A Day at the Bark

     What more could Larry ask for? It felt like a perfect day. He was so excited for a few days off from work at the mall - he had been working hard and decided that the Festival of Neggs was the perfect time to put use his vacation days. And he sure was right - this weather!

     He took out a can of Achyfi - celery flavour, his favourite - and took a big gulp before ultimately laying back down in the shade of the tree.

     Staring up, Larry watched the clouds through the branches and leaves on the tree. He didn't have enough field of vision to spot shapes and characters in the clouds, but it was enough to enjoy the view. Staring at the clouds, Larry was zoning out, his eyes starting to feel heavy. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

     OOF!

     What was that?

     Larry had awoken to a thud on his stomach. Seeing as the sun was bright, he hadn't noticed what had landed on him. It didn't hurt, but seeing as it woke him up out of a joyous slumber, he felt a bit disoriented as he was looking around, making sense of things.

     A few seconds later, he felt something against his leg. It was a bit wet, but it was moving fast. As his eyes focused, he saw an adorable Strawberry Spardel licking his leg. The Spardel stopped and proceeded to curl up in a ball just to his right. The resting little Petpet was so cute, Larry thought.

     Larry looked around; surely, he thought, this is somebody's Spardel. Where is the owner?

     Some time had passed while he was asleep, the Zafaras and Kacheek having a picnic had left, the Lupe had left the Usul who was now just sitting on a bench with her Doglefox, and the Beekadoodles had either flown away or disappeared deeper into the trees - but they couldn't be seen anymore. The sun had gone down a bit - not completely, but it was a bit cooler. Nobody else was really around.

     "I guess you're out here by yourself, little buddy, is that right?" Larry said as he began to sit up.

     The shuffling woke the Spardel. He shifted a bit but didn't get up. With a bit of hesitance at first, Larry reached over and pet the Spardel. He had always had an affinity for the little guys - Larry had always loved Spardels, really even just the idea of having any Petpet, but he was always too worried he wouldn't be able to take care of one. It's hard enough to take care of myself, Larry thought, how could I care for a Petpet?

     Petting this Spardel was nice for Larry, though. He's so friendly, Larry thought, and the Strawberry coat - this red is so vibrant, it makes me feel happy, especially in this sunlight. And Spardels, with their little tongues sticking out while they're at rest - Larry has always found that so cute, ranking Spardels up pretty high on the list of his favourite Petpets.

     "Hey, little fella, where did you come from?" Larry asked the unresponsive Spardel.

     He saw no sign of ownership - no collar, no tag, he tried a few generic-sounding names and the Spardel seemed to have no specific response to any. Okay - the last method was a little silly, sure, but it didn't seem like the Spardel had an owner. Now what?

     Larry sat there, under the tree, for a while, enjoying the company of the Spardel, who seemed to not want to leave his side either. It began to get a bit darker, so Larry decided to head home. He wasn't sure what to do - should he take the Spardel with him, or leave the Petpet at the park, to resume whatever he was doing before finding Larry?

     Larry decided to just start walking home - taking care of a Petpet was still something somewhat terrifying to him. After walking a bit, he went to take one last glance at the little Spardel; only to see he was no longer under the tree!

     It took about half a second for Larry to notice the Spardel had run up and begun walking just next to Larry. He paused, and the Spardel paused with him. He kept walking, and the Spardel scampered a bit to keep up with his pace.

     Feeling pressured to make a quick decision, Larry decided he had to let the Spardel follow him home. Well, surely he will head leave soon though, he's a wild Spardel, I doubt he'd want to stick along, Larry thought.

     "I'm going to call you Sparky. I know it sounds a bit cliché, but I found you at a Park, and Parky just sounds silly, so I figured Sparky, that's a good name, but maybe it's too obvious..." Larry trailed off as he began to feel a bit silly explaining his reason for naming a Wild Spardel to said Spardel. "Anyway... Hi, Sparky! Thanks for sticking around and keeping my company today. It's been a real pleasure. Today's been such a nice day."

     Larry continued the walk back to his Neohome. It was not too far from the park, but just enough to have a decent walk back, and Larry enjoyed the walks. The Spardel continued to follow Larry all the way home.

     "Oh! You finally got a Petpet, now did you? He's adorable!" shouted Larry's neighbour, sitting on her porch, smiling, sipping a can of Neocola.

     Larry was caught off guard. Is that what happened. Did he find a Petpet for himself? No, he couldn't - this was a wild Spardel, and Larry didn't know how to take care of a Petpet.

     "Th-Thanks," Larry said, perhaps not even loud enough to be heard.

     He then scurried up to his front door, immediately followed by the Strawberry Spardel. Sparky, the Strawberry Spardel.

     "Well, I guess you have no intention of leaving me, huh, buddy?" Larry said to Sparky, who began now excitedly wagging his tail. "Well, I can't resist your adorable little face. I guess you can come on in. I've actually got some food for you from petpetsitting for a friend a few weeks ago and first thing in the morning we can run to the store and get you some supplies."

     Larry made his way to the pantry to get some food for Sparky, and the bright red little Spardel followed him the whole way there - the start of a beautiful friendship.

     The End.