A Trio of Evil - The Leak

I leaned back lazily in my armchair, a book propped open on my lap. The sweet aroma of hot chocolate wafted up to my nose from the mug on the end-table beside my chair. Pulling my throw tighter around me, I reached for the mug, and was about to take a sip when something fell from the ceiling into the cup with a small 'plunk'. I stared into the swirling depths of the cocoa, watching the miniscule ripples spread out.

      In puzzlement, I stared up at the tall ceiling of my living room, and another drop of water landed in my eye. I blinked rapidly, and felt more drops land on my head. Now they were pouring out of the ceiling, one drop after another. The water was soaking the back of the chair, and my clothes now clung to my body with water. It was as if there was this tiny little rainstorm right above my chair.

      I sprang up from my warm nest of blankets and ran to get a bucket. When I came back, the blankets were dripping water. I placed the bucket carefully on the chair and listened to the metallic sound of the drops hitting the bottom of the bucket. Plunk, plink, and ploonk, they went, a little storm raining into the bucket. And then the ceiling started leaking in other places. It rained into my cup on the end table, it poured onto my head, it made puddles on the floor. I had five buckets dotted all over the room to catch the water before I came to my senses.

      My Neopets were nowhere to be found, and the ceiling was leaking. I put two and two together. The room above me was the bathroom. I dashed out of the living room, and bolted up the stairs, listening to the little rainstorms still falling in the living room.

      The sound like a spout of water tile was coming from the bathroom, and the muffled shouts of three boys floated amidst it.

      "No, turn it the other way! To the right! To the RIGHT!"

      "I'm turning it to the right, dummy!"

      "You're turning it to the LEFT, didn't they teach you the difference in kindergarten?!"

      I turned the doorknob, and a wave of water splashed out all over my feet, soaking my socks and the carpet of the hall. My three Neopets fell silent immediately. My Kougra, Ooresse peeked out at me from behind the shower curtain, and my Bori Indt, who had been shouting instructions at my Zafara, Apocolypso, who was looking at me from under the sink, a wrench clasped in his right paw, was standing on the toilet. Resse's eyes were wide, and Indt's mouth was hanging open, a direction halfway out of his mouth. Lypso dropped the wrench in surprise and grinned nervously at me. All the pets were dripping water, and the faucet was spouting a stream of it across the bathroom, making puddles on the tiled floor.

      I was shaking with anger, speechless. Water dripped silently into the hall, so that I was standing on a dark stain of water, the carpet oozing more water through my already wet socks. Lypso's mouth was opening and closing like a Goldy's, lost for words. I could tell that Indt was trying to come up with an excuse, but water must have leaked into his brain, because he didn't give me one. Resse was shrinking back behind the shower curtain, hiding.

      Sloshing into the dripping bathroom, I stared around at all the boys expectantly, waiting for someone to say something. When they didn't, I decided I would talk for them.

      "What happened?" I asked, in a tone that told my pets that clearly, I was very angry. The only sound that came from the room was the steady squirting of the faucet. I sighed a huff of anger and grabbed the wrench, nudging Lypso out form under the sink. With a few twists and turns I had fixed the faucet. I glared at my pets. Suddenly, Indt shouted "RUN!!!"

      The boys bolted like a speeding bullet from the bathroom, leaving a trail of wet footprints on the hall carpet. We all made such a clatter, clomping down the stairs, the thumps of people slipping and running again. I chased them all through our NeoHome, and there were little puddles everywhere.

      I paused for a rest in the front hall, breathing heavily. And then I heard a shout. It sounded like Indts' voice.

      "Ouch! Watch where you're going!" And then a harsh whisper.......

      "Shhh! You'll get us found! Way to go Indt." The voices had come from my right, and to my right was another hall.

      I took the right and crept along, listening closely. Finally, I heard what I was listening for. A clatter, something falling, obviously. I thought it had come from the right, and I ran silently into the room on my right, the family room. I started looking in all the possible places that they could hide. I checked under the couch, in the gap between the fireplace and the bookcase, under the desk, behind chairs...they were nowhere to be found.

      And then I heard another sound. One that sounded sort of like something sliding on a pole of some sort. And then it slid back. This time, the sound had come from my left. I guessed that was where the other sound had come from too. I rushed into the laundry room, which was the room to the left. In the laundry room, was the basement door, which was propped open with a box. Of course. The basement was the best place for a hideaway.

      I tip-toed down the rickety steps of the basement staircase, gripping the railing in case I fell. Leaning over the railing, I scrutinized the perimeter of the basement, looking for something, anything, to give away the hiding place of my pets. And then I saw a little flutter. Instantly, my eyes were drawn to the place of the movement, and the sound of the rustle of fur. It came from behind the coat rack. I snuck up to the rack of old clothes and coats, careful not to make one noise. I held my breath, reached out, and slid the curtain of clothes fiercely to the side, and uncovered the three Neopets.

      They were flattened against the wall, and they stared hopelessly at me, predicting their fate. They all sighed dejectedly and came out from behind the rack, dragging their tails, their ears flattened. It was a sad sight to see, but they had to be punished somehow.

      They spent the rest of the morning mopping up the bathroom, and I helped them a little when they dried all the puddles we had made from our chase. They emptied the buckets in the living room, and when I walked in to ask them what they had learned from all of this, I found them all asleep, Indt sprawled over the back of the chair, Resse in the seat, and Lypso lying across one of the arms.

      I shook my head and smiled. I walked over to the end table, and picked up my mug. It was empty. I looked back at my pets and noticed a little chocolate mustache above each of their mouths. I smiled again. It looks like the punishments of this incident hadn't washed away a single drop of their mischief.

The End