The Last Time I Do Something Nice

      The Auction House is a crazy, loud, chaotic place. There is yelling, running around, neopets weeping over losing the item they had their eyes on. Skooter had never tried to buy something from the auctions, so she started early and expected to get it when only one other person was bidding against her. It was so exciting I didn't even hear the quiet cackling nearby, until it was too late.

      ZAP! I turned just in time to be blinded by a bright light. Skooter was still focused on the last few seconds of the auction as the world started growing around me. I caught the sight of a baby Bruce running away out of the corner of my eye. Boochi, the little terror caught me.

      "I think we're going to wi-" Skooter stopped in midsentence as she saw the baby Lupe next to her. "Wha- bu- wh- how?" she stammered.

      "Calm down!" I tried to yell, but I was drowned out by the excited yelling of the new owner of a fire, fire, your pants on fire paint brush. Skooter sighed as she picked me up and left the Auction House.

    ---

      "We're home!" she yelled as she slammed the door of our neohome.

      "Did you get it, did you get it, did you-" the streak of baby Eyrie that was my little brother stopped in midsentence as he saw me in our owner's hands. He quickly turned around and flew upstairs, fetching our sisters, yelling "Guys! Guys! You got to see this!"

      "Go ahead, laugh it up," I mumbled self-consciously. Though all that came out was some garbled baby gibberish. Everyone stared at me as I tried to repeat my order again, and again. Skooter placed her hand on my head and calmed me down after I started to worry.

      "Are you alright, Nat?" the faerie Kougra (Lele) asked, obviously stifling laughter.

      "You poor thing," the starry Gelert (Flower) mumbled, tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to keep the hysterics in.

      "We're now equals," TheEyrie mentioned. He was the only pet who was not trying to keep from laughing, he immediately lost control and fell over holding his stomach, causing my sisters to join in.

      "Alright, be quiet." Skooter ushered my siblings to stop. That was the last thing I remember before I nodded off.

      ---

      "I think this is an improvement," I overheard as I started to come to. "Now his color matches his personality." That was Flower, obviously.

      "It's his choice, period," Skooter dictated.

      "Quiet, guys," Lele ordered. "He's waking up!" I woke up, almost forgetting I was a baby, until I noticed everyone towering over me, except for TheEyrie who was also baby. I tried to sit up and ask what was going to be done about my current predicament, but all I could do was fall over and garble some baby gibberish. "Aw," Lele cooed, "he's so adorable, can we keep him?"

      "What did I just tell you?" Skooter asked.

      "I'm kidding!" Lele laughed. She picked me up and handed me over to Skooter. They started heading into the kitchen, where we regularly discussed the events of the day.

      "Now, Nat, do you want to become magma again?" Skooter asked me, speaking slowly and trying to keep my attention on her. I examined the surroundings, and focused on the chocolates over on the side of the counter.

      "Ah, ah, ah!" I shrieked, reaching for the distant chocolaty goodness.

      "No, Nat," Flower told me, "it's almost dinnertime." Her logic was met by an annoying high pitched screech by me. My siblings and owner all covered their ears as Skooter tried to calm me down.

      "Just get him some chocolate!" she ordered. I was quickly silenced as the sugary deliciousness was stuck in my mouth. "Nat," Skooter yelled, trying to get my attention. I slowly looked over at her as she was explaining her plans to take me to the magma pool again. "I give up!" she cried as I was ignoring her, sucking on the chocolate in my mouth. "I'm taking you to the magma pool first thing in the morning tomorrow!"

      "Don't you have school tomorrow?" Lele asked her.

      "I'm taking you to the magma pool first thing in the morning Saturday!" Skooter revised. My eyes only glazed over her as I started staring at the clock behind her as it started ringing for six o'clock.

      "Dinnertime," Skooter moaned. She pulled the meal she was preparing while I was asleep and put the plates in front of my siblings. Flower poked her pile of toxic waste Skooter regularly prepares and sighed.

      "I'm starting to wish I got Boochied," she whined.

      "Be quiet," Skooter moaned "it's bad enough he's going to be a baby for a week. I don't need your attitude." I continued to chew the bar of chocolate in my mouth as my sister continued to whine.

      "Why isn't he able to talk like me?" TheEyrie asked her, trying to keep the mush down.

      "Maybe Boochi's ray is different from a baby paint brush," Lele guessed. The others nodded, mumbling in agreement.

      ---

      Life (or at least a week) of being baby went by pretty quickly. I can't remember a single thing that happened, the whole first day was relayed to me when I asked about it later. I snapped out of the daze that is being a baby when Skooter threw me into the pool of magma in Moltara. I slowly regained my maturity as I started growing and my fur became a wall of fire around my body. I stared at Skooter for a second as the bandana was burned off by magma. I was about to say something when the guard yelled at me to get out of the pool. I quickly jumped out and we ran away.

      "You just threw me into the giant pool of magma?" I asked her as we headed back to the neohome.

      "You jumped in on your own the first time; I didn't think there would be any problem," Skooter answered. We headed back to the neohome and as soon as she opened the door, my little brother flew and almost knocked me over.

     "When am I getting my fire, fire paint brush?" he asked immediately.

     "I think we should go with something we can get at any random store, okay?" Skooter responded, glaring at him. TheEyrie mumbled unhappily, but consented.

     Later at dinner, as I poked at the pile of "food," I noticed the last of the chocolates on the counter and asked, "Can I have that instead?"

     "Very funny," Skooter grumbled. She must not be the mothering type; that week taxed her patience greatly.

     The moral of this story is: no good deed goes unpunished, so if you can, try and avoid helping anyone around you.

The End