Another Type of "Lost"

     I write in my diary, "It's not fair! I never get to have any fun! I'm always doing chores and homework. My mom just doesn't have any sympathy. 'Sweep the floor, put away your laundry, and help Lena take her Puppyblew for a walk.' The list goes on and on! So I've decided to run away. Run away and never come back!"

     I look at my writing and am proud.

     I pull out my Fire Faerie backpack that I love and fill it with my Blue Cybunny Plushie, my Blackberry Yoyo, and a few other toys and stuff. I also fill it with chocolate, bubble gum, fudge, cookies and Sugar Bunnies. Oh, and all my allowance.

     Then in the afternoon while Mom and Lena are busy, I slip out my window. I sleep under the stars at the park, and in the morning I head into Neopia Central. Boy is it crowded today! Little Neopets are running around with their petpets and everyone is laughing and talking.

     I go to the Money Tree and sit at its trunk for a while, watching people trying to get to treasures first. Once in a while I manage to snatch some stuff, like a blanket and a pillow and some other stuff. After stowing that into my backpack, I get up and go back to the park.

     While I'm there I wonder if Mom and Lena even know if I'm gone. And if they do, I wonder if they care. I make myself angry to think they were celebrating. I smile when I think of them crying, "Where is Shadow?" and tearing their hair out (or fur, in the case of Lena, my kid sister who is an Electric Acara).

     I like walking around Neopia Central aimlessly. Then outside the Pizzaroo, I see a Snorkle scampering in my direction amongst the crowd. A few yards behind the Snorkle, I see a small Cloud Kacheek chasing it, calling "Snorklepork, come back!"

     The Snorkle attempts to push past me, but I manage to get my paw around its middle and hold it fast. The Cloud Kacheek catches up, puffing, and takes the Snorkle, and says, "You've been a bad boy, Snorklepork!" Then she looks at me and says, "Thanks, lady!"

     I tell her it's no problem and start to walk away when she says, "Oh, dear, Snorklepork, you've gotten us lost! Well, we might as well stay here and wait for Daddy to find us." I feel sorry for her and stay with her. She asks, "What's your name?"

     I blink and say, "Uh, Shadow."

     "Shadow, huh? Well, you live up to your name," she said, looking my Shadow Kougra figure up and down. So we sit down on a bench and the Kacheek says, "My name's Emily, but you can call me Emily." That makes me laugh. Then she asks, "Are you lost?"

     I tell her to promise not to tell and say, "I'm running away."

     Emily's eyes widen. "Running away? That sounds exciting!" I notice that she had clipped a little blue leash around the Snorkle, who looked content now that he had been caught. Emily says to the Snorkle, "Oh, Snorklepork, I can't wait to get home to Daddy and Chester!" I ask her who Chester is and she says, "He's my big brother. He's an Electric Eyrie."

     I tell her, "My little sister is Electric."

     "Really? Who's she?" asks Emily.

     I say, "She's an Acara named Lena the same color as your brother."

     "Wow, small world!" said Emily thoughtfully. "Oh, I hope Daddy finds me an' Snorklepork soon! We were going to go to Mystery Island today!

     "We always have a lot of fun at Mystery Island!" she gushes. "Daddy and Chester and I always play Mynci Beach Volleyball and make sand castles until the sun goes down!" I remember when Mom and Lena and I used to have fun at Mystery Island and realize that since I ran away we won't be able to go again.

     Emily babbles on, "Yesterday we had a neighborhood barbecue with all our neighbors and had a lot of fun! Do you ever go to barbecues, Shadow?"

     I say, "Yeah." And remember all the laughter we had at the last barbecue when my family catered.

     "I know it's going to sound silly talking about this, but I just love to talk about Christmas! Last year, Daddy and Chester and I decorated a really big tree and on Christmas morning we found Chester's Meowclops stuck at the top!" and she laughs and I laugh with her. I remember my family's Christmas last year. Mom and I had saved up to buy Lena her Electric Paint Brush. I remember how her face lit up when she saw it.

     Then Emily bends down and looks at one of the Snorkle's hooves and says, "That cut seems about better, doesn't it, Snorklepork?" Then she says to me, "Last week Snorklepork broke away from us while we were hiking and ran away and got his hoof caught in barbed wire at the bottom of the hill. Chester flew down there and got him untangled all by himself. He likes Snorklepork as much as me!"

     I remember all the times Lena helped me coax my Angelpuss Trini out from under the couch after a thunderstorm. I always try my best, but Lena is better at the coochy-coochy-coo voice you use on baby Neopets.

     Now I think, 'What am I doing here? I had a perfectly good family and I sold out just because I didn't want chores and homework! What I wrote in my diary sounds stupid now.' Now Emily's face lights up and she says, "There you are, Daddy!" A teenager with light-brown tousled hair and laughing blue eyes lifts Emily up and swings her around. An Electric Eyrie next to him said, "Did that stubborn Snorklepork get away again?" Emily laughed and nodded.

     A Meowclops nuzzles Snorklepork and they start making the clicking and chirruping petpet noises. Emily tells me, "Lauren and Snorklepork are very good friends. They do everything together!"

     I'm reminded of when Trini and Lena's Puppyblew first met. It was the exact opposite of what Emily had said at first. They fought and growled and scratched and we had to chase them around the whole house. Now they sleep snuggled up next to each other in the petpet bed.

     I see that big happy family and feel really homesick. So I say goodbye to Emily and say I'll see her around, ("Bye, Shadow! Maybe we can get together sometime at Mystery Island!" calls Emily. "Then we can have equal teams when we play volleyball!") and I head home. When I open the door I see Mom leaning out of the kitchen window, talking to our neighbor Mrs. Coppola, saying, "You haven't seen her? No? All right then. Bye." And she closes the window and sighs. Then she sees me and says, "Shadow!" She hugs me tight and says, "Where've you been, you kooky Kougra?"

     I grin and say, "I got lost."

The End