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I woke up in my bed sleepy. The sun shone through my
window and I heard birds chirping their songs across the morning air. Suddenly
I remembered. I became excited and a big smile spread across my face. Today
was my birthday!
I jumped out of bed and ran to the living room.
I dodged my way around the lamp stands, tables, bean bags, boxes and other things
that were in my way. Our house is pretty complex and cluttered even though its
a one story house.
I ran into a living room. My owner and my sister
Kelly were on the couch with a medium sized box. My eyes lit up straight away
when I saw my present. I walked towards them.
“Happy birthday Sal,” my owner and Kelly chirped
before they handed me a present.
“I know you wanted a petpet...” my owner started.
“So we got you one!”
I squealed as a grabbed the present and tear
it open. I was waiting for a petpet practically all my life. Everyone else had
Anubi, Angelpi, Doglefoxes, Babaas and other exciting assorted petpets.
I finally opened the box and what I saw....
is what I wasn’t expecting. My face fell, my eyes filled with disappointment.
I pulled my new companion out.
"Its cool isn’t Sally!” cried my little
sister. “I chose it for you!”
“Yeah, great,” I murmured.
“We’ll I’m glad you like it. As long as you
promise to take care of it and feed it, groom it and all that,” my owner went
on.
I looked at my new petpet. It was a Pet Rock.
Can you believe it! I boring, dumb old rock! I could grab a stone from the front
yard and pretend to be my friend! Also how on Neopia can you feed and groom
a Pet Rock! I couldn’t believe this. I just wanted to say I wanted an exchange,
but I didn’t want to upset Kelly or mom.
“What are you going to name it?” asked Kelly
excitedly.
“I dunno, why don’t you name it?” I offered
plainly.
“OK then! Let’s see... hmmm...” Kelly thought
looking away from me.
My owner went into the kitchen to start breakfast.
I hope its a good one, I need a good lift right about now.
“I know!” Kelly cried “Why don’t we call it
Fluffy!”
“Fluffy?”
“Yeah it would be ironic!” she cried.
“Do you know what ironic even means?” I asked.
“Yeah mum told me this morning!” she said as
if I should have known.
“Yeah, whatever,” I sighed walking to the kitchen.
“Hey Sal, don’t forget to feed it,” Kelly warned.
I laughed at her ignorance, “Kel, Pet Rocks
can’t eat because they don’t have mouths!”
“Oh yes they do!” she snapped. “I read it in
a magazine once that...”
“What? The imaginary magazine?” I mocked.
“No, from the petpet magazine!” she corrected.
“Stop it you two!” mom cut in before we got
really into it. “Breakfast is on the table.”
We both ran to the table and sat in our usual
chairs. I did it again. I always do. Kelly isn’t the most intelligent young
yellow Gelert in the world. She is pretty gullible and I usually tease her about
what she says sometimes. She gets hyped up pretty easily.
I set my Pet Rock on the table and dug into
my food. After I had eaten I went to my room and placed my Pet Rock on top of
my study desk. Suddenly a cool breeze gushed through the window blowing some
of the papers off my desk. I sighed and hastily picked them up then a thought
crossed my mind.
I straightened my papers and put Fluffy on top.
So sue me if I was using it as a paper weight. After all it’s only a rock!
“I knew there was a use for you after all,”
I said to it, being pretty pleased about myself.
It just sat there, no emotion, no feeling, no
movement. I snorted.
“Yeah right, rocks have mouths, ha!”
Later I started to get ready to go to the Lost
Desert. My friend Kay and I were going there for the day. Her treat! I put my
straw hat and my sunglasses on. I looked in the mirror. There was a skinny blue
Zafara staring back at me. With the straw hat the sunglasses I looked like I
was ready for the beach. Still sun is sun.
“Oh Sally! You’re cruel!” cried my sister. “How
can you use Fluffy as a paper weight?”
I jerked my head towards her. She was at my
study desk.
“Kelly! Get out of my room!” I scolded.
Kelly can be quiet as a mouse. Even with my
good hearing I didn’t hear her coming into my room. She picked up Fluffy then
handed it to me.
“You’d better take real good care of it or mom
will take Fluffy away and wont get you another one,” my sister warned.
I sighed and took Fluffy into my hand.
“Take it with you and show Kay!” she cried happily
.
“What! No way! I’m not taking this thing with
me!” I exclaimed.
“I’ll tell mom!” she threatened.
“Alright, alright! I’ll take it, I’ll take it!”
I growled.
The last thing I needed was nagging from mom.
We both headed towards the living room. Mom was doing some dusting and turned
to us when she heard us entering the room.
“Going? OK here some Neopoints for you to spend,”
she told me was she gave me a purse heavy with Neopoints.
“Uh thanks,” I smiled. “I better get going.”
I went out the door.
“OK honey, be careful and have fun,” she called
and gave a goodbye wave.
“Bye!” cried my little sister happily.
“Bye!” I called back and started to walk to
Kay’s house.
Her house isn’t that far away. It was just two
block walk. We agreed to meet at her place. Kay is a yellow Pteri, she has three
brothers so she’s the only girl in her family. Me and Kay had been best friends
since pre-school. We’ve been together through thick and thin. She’s my only
friend.
When I reached her house she was sitting on
the stairs of her front veranda. When she saw me she ran towards me.
“Hey Sally!” my friend greeted happily. “I see
you're ready to go.”
“Yup, I’m ready.”
“Oh before I forget, here,” she said then handed
me a small gift.
“Oh Kay, you didn’t have to,” I said modestly
but hungrily took it and opened it.
It was a necklace. It was silver and had BEST
on it and it was in a shape of a broken semicircle.
“It’s a best friend charm necklace,” she told
me excitedly. “I have the other half.”
She pulled out the other half. It said FRIENDS.
She helped me put my one on then she put her one on. I smiled. This was better
than my Pet Rock.
“What did you get for your birthday off your
mom?” she asked curiously.
“Oh,” I mumbled. “This.”
I pulled my hand and showed my new petpet to
my friend.
“A rock?” she asked almost astonished.
“Yeah a Pet Rock,” I mumbled. “My sister named
it Fluffy.”
Kay snorted, “Fluffy?!”
“Yeah, silly isn’t it?” I chuckled .
“We’d better go,” she squeaked suddenly. “Or
we’ll miss the bus to the Lost Desert.”
“Alright,” I sighed and followed her to the
bus stop.
***
The bus ride was bumpy and long. On the long dirt road the bus rattled and
choked, struggling to keep going. There were owners and other Neopets on the
bus. There was a rowdy group of Shoyrus at the back. The Grarrl bus driver would
often growl and yell at them to shut up. But of course that was met with laughter
and insults.
“So what can your Pet Rock do?” Kay asked trying
to make conversation.
“Sit there and do nothing,” I told her simply.
“Don’t you teach it tricks?” Kay asked.
“Kay, its a rock!” I told her plainly. “You
can’t teach a rock to do tricks!”
“Yes you can. In the circus, a red Scorchio
trained his Pet Rock to do tricks and stuff,” Key told me.
“Yeah right, probably they use springs and stuff
to make it jump,” I said in disbelief.
She sighed and shook her head. She gave up on
me. I can be pretty stubborn at times and she really doesn’t like it. To be
honest, how would anyone believe that a rock can do tricks? It can’t move let
along to tricks!
After that we didn’t talk. I looked out the
window, looking at the trees that zipped pass. Soon my eyes were hypnotised
by the scenery. The bumpy ride and the grunt of the engine became faint and
distant and soon my eyelids fluttered closed. I was off to sleep.
I felt a jolt hit me and made me go airborne
off the seat. My eyes shot open. I quickly scold under my breath and looked
out the window. It was all desert. Sands and dunes ran for miles. The ride was
a little smoother but it had the occasional jolt, like the one that just woke
me. Soon we approached the city in the lost desert.
The bus chugged and clanked to a stop. The bus
driver opened the door for everyone to get out. Everyone quickly rushed wanting
to get out of the bus and into the open air. I suddenly realized that my hand
was empty.
“Oh no! Fluffy is missing!” I cried. “Mom would
kill me if I lost him!”
“Well your not dead yet,” Kay pointed out.
“I’m serious!” I snapped.
“Alright, alright, don’t get ya knickers in
a knot, I’ll help you look for it,” she said defensively.
I looked under the seats and Kay went to ask
the bus driver. I looked wildly for it. Kay soon joined me on the floor. It
was nowhere to be found.
“Are ya finished already?!” barked the Grarrl
bus driver.
“No!” I yelled still looking wildly for it.
“Well too bad! I have to pick up passages in
Neopia Central. So get off now!”
“NO!” I cried to continued searching. “I have
to find him or I'll be in trouble!”
“We’ll you should been more responsible then!”
he said nastily.
“Sal, I don’t think Fluffy is here. Someone
probably took him,” Kay said stopping the argument.
“No, he must be here, I know it!”
“Ya heard her, get off me bus!” the Grarrl agreed
even though that’s not what Kay meant.
“I don’t care, I need to find-” I started to
argue again when Kay grabbed me and dragged me out of the bus.
“Sorry, sir to hold you up” she apologized.
Sorry? She’s Sorry?!
The Grarrl grunted and closed the door then
drove off into the horizon.
“Fluffy!” I cried.
Kay let me go. I quickly yanked free and turned
to face her.
“Why did you do that!” I yelled. “Now I never
going to find Fluffy!”
“Hey, we looked everywhere! Anyway when the
driver comes back he wont let us on the bus if you angered him more,” she yelled
defensively.
“Now I’m never going to find Fluffy and it’s
all your fault!” I yelled.
“MY FAULT!? Hey your the one who lost him. If
you weren’t snoozing and dropped him this wouldn’t have happened!” she yelled
back.
I growled and huffed . I had enough of this!
I stomped away from her. I was so focused on leaving her behind that I didn’t
notice anything on the ground. Something hard came under foot and I tripped
over and fell flat on my face. I heard footsteps ran towards me.
“Sally, are you hurt!?” cried Kay, no matter
how much you get into an argument with her she can’t stay angry for long.
I growled and cursed under my breath. I sat
up and saw what had tripped me. My eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. It was
Fluffy. I grabbed it and hugged it close to me.
“Don’t you ever go away from me like that again!”
I gasped in relief, not bothering to put anger in my voice.
“Neopia to Sally, rocks can’t hear you,” smiled
Kay. “Or do tricks. Remember?”
I squeaked as I realised that I was hugging
a rock! I was really worried about a silly rock! I gave a smile of embarrassment
and tucked Fluffy under my straw hat.
“I was simply worried that if I didn’t have
my Pet Rock, I would get in trouble”
Kay gave me a sideward glance, “Yeah right.”
We had a great time that day. We went to Coltzan’s
shrine, played the Fruit Machine, played Geos, took a tour of Sakhmet Palace
and finish the day off with a relaxing cool drink under a large palm tree.
“Wow, that was great,” I sighed.
“Yeah beats sitting at home watching soap opera
reruns,” Kay agreed.
I decided to take Fluffy from my hat. I set
it in between me and Kay.
“If I wouldn’t know better, I would have thought
you liked that rock,” Kay commented.
“I don’t really like it, it’s just a rock,”
I sniffed.
“So you say,” she smiled.
“OK, so I do like it, big deal!” I gave in.
“Still it’s just a rock and it does nothing!”
Suddenly a figure appeared in front of us. I
looked up it was that Grarrl bus driver.
“Are you coming on the bus or what?” he grunted.
“What are you doing here?” asked Kay surprised
as I am.
Why on Neopia would the bus driver care if we
entered the bus to go home? He’s not the nicest neopet around.
“Because,” he grunted feeling a little insulted.
“I wanted to know if your coming because you need to pay another ticket.”
Neopoints, I should have known. More passages
more Neopoints.
“Oh, uh yeah,” replied Kay.
“Well lets go!” he grunted.
I grabbed Fluffy and we followed him to his
rust bucket. The bus wasn’t in the best shape, I guess it’s been in service
well over 50 years.
We paid our ticket and hopped onto the bus.
Soon every passenger was here and accounted for. He started the bus and it gave
a cough before it started roaring the engines. Soon the bus was making it’s
way out of the desert. Kay and Me saw the Lost Desert sunset. It shone a brilliant
orange splashed it’s colours on the sky and clouds. We gazed at it until a forest
of trees blocked our view. Soon we had to endure the long bus ride alone.
Kay and me talked for a while but soon died.
The Shoyru pack at the back was rowdy as ever. They yelled and shoved each other
around. They yelled at the top of their lungs and hurtled insults at the driver.
Everyone wished that they would just be quiet. But the wish never came true.
Soon it was dark. We were passing on the outskirts
of the haunted woods. I felt uneasy and a little afraid. The haunted woods didn’t
seem such a pleasant place at night.
Suddenly there was a loud pop and the bus swerved
as the Grarrl was trying to gain control of his vehicle. Soon it turned a right
around, facing the opposite direction that we were going.
As soon as the skidding and sliding stopped.
Everyone’s screams and shouts where quietened and soon crickets chirps filled
the night air. The Grarrl got out to inspect the damage. Some passengers did
the same but others didn’t.
I was dragged out, yet again by my best friend
who was so eager to find out what happened.
“Darn!” the Grarrl cursed. “We lost a tire!”
“Don’t you have a spare?” asked a female human.
“Yeah, I think so. Now all I have to do is remember
where I put it...” he murmured to himself.
“Oh great!” I wailed. “We’re in front of the
haunted woods, with no food, no water and in the dark! Monsters and stuff might
come and hunt us down!”
“Oh Sally be serious!” Kay snapped, knowing
what I said made their worst fears come true.
“I am serious!” I cried.
“Arr stop ya yellin’!” the Grarrl barked. “I
can’t hear myself think!”
“I’m going inside-” I said but I soon broke
off when I realized Fluffy wasn’t with me. Here we go again.
“What’s wrong?” Kay asked, noticing my stop
in mid sentence.
“I lost Fluffy again” I sighed. “I know I took
him on the bus...”
“Oh Sal, not again! Lucky you don’t have a Doglefox
or a Deaver!”
“Well for one thing Doglefoxes and Deavers make
noises!” I replied and went into the bus to look for it. Kay hesitated then
went in after me.
After we looked around even in all the small
spaces Fluffy wasn’t anywhere to be found.
“I can’t believe a Pet Rock would disappear
like that.” I exclaimed as we went outside again.
“It’s not him, it’s you. You make him disappear
by losing him!” Kay cried.
Suddenly a growl echoed behind me. Everyone
who was outside of the bus squeaked in terror. Kay stood there wide-eyed in
fear. I slowly turned around to see the fuss. I squeaked as fear washed over
me.
There was one of the most scariest Neopets alive.
Meuka. Everyone screamed and ran inside even the bus driver. I stood there frozen
in fear. I wanted to run but my legs wont obey, I wanted to scream but my voice
was dry and squeaky.
The slime ball smiled at me.
“Well you look nice and plump to eat” he hissed,
his foul breath wafted over me.
I wrinkled my nose. I didn’t know mucus smelled
so bad! Anyway, what’s with me being plump? The last time I looked I was skinny
as a twig. Maybe the mucus ruined his vision.
Finally my legs gain control and backed away.
He slithered closer, his oozing slime trailed behind him. Suddenly he leapt
for me. As a reaction I moved out of the way. I didn’t want slime all over my
clean fur.
Not hindered by his miss he blocked my path
to the bus. I knew he couldn’t get everyone as a group so he get the weakest
from the pack, and that happened to be me.
He leapt for me again. This time I was too slow
and he managed to grabbed my legs. I felt cold, sticky slime oozed onto my skin.
I couldn’t help but let out a scream. Believe me the feeling of this would make
a grown man scream like a little school girl.
I saw Kay and a few other Neopets approach Meuka.
Meuka turned to them he let go of me and stood up to face them. I got up to
a sitting position. There beside me was Fluffy.
“Fluffy!” I cried and hugged him. I didn’t care
it he was a tree at the moment, I just needed some comfort.
The Neopets ganged up on Meuka and attacked
them with Battledome style moves. Meuka, being in hundreds of battles in the
Battledome himself, easily evaded the attacks. He whacked them with his long
slimy tail and tackled them to the ground, leaving them in a puddle of green
slime.
Soon he worn them down quickly. Even Kay, being
a big battler herself was too tired to face this horrible neopet. I put Fluffy
on the ground and pushed him aside. Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw
Fluffy slide forward. I looked at him at a second time and he was still.
Soon Meuka approached me. Fluffy moved again
but I saw it this time. He rattled and shifted forward. I couldn’t believe what
I was seeing. I must be dreaming, I must be going crazy. Maybe Meuka’s ooze
got to my head.
Fluffy rattled into my open palm. Then an idea
came to mind.
“Alright Fluffy, ready?” I said not expecting
an answer.
“Lets do it!” I cried and stood up.
“Are you going to challenge me as well?” hissed
Meuka.
“Yup!, Take this!” I cried and threw my Pet
Rock at him.
The rock hit his head with a slosh and was stuck
in his mucus skin.
“Ow! Why you little...” Meuka cursed and grabbed
Fluffy and threw him away.
“That’s it!” I heard Kay exclaim to the other
Neopets. “OK everyone, grab some large rocks!”
The group got up and out the slime covered ground
and picked up fairly large rocks.
“Ready, aim... FIRE!” Kay yelled.
At once the group threw their ammo at the slime
ball. Meuka evaded the attack with his tail.
“Keep going! Throw as many rocks as you can!”
Kay encouraged the group.
I searched for Fluffy, I soon found him and
cleaned him up a bit.
“Ready for another round?” I asked.
It rattled in my hand. I jumped a bit but soon
realized that it was agreeing with me. I smiled, I guess there was much more
to Fluffy than I even thought possible.
I threw him at Meuka’s head. Like Gormball practice
my aim was precise and it hit Meuka right on the side of his head.
“Arh!” Meuka shrieked.
For that second he was distracted he didn’t
evade the rocks that were thrown at him. Soon rocks rained onto him, pelting
and sticking to his green skin.
Meuka shrieked even more. Anger filled his eyes.
Still, rocks came and he couldn’t defend himself and soon rocks was stuck all
over him. Meuka tried to pick them all off but more were thrown and he was getting
nowhere. He finally pulled Fluffy out and threw him.
I went to claim Fluffy. Kay and the others kept
throwing but it was getting harder to find more rocks. Meuka looked more rocky
than slimy.
“Argh! I can’t stand this anymore!” he screamed
and retreated to the safety of the Haunted Woods. This was hard for him. The
rocks limited his movement but he managed to disappear from view.
We all cheered. The passengers on the bus also
celebrated, even the Grarrl bus driver had a smile on his face. Owners came
out hugging their pets that helped chase Meuka away. Kay and me joined up and
gave each other a victory hug and also gave each other slime, but we didn’t
care.
After out little celebration the Grarrl bus
driver finally found the spare tyre and soon we were on our way again. After
30 minutes of bumps and no sleep we arrived at the bus stop. All of the passages
unloaded and split off into their separate ways. Mom and Kelly were waiting
for me. Kay’s mom was waiting too.
We were last off the bus, again. When my family
saw me they gave me a funny look. I followed their gaze and smiled
“Long story,” I said. I didn’t want to go into
details at the moment.
I see that you took care of your pet really
well. So I guess your ready for a better petpet,” my owner commented.
“What?” I exclaimed in surprise.
“We chose to see if you were ready to own a
more rowdy petpet,” Kelly explained.
“So what kind of petpet you would like?” my
owner asked.
“You know what?” I said. “Maybe having a Pet
Rock isn’t so bad after all.”
Fluffy rattled in my hand.
The End
Author’s Note: Sorry if it was a little long. Neomail me for comments on
my story, I’d love to hear your opinion. Even if all you have to say about it
is all bad. :)
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