A Coconut JubJub Finds Meaning on Mystery Island

     "If only I could dive," she thought. Diving underwater and swimming to Maraqua seemed like a plausible idea for the average Neopet, but not for a Coconut JubJub like Kiki. Growing up, Kiki had often found that being a coconut has its advantages and disadvantages. One of the disadvantages is that it is impossible to dive underwater. Coconuts are less dense than water, so no matter how hard you kick, you always float to the top.

     She walked up to where the waves hit the beach and let the water tickle her feet. "Maybe someday I can afford a submarine and visit Maraqua," she thought. Kiki suddenly realised that she had been staring at the water for a few minutes. She blinked her eyes away from the water and turned around to walk back up the sandy beach. She needed to stop thinking about Maraqua and focus. She had come to Mystery Island for a reason. Specifically, Kiki was trying to connect with her past and discover herself.

     Kiki had moved to Tyrannia at a really young age and did not remember anything about her first few years of life on Mystery Island. As much as she did not mind living in Tyrannia, she had never felt like she fully fit in there. On a spontaneous decision, she nearly spent all her Neopoints on a ticket to Mystery Island, the land of coconuts.

     Kiki sat down on her beach chair. "This is what Mystery Islanders do," she said to herself. "This is what other Coconut JubJubs do. I should be great at sitting at the beach and relaxing." It was no use, though. Kiki was never the type to sit still. She noticed on a sign that, starting at 3 PM NST, foot massages would be available for a mere 50 Neopoints. "I can do this. If I stick around until 3 pm, I can reward myself with a foot massage."

     She looked at her feet. As a coconut JubJub, she only had two limbs and many times had to use her feet as hands as well. Her feet could definitely use a massage. Kiki looked at the sign again. Below the advertisement for the foot massage deal, she also read that happy hour started at 5 pm NST, and that the day's special drink would be a Coconut Cocktail. "That's it," she thought. "I can't do this. I can't drink out of a coconut—that is repulsive—and I definitely cannot sit here still for five hours." She got up. "I guess I will go explore this island instead."

     And so she walked. She walked past the Harbour, the Tiki Tack shop, and the beach volleyball court. She walked and wondered what it would be like to live on Mystery Island. “Could I live here? Do I belong here?," she contemplated. Her thoughts were interrupted when, all of a sudden, someone spoke to her. "Would you like to play Tombola? It's free, and if you pull out a ticket with a number ending in a 0, 2 or 5, you win a prize!"

     The voice came from a mysterious man with a mask. "Errm, sure," said Kiki. She walked up to the ticket booth and pulled out a ticket. "It says 'X' on it," said Kiki.

     "WHAT?!," said the Tombola man. "That cannot be possible. Let me look at the ticket, please." Kiki handed over the ticket and watched as the Tombola man's eyes widened through the mask. "My dear friend, this is your lucky day," he said. "You win the ultimate jackpot prize, which happens to be a Mystery Island bike. In my opinion it's the best bike in all of Neopia. You see, it's made out of special wood from the spooky tropical forests of Geraptiku."

     Kiki stared at the bike. She didn't think the wood looked any different from normal wood. Still, whether or not the wood was special, it was a bike, and the idea of riding it sort of excited her. There was only one problem.

     "This is an awesome prize, but I don't think I could ever ride it. I have feet to move the pedals, but no hands to steer the bike," she said. Yes, this was another disadvantage of being a coconut JubJub and having no hands. "Anything is possible, my friend," said the Tombola man. "Why don't you visit the Master at the Training school? He may be able to help you out."

     With some difficulty, Kiki was able to balance her new bike on her head and carry it towards the Training School. On her way there, she thought she saw something small and brown race past her, but she gave it no attention and kept on walking. Finally, she made it to the Training School, where she was greeted by a red Nimmo.

     The Nimmo asked: "How can I help you?" "Well, I want to learn how to ride a bike without hands," responded Kiki. The Nimmo studied the bike and Kiki with his eyes. "I am sorry, but I am very busy with my training classes at the moment. Unless you are here to sign up for a class, I cannot help you." He paused for a few seconds.

     "Ah, very well. I suppose I can give you some tips. The trick is, I believe, to gather quick momentum and keep your centre of gravity low. With practice, you should be able to make turns by just leaning your body to the side. Good luck, I have to go now."

     The Nimmo was gone before Kiki could thank him. With the new advice she had received, Kiki sprinted out of the Training School entrance and found the nearest downhill slope. She took a deep breath. "I can do this.” She hopped onto the bike and started pedalling down the hill. But not even a second passed before her bike lost balance and she fell to the ground.

     Not discouraged from the fall, she got back up on her feet again. She got on the bike a second time, but once again quickly fell to the ground. The third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth tries all resulted in the same outcome. Kiki decided to take a break because she was starting to get a headache from falling on her head so many times. She sat down near a palm tree. "Why am I doing this?" she asked herself. "I came here to Mystery Island to discover who I really am, but now I am all caught up trying to ride this bike." Kiki frowned. Now, more than ever, she felt disheartened and hopeless.

     All of a sudden, something ran into her. "OUCH!," it squeaked. It was a brown faellie. "Are you okay?" Kiki asked, realising that the faellie was the small, brown thing she saw running earlier. "Yup, I am fine, thank you. I am quite used to running into things. You see, I am very fast, but extremely clumsy. Oh, I should introduce myself! My name is Donald, or Donny." Kiki smiled. "Nice to meet you, Donny. I am Kiki.”

     “That is a nice bike you have," said Donny. "Anyway, I guess I should get going. Sorry for running into you, have a nice day!" Donny began to walk away. "Wait!," said Kiki. "I have an idea! You see, I can't ride this bike because I don't have hands to steer the handlebars, but I think you can help me out. First of all, I have to ask—just how much do you enjoy running?"

     Donny's face lit up. "I love to run! It is the one thing I am most passionate about." "Great!," said Kiki. "Could you please stay here and guard my bike for a few minutes? I am going to try and find someone who can help me out with my idea!" "Umm, okay," said Donny.

     A confused Donny didn't know what to expect, but he waited anyway. About twenty minutes passed before Kiki came running back up to him, carrying a strange, circular object. "Sorry for taking so long," she said. "But I needed to find someone who could help me find or build this." She showed him the object in her hand.

     "It's a running wheel for petpets. Basically, petpets run inside this wheel, which then spins while staying in the same place. I am going to remove my front bike wheel and attach this running wheel instead. I'm not sure if it will work, but I thought that you could run and spin the wheel, which would power the bike, while I sit on the bike seat and steer the handlebars with my feet. What do you think?"

     Donny pondered for a second. "Yes, I think it could work! I can run as fast as I can, AND I won't run into things, because you will be doing the steering!" Donny began to jump up and down from excitement. "Exactly," said Kiki. "Want to give it a try?" Donny nodded.

     Once the running wheel was attached, Kiki and Donny got into their spots on the bike. "Ready, set, GO!" said Kiki, and off they went. "Woo hoo!" shouted Donny. Kiki’s idea worked! With Donny running and providing speed for the bike, and Kiki steering with her feet, they were biking their way across Mystery Island.

     "This is what I came here for," thought Kiki to herself. "This is what I am meant to do." A happy Kiki giggled with happiness as they sped down towards the beach. "What do you say, Donny? You and me? A team?" asked Kiki. Donny responded with a loud "YES! This is so much fun!" Kiki had to agree. Riding this bike was a million times more fun than sitting at the beach and getting a foot massage.

     After an afternoon of biking, Kiki and Donny sat down to grab some food. While eating a well-deserved meal, Donny asked Kiki: "So, how exactly did you manage to find the petpet running wheel?" Kiki had completely forgotten to tell Donny that part of the story!

     "I went around to different shops asking for help when I ran across this flotsam chef who said he could give me what I wanted. But on one condition. He said I had to first complete a Kitchen Quest for him. That turned out to be not a problem because I had a few leftover Neopoints to spend on the items he needed. I then traded the items for a running wheel! But get this—the flotsam is originally from Maraqua! Can you believe it? I had never met anyone from Maraqua until today!"

     Donny's jaw dropped. "Wow, that is very cool! I wish I had been there to meet him. I have never met a Maraquan Neopet myself, or been to Maraqua. "Well then," said Kiki. "I guess we will have to find a way to get there someday. I think that, with the two of us, anything is possible." Donny smiled and nodded.

     On that day, Donny became Kiki’s petpet. It was the start of a great friendship and a great career in biking and racing. Kiki and Donny became the fastest bikers in all of Neopia. And it all began on that day on Mystery Island with one lucky Tombola ticket. On that day, Kiki the Coconut JubJub had found who she was meant to be, and she was the happiest she had ever been.

     The End.