The Great Escape

     For years, Kadoaties of all colors are "dropped off" here while their owners are on "vacation". Once you get here, you never come out. You just spend the rest of your life in a cramped cage waiting desperately for food. Speaking of which, we Kadoaties are known to wait years for someone to get our requested meal. The reason it takes so long is that our food that we request is rare, and no one can get it. The strange thing is that we Kadoaties wanted cheap food, but the managers at the Kadoatery wouldn't let us.

     The cages that the Kadoaties like me rest in were the size of a stamp. Not even the smallest of petpetpets can fit in there. Every morning, we Kads wake up bruised and cramped from sleeping on the cold steel floor of the cage.

     You probably feel bad for me, because you think I have to go through all this. Oh no, not anymore. Want to know why? The answer is simple: I escaped.

     To make my escape route a little clear, I'll explain the whole thing.

      Two weeks ago...

     It was a noisy morning. I couldn't even take a nap due to the pitter-patter of the tapping rain on the roof. There were even a few leaks from the ceiling, releasing escaping water to the floor. Not only that, my stomach was growling so loud I couldn't even hear my own thoughts. And to top it all off, every single Kadoatie in the entire Kadoatery was wailing from hunger and the dimness in the Kadoatery. I wanted to wail, but I knew my wail would be added to the noises, making all the noise in here even louder.

     Suddenly, everything was silent. In an instant, the Kadoaties stopped wailing. Even the leaks stopped and my stomach didn't growl. I was relieved, but I remembered that my troubles had just begun.

     Without warning, the doors to the Kadoatery slammed open, releasing billions and billions of squealing Neopets inside. Each and every one of those pets was either here to get an avatar or a trophy just to feed one Kad. And to make my day even worse, my food request was a Blunella Brucicle, which was the rarest Brucicle known. So now, I'm going to starve for the whole day.

     But while I was moping, I felt a light poke on my front leg. I turned to my right, and found my neighbor, Spark giving me a Chokato Brucicle. It was slightly melted, but it looked good enough to eat.

     "Take it," he said sternly. "I already ate anyway."

     I grasped the stick of the Brucicle with my mouth and took it from Spark.

     "Thanks," I said once I set the Brucicle on my cage floor.

     "No problem," Spark replied before drifting off to a nap.

     Once Spark fell asleep, I dug into my meal. I hadn't eaten in days, so in five minutes, there was nothing left but a stick. Although, even if I ate, I felt a little empty. The thing that bothered me most was I didn't have a name. The place on my food request sign that said the name of the Kad was blank. Not even my former owner had named me. The Kadoaties always called me "Hey, you!" or "You!"

     That night, I thought it was time get out of here.

     When it was pitch black outside and stars popped up here and there, the light in the Kadoatery slowly started to dim. I gasped in horror; I knew the real trouble was going to start. Oh no, please, I prayed. But it was too late. The whole Kadoatery was black and I strained my eyes to see a Kadoatie's eyes well up with tears. And then... it wailed.

     And that little yelp led to a chain reaction of cries. Each Kad bawled and broke into hysterias because of their pathetic fear of the dark. I didn't bawl, but I did growl.

     "Alright, that's it!" I shouted.

     Luckily, my shout was loud enough to silence the Kadoaties. They did look a little scared, though.

     "I had enough of this Kadoatery!" I protested. "We Kads don't have to live like this any longer! We can escape, and I know the route! Who shall join me and live freely in the open?"

     And of course, all the Kadoaties mewed in agreement. They all cheered so loud that they almost shook their cages. After a little bounce, the Kadoaties sat down to listen to my plan. I thought I had no idea what to do, but at the corner of my eye I saw a little lever that I learned that opened the all the Kad cages. But I knew that I couldn't get out... at first. I reached my paw into the cage lock and poked my sharp claw in it. Finally, the lock clicked and the cage door slammed open. In no time flat, I jumped out of my cage in delight. I dashed over to the lever, which was cleverly within my reach. I pulled down on the lever.

     In seconds, all of the cage doors swung open, and all of the Kadoaties squealed in excitement and dove down all at once. All of the escaped Kads were rushing to the door like a multicolored waterfall. Once the Kads and I pushed on the door, it swung like it wanted us to leave. I'd never felt this thrilled galloping outside, for I hadn't felt the cool night air in months.

     Unfortunately, I was a little young and short, unlike the other Kadoaties, so I was kind of trampled. I couldn't see what was in front or behind me. Suddenly, my legs began to feel exhausted and weary. Then, I collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious. The last thing I saw was the Kadoaties.

     A few minutes, or hours later I awoke, I felt sluggish, and my legs were bruised, probably by Kads. My vision cleared up, but I couldn't see a thing. It must be still night, I thought. The only thing that was lit was the stars. However, I couldn't see what's in front of me. I tried to walk, but now and then I was afraid I was going to step into a cliff or ocean. So just to be safe, I used my tail to poke what's in front of me to make sure it wasn't a hole. Finally, I saw the sun rising from the east.

     Now that it was sunny, I saw what was in front of me: a pair of feet. I looked up to see a furry mane that was topped with a Wocky's head. The Wocky picked me up and smiled.

     "Now where'd you come from little fella?" the Wocky said.

     I purred and nudged against the Wocky's fur in reply. The Wocky smiled even more.

     "I'm Mary. How about I keep you... Bandit?" the Wocky said.

     I was overjoyed. I had a name that also matched me.

     And that's how I escaped.

The End