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Ezanna winced as Mordegan pulled the bandages tighter
around his injured leg. The Lupe glanced sternly at his brother.
"Quit squirming, Ez. I think that it’s infected,"
he stated. Ezanna plopped his snout on his claws.
"What a surprise! More misfortune," he spat.
Mordegan shrugged.
"Hey, at least it couldn’t be any worse," he
sympathized. Ezanna slapped his forehead with his hand.
"You dolt! Don’t say that; now something worse
IS going to happen!" he snarled. Zarrelian glanced at his watch.
"Shelly’s going to be home in two hours," the
Ixi warned. Ezanna whirled around and glared angrily at Mordegan.
"See?"
"Well sorry, mister I’m-going-to-let-my-horrible-temper-get-the-better-of-me.
I think that you’ve been hanging around Mr. Bronston too much; his anger
problems seem to be rubbing off on you."
Ezanna sighed, massaging his temples feverishly.
"Sorry… it’s just that, well, I really wanted Shelly and Battlesunn to, you
know… trust me. And when they come home and see the sorry state that
THIS NeoHome is in, they’re probably never going to let me Pet-sit again," he
miserably replied.
Mordegan whimpered and patted Ezanna on the
back. "Don’t worry Ez, we’ll get Mr. Claws down. Zarrelian, do we still have
those fishing rods from last summer? And that sand bucket that you used to like
playing with when you were a baby? I think I have an idea…"
***
Mordegan’s idea, as it turned out, consisted of tying a good sized bucket
to a fishing line, filling it with Petpet treats, and casting over to the other
roof. If Mordegan’s plan worked, then Mr. Claws would be lured into the bucket
by the Petpet treats, and then pulled back over the roof and into Ezanna’s arms.
Never had there been a plan that contained so many flaws, uncertainties and
possible errors. Ezanna shuddered to think what would happen if the line broke,
or if Mr. Claws jumped out of the bucket. The Krawk glanced over the edge of
the roof and winced, it was a good five-meter drop.
Mordegan grinned as finishing knotting the fishing
line over the handle of the sand bucket, tossing a few carrot-flavored Petpet
treats inside. He folded back his ears as they hit the bottom of the bucket,
the clash of treats and plastic creating a loud noise. The Lupe waved at Zarrelian,
who had been chosen to cast the line. The Ixi spat on his hooves, rubbed them
together and rolled his shoulders. He grasped the pole tightly between the knuckles
of his trotters, took one step back, and cast.
The bucket sailed gracefully over the Pet’s
upturned heads, and landed with a crash on the neighbor’s roof. Mr. Claws had
been sleeping, but he jolted awake with a loud screech as the bucket hit the
clay-shingled roof, landing a mere three inches away from his bottlebrush tail.
Contrary to what Mordegan had expected, Mr.
Claws did not come running into the treat-laden bucket, but instead scampered
away, his tail between his legs. Ezanna frowned.
"Mordegan, you said that he would come running
for the treats. Why isn’t he?" the Krawk asked, doing his best to control his
bubbling rage. Mordegan shrugged.
"I don’t know, I suppose he’s scared." The Lupe
replied. Ezanna couldn’t help it. He lost his temper.
"First he develops an infatuation with the bridge,
and then he becomes terrified of the bucket! What’s WRONG with this Meowclops?
Doesn’t he WANT to be rescued?" he screamed.
A few passerby on the street paused to stare
up at the ranting Krawk. It certainly made a strange sight, three Pets standing
on a ramshackle-patched roof, a Halloween Ixi holding a fishing rod attached
to a bucket that was resting on the other roof, and very peculiar looking Lupe
making vain attempts to calm down a screaming, stomping skunk Krawk.
Ezanna clenched his fists and tilted his snout
to the sky, his scales trembling. He remained in that position for a full ten
minutes, just teetering on the brink of insanity. Finally, he dropped his claws
and fell, panting, to the shingles.
"S-sorry… guys. I-I kind of lost it… th-there,"
the Krawk wheezed. Mordegan smiled warmly.
"It’s alright, Ez. I’ve gone crazy once, too,"
he sympathized. Zarrelian tore his gaze from Ezanna for a moment and saw, to
his amazement, Mr. Claws. The Meowclops was padding softly over to the bucket,
sniffing at the treats.
"Look!" he cried, jumping up and down on the
roof. "Mr. Claws, he’s going into the bucket!"
And so he was. The Meowclops finally allowed
his curiosity to get the better of him and followed the small trail of Petpet
treats into the depths of the bucket. He finally spotted a treat that he liked
the look of, and settled down in the shade of the pail to eat his prize.
Ezanna stood stock-still. He carefully shifted
his position so that he was on his knees, and crawled silently over to the fishing
pole, which Zarrelian had dropped on the roof after Ezanna finished his row.
With shaky claws, the Krawk grabbed the fishing pole, and carefully began to
drag Mr. Claws in.
After reeling in a few feet of slack, the bucket
began to move, scraping painfully slowly over the shingles. Ezanna only dared
to move it a few inches at a time, so as not to frighten Mr. Claws. Finally,
after almost an hour of painstaking travel over the neighbor’s roof, the bucket
dropped into thin air. From within the container’s plastic walls, Mr. Caws emitted
a high-pitched shriek. Ezanna froze, giving the Meowclops enough time to become
accustomed to the strange sensation of suspension. After Mr. Claws had calmed
down enough, Ezanna was able to reel him the rest of the way in. As soon as
the bucket bumped against the NeoHome’s side, Zarrelian reached in and pulled
out the frightened, yet safe, Meowclops.
Ezanna collapsed onto the roof, sighing happily.
He allowed the fishing rod to drop down to the ground. In fact, he never wanted
to see it again. The pets had retrieved Mr. Claws just in time, because at that
exact moment, Shelly and Battlesunn came rolling up to the house via Uni Taxi.
Ezanna gave a small yelp of fear and hastily ushered Mordegan and Zarrelian,
who was still carrying Mr. Claws, down the catwalk and into the attic. They
went tumbling down the stairs, Zarrelian dropping Mr. Claws off in Shelly’s
room on the way. The three pets made it to the door just as it opened, revealing
their very tanned and happy looking owner and sister.
"We’re home!" Shelly announced, as though it
wasn’t the most obvious thing in the world. Ezanna plastered a very forced smile
over his snout.
"How was your vacation?" he asked through clenched
fangs. The Kougra grinned.
"It was fantastic. How was your weekend, Ez?
Did you enjoy being the head honcho for a change?" She asked.
Ezanna recalled all the events of the weekend,
from the tuxedo-clad dinner to the spoiled sunrise to the Meowclops-on-the-roof
fiasco. The Krawk simply laughed and shook his head.
"All I can say is, I have renewed respect for
you, Shelly."
And that pretty much said it all.
The End
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