Crouching Lupologist, Painted Cobrall by al_the_chia |  |
Fluffy the Cobrall gasped as his owner, Al the Chia, backed him over to the
edge of the puddle. "There's nowhere to run, Fluffy!" Al laughed maniacally.
"Nowhere to hide!!"
Fluffy whimpered, curling up into a little ball and shaking as Al raised his
weapon into the air… And, with a few artistic strokes, painted him blue.
"There! Was that so painful?" Al smiled, patting his newly coated Cobrall
on the head. Fluffy was stunned. It was so sudden. It was so surprisingly easy.
And he felt like a million bucks.
Fluffy smiled, his blue tongue flicking in and out of his mouth as he showed
off to the other pets around him, strut-slithering in circles around the tiny
Petpet puddle.
Several plain, green Cobralls and Wadjets glared at him with a hint of jealousy
as they slithered by. Fluffy nodded arrogantly, his nose up in the air as Al
picked him up and carried him back to their blue jeep.
"That's right Fluffy," Al cheered, patting him on the head. "Be proud that
you're blue! I've been blue all my life, you know! And it's only improved on
my personality!" Fluffy's smile fell abruptly. He looked down at his new coat
of paint. Sure, Al could handle being blue. Blue is one of the colours Chias,
as well as all other pets, originally come in. But for Cobralls, as well as
many other Petpets, blue was new. It was different. Did this mean he would have
to change as well? Fluffy pondered his new colour as Al drove down to Furgleton,
humming to the Chomby and the Fungus Balls song on the radio…
Al's House...
Fluffy sat in a high chair, a party hat attached to his head and a grimace
attached to his mouth. Why did Al always dress him up for stupid occasions?
It was just his first birthday. It wasn't anything special.
Fluffy yawned as Al began to sing happy birthday. Fluffy would have rather
listened to nails on chalkboards than this flat, horrible song. Why should he,
a perfect, handsome blue Cobrall, have to listen to such dribble?
Oh well. Fluffy stared at the large array of presents sitting before him, waiting
to be ripped open. A smile played across his otherwise miserable face.
Birthdays still have their advantages...
Al set down a cake before his Cobrall, smiling. "Congratulations, Fluffy! You've
spent a year with me! A whole year!" Fluffy snorted, ignoring his owner and
shoving his face into the chocolate cake before him. Frosting flew into the
air as Al frowned. "Fluffy… Have you forgotten your manners?" Fluffy belched
loudly, shoving his face into the cake again. "FLUFFY! You have, haven't you?
Who gave you the right to be so crude?"
Fluffy glared up at his owner, chocolate smeared all over his newly painted
skin. "HISSS HISS HISSS!!"
Al gasped. "Fluffy! You've never said anything so horrible to me before… I…
I…" He covered his face and walked to the other end of the room. "I've worked
so hard for you…" He sniffed like a suffering mother as he tossed Fluffy's present
onto the table. "That Petpet Paint Brush cost me 15,000 NP, you know… I've spent
the equivalent of millions of Neopoints on you…" Fluffy didn't care. He was
too busy opening his present. Al sighed. "I guess its all my fault. That paintbrush
must have spoiled you rotten." Fluffy slithered out of his high chair and out
of the dining room, slamming the door behind him and carrying his new Jazzmosis
CD. Al looked at the mess Fluffy left behind. "Punishing him doesn't help… complaining
does nothing… I can't talk to him without getting a smart-mouthed reply… that
Cobrall is just a rotten egg…" Al sat down, slicing himself a piece of smashed
cake.
Fluffy's Room…
Fluffy snored lightly as he drifted off to blissful sleep…
Fluffy jumped awake, looking around the room. It was completely empty. No Al.
No furniture. Nothing. Fluffy looked down. His Petpet bed was gone, replaced
by a pile of straw!! Fluffy shrieked. This wasn't right! He slithered out of
the room and down the empty hallway. No one was there. Everything was covered
with dust and spyder webs. Only the sound of the wailing wind outside echoed
in Fluffy's ears. Fluffy slithered down the stairs, standing up on his tail
and looking out the window. The grass was brown. Al's bizarre plant collection
was gone. And, worst of all, every other house on Main Street were in the same
condition. Fluffy's lip quivered as he slunk to the kitchen. He opened up a
cabinet. No food. He opened the refrigerator. No drinks. Suddenly, he heard
the sound of music coming from Al's Lab. Fluffy perked up. AL!! He was still
here! With a happy grin, Fluffy burst through the lab door and down the stairs.
He leapt happily into the arms of… an empty chair. Fluffy opened his mouth,
horrified. Nothing was in the lab but his CD player, playing a slow, mournful
tune by Jazzmosis. Fluffy's eyes widened. No food. No luxuries. And worst of
all, Fluffy realised with a painful sting, no owner. He sat down in the dusty,
desolate chair, sniffling. Suddenly, a hole opened up in the floor. Fluffy screeched
as a large Usul paw shot it's way out of the hole, grabbing him by the tail
and dragging him down, down into the Petpet shop, were a heavy metal cage secured
him. The Usul owner laughed evilly as she glared down at the shivering Cobrall.
"YOU SHALL REMAIN HERE FOR ETERNITY!! NO ONE WANTS TO BUY A PETPET WORTH 1,000
NP FOR 4,000 NP!!! HA HA HA HAAAAA!!" Millions of laughing voices filled Fluffy's
mind. He rolled up into a little ball, covering his head as…
He woke up. Fluffy had fallen out of bed. He looked out the window, stunned.
It was all just a dream. Fluffy, gasping, looked out the window. The birds were
chirping and looking very happy. Fluffy, however, felt terrible. How could he
have treated Al that way? Al, who had given him so much, Al, who had taken him
in when no one else had, Al, who had introduced him to the life he had taken
for granted. Fluffy leapt out of bed and slithered out of the room. It was all
back! Furniture, well polished and cleaned. The dust all swept away, and not
a spyder web to be seen. He slid down the banister and looked out the window.
Al's garden was still there, and the Mailchia was stopping in front of the house,
carrying a bag of letters. Fluffy grinned, running to the door and throwing
it open. He slithered down the path until jumping over the fence and into the
Mailchia's arms.
"AHHHHHH!!!" the Mailchia screamed, falling over and scattering letters all
over the place. "GET OFF OF ME!!" Fluffy kissed him on the nose, and then leapt
back over the fence, leaving the Mailchia in awe. He shook the leaves of Al's
three bad seeds, then slithered back into the house and into the kitchen, were
Al was busy preparing potato pancakes. Fluffy smiled up at his owner, who looked
down at him coldly.
"Oh, good morning Fluffy," Al droned. Fluffy stared at the ground before tugging
his owner's lab coat. "Oh, what do you want now?" Al snapped. Fluffy, staring
at the ground, said this:
"Hiss, hiss hissss hiss hiss ssss, hiss hiss hisssssss sssss hiss hisssss
hisss hissss sss sssss… Hisss…. Hisss ssss hisss hisssssss hissss ssss ssssssssss…."
Al's cold frown turned into an amazed smile. "Really? You mean it Fluffy?"
Fluffy nodded. Al patted his Cobrall on the head, then grabbed a box of Petpet
treats off the counter. "Fluffy, since your such a great pet, I have to give
you a Petpet treat!" Fluffy, to Al's amazement, refused. "But…you've never refused
a Petpet treat before!!"
Fluffy sighed and began to talk: "Hisss, hiss hissss ssss hiss hissss, ssssssss
hisss hisss ssss hiss hiss ssssss, hisss, hiss ssss hiss hisss, hisss. Hisss,
hiss hiss sss hiss. Hiss hisss ssss ss."
Al put the box away. "You're right! It's time I stopped spoiling you so much!"
Al picked up his Petpet, carrying him to the table and setting him in the high
chair. "Now, Fluffy, I want you to enjoy breakfast, because we're going to have
tea with the Usul from the Petpet shop I bought you from! Doesn't that sound
great?" Fluffy froze, his eyes widening as he choked on the pancake he was eating.
Al gasped. "FLUFFY!!" He grabbed his Cobrall by the tail and swung him like
a whip. After several cracking whips against the kitchen floor, Fluffy finally
coughed up the pancake he had choked on. Al frowned, setting his Cobrall back
into the high chair. "You really should chew more, Fluffy…"
The End
(The moral of the story: Rich and healthy people should appreciate everyone
in their life, for without those people's support, they wouldn't be as fortunate
as they are today.)
(The second moral: When eating potato pancakes, always chew at least twenty
times.) |
