The Woes of an Avatar Pet: Part Two

     The next morning dawned bright, early and with the feeling of an overenthusiastic blonde owner shaking you awake. She was grinning from ear to ear and clutching a bottle of what looked like strawberry juice in her hand. But the bottle itself…it was as strange as it could be, and it made me curious and anxious at the same time.

     "I…what…what the heck…is in that bottle?" I asked groggily as I turned over to catch a few more minutes of sleep.

     The blonde girl just grinned and pushed back her wavy hair. "Oh, you'll find out soon enough." There was something about that grin that made me shudder. But nevertheless, I couldn't doubt her words, so I sat up in bed, took the bottle anyway and drank it.

     A queer feeling rushed through my paws, through my system. I felt fins sprouting from my body…and my teeth soon became even sharper than usual. My wings…my beautiful faerie wings disappeared all of a sudden, as a furious shade of red dominated my whole being. Shirley shoved a mirror into my paws - I mean, wings - and I could not believe what stared back at me in the glass…

     "I'm a Jetsam?" I said in outrage. "What about my being a faerie Shoyru? What about that?" I looked at the girl with a pleading look, but she just picked up a paper bag that was on the floor, beside her feet, and pulled out a frightened-looking aquatic petpet I recognized as a Pepito.

     "You must be hungry after that transformation, sweetie," she said sweetly. Then she held out the poor petpet before me. My stomach began to growl all of a sudden, I sensed the feeling of hunger within me and I reached forward, taking it from her hands.

     ***

     "Are you okay?" asked Cassie as she looked at me. "You don't look so good."

     "Let's just say my breakfast wasn't what I exactly wanted, and Shirley turned me into a Jetsam. I miss my faerie wings already," I said with a sigh. I plopped myself onto the couch and grabbed a Blue Evil Fuzzle to play with. However, in the middle of my quiet playtime, a blonde girl came rushing into the area, nearly knocking a royal Kougra aside.

     "YAY! Another avatar for me…this is definitely my lucky, lucky day!" my owner screamed, as she grabbed and hugged me tight. "I've got to go tell my friends how I got three of them in a day!" Shirley put me down on the couch and ran off…again.

     I glanced at Cassie and whispered, "What IS it with all those little animated pictures Shirley loves to collect anyway?"

     My new sister shrugged and said, "I don't know, but if I were you, I'd rather think of what'll happen to you when she's done collecting avatars."

     At the Kougra's words I felt my heart sink. Was I really only kept around to help my owner acquire numerous avatars and afterwards, I'd be taken back to the pound from which I came? All these thoughts started buzzing in my head. All this thinking made me roll over on the couch from where I had been lying down, and I tumbled right off and looked into the eyes of my sister.

     "What is it with you, anyway?" she asked haughtily. "Sometimes I'll never understand little brothers, especially lab rats and avatar pets."

     While she blabbered on about how brothers were all a big bother, I heard a knock on the door. Thinking it was Shirley back from wherever she had gone; I waddled over and opened the door. Unfortunately it wasn't a tall girl with wavy blonde hair and sparkling eyes; it was a burly black-haired boy, with a tough looking mutant Jetsam by his side.

     "Is this the residence of Miss Shirley, with her two lovely pets Cassie and Bob?" the boy asked in a deep voice. "I wish to fight her Jetsam, for I may get a good avatar from it!"

     The blonde girl came rushing in from the kitchen, as if his words were magic.

     "Where the heck did you come from?" asked Cassie impatiently.

     "My good friend Joey wants to battle Bob," our owner answered. "He's got a Jetsam too, and perhaps we can BOTH get avatar out of it!" She stepped towards the Safety Deposit Box and began rummaging around for weapons. "I better get ready for this!"

     Joey ran a hand through his hair and said casually, "You're going down, Shirley."

     "No way, you're going down, Joey!" replied Shirley. "Besides, it doesn't matter who wins and who loses, we both get avatars from this!"

     I shuddered as Joey's mutant Jetsam stared back at me with a spiteful look. I could tell he was not going to lose so easily. I decided it was best not to say anything as Shirley dragged me towards the battle arena, following her friend and his own pet.

     ***

     "Well, wasn't that fun? Joey and I are going to be talking about that battle for ages!" My blonde owner dragged me into the living room, and I quickly plopped myself onto the sofa. I was tired and exhausted, and I watched Shirley approach me with a potion. I took it from her hands and downed the whole bottle.

     But instead of healing me, the concoction seemed to change me again. My fins became paws as the potion went down my throat. At first I thought I was turning back into an Elephante, but it wasn't so. I felt my teeth getting sharper, and I was growing taller…

     Cassie the Kougra took one look at me and said, "You looked pathetic, mind you. And by the way, you're due for another lab ray appointment…and Shirley still has about twenty more avatars to go till she reaches her goal."

     I looked at her in horror. Another appointment? And then there were MORE avatars for my owner to collect…using me? I couldn't stand it any longer. I wanted to run away already. After taking one last look at Cassie and her Kadoatie, and the huge Neohome we were inside, I buried my face in my paws and scampered out the front door. But my sister seemed to be too preoccupied with Lilac to notice that I was gone.

     Closing the door behind me, I ran and ran, not minding the people who were teasing me like heck, not looking at anyone straight in the face. Soon I got to the Rainbow Pool, and sat by the side, gazing at my reflection. A mutant Grarrl stared right back at me this time, and I realized why everyone didn't want to meet my eyes.

     They thought I was a terrible villain…they thought I could hurt anyone. Tears ran down my face as I looked away from the ripples in the pool. I dared not cast my sight onto elegant-looking pets that got painted in expensive, beautiful shades and styles. I couldn't take it anymore. That was the last straw…I had to escape…no more…I could feel my eyes getting heavier, so I lay down by the side…

     ***

     "Bob? Is…that you?"

     I opened my eyes at the sound of a familiar voice. Sure enough, Shirley and Cassie were both looking at me, and it was early evening.

     "We were looking all over for you," said the girl, giving me a hug. Now was the time to speak up, otherwise I'd forever hold my peace.

     "I can take this no longer!" I screamed. "I don't want to be kept for the sole purpose of obtaining avatars and not for the sake of loving and caring for me! Why is my life always like this? And I liked being an Elephante more than any other species, and I just want to go to a normal home, where owners don't force their pets to do things they don't want to do!"

     Shirley looked at me. She wasn't angry, sad or even worried. Only a small smile showed up on her face, and she said, "Oh Bob, you actually thought I didn't love you? Well, why else do I feed you, and make sure you were well, and look for you when you ran away? I love you, and nothing will change that. Not even a bunch of animated pixels can change that…"

     "But what about your dream?" asked Cassie, "You wanted to be a top avatar collector, right?"

     The blonde girl laughed. "Oh, if it pains Bob - and you - I'll retire. Besides, I received word that I got the third place avatar collector trophy, and that's enough for me."

     "You mean Cassie was once used to get avatars?" I said, grinning.

     "Heck yeah," answered my owner. "Why, when she also spoke up like you did awhile ago, I immediately stopped and kept her as a royal Kougra. You see, I don't like forcing others to do what they don't want. We all have freedom here, after all."

     I snuggled closer to Shirley under the starry night, along with Cassie. At first none of us spoke, but just stared up into the beautiful night sky. It was clear, with only a few stars, and everything was quiet and serene.

     Then my owner broke the silence. "Tell you what," she said to me, "I'll go get a morphing potion tomorrow for you to become an Elephante again. Unless of course, if you want to be some other kind of pet…"

     "An Elephante suits me fine," I answered. "But won't it be hard on your budget?"

     "No way, my pets have to have the best!" she laughed. "Even if it means I have to give up my own wants…"

     "You rock, Shirley," said Cassie, giving the blonde human a hug. I agreed with my sister one hundred percent. The faerie Kougra gave me a look and added, "Bob, I'm so sorry I was so mean to you back then. I was kind of jealous, you know. I was used to being the only pet around and I thought everything would change. Now I know it won't."

     I gave her a hug as well. "Oh, with an owner like Shirley, it won't!"

 The End