Caring for Kadoaties

      Aah the Kadoatery, a place where feeding frenzies are the norm and the cries of the those little Kadoaties can be heard as far as Brightvale.

      Despite the piercing cries of the Kads, this was a dream job for one little Krawk named Kenadee. She had always wanted to work with Kadoaties as they were her favorite petpets in all of Neopia. And after all, they did need someone to tend to them while their owners were on vacation.

      She was so excited to start her new job that she had barely gotten any sleep the night before. But here she was. Kenadee, Keeper of the Kadoaties, the title she had settled on as sleep eluded her. The caretaker of the Kadoatery had said desk clerk or something like that but she knew her job would be much more than that.

      As she walked up the path to the entrance, she noticed a Yellow Wocky covering her ears and running from the Kadoatery as fast as her legs could carry her. "Hmm, I wonder what that was about?" Kenadee wondered aloud.

      A wave of very loud meowling met her that some would describe as a horrible screech but Kenadee didn't mind the sound. "I think I'm gonna love it here." she squeaked to herself.

      "Ah! You must be the new clerk." a voice croaked from behind the counter.

      "This must be the caretaker," Kenadee thought. There was something very mysterious about him. A certain twinkle in his eye like he knew something you didn't.

      "Uh, yes I am! I'm Kenadee. Thank you so much for the job. It's been a dream of mine since I was a hatchling."

      "This job isn't for everyone, you know. These little creatures are cunning and wise. You need to keep on your toes here. You will do well to remember that."

      "I have read every book on Kadoaties I could find, you could even quiz me if you'd like." she said, eager to prove herself.

      "Books? There's only so much a moldy old books can teach you. No, experience, good old-fashioned, hands-on, experience. That's how you learn. That's what you'll need to, survi-uh..work here." said the caretaker. Clearly thinking better of scaring of the new help he had put an ad out for. Good thing she had applied when she did. He was beginning to lose hope that he'd ever get any help around here. No one ever seemed to want to stick around here.

      "Well, in that case, I look forward to learning all I can working here." Kenadee said, hoping the caretaker wasn't regretting his new hire.

      The caretaker seemed to be considering her words carefully because he had a far away look on his face and didn't seem to notice the Draik that had just come in with his Kad carrier in hand. The Draik looked almost defeated when he said he was there to pick up Loki, his little Rainbow Kadoatie. He winced as a particularly loud Kadoatie mewled from the back.

      "Ah, yes, Mr. Valand! Right this way Sir." said the caretaker.

      "No, no, you just fetch him for me, won't you?" asked Mr. Valand.

      "I can get him for you" Kenadee said eagerly.

      "You can help me get him, come with me" the caretaker said.

      They both walked down the hall towards the source of the incessant mewling. Neither had noticed the Draik pulling his hat down over his ears trying in vain to block out the noise.

      Kenadee almost tripped over herself trying to race inside the room. There, along each wall, was row, upon row of mewing, hungry Kads. They peered through their cages at them but never stopped crying.

      "Can I hold one of them?" Kenadee asked, running up to one of the cages.

      "Nooo! Don't open the cage!" shouted the caretaker.

      Kenadee jumped back, startled. "W-why not?" she asked.

      "I told you that you need to be on your toes with these little guys." said the caretaker.

      Kenadee watched as the caretaker went over to a cage in the far corner and pulled something out of his pocket. She moved closer to see what it was.

      "You have to always remember to keep a treat on you when opening these cages." he said. He had taken the treat and placed it in the back of the carrier Mr. Valand had brought.

      Kenadee watched carefully as the caretaker unlocked the cage that Loki was in. She noticed the Kadoatie eyeing the treat that he had also watched the caretaker take out of his pocket and place in the carrier.

      The caretaker slowly pulled the door to the cage open and held the carrier for the little Kad to go into. Loki immediately sprang for the treat and was back out of the carrier just as fast.

      "Quick! Shut the door!" the caretaker yelled.

      Kenadee had already sprang into action, diving for the Kadoatie, who was nearly out the door. Loki hissed as she managed to pull him back and hold him for the caretaker.

      "Good catch." said the caretaker, coming over with the carrier.

      Kenadee managed a weak smile while trying to catch her breath. "D0 they do that a lot?"

      "Nearly, every time. Some of them even know how to unlock their cages. Those are the ones you have to look out for" the caretaker said.

      "Let's get this little guy to his owner and then I'll tell you all about the time I nearly lost two Kadoaties in one day." said the caretaker, laughing at the look of horror that replaced the grin.

      Kenadee was thrilled that she managed to catch the Kad but she couldn't help but worry now, what if she loses a Kadoatie?

      The caretaker seemed to read her mind. "Don't worry, they don't get out that often. Not if you are very careful."

      They had reached the lobby and Mr. Valand looked relieved to be able to finally get out of there and wasted no time, shouting a thank you over his shoulder on his way out the door.

      Kenadee and the caretaker looked at each other and they chuckled. Not everyone loved the cry of the Kadoaties. In fact, most people seemed to run from it.

      "So...you almost lost two Kads in one day?" Kenadee asked.

      "Sure did. It was only my second day and I thought I could handle them all by myself. Boy, was I wrong."

      "What happened?"

      "Well, I had forgot to close the door to the Kad Room when I was bringing in a new Tyrannian Kadoatie. As I reached down to open the cage to put him in, a cage behind me swung open. Much to my surprise, a Faerie Kad behind me had managed to open her cage." the caretaker said, acting out the scene. "All of the sudden, the little Kad I was holding jumped out of the carrier and was off in a flash" said the caretaker, chuckling to himself. "I didn't know which one to go after, it all happened so fast."

      "Woah! How did the she open her cage?" Kenadee asked.

      "That, I still haven't figured out. That's why you must always keep that door closed."

      "So what happened next?" Kenadee asked, hoping she would never have to tell anyone a story about when she lost a Kadoatie.

      "They ran out down the hall and into the lobby. I tried to catch the one that could fly first. Who knows where she could have gone off to if I hadn't. The owner of the Tyrannian Kadoatie was trying to catch him but having no luck and the other owner was trying to help me catch the escapee. Finally, after chasing those two all over the Kadoatery, tripping over one another, just grasping a tail only to have it slip through our fingers, we caught them." he said, nearly out of breath trying to get the story out. "And they were not happy, let me tell you. They fought, they mewled, they stuck their legs out trying to keep from going back in the cages, but in the end we got them back in."

      Kenadee wondered if the same thing would have happened, had she not caught the Kad earlier.

      "Are you sure you want this job?" the caretaker asked.

      "Are you kidding? I was born for this!" Kenadee said, the biggest grin spreading across her face.

      "You'll make a fine caretaker, a fine one indeed."

      The End.