She Never Left

      That's when disaster struck.

     ***

"Where are you going?" Sharon, Tessa's human owner, asked.

      Tessa was in the front yard of her Neohome. She had a leash tied around her Angelpuss, Robin's, neck.

      "I'm going to walk Robin around the block," Tessa replied.

      Tessa and her owner lived in a peaceful spot in the kingdom of Meridell. That didn't mean they dressed as knights, peasants, and all that other fun stuff. They were average Neopians living in a place of their choosing.

      "Ugh, you really do spoil that thing, now don't you?" Sharon asked Tessa, crossing her arms.

      "Nah," Tessa replied, "I just want the BEST Angelpuss in the world to get the BEST of the best."

      She walked off, tugging the leash behind her. Robin grunted and tried to jerk the leash off of her neck. She whimpered as she stopped moving her legs and just let Tessa drag her along the sidewalk.

      "Oh, come on, Robin," Tessa said, "try walking."

      Tessa began moving again, tugging the leash alongside her, dragging Robin all the way. Robin continued to try and wiggle her way out of the leash. Tessa dragged her Angelpuss all the way from her home to the Meridell Food Shoppe.

      "Want something to eat?" Tessa asked her petpet.

      Robin stuck her tongue out.

      "I'll get you some Neonip. How does that sound?" Tessa said, ignoring her Angelpuss's actions.

      Tessa walked up to the food Shoppe and waited in line. Robin, noticing her owner wasn't looking, quickly clawed at and bit the leash. After about five minutes of struggling, Robin managed to get the leash off of her neck. Robin then bolted from the area, running as fast as her stubby little legs could take her, in the northwestern direction. Tessa took the Neonip from the Meerca running the Food Shoppe. She turned to see Robin's lone leash lying on the ground.

      "Robin?" Tessa called softly, looking around the area.

      She looked in the northwestern direction and spotted Robin running as fast as she could, looking behind her at Tessa. Tessa gasped when she saw that Robin was heading straight for the Turmaculus.

      "Oh no…" Tessa whispered.

      Robin snickered when she saw Tessa simply standing there. She came to an abrupt halt when she suddenly ran into a large, lumpy object. Robin fell backwards and rubbed her head. She looked up to see the Great Turmaculus sleeping right before her.

      "Goo… gabba dabba bah…" Robin muttered in gibberish, standing up and poking the Turmaculus with her sharp claws.

      The Turmaculus's eyes suddenly shot open. It stood up from its sleeping position on the warm, green grass of Meridell and roared as loud as it could.

      Both Tessa and Robin gasped at the same time. Robin backed up a few steps and fell backwards. The Turmaculus opened up it's large, slobbery mouth and inched towards Robin. Robin screamed as the Turmaculus's tongue wrapped around her body and pulled her into the Turmaculus's horrid mouth.

      "NOOOOOO!!!" Tessa shrieked.

      She tried to lunge at the Turmaculus, but some of the Meridell citizens held her back, telling her it was too late. Tessa cried and cried and cried as she tried to escape the grasps of the citizens. She fell to the ground and bawled as hard as she could, unable to take in the fact that her one and only petpet was gone for good.

     ***

      Three months after that particular incident, the doorbell rang at Sharon and Tessa's NeoHome. Sharon opened the door to find a Blue Shoyru wearing a black top hat and a black jacket with a briefcase in hand standing before her.

      "Oh!" Sharon exclaimed, "You must be Mr. Johnston!"

      The Shoyru nodded his head, "That's me."

      "Oh," Sharon started, "well, please, come in!"

      Mr. Johnston stepped inside the NeoHome while Sharon slowly shut the door behind him. He stuck his hat on a coat hanger to the side, and turned to face Sharon.

      Sharon stuck out her hand and said, "My name is Sharon. It's very nice to make your acquaintance, Mr. Johnston."

      Mr. Johnston shook her hand, "It's nice to meet you, too."

      "So, you're here to see Tessa about her… erm… problem, right?" Sharon asked him.

      "Well, I need to know what her problem is, first," Mr. Johnston replied, brushing some imaginary debris off of his jacket.

      "Oh, yes, right," Sharon stuttered, "well, about three months ago, the Turmaculus killed my Wocky's Angelpuss."

      "And, she still hasn't gotten over it?" Mr. Johnston finished the sentence for her.

      "Well, you could say that…" Sharon started, motioning to Tessa who was just entering the room."

      "Oh, hi Mum!" Tessa greeted Sharon, "And, hello, visitor."

      Tessa turned her attention to the floor. She kneeled down and started stroking the air, just as if she were petting some kind of critter. She reached her arms out pretended like she was picking something up.

      "Hello, Robin!" Tessa said, looking at her outstretched hands as if she were looking at something she was holding, "Are you ready to go out for our daily walk around the area?"

      Tessa strapped the leash around, well, nothing, just as if she were strapping the leash around her Angelpuss. She grabbed the end of the leash and dragged it outside.

      "Be back, later, Mum!" Tessa called, just before shutting the front door.

      Mr. Johnston turned to look at Sharon, "So, she pretends Robin is still alive?"

      "Yes," Sharon said, "she puts food down for her. She spends hours throwing Neonip critters around. She constantly buys toys, food, accessories, and all that other stuff for her. I don't know what to do!"

      Mr. Johnston looked around the room, "Give me a few moments alone with her, I'll figure out what she's up to."

      Mr. Johnston stepped past Sharon and opened the front door. He found Tessa just about to leave the front yard.

      "Tessa!" he called to her.

      Tessa spun around, gripping the leash in her hand.

      "Yeah?" she called back to him.

      "Come here for a second!" Mr. Johnston told her, "I want to talk to you."

      "I have to take Robin out on her daily walk!"

      "This won't take long!"

      "Ugh! Fine!"

      Tessa bent down and untied the leash. She extended her arms and acted like she was picking something up. She walked up to Mr. Johnston, pretending she was carrying her petpet.

      "Okay, Robin," Tessa said, "the mean Shoyru wants to talk to me for a second. Then, we'll go on our walk!"

      The two walked inside, and Tessa acted as if she were putting her petpet down.

      "Why don't you show me your room, Tessa?" Mr. Johnston suggested.

      "Stop trying to get me to like you," Tessa ordered, opening the door to her room.

      The two walked inside, and Mr. Johnston shut the door behind him. Tessa sat in front of her dresser. A rectangular mirror was placed on the wall in front of her.

      "Okay," Tessa started, "so, what do you want?"

      "Tessa," Mr. Johnston started, "your mother tells me that you still feed, play, and interact with your petpet. Even though it had that terrible accident with the Turmaculus a few months ago."

      "Yeah," Tessa told him, "Robin got attacked by that big lump. But, she came back to me! I'm so happy! I thought she was gone for good!"

      She stroked her paw through the air as if she were petting her Angelpuss, again.

      "Oh!" Mr. Johnston said, "I see Robin's in here with us."

      "Of course she is," Tessa replied, sneering, "how can you not notice this perfect little ball of fat?"

      She pretended to hug her petpet.

      "Oh… right…" Mr. Johnston said, beginning to think the Wocky was crazy, "look, Tessa, I hate to break it to you, but, your petpet isn't there."

      "Excuse me?" Tessa turned to look at him.

      "When the Turmaculus ate your petpet, it was gone for good," Mr. Johnston explained to her, "it never came back, Tessa, you're imagining her."

      "No, I'm not," Tessa replied, "she never left!"

      Tessa pretended to pick up her petpet. She had a very disgruntled look on her face as she turned to leave the room.

      "Talk to ya later," Tessa said.

      Mr. Johnston sighed as he sat down in front of Tessa's dresser. He looked up at the rectangular mirror in front of him and gasped. In the mirror, there was a reflection of Tessa, panting very hard. And in front of her, was a small, fat, Ghost Angelpuss, sticking its tongue out at Mr. Johnston.

The End

Author's Note: Oh, what a short story! I hope you like it. =P