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They reached the main food shop without too many problems,
excluding the five frantic minutes when Sari went missing, only to be returned
by a very annoyed looking Lenny. "Honestly," the Lenny said, handing them Sari,
"you should take more care of your owner's child."
As the Lenny walked off, Lae let out a spluttered
"Owner's child?"
"Leave it," Jero said quietly, grabbing hold
of the back of Sari's shirt.
"Come on," Zayei said, walking inside. He pulled
Sari's purse out of her trouser pocket (They had picked up Sari's clothes before
hand.) and counted through the money. "We have about 5000 NPs, that's enough
to buy something for dinner," he said, entering the shop.
"Greetings!" the owner of the main food shop
said. It was a plump yellow Chia with a baker's hat on and a grubby white apron
reading 'I love food'. "What can I do you for?"
"We need something to feed -- Her," Drushii
said, shoving Sari into the Chia's line of vision. Sari giggled and waved one
grubby hand at the yellow Chia.
"We have a wide selection of baby food, prices
start at around 50 NPs," the Chia smiled, waving at Sari. "May I suggest Kau
Kau milk as well?"
"Yeah," Zayei said, juggling Sari and the money,
"we just need enough to feed our owner…s child for the night as well as us."
He looked down at Sari. "It's only for one night, though." We hope, he
added silently. The Chia busied itself for a few minutes, picking food from
shelves and placing them in a large paper bag.
"That will be 4000 NPs please," the Chia said
smiling. Zayei handed it over, not bothering to haggle like Sari would. The
Chia gave him his change and, with a small smile, he handed over a red lolly
to Sari. "Cute kid." He smiled and they left the store.
***
"What can we do with her?" Zayei asked, looking at Sari. She was sitting on
the sofa, now dressed in one of Sari's old T-shirts. Zayei had done a bit of
improvisation, cutting the body in half and trimming the sleeves considerably
until it fitted Sari. Maybe not the highlight of fashion, but it beat the shirt
she had been wearing.
"Dog!" Sari giggled, pointing to Jero. "Woof!"
"We could teach her what we are!" Jero said
in a controlled voice.
"Woof!" Sari giggled.
"Lets have dinner," Drushii said finally, looking
at Lae as if to say 'you've gotta help'. Surprisingly, Lae didn't complain.
Both of them walked off into the kitchen to butcher whatever they were to have
for dinner.
The house seemed surprisingly quiet with the
adult Sari. Possibly because when Sari was an adult, she did everything within
her power to keep the house lively, on the basis 'A quiet house is a boring
house.' Jero had always secretly believed Sari just liked acting stupid, venting
frustration by annoying others. But he'd never tell anyone - he trusted Sari's
opinion too much for that.
"I'm hungry," whined Sari. It was probably most
intelligent thing she'd said all day.
"I know," Zayei said, picking her up and depositing
her on the sofa. "Don't worry, you'll be fed soon."
"Good." Sari smiled and picked up a discarded
plushie. "Woof."
***
Dinner proved an interesting occurrence - Sari was more concerned about tipping
the contents of her Strawberry and cream baby food down herself than actually
eating it. However, an eventful half-hour later, Sari, and the 4 hassled pets,
had finished eating.
"Bath," Drushii said, eyeing the mess. Despite
her intense dislike of little kids, she picked Sari up, held her at an arm's
length, and marched Sari upstairs. Jero and Lae looked at each other, smiled
and looked at Zayei.
"So, Zayei," Lae said, flinging her arm over
Zayei's shoulder. Lae and Zayei never really got on well in the past, up until
Lae decided Zayei was 'cool' anyway.
"Lae," Zayei said, wriggling out of her grip.
"You know," Jero said with a wicked grin, "seeing
as you're taking control, we think you should do what Sari usually does."
"What's that?" Zayei said in clear confusion.
The answer came as Lae threw a sopping rag at him, hitting him on the nose.
"Clean up," Lae grinned and rushed off, closely
followed by Jero.
***
The next morning, Zayei sensibly packed Sari's clothes ("They fell off her
last time, I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say I don't want to
see the reverse.") And they trundled back to Kauvara's Magic Store. Surprisingly,
there was hardly any there; they had come just after a restock, and Neopians
had already left, arms full of expensive goodies.
"Can I help you?" a Starry Kau with a large
black witch's hat asked in a soft tone. It was Kauvara.
"We would like a potion to turn our… owner back
into a teenager," Zayei explained, taking lead. He held up Sari, who was dressed
in a long sleeved shirt and jeans. Although they almost fell off her, they wouldn't
when she was her regular age again.
"Ah yes, I had someone come in earlier with
this ailment," Kauvara said, busying around the cramped shop. "Here," she said,
handing them a small bottle filled with a glowing blue liquid. "Give her this
-- the effect is almost instantaneous."
Zayei put Sari down on the floor, and ruffled
her fair hair. As much as he wanted the real Sari back, the little toddler had
grown on him. On all of them, actually.
"Bye Sari," Zayei whispered.
"Yeah, bye," mumbled the others. Drushii reached
down, picked up Sari and gave her a hug before putting her back on the ground.
'Some little kids are okay,' Drushii thought.
"Bye bye Dog!" Sari said sadly, thinking she
was going away. In a way, she was right.
Zayei crouched down next to Sari, and poured
the contents of the bottle into her mouth. It was though they were watching
a film playing incredibly quickly. Sari was growing, gaining years by the second.
Several stages seemed to catch their eye; a 5 year old with a wicked grin and
long fair hair, a 10 year old with hair cut to her chin and finally Sari. She
looked round in confusion.
"Why am I here?" Sari asked.
"Don't you remember the last day?" Lae asked,
frowning.
"Yeah, it's like they happened… years ago,"
Sari said, frowning at the memory. She didn't say anything else as her four
pets jumped on her, hugging her tightly. Finally, they broke apart and Sari
looked round at Jero.
"There is one thing I remember," Sari grinned
at Jero.
"What?" Jero asked hesitantly.
"DOG!"
"I'M A GELERT!"
The End
Authors Note: Feedback will be loved and worshipped… Thank yoo!
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