Kadoatie's Day Out

     He curled up in a comfortable ball and tried to shut out the incessant wailing of the rest of the Kadoaties in their cages which lined the walls of the Kadoatery.

     His stomach rumbled painfully but he refused to give up his standards like the other petpets. He turned his nose at all offers of toast and jacket potatoes and kept his request for a sparkling ice lolly firm. It wasn't his fault he had good taste.

     A starry Bruce stopped in front of his cage hopefully. The visitor held out a Grilled Chicken Sandwich but Sir Purrsalot nearly scratched his eyes out so the Bruce moved on.

     The pink Kadoatie watched the clock's second hand tick away, mimicking its tune with the flick of his tail.

     At exactly 10:37:40 NST, a hundred or so Neopians came flooding into the Kadoatery, throwing hot dogs, doughnuts, and chocolate faerie logs into the cages, trying to make the other Kadoaties happy.

     Sir Purrsalot looked hopefully at the givers, but none of them yielded a sparkling ice lolly. After every single Kad was fat and happy, Sir Purrsalot remained unfed.

     Why do they keep us in these cages, he thought miserably.

     He felt there was a whole world of ice lollys out there just waiting for him. He pawed the cage door angrily. Why did he have to sit here and beg for poorer Neopians to give him his fill?

     He pawed the door again, more out of frustration than planning, but to his surprise, the rusted hinge gave way and the door swung open.

     The crying in the Kadoatery ceased as every furry face turned towards him.

     Sir Purrsalot took a tentative step out of his cage.

     "What are you doing?" his neighbor, Fishsticks, hissed. "We aren't supposed to leave our cages."

     Sir Purrsalot paused, but then he remembered Fishsticks liked to eat rotting wormburgers, so he wasn't sure he should be taking his advice seriously.

     He took another step.

     "You're going to get us all in trouble," Her Highness piped in. "Return to your cage immediately."

     Just out of spite, Sir Purrsalot raised his behind pointedly in her direction as he leaped down from his prison. Luckily, his cage wasn't as high up as the others. The soles of his feet were quite sensitive.

     He pranced through the hallway of cages, while all the other Kadoaties watched him. Some of them were silent, others began crying and a few, like Dr_Sloth even bribed him to help them also escape.

     Sir Purrsalot ignored them all and headed out into the sunshine of the Neopian Plaza.

     He smelled the fresh air, and plopped down on the grass, relishing a different texture than the cold steel of his cage floor.

     "Oh my Fyora!" came a shrill voice to Sir Purrsalot's ears.

     He arched his back and readied his claws for shredding, but relaxed when he saw it was merely a female Kyrii dressed royally in a jeweled blue dress and matching tiara.

     Expensive taste, just like him, thought Sir Purrsalot. I'm sure she can afford a sparkling ice lolly.

     So he unleashed his secret weapon. He purred.

     "Oh! Aren't you the cutest little thing," the Kyrii gushed. "And all alone! You poor thing. Let Princess Jules make you feel all better!"

     Sir Purrsalot felt himself being picked up and squeezed, which he was not very fond of ever since he realized cuddling made his hair matted.

     He continued to purr, however, as the Kyrii took him back to her expansive neohome. He was led to a lavish bedroom where he hopped down from his captor's arms and headed for the King size bed.

     "Oh, no, Mr. Sprinklepants, this is your bed."

     He was caught by the back of his neck and plucked down upon a scratchy pillow smelling overwhelmingly like lavender. He sneezed.

     "Aren't you just precious," Princess Jules cooed.

     Sir Purrsalot gave her his 'abandoned puppyblew' look, hoping for a treat. Instead, he was stuffed into a red sparkly dress and matching princess crown.

     After fifteen minutes of playing tea party, Sir Purrsalot shook off the silly costume and mewed loudly to signal it was time for him to be fed.

     "Oh, you're hungry," the Kyrii said. "I've got just the thing for you!"

     The Kadoatie became very excited when he saw the can in her hands, but next second he nearly gagged. Was she trying to poison him?

     The label said it was "Wet Kad Food. Made with real ingredients!"

     Sir Purrsalot wasn't sure what those 'real ingredients' were, but the pile of brownish slop looked like something you'd find on the floor of Splode's cage in the morning after a day of scarfing down chocolate coated hot dogs.

     "After you eat," Princess Jules said, petting his back without noticing his lack of purring, "we'll get you all cleaned up with a nice warm bath!"

     That's it, Sir Purrsalot thought. I have to get out of here.

     Once Princess Jules had her back turned, refilling his cup of tea, he jumped towards the window and raced down the street. He only ran a few houses down for he hadn't gotten much exercise in the Kadoatery and found he was panting rather hard.

     By now, Sir Purrsalot was extremely hungry. He would even settle for a snow bagel right now. A whiff of something delicious caught his attention and he staggered into Neopia Central until he came upon a small cafe.

     He fluffed out his fur as much as he could and approached a small table area outside where several Neopians were enjoying lattes, scones and a burst of afternoon sunshine.

     A purple JubJub supping on coffee with his Warf nearby looked like an easy petpet loving target.

     Sir Purrsalot mewed hopefully and attempted to rub against his feet.

     "Get out of here! Dirty stray," the JubJub hissed, kicking his feet at the poor Kadoatie. His warf growled and nicked Sir Purrsalot's tail as he scrambled away.

     Dirty stray!? thought Sir Purrsalot angrily. He took a moment to assess his fur. It was pretty matted from dirt and sweat, and there was a small stain where Princess Jules had spilt some tea on him.

     He let himself meander on autopilot through the streets, wincing at the pains in his stomach. He found himself outside the Pizzaroo. He whimpered hopefully at the apron clad Blumaroo.

     "There, there, little guy. Run along now," was all he said, before closing up his shop.

     Sir Purrsalot was alone, in the growing darkness, wincing at the coarse feel of the grass on his feet. He was cold and didn't fancy sleeping on the ground tonight. A sudden sound made him twitch and he scampered away, coming to a stop in front of a familiar place.

     The Kadoatery's lights twinkled serenely at him.

     Large drops of water suddenly began to rain down on him and without further ado, he dragged his sodden body back into the caged lined walls.

     The Kadoaties watched him but didn't ask him about the dirt in his fur, the dejected look in eyes, or the smell emanating from his every crevice.

     After a few minutes, the incessant mewing picked up again as Kadoaties went back to begging, but the sound didn't bother Sir Purrsalot.

     He saw that his cage door was still ajar and he walked back into it and curled up in a ball, enjoying the warmth.

     When he heard the familiar stampede of feet, he raised his head and when a Snow Techo offered him a piece of toast, he accepted it gratefully and began to purr.

The End