The Strange Day

     YES! Finally, a hot day. We are already three days into summer vacation, and it's been rain, rain, rain! How lame is that? Anyway, I'd better go find my owner. She just has to take me to Kiko Lake.

     "No," she said flatly. "I have to clean today." What? How could she? It's the first hot day in forever. Well, I'm not taking no for an answer. I'm one stubborn little pink Lutari.

     "But it's the first hot day of the summer!" I whined. I was the very best at whining, paws down. She looked at me, clearly very annoyed.

     "Look, Rags," she said sternly. "I have cleaning to do. Go see if Martin will play with you."

     Martin? MARTIN!? Who did she think I was? Martin was a grey Kyrii, the most boring Neopet on the face on Neopia, I assure you.

     "Martin is a stinky old heap fur that never wants to have fun!" I snapped.

     "What have I told you?" asked my owner angrily. "Never call any pet out of their name! I'm not taking you to Kiko Lake, and if you ask again, you won't even be allowed outside." Now that was pretty harsh.

     "Kiko Lake isn't far at all," I mumbled angrily. "I could go all by myself if I wanted to."

     "What did I just say?" snapped my owner.

     "I didn't ask!" I said. I was being a real smart-behind. "I was just saying!"

     "Just get out of here," she said, exasperated. "I don't want to see your furry pink behind until lunch time. Now go."

     I opened my mouth to argue, but I figured it wasn't worth it. I stepped outside and saw Martin sitting in his yard. I decided to go and see him. What other option did I have? Besides, maybe he would smile today.

     "Hey, Martin!" I said cheerfully.

     "Hi," he said in a muffled, gloomy voice.

     "Why so blue?" I asked.

     "I'm grey," he said in the same voice as last time.

     "What are you doing?" I asked as cheerfully as I could. I was almost sickening myself with my cheerfulness, and I couldn't even pry a grin out of Martin.

     "I'm picking my owner's flowers, then pulling the petals off slowly, one by one," he said in that same slow, muffled, gloomy voice. Wasn't Martin just a barrel of fun?

     "Oh," I said. "Sounds fun."

     "It isn't," he said. He slowly turned and looked at me. "Why are you here?" he asked. That was it. Martin was such a downer that I couldn't take it. And the nerve he had! I came over to see him, and he treated me like dung!

     "I was trying to be a good friend!" I said, fuming with anger. "But if you've got the nerve to be so rude to me, I guess I'd better leave!" I stomped off back to my yard. Martin watched me, his face expressionless as always, then turned back to his flowers. What a waste of fur he was! I decided to walk up to the park. Phew, it's HOT! I wish I was at Kiko Lake.

     When I arrived at the park, it was empty. Completely deserted. Everyone must have gone to Kiko Lake.

     "Oh, well, that's just peachy keen!" I shouted into the air. "That's just bananas on toast! It's all just smoothie on oranges!" I continued to vent a while longer, then sat on a swing. What an awful day! First Martin behaves like a clump of rude, useless fur, then there's no one at the park. What was a Lutari to do? I decided to walk down to the Money Tree. It was nice and shady over there. I walked on over, and sat underneath it.

     "Well, hello!" bellowed a Glowing Zafara. "Why aren't you at Kiko Lake?"

     "Cause," I said in a cranky voice. "She has to 'clean' today."

     "Ooh," she said. "That's too bad. I hear the water is just perfect over there today."

     "Thanks for making me feel better," I said grumpily. "That just makes it so much easier to be stuck in Neopia Central all day."

     "Sorry," said the Zafara. She looked sad.

     "It's okay," I said. "I guess I shouldn't be such a Martin."

     The Zafara chuckled. "Yeah," she said, "You should be a Rags. Who wants to be a Martin?" We both laughed.

     "Well, I'm going to go now," I said as I got up. "Have fun!"

     "Bye!" she called after me.

     I turned, waved, then kept going. I had made a decision on what to do today; I would go to Kiki Lake. By myself. I started walking and soon I was out of the shopping area. For once, it wasn't busy. That's really rare in Neopia Central. I wasn't sure where to go from here. My owner knew the way, but I never really paid attention when she took me. Then I saw a JubJub at a small wooden stand. The sign on top of it read 'Directions, 5 NP'. I went up to the JubJub.

     "How can I help you?" he asked.

     "I need to get to Kiko Lake," I said. "I have no neopoints on me, but it's an emergency!" Okay, maybe it wasn't a real emergency, but I only had a few neopoints to buy candy from the Kiko Lake Treats shop, and I wasn't about to spend them on directions.

     "Well," he said. He was thinking. Please let me through! "I've had so much business today, I guess I could let it slide. But this time and this time only, okay?"

     "Okay!" I said happily. "Thanks!" He gave me a small map and I sped off into the bushes. I followed the rainbow over a body of water, and when I got there, I was shocked.

     "This isn't Kiko Lake!" I yelled. Suddenly, a Starry Blumaroo popped out of nowhere.

     "Of course this isn't Kiko Lake!" He chuckled. "This is Roo Island! Care to try your hand at a game of Dice-A-Roo? Or how about a ride on the merry-go-round?" I still didn't know where I was. What a strange day I've had so far. I checked the time. I still had an hour or two before lunch, so I decided why not? I decided to try my hand at Dice-A-Roo, and didn't do too badly. Then I took a spin on the Merry-Go-Round. What fun! Uh-oh, it's getting late. I guess I should be getting home. I said bye to my Blumaroo friends and ran towards home.

     "I'm back!" I called as I entered the house.

     "Just in time for lunch!" called my owner. Mmmm... it smelled like she made Tchea and meatball noodles. My favorite!

     "So how was your morning?" my owner asked as I sat down.

     "Oh, it was so weird!" I said. "I told Martin off, then I went to the park and it was empty, so I made up some expressions and shouted them into the air. Then I talked to a glowing Zafara by the Money Tree. She's so funny! Then, some JubJub gave me the wrong directions to Kiko Lake and I ended up at a small Island over the rainbow called Roo Island. I played Dice-A-Roo and went on the merry-go-round for hours! It was a fun day."

     "It sounds more like you fell out of the Money Tree," said my owner. "Are you okay? Should I run down to the pharmacy? Did you hit your head? Did the sun get at you too much?"

     "No, Mom, I'm fine!" I said.

     "That couldn't have all happened," said my mom. "Glowing Zafaras don't exist, there's no direction booth outside of Neopia Central, and you can't travel across a rainbow!"

     "Oh," I said disappointedly. "Maybe I fell asleep under the Money Tree."

     "Maybe," she said. "I think you should go to your room and rest up a bit. You know, just in case."

     "Okay," I said, and I headed for my room. Did all that really happen? I guess not. I really wish it had really happened, though. Even if it wasn't real, it was the best dream I ever had!

     When I got to my room, I checked my pockets. Then I found a die in my left pocket. A Dice-A-Roo die! It did happen! There are such a thing as glowing Zafaras, there are direction booths outside of Neopia Central, and you can travel across a rainbow! What a day. I decided I was too tired to think anymore, and I fell asleep.

The End