Jamie's Jokes

     “Wanna go get some ice cream?” Leticia asked, noticing the ice cream cart just a little ways away.

     “Sounds great... don’t wait, but celebrate! How many flavors? Eight!” Jamie joked.

     The Quiggle was always joking around. Sometimes she never took anything seriously. Leticia laughed and then sighed. She was tired of Jamie ALWAYS joking around. She tried to make a laugh everywhere... in math class, at home, in restaurants, on vacation, ... everywhere! Sometimes Leticia wished that Jamie was a little more serious. Life wasn’t all fun and games.

     Leticia loved Jamie like a sister. They did everything together. When they were little, they played Usuki Frenzy together. They traded Usuki doll clothes. Now they even traveled together, like they were now. The girls were also neighbors and they lived in the Lost Desert. Their owners, Jill and Corrine, were taking a boat tour for their 8th time. Unlike their owners, Jamie and Leticia got tired after their 3rd tour. Strangely, all the plants fascinated Corrine and Jill. Maybe it was because there were few plants in the Lost Desert.

     Leticia and Jamie arrived at the ice cream cart right near a small park.

     “Two strawberry cones, please,” Leticia said calmly.

     The pals both loved the same things, too. Cobralls, the color orange, strawberry ice cream... the only difference between them was their species.

     As the red Moehog at the cart scooped the first cone, a joke popped into Jamie’s mind.

     “Hey, seen Adee lately?” Jamie erupted into gales of laughter.

     The Moehog rolled his big brown eyes. Leticia sighed again. Once they had paid the ice cream man and had walked away, Jamie asked,

     “Do you think he’s heard that one before?”

     “I don’t know, Jamie, I don’t know.”

     Leticia and Jamie walked towards the line for the boat tours where Jill and Corrine were about to board the boat... again.

     “Oh, come on! Can we please go home now?” Leticia moaned.

     “Tish, stop complaining,” Corrine said and returned the tickets for the tour.

     The Kyrii running the tours handed the girls the Neopoints they were going to pay, and the four of them began towards the Lost Desert.

     ***

     “Corrine, do you think Jamie is TOO funny?” Leticia inquired.

     They had reached their Neohome and were sitting in the kitchen, while Corrine prepared their dinner.

     “What do you mean?” Corrine chuckled.

     “It’s just that she’s ALWAYS joking around. Sometimes I wish she was a little more... serious.”

     Corrine looked at Leticia, certain that she was kidding. But when Leticia kept her straight face, Corrine burst out laughing. Finally, the owner calmed down and Leticia frowned.

     “Corrine, I mean it,” Leticia stated and she sat down at the kitchen table.

     “Seriously? I’ve never imagined you saying anything like that. Are you feeling OK?” Corrine asked and she reached over to feel Leticia’s forehead, but the JubJub backed away.

     “I feel fine!” Leticia shouted. “I just want a friend that I can tell secrets to and stuff. Y’know, when I want to talk about something serious, I wish she would listen, instead of making fun of me.”

     “Y’know, something like that happened to me once.” Corrine said and began stirring the soup on the stove.

     “Really?”

     “Yep. But instead of having a pal who wouldn’t stop joking, I had a friend who was really serious.”

     “What did you do?” Leticia asked.

     “I learned to accept her,” Corrine said.

     Leticia frowned. What good was that? The JubJub walked over to Corrine and sighed.

     “I know I should accept her, but I want a serious pal.”

     “Well, I had another friend named Kieran who loved joking around... maybe you just need a serious friend.”

     “You’re right!” Leticia shouted. “I can stay friends with Jamie, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have another friend!”

     ***

     The next day, Leticia packed up her things and hurried out of the door. She was headed for Chewie’s house. Chewie was one of Leticia’s old friends from preschool. They didn’t hang out as much anymore, but Chewie had liked the idea of having a play date to catch up on things.

     Chewie was a really kind cloud Kacheek. He was understanding, sweet, and definitely serious.

     “It’s not like I’m never going to see Jamie again,” Leticia thought, “I’m just taking a little break from her, that’s all.

     Along the way, Leticia ran into Jamie. Jamie smiled and hurried up to her JubJub friend.

     “Uh-oh,” Leticia mumbled under her breath.

     “Hey, you wanna go to Qasala and buy something to eat?” Jamie asked.

     She started to begin a joke about King Coltzan and Qasala when Leticia interrupted her.

     “Jamie, stop joking around!” The Quiggle’s smile faded away.

     “W-what?”

     “I’m tired of you ALWAYS joking around!”

     Leticia knew she was being mean, but she liked it. It was as if a mean little gnome had taken over Leticia’s body. Jamie began to cry, and she ran away as fast as she could. Suddenly, the gnome escaped from her body. Now she felt terrible about what she had done!

     When she arrived at Chewie’s house, she didn’t feel like herself. Only about 20 minutes after she had been there, Chewie became aware of her odd behavior.

     “Did I do something wrong, Leticia?” he asked.

     “No,” Leticia mumbled.

     They were playing with plushies. Leticia put down the Blue Lupe Plushie she was holding. She hoped Chewie wouldn’t notice that she was upset.

     “Well, you seem kind of down. Are you sure you’re OK?”

     Leticia shook her head and a tear fell from her eye.

     “Do you want to talk about it?” Chewie asked calmly.

     Suddenly, Leticia began bawling. She tried to explain to Chewie what happened, but it was really hard to understand her. After calming her down, Chewie listened to why Leticia was unhappy. After the JubJub explained to him, he spoke.

     “You should go to her,” stated Chewie.

     “B-but...”

     “We can play tomorrow.”

     “A-are you sure?”

     “Definitely,” he said.

     Leticia hugged her Kacheek friend. She was so happy to know that she had such an understanding, thoughtful pal. She promised that she would come over the next day and then hurried to Jamie’s house.

     ***

     “Jamie, Leticia is here to talk to you,” Jill whispered. Leticia sat on the Nova couch next to Jamie.

     It was silent for quite a long time. Leticia sighed, Jamie yawned, and they both sneezed due to the dust. (Jill didn’t like to clean, so their Neohome was often dusty.) Finally, Leticia spoke.

     “I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

     “I’m sorry I got so offended,” Jamie replied.

     “I’m sorry I said I didn’t like your jokes. I just needed someone who was serious sometimes.”

     “I’m sorry I’m not serious.”

     “I’m sorry that you’re sorry that you’re not serious.”

     “I’m sorry that we have so many things to be sorry about.”

     “Me, too.” Leticia smiled and they both erupted into gales of laughter. Finally, the two of them held hands and ran into the backyard.

     “I’m glad we’re friends again,” Jamie declared.

     “Yeah, and I learned my lesson. You can’t change your friends. You just have to accept them the way they are. I accept you, and I love your jokes.” The buddies hugged. From then on, they remained friends... even with Jamie’s jokes.

The End

P.S.- Thanks to julietdiaz11 for letting me use Chewie!