Just a Day Without Rules

      "Well, Kat won't notice. Right, Morpheus?" he said to his Anubis. The petpet was sitting in a majestic manner, watching Angel push the last of his stuff underneath the bed. "At least I finished my chores early!" He tossed Morpheus a little ball to play with and ran out the door.

      "Hold it!" A teenage girl blocked the Zafara's path. "Angel, just where do you think you're going?"

      "Um…I'm done with my duties…so…" His voice trailed off as he realized suddenly what he had to do next.

***

"Chores, chores, and more chores!" grumbled Angel as he pushed a chair aside to sweep up the dust that had collected under it. "Why can't we just have fun?" "Because Kat is the ultimate neat freak?" joked a faerie Acara, who was hovering in the air, wiping a Framed Neopian Times on the wall. "Or maybe it's just because she's too busy to do it all herself?"

      A white Aisha walked in, carrying a whole bunch of weird items in her arms. "Come on, Glitter," said Fluffy. "You know Kat does some work around here too. It's just that she's busy with schoolwork. And you two should have seen her clean up last week! The kitchen was so sparkly, you'd wish that you had some sunglasses with you at that time!" She kicked open the front door with her left foot. "Well, I'm off to put these in our small shop! I'll help you guys out when I'm done shoving all this restock there." Fluffy closed the door behind her with her right foot, with a little difficulty.

      Glitter and Angel traded a look. Then the faerie Acara landed back onto the floor and started to speak again.

      "But still, she has no right to put this much work on us! We should contact the authorities!" she exploded.

      "That's too extreme," answered Angel.

      "Too extreme? I was made to clean the bathroom!" said a voice from the kitchen. A striped Kacheek emerged, eating a chocolate chip cookie. "Bathrooms are hard work, even harder than taking down one of those Skeith Soldiers during the war," he added, biting down on the cookie and scattering crumbs all over the floor.

      "Aw, great!" moaned Glitter. "I swept the floor awhile ago and you go eating cookies…"

      "Who's eating cookies?" asked another voice from afar. "I told you guys not to eat sweets before lunch!"

      In a flash, Kat sprinted towards Sweet and snatched the cookie from his paw. "Honestly, you'll spoil your appetite for lunch!" She tossed it back into the jar, covered it and placed on a high shelf, out of reach.

      "I can still reach THAT!" said Glitter proudly as she alighted and hovered four feet in the air.

      "Glitter, no flying in the kitchen!" scolded the girl sternly. "You'll topple a jar or maybe even injure yourself!" The faerie Acara landed onto a chair, frowning. "Hey, did I miss anything?" Fluffy walked towards the group. But Kat was already eyeing her feet as they made contact with the floor, with every step.

      "Didn't I tell you all clearly, to wipe your feet before entering?" sighed the teenage girl. "We can't waste any more time cleaning this mess up!"

      "Then let's not clean it up and pretend it's not there at all!" suggested Angel cheerfully.

      Kat shook her head. "Nope, not an option. Someone could slip on all that dirt, or one of your petpets could be caught eating that, or…"

      "THERE'S JUST TOO MANY RULES IN HERE!" screamed Sweet and Glitter together. "Can't we just do stuff our way for once? We're not slaves, you know!"

      The girl was taken aback for a moment…then she started thinking. Her lips curled into a small smile as she adjusted her hair ribbon.

      "Why, that's a very good idea," she answered calmly, much to the four pets' surprise. "Tomorrow, you can all do whatever you want. No rules, no chores, no work. Go ahead, no holds barred. I'm not joking." She strolled back into her room, still wearing a little triumphant grin.

      And in the kitchen, the quad just stood there, still in shock, until…

      "YEAH! NO RULES! NO CHORES! ALL RIGHT!"

***

The next day dawned bright and early. Angel rubbed his eyes and looked out the window. "Why does the sun always have to be so early?" he asked to himself. Then suddenly, everything they did yesterday came back to him, like a forgotten birthday present…

      The blue Zafara dashed out of the room and into the kitchen, where he spotted Kat eating a cookie and stuffing a backpack with all sorts of stuff. Glitter, Sweet and Fluffy were gobbling chocolate chip cookies.

      "What…is today the no-rules day?" asked Angel, grabbing a cookie.

      "That's right," said Kat, with a grin. "But first, I have to do some things I wasn't able to do, due to the work I have been doing some time ago. That means I've got to run, and you guys can do whatever you want here. See you soon!"

      The girl grabbed her backpack and sprinted for the door, leaving the four pets at the table with a half-empty cookie jar. There was a very long silence.

      Then, with a little glance at each other, everyone dashed in different directions. Glitter, being a faerie Acara, flew instead of ran.

***

In just the span of two minutes and twenty-six seconds, Fluffy, Angel, Sweet and Glitter were all streaking and playing in different directions. Angel and Sweet started raiding the cabinet for all sorts of chocolate and candy. Glitter flew from one room to the other, showing off to her siblings. And Fluffy was unwrapping a Raspberry Sweetie while reading a huge book and perched on the dining table.

      "Having no rules is fun!" said Angel happily as he grabbed a handful of Chocolate Chias Kat usually kept in a small bag at the back of the cabinet. The Zafara ate them all at once, not minding the small crumbs that fell to the floor.

      "I agree," said Fluffy serenely behind her book. "I can finally have some candy while reading, and just read the whole day."

      "Aren't you going to play around or something?" asked Sweet as he tossed a ball to Glitter. "Come on, we can't waste this day sitting around!" The Acara hurled the ball back to the Kacheek, but hit a vase instead. It broke into pieces, but no one paid any attention.

      "That's an excellent idea!" said Fluffy, tossing her book aside onto the table along with the candy wrapper. She jumped up and tagged Angel suddenly. "Catch me if you can!" squealed the Aisha as she scrambled for a room to hide.

      The blue Zafara grinned and ran after his sister. "I'm coming for you! You can't hide from me!" he yelled, overturning a chair as he sprinted for Fluffy. The two siblings wove in and out of the hallways, and eventually Glitter and Sweet joined in. The faerie Acara was eating a white chocolate Kiko as she soared after Fluffy, and Sweet was climbing up and jumping off nearly everything he saw.

      "I'm tired," called the white Aisha as she plopped onto her bed. "Can't we call the game off?"

      "Sure…let's all jump on the bed!" screamed Angel as he hopped up onto Fluffy's bed and started jumping on it, rumpling the covers considerably.

      Meanwhile Glitter and Sweet came into the room, whacking each other with huge pink pillows and plush toys. Fluffy got off her bed, grabbed her rainbow Aisha plushie and joined the fray. Feathers flew everywhere, even a stray stuffed paw. Angel stopped jumping and leapt off the bed…right onto the trio. All four pets collapsed to the ground, laughing and still hitting each other with pillows and plushies.

      Suddenly it turned into a chase as well, as Angel stood up and sprinted towards his room to look for some toys.

      "Get him!" yelled the striped Kacheek, smiling. He and his sisters pursued the Zafara, hurling toys and pillows after him. Angel ducked under the bed to hide, but Fluffy found him immediately and pulled him out.

      "I found him, Sweet!" she called. "Let's go to the living room!"

      "Wait!" Glitter responded. "I want to eat something first! I'll go get more chocolate and candy!"

      "Don't forget the ice cream!" laughed Angel as he was dragged by Fluffy over to the living room. Since he had been hiding in a dusty place, the two pets left a trail of dust all over the hallway.

      As the pair reached their destination, a loud cry arose from the kitchen.

      "COOKIE FIGHT!!!"

      Then, as if on cue, Glitter flew out, pelting cookies at the striped Kacheek, and Sweet retaliated by hurling more at her. They ran into the living room, where Sweet slipped onto a huge rug and crash-landed into a chair. Then the Acara and Kacheek sprinted out the door. Fluffy and Angel were now bouncing on the sofa, singing loudly and hurling plushies at each other again. But the Zafara slipped and plopped onto a stray pillow, laughing so hard that his sides hurt.

      "W-Where did Glitter and Sweet go?" asked Fluffy, jumping off the sofa and onto the table, knocking another vase to the floor. Angel said nothing, but pointed at the front door, still chuckling madly.

      Sure enough, both of them ran back inside. Glitter was covered in dirt, and Sweet was tracking a lot of it on the floor. And as if that wasn't disgusting enough, he was hurling dirt at his other siblings, who tried to dodge and duck, and hurl more things at him.

      But in the midst of the fray, Angel felt something inside him. He walked to a nearby chair, clutching his stomach. "Um, guys?" he asked his older siblings, "I don't feel so good…" He sat down quietly.

      "I don't, either," said Glitter, landing beside the Zafara. "And I feel all muddy."

      "Something tells me we need a break," added Fluffy, plopping onto a beanbag chair. "I think we should rest for awhile." She moaned and sank deeper into the chair.

      "What are you talking…" Sweet stopped and joined his siblings on the floor. "My stomach hurts, my legs hurt from running, and I'm all sweaty and dirty."

      "My wings hurt," said Glitter uneasily. "I flew too much."

      "And we jumped too much," groaned Fluffy and Angel together.

      The four looked around the Neohome. Pillows, plushies and dirt were scattered everywhere. There were crumbs all over the place, along with dust and candy wrappers. Some vases had been broken and a few chairs were overturned. One cabinet in the kitchen had been thrown open and deprived of all its contents. There was not a clean spot in sight. The rug in the living room had been rumpled up.

      "Now what do we do?" asked Sweet. "I don't want to clean up!"

      "Of course you don't," said a voice in the doorway. The quad turned and saw a flustered-looking girl standing there. "Of course you hate cleaning, but it's your job, right? It's your duty, and for every right or bit of freedom you get here, you get a corresponding responsibility. For example, I let you play, but only after doing all your chores."

      "Kat…" moaned Fluffy. "You're…you're back so early."

      "Naturally," answered Kat. "I just wanted to see how you'd react to a day without rules and responsibilities, and I can tell that you had fun at first, but as time went by…it became quite unpleasant."

      "You're right," mumbled Glitter. "Look at me! I'm all dirty!"

      "And this place is a shambles," added Fluffy. "It looks like a dump, or something we left alone for ten years." All four pets fell silent and thought hard and long. Soon all of them turned back to Kat, who was smiling.

      "So, have you learned your lesson?" she asked.

      "Yes, we have," said Angel.

      "Rules are significant," added Fluffy.

      "We need responsibilities, and rules, and chores," Sweet replied.

      "We should always clean up," said Glitter.

      The girl nodded. "Good. Now remember what I said: For every bit of freedom you get here, you get a corresponding responsibility. Agreed?" she asked.

      "Agreed," repeated the four pets, crestfallen.

      "Very good indeed. Now, let's all clean up this mess."

      "NOOOOOO!!"

The End