Where Mischief Leads: A Meepit Story

     Except for today. Today did not start off feeling entirely that way.

     Daisy stood still in the middle of the plaza as her eyes scanned the crowd for the hundredth time, her paws and worrisome voice shaking as she called out his name.

     “Dave? Dave, where are you?" There was no answer. No squeak. Not even a little giggle. Just the laughter of joyful Neopians passing by and the clanging of nearby shop door bells. She realized then that Dave, her little Pink Meepit, was gone.

     Daisy had only turned away for a moment to admire a basket of fresh fruit outside the food shop. Dave was perched on her shoulder as he often did, his glowing red eyes darting out of curiosity at everything around him.

     But when she turned back, her shoulder felt light. She didn't even recall him hoping off. She looked around her feet and a few nearby stalls, expecting to see him tugging on a loose ribbon or picking up a lost candy from the ground to satisfy its sweet tooth, but he was nowhere to be seen.

     Daisy's heart dropped and panic began to settle in. It may have only been minutes since she had last seen Dave on her shoulder, but it felt like hours.

     “Help!" She mustered up a sound. She did not like drawing attention to herself being the introvert that she was. Dave was all that she ever needed. But now was not a time to feel shy. She would do anything for her little buddy. "I just need some help," her voice got a little louder. "Someone must have seen my Meepit!”

     Heads began to turn around, but even though a few offered their assistance, no one had noticed or could find the Petpet. Eventually Daisy had no other choice than to set out looking for him.

     But where to start? Daisy tried to picture where she would go. She only had a handful of favourite spots, including her house, a friend's house, or the library. Unlike her, Dave didn't exactly have a favourite spot and loved to explore. And cause mischief.

     A young Gelert spotted a series of small footsteps in the mud to appeared to be headed towards the Neopian Bazaar.

     “Could these belong to your Meepit friend?" He asked.

     “Yes, those are definitely his footprints. Something must have caught his attention," she said, partially relieved, but still very worried.

     The steps lead her to the Neopian Bazaar only to be lost by the footwork of the bustling crowd. She scoped out the scene to see if there was any sign of a wandering Meepit.

     The plethora of stalls were overflowing with treasures of all sizes. Daisy hustled through the crowd until she spotted a Blue Uni arranging items in her shop.

     “Excuse me!" Daisy called. "Have you seen a small Pink Meepit? It goes by Dave and he ran off on me not long ago."

     “A Meepit? Not today," The Uni said, shaking her head. Then she paused for a moment to recall a strange event that happened earlier. "But now that you mention it…" She pointed behind her stall. A row of neatly stacked scarves had been completely unraveled and trailed across the ground.

     “I thought the wind had gotten to those," the Uni said. "Now I am not so sure. I don't recall there being a draft today."

     Daisy picked up one of the scarves, noticing tiny tug marks. Her heart dropped. "That's him," she said. "He loves anything he can pull or drag."

     The Uni smiled. "Then it appears you are on the right track. Looks like he headed towards the Toy Shop," she said pointing to a trail of little feet.

     “Thank you!" Daisy smiled, offering to help clean up the mess. She picked up and folded the scarves while the Uni placed them neatly back on the shelves while updating Daisy on the morning gossip. Daisy didn't recognize anyone the shopkeeper was talking about, but it was fun to listen.

     Daisy soon followed the trail, weaving through the Bazaar until she reached the Toy Shop. Inside, the noise was filled with whistles blowing and toys clanging. The shopkeeper, a Green Kau, waved for her to come over. "You wouldn't happen to be looking for a Meepit, would you?" The Kau asked, recognizing she was looking for something.

     “Yes! Did you see him?" Daisy asked with excitement.

     “Did I see him?" The Kau laughed. "Not only did I see him, but I saw what he did!" She pointed toward a pile of toys in the corner. Wind-up robots lay on their sides, twitching and rotating around like defeated battledomers at the Neocola Centre. A line of bouncing balls were sprawled across the floor and a Gelert in a box sat open with its lid still wobbling.

     “I had everything perfectly arranged," the Kau said. "Then suddenly, a loud crash happened. It sounded like a storm rolled through." Daisy apologized for the inconvenience and rushed over to look for her Petpet.

     “Dave?" She called out, crouching down and brushing the toys aside. There was no answer, but it was definitely his work. Before leaving she offered to help clean up and in return received the Kau's business card.

     “I've never seen such efficient organizing in my life!" The Kau said, very impressed. "If you are ever looking for a job, please send me a neomail.”

     “Well, I've got a lot of practice over the years. Meepits may be cute, but they create a lot of chaos some days," Daisy said, blushing proudly before leaving the shop.

     Directly outside, Daisy noticed something else. There was a trail of glitter leading down the street.

     “Glitter?" She muttered to herself. She decided to follow it. The sparkling trail led her past a small group of Neopians who were giggling and brushing glitter off their clothes.

     “What happened here?" Daisy asked them.

     “Something very small zipped through here and knocked over a jar of glitter at the craft stall. It went everywhere!" A Nimmo chuckled in response. Daisy couldn't help but smile.

     “That definitely sounds like him," Daisy said, running off, still smiling. She felt kinda proud talking to people she didn't know. Her shyness usually prevented her from making a coherent sentence at best.

     Daisy caught sight of the trail again. This time it led her to the Post Office. Inside, Daisy approached the counter where a Blue Gelert happily greeted her.

     “Hello! How can I help you?" He asked.

     “I'm looking for my Meepit," Daisy said. "He has been… leaving a bit of a trail of mischief behind him." The Gelert's ears straightened at the comment and a smile spread across his face.

     “Ah, then you must be its owner," he said. The tone suggested he had seen Dave.

     “You've seen him?" Daisy asked.

     “Not directly," the Gelert said, flipping through a ledger. "Although, we had a bit of an incident earlier. Several letters were mysteriously rearranged and a parcel was chewed."

     “Chewed?" Daisy asked.

     “Yes, tiny bite marks," he said. "There must have been a scent in the box the little guy liked. He never managed to get past the wrapping though.”

     “That is definitely Dave," Daisy said. "If I don't open a parcel I get right away, I have to put it out of reach or he will chew it up. And don't even get me started about Christmas morning." The Gelert smiled warmly. He could see how fondly she felt about her Petpet.

     “Well, I should probably pay for the damages," Daisy added.

     “No, that's not necessary. This is the Post Office. This sort of thing happens all the time. I sometimes feel that we have a family of Meepits living in the walls," he explained sincerely, then pointed to the back exit. "But I have a feeling your little guy ran over there. He just left, so you might catch up to him if you go now.”

     “Thank you!" Daisy said, almost skipping as she went through the back exit. Although she still felt a bit worried about Dave, she was having fun too.

     With sunset now approaching, Daisy followed the freshly-made Meepit tracks as she dashed toward the Plaza again. She needed to find him before it got too dark and made finding him an impossible task.

     The golden light stretched across the cobblestones, accompanied by the peaceful trickle of the central fountain where the tracks disappeared.

     “Dave?" She called out quietly, looking along the fountain for any more signs of him. She didn't hear anything at first but then there was a faint, recognizable squeak. Daisy's heart began to race as she stood firmly in place, surveying her surroundings.

     “Dave?" She called out. She leaned over the fountain's edge and there he was, perched on a small ledge just above the water. He was slightly damp and seemingly tired, but content.

     “DAVE!" She shouted out with joy. The little Meepit squeaked with delight when it looked up at her. Daisy laughed, wiping away the tears that were springing to her eyes. "There you are! I've been chasing you all over Neopia Central!”

     She carefully scooped him up, holding him close as he squeaked happily in her arms. Almost as if he was proud of his adventure and wanted to tell her everything about it.

     “You unraveled scarves, knocked over toys, spilled glitter, and chewed mail?" Daisy said, raising her eyebrows. Dave squeaked again, not hiding the fact that he was the culprit. Daisy shook her head, smiling. "You really left behind a trail, didn't you?"

     As she sat by the fountain, holding Dave and petting him softly by his ear, Daisy looked out across the Plaza. Every bit of chaos Dave had caused had actually helped her find him again. "I guess your mischief helped me after all. I don't know how else I would have found you," she said. Dave puffed up proudly. Daisy laughed.

     “Don't feel too proud," she now spoke sternly. "You can't do that again, or else I can't take you out with me anymore. You scared me half to death!" She held him out and looked him straight in the eyes so he understood she was being serious, then gave him the heartfilled hug she'd been longing to give him all day.

     The sky turned soft shades of pink and purple as Daisy stood and placed Dave safely back on her shoulder. "Let's go home," she said. Because even after all that excitement, her real home was the only place she wanted to be.

     As they walked through the streets, Daisy felt something warm settle in her chest. She had been scared, but she had kept going. And along the way she met lots of new people, sharing stories and laughs. She even got a job offer from the friendly Kau at the Toy Shop.

     What impressed her more was that it felt normal talking to people, which she often found hard to do. Her shyness often created a barrier that never allowed her to converse with too many people. Not because she didn't like people, but she never knew what to say. But today it for once seemed to be a much easier thing to do. Maybe she needed to expose herself to people a bit more. She looked down at the business card the Kau had given her and smiled. She would have to send her a neomail in the morning.

     She gave Dave another firm squeeze. In the end, she had found him. All thanks to a tiny trail of chaos he left behind.

     From that day on, Daisy kept a closer eye on her mischievous little Meepit, but she also smiled a little more whenever she saw something out of place. Life was a bit funny that way. Sometimes even the messiest paths can lead you exactly where you need to go.

     The End.