the boat as when the four adventurers left.

     "Heh, yeah," Pammie remarked. As she made her way around, something didn't feel right. "Hey, you guys notice something weird? It's like I'm being followed." She turned around to find a green Poogle staring at her, along with Samantha and a red Flotsam, Katie and a cloud coloured Kacheek, and Cameron, next to a blue Kougra.

     "Am I seeing double?" Katie asked, squinting and looking around. "Why- why is there another Kacheek here looking at me? It's creepy!" She turned her attention toward Cameron, glaring stupidly at an image close to his own.

     "Whoa," Samantha shouted, taking a few steps back. "Maybe I need a little rest..." She scanned the shore for a place to lie down. In the corner of her eye, she could see the boat taking off once again with an Aisha in it.

     "I- I can't take this Poogle home with me!" Pammie shouted, looking fearfully around her.

     "Um, I'm sure my mom won't mind if I take home a 'friend'." Cameron forced a grin toward his almost-clone. The two disappeared in the distance after saying good-bye.

     After about five minutes had passed, the others, except for Pammie and her fellow Poogle, had left, leaving them alone.

     "I'm Glen..." the other girl said, staring, eyebrows raised, to Pammie.

     And Pammie lead Glen into a nearby cave, knowing her mother would never let her take someone else home with her, not even a lost petpet.

      * * * * *

     The next morning, Pammie woke up early, ready to get rid of her new "friend". "I'm going to make sure that this actually happened and that it was the boat, by taking the chance and going back on," she thought. She decided this when she first woke up, and that she didn't want to take anyone except her and her companion.

     Pammie got Glen and they crept toward the harbour. "We're going to see what happens," Pammie explained, looking reluctant.

     "Have fun," the JubJub said, waving once again. Pammie wanted to leave Glen behind after all, just to watch.

     "Have fun!" The next time.

     "Have fun!" This time Pammie was alone. She had been on the boat four times, and all four times another Poogle had appeared. That made five Poogles all together, including herself.

     Pammie got all four companions and got them all to ride. She even managed to get a regretful Katie, a frightened Cameron, and a curious Samantha to ride.

     After what seemed like hours had passed, the moment of blindness arrived. All eleven of them expected that to happen. When their eyes finally adjusted to the light, it was dark again. Expected.

     The "Have fun?" was expected as well. So was the seeing double. Except that part never happened. In fact, there were only four Neopets this time. Pammie, her usual smiling self; Cameron, the smart, green Kougra; Samantha, the young girl with amazing speed; and Katie, the Kacheek, who "knew this would happen all along."

      * * * * *

     The next day all four of them were walking along the shore, examining the mysteriousness of everything, and why what happened in the previous days had happened.

     "Well, we do know that it probably really was hours, for one," Samantha suggested.

     "Yeah, and also that we all doubled," Pammie remarked.

     "But how?" was everyone's question. Cameron stuck a paw in the water, but immediately tugged it back. "Sorry," he said, grinning. "Cold."

     Everyone laughed at Cameron's reaction, but basically so they could get some smiling in and having fun aside from the fact that they were in the progress of solving a mystery.

     Pammie drew her face toward the water. It seemed to be talking, saying, "Coincidence" in the wavy-ish swooshing tone it always used. That's what it was to Pammie. After all, it happened to no one else.

     Everyone else was still giggling. They didn't exactly like Pammie's theory. The others thought the chances of it happening about five times and then switching back would be about point one out of one hundred gazillion. It was true, but it had to happen some time, right? It may as well happen now.

     After a while everyone left, leaving it all alone. To take a break, they all decided to hang out by the volleyball court, where a few Myncies were playing Mynci Volleyball, or something like that, whatever that was.

     On their way home, Pammie thought she could see four Poogles, a Kougra, a Flotsam, and a Kacheek, all sitting on a bench together. At the same time, they turned to Pammie and winked, leaving Pammie speechless.

The End

 
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