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Neopia's Fill in the Blank News Source | 10th day of Awakening, Yr 27
The Neopian Times Week 147 > Continuing Series > Close Enough: Part Two

Close Enough: Part Two

by potatorewkiki

As we sat quietly on metal chairs in the basement of my sitter's Neohome, Kottske and I just stared at the floor. Every few minutes, we would share glances, but that was pretty much the only movement down there in the cold, creepy underground. We hadn't much to say. It had been two days since I met London Dusk and Ellia McArma, and neither of us had seen anything of the two of them since. It worried me -- the look on London's face, Ellia's stuttered words, and the spooky atmosphere of the dark bedroom -- and I wonder what Ellia was so horrified of.

     And then, all of a sudden, the doorbell rang. It was a much-needed silence breaker. I hopped up, as did Kottske, and we rushed up the plain, white-painted wooden stairway to the maroon-colored front door. I swung it open, only to see the troubled faces of - what do you know -- London and Ellia.

     "Blue, Kottske… You two really must, um, well, never mind. If you don't mind, Blue, we need to have a camp out tonight, and it would do best behind your house. London has a tent with him, and the both of us have packed. We need to talk to you. It's… important. If not, you might never see London again," the cloud Usul asked us, fighting back her tears. London bit his lip as she said the final sentence of her little explanation.

     "Well, coincidentally, Blue and I were going to have a camp out in her back yard tonight, so I have all of my stuff, too! As long as her sitter doesn't mind," Kottske voluntarily announced, before rushing into my house to get his bag. I growled at the brown Uni, then turned up to London and his friend, prepared to do anything I could for them. It was so nice to know that there were there, three teenagers cared for me as I cared for them, and that, after a few years of trying, people older than I could understand me. They treated me like friend, but I couldn't help but to think that I already was to them, like they had been to me.

     "Great! Potato won't mind, come on in back!" I called to them, dashing to the backyard, and motioning for them to come with me. The towering red Jetsam followed behind me, but the unsure Ellia wouldn't budge.

     "Are you SURE that Miss Rewkiki isn't gonna mind?" she questioned to me. I smirked.

     "Miss Rewkiki? You gotta be kidding me! Just call her Potato, Ellia. And, naw, she won't mind at all," I encouraged her, though I wasn't sure myself if she would allow my friends to come over that night.

      By the time I convinced Ellia to come into the backyard, Kottske had finished gathering his belongings and London had set up the tent. Ellia pranced over to the opening and crawled in, followed by a little shadow Gelert that I'd like to label 'me'. I shoved aside a strand of black hair that had gotten in the way of my eyes and spread my sleeping bag out upon the floor, making myself at home. It was already getting dark outside -- I could see Kreludor and and numerous shining stars up there, through the small circular opening at the top of the tent. Kottske soon joined me as we looked up at the stars of the nighttime sky, laying a blanket underneath and another on top of him, as did London, who sat beside Ellia on his sleeping bag.

     "Hey, you guys, you two really need to get to know Blue, and she needs to get to know you. Why don't you, you know, share a bit about yourselves?" the brown Uni suggested. "Blue, you start."

     "Um, okay… All right, my full name is Blue Twistoritoway, a shadow Gelert as you can so plainly see, and I'm almost thirteen years old. I have a mindless fourteen year old red Eyrie for my brother, Floryn, and a bratty ten year old red Shoyru for a sister, Angel. I have never gotten a grade lower than an A in school. I never see my mom, Gymlia, too much because she studies petpets and their habitats, which is a job that always takes her away from home. So I'm usually stuck here with Potato Rewkiki, and her pets Myra, Madavan, Hyminu, and Khelo. I adore Batterflies, and pretending that the vegetable type of potatoes are the human and destroying them. Yup, simple life," I said to them, with a broad grin spread out upon my face. Kottske then smiled back at me and nodded to Ellia.

     "Oh yes! I am Ellia McArma, a cloud Usul who turned fifteen two weeks ago. I am an only child, and my mom's name is Chloe. She's really nice, and lets me do pretty much whatever I want, knowing that I am dependable and will never get into trouble. I love shopping and hanging out with my friends. I am a bit sympathetic, and I despise the Alien Aisha Vending Machine and the Battledome," she finished, beaming with pride. I turned to London, who should have known of the time of his turn to speak. Instead of doing so, he sat with a face showing his despair and worry.

     "London! What is up with you lately?" Kottske shouted, a solemn expression plastered onto his face. He nudged the Jetsam with a hoof, trying to get him to pay attention. Soon enough, London looked up at me.

     "Blue, let me tell you about my life. Think of a three year old male red Jetsam. I didn't know my parents well enough to describe them now, but I do know that they cared about me a lot. Now, think of a three year old female Faerie Flotsam. She had already experienced time in the Battledome, and man, was she terrific, especially for a girl of her age, color, and species. Her parents cared for her, too. Our parents didn't know each other then, and never did. They just both sent us off across the sea to try out for a water show duet thing - because the show worker wanted a Flotsam and a Jetsam."

     "We made it, and never saw our old parents again. We had new owners then. Our TRUE owner we never saw in the seven years we lived with him. He just put his two pets, Corvus Coraxia the shadow Pteri and Tauntum the Tyrannian Kougra, in charge of us. Man, were those two rough. They picked on us all of the time. But they kept in mind that we were stars - our performance had become a widely known success - although they didn't use that knowledge for much good."

     "You see, the Flotsam, named Clapera, and I became the best of friends. We were actually like family, she was the closest person to me ever! In our show, though, she did much more stunts and tricks than I, so everyone favored her over me. Even though I was okay with that, Clapera tried to convince others that I'm just as good and awesome is she is, but her attempt failed."

     "Our show gradually became less and less popular, and in the middle of the year that Clapera and I turned seven, we discontinued the performances. Nonetheless, we were still owned by that mystery person, and watched by the cruel Corvus Coraxia and Tauntum, so we spent those years wishing that we never had such fame. One day, Clapera came up to me and said, 'London, listen… I actually am so happy that I was put in this show. If I wasn't, I would have never had a friend like you.' That was so sweet, it sincerely brought tears to my eyes."

     "And, just a week later, Tauntum approached me and told me that since the performance was over, they only wanted to keep Clapera. She explained that once Clapera would be paid so much Neopoints for long after our show was over with, they would sell her off to a greedy fan so that they could show her off to their fans. I was so upset and angry at that point that I couldn't take it. I didn't care that they were dumping me in the pound - they were separating me from my best friend and treating her so badly that I couldn't believe it! But I was adopted by a boy named Ongi as an only pet, and I've tried to put my horrid past aside, yet, no matter how hard I try, I can't forget Clapera."

     "Remember what Ellia was so freaked out about a few days ago? She saw Tauntum and Corvus Coraxia. I think that they're after me, and they know about my friends Kottske and Ellia, but not you, Blue. That's why I wanted to sleep here, plus, this house is on the total other side of the neighborhood."

      I just stared at him tears dripping from my eyes in a rapid speed. I couldn't help it -- how could a girl not cry after hearing that story? I had this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach… It's like I regret ever saying that my life stinks, and, suddenly, I'm so much more happy about having Kottske here and Angel, Potato, and Floryn behind him… I didn't know if I would ever complain again. Kottske had the same look on his face, but I could tell that he withstood that raging urge to sob in him. And the sympathetic Ellia was trying to smile, obviously not crying only because she had heard that story before.

     "London! I can't take this… Your poor friend, poor you yourself! It's not fair! People shouldn't be taken from those that they are so close to!" I yelled, furious at the sound of Tauntum and Corvus Coraxia. Kottske nodded with agreement.

     "I don't know if I've ever felt this bad for someone in my whole entire life. I don't know how I'd manage if torn from my mom and Blue," he stated. London sighed.

     "Don't you feel bad for me, Kottske. It's weird… At school, others see me as the big tough kid who always gets away with trouble. But I'm different than what they think of me in almost every way!" the Jetsam related. I suddenly felt so happy; glad to know that someone out there feels like me.

     "London, I don't know about you, but to me Clapera sounds an awful lot like the girl sitting behind you. You were really close to her, weren't you?" Kottske inquired, but the troubled red pet had fallen asleep in his tears.

     "You know what, London's snoozing already, we should sleep now, too. After all, I think we are pretty much speechless after that poignant tale," the Uni proposed. Ellia, who was curled up in her sleeping bag by then, muttered, "yup" just seconds before I said the same thing.

     As I settled in, I pondered the fact that two malicious pets were searching for London in this very neighborhood. The thought itself sent a chill up my spine, but I finally made the effort to think of a different, a much happier, subject. And before I knew it, I was dancing away in my dreams, forgetting about the dangerous world around me at one of the times that I had needed to stay up just a little more.

To be continued...

Previous Episodes

Close Enough: Part One

Close Enough: Part Three

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