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It was Fraturday. Fraturday, as Yoko had invented, was a
day between Saturday and Friday. Thus, nobody really knew what day it was.
"Over the river and through the Haunted forest,
to Mrs. Prenderghast's house we go!" sang Yoko the white Aisha.
"Yoko, shut up," said a mutant Kacheek named
Gioacchino and a red Eyrie named Jon in perfect unison.
The three walked up to Mrs. Prenderghast's house.
It certainly looked ghastly. Torn curtains flew eerily in the breeze, and the
shutters flapped back and forth loudly. The moon made ghostlike shadows onto
the lawn, and a Lupe howled in the distance.
Jon shuddered. Gioacchino smiled. "I'm home!"
he said happily, ringing the doorbell. It rang through out the house, ringing
out a Sonata for the pipe organ.
The door creaked open, and Mrs. Prenderghast
appeared. She grimaced. "What do you three want? To steal more of my pictures?"
she growled.
Yoko smiled. "Nope! Edna the witch told us that
you knew the quickest way to get back to Neopia Central. Well, she only told
us after she turned my brother Jon and I into Usukis, but lucky for us, Gioacchino
tricked her into turning us back into ourselves. Well after we got that sorted
out, Edna had to tell us how to get back home, so--"
"YOKO! Shut up!" cried Gioacchino.
Jon stepped forward. "May we come in?"
Mrs. Prenderghast sniffed. "I suppose. Wipe
your paws, and don't touch my paintings."
The three did as they were told. They wiped
their paws, Jon with a bit of difficulty, snagging his talons on the rug. They
followed Mrs. Prenderghast's ghost down a long winding hall and into a sitting
room.
Mrs. Prenderghast hovered above the three as
they entered. "Sit," she said.
They sat.
"Why do you come here?" she asked.
"Well," started Yoko. "We were at Jon's friends'
house, their names are AstronomyDog and--"
"Yoko! Shut up!" yelled Jon.
Gioacchino began. "We got lost. The Water Faerie
sent us far away from home in a flood after I had made some... not-so-nice comments
about her. We need your advice to get home. Will you help us?"
Mrs. Prenderghast thought for a moment. "Very
well. I shall help you. But I cannot deny that the path ahead of you is very
dangerous," she said.
"Danger is my middle name," said Jon, fluffing
out his feathers.
"No it's not. It's Egbert," said Yoko. Jon turned
scarlet.
Mrs. Prenderghast cleared her throat. "The quickest
way to get home is by ocean. Follow the coast line closely. After two days and
two nights, you should reach a cliff face. Stay as close to that cliff as possible!"
she cried.
"Why?"
"The cliffs hold many deadly secrets, but not
as deadly as the ocean itself. The ocean has been dubbed The Ocean of Much Doom®,
for deep beneath its waters, there is a mighty whirlpool. The whirlpool that
caused the ruin of the great city of Maraqua!" she shrieked.
Yoko, Gioacchino and Jon gasped collectively.
"I shall now return you to your ship. Have a
nice day!" Mrs. Prenderghast chirped. She waved her ghostly Aisha arms, and
the three suddenly found themselves back at their ship.
"Well, I g-guess we should g-get going," stuttered
Jon.
"Yeah," agreed Gioacchino, reluctantly.
For two nights and two days the three sailed
onward, keeping close to the coast. The third morning came. A giant cliff face
was visible in the distance.
"Right, Gioacchino, veer left towards the cliff!"
called Jon. "Yoko, hold the sail!"
The boat creaked slowly through the silent waters.
Nothing happened.
"The suspense is killing me," muttered Jon.
A faint mew came from the cliff face. Yoko looked
up. "Look! It's a widdle Meowclops!"
Gioacchino looked up at the Meowclops, sitting
on a rock of the cliff face. He immediately went pale. "That's not just any
Meowclops, that's Polly!" he yelled. "Veer right!"
The boat creaked away from leaping distance
of the killer Meowclops. They could still hear the ever clear sound of the Meowclops'
roar: "Rrraawwwww-r!"
Gioacchino wiped his brow. The boat shook violently.
"What was that?" he said.
Yoko peered over the side of the boat. "Umm,
guys?" she said.
"Yes, Yoko?" said Jon, steadying himself as
the boat lurched again.
"I think we're heading into the whirlpool,"
she said.
"VEER LEFT!" yelled Jon. "It's a never ending
cycle of doom! But I think I'll choose the Meowclops over sudden death by the
Ocean of Much Doom®." He grabbed and oar and started rowing in the opposite
direction.
Polly's yowls became louder.
"No!" cried Gioacchino. "You don't know that
Meowclops! It's a killer! It's deadly, it can leap about... just... look at
the bones!" Gioacchino yelled, pointing at the cliff face, which was indeed,
covered in bleached bones, leftovers from some of Polly's meals.
"I'm... not... going... to... drown!" yelled
Jon, rowing against Gioacchino.
"I... don't... want... to... die... from...
a... purple... fluffy... Meowclops!" retorted Gioacchino, rowing against his
brother.
The two battled directions. The Ocean of Much
Doom® sent tidal waves at the small craft. Polly hissed. "Rrraawwwww-r!" And
suddenly, a small wave sent the boat past both of the dangers. Polly's yowls
diminished, and the Ocean of Much Doom® closed up, and became calm again.
"Hey, guys!" yelled Yoko. "We made it!"
But her two brothers paid her no notice, and
continued rowing.
"Not... going... to... drown..."
"Not... going... to... end... up... pile...
of... bleached... bones..."
Yoko leaned back. "Ah, well. I'll tell them
tomorrow."
Meanwhile, back at 63994 Neopia Avenue...
"Hey! You! Stop it! No climbing on the curtains!
NOT THE BLUMAROO GNOME!" Erika cried, watching as her beloved garden gnome toppled
over at the paws of an adopted Strawberry Tuskaninny.
No less than 47 pets were rampaging through
her house, all adopted. Erika flopped down on a chair. "Fine! Don't listen to
me! I'm watching television!" she said, making a grab for the remote control.
But a pink Lenny beat her to it. He laughed
maliciously as he channel-surfed through the channels very quickly, not stopping
for even five seconds at one particular channel.
"NO!" cried Erika. "That's so annoying! Stop
it!" She made a lunge at the Lenny, who flew out her reach. Erika tripped and
fell over, knocking over a second garden Gnome. "Poo," she grumbled.
To be continued...
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