A Water Plant That Flames Up?

      "Hew I am!" she said, bouncing into my lap.

      "I have been thinking about making our family bigger," I said as I hugged her. Foxitta stared with wide eyes at me.

     "Ya mean you gonna get a baby? To be hew? Wiff me?" Her eyes grew even bigger. Then in a single movement she leaped off my lap and ran down the hall. In a minute she was back, dragging my purse and shoes and shouting, "Come on! Let's go get 'em!"

     I grinned. She was always so energetic.

     "Come on!" she yelled impatiently as I put my shoes on. "I'm gonna leave ya behin'."

     "But Foxitta," I called from the back of the house. "If you leave me here then how will you get into the store? They don't let under-age Neopets shop you know." Silence. I smiled to myself.

      I could just picture Foxitta's puzzled little face as she tried to decide if what I said was true.

     Then she yelled, "Huwy! Dey gonna leave!"

     Going to the shelter was an interesting experience. First Foxitta would absently smell a flower then jump to attention and zip back to me yelling, "Huwy! Dey leavin'."

     Once we got to the shelter, Foxitta tried to look at everything at once. I could barely keep her in my sights. Then suddenly she was at my side tugging and pulling, babbling on about 'pewfect pet.' What else could I do but follow her? She led me to a glass case filled with water. It was full of fish and little else. I thought she had seen a pretty fish and wanted to show me so I said, "Which one?"

     Foxitta looked up skeptically, as if wondering how I could miss it, then pointed. I followed her paw until I saw what she meant. There was a beautiful green foal floating in the case above the first one. Then it moved to one side so I could see it had a fin. A water horse. I glanced down at the sign. It read; 'Peophin, 400 NP each.'

     I was mesmerized, until Foxitta tugged on me again. I looked at her. She was looking up at me with hopeful, wistful eyes. I smiled. Her eyes widened. I nodded. She gave a little yelp of glee and ran to find a worker. I looked into the tank again. The little green Peophin was smiling at me as if it understood what I was thinking.

     Later in our Neohome, Foxitta and I were very happily preparing for the special delivery. We practically killed each other, once the doorbell rang, in our hurry to answer the door. The Peophin had to be delivered personally by the manager of the store.

     Once we had filled out the papers and the manager had gone away we opened the case. The little Peophin leaped out clumsily and sat on the floor looking puzzled, but only for a second. It looked at us and smiled. Foxitta was smiling like a Jack-o-lantern at the baby, then she said, "I wove ya aweady." I smiled. Then I frowned as a thought came to me.

     "What shall we call this little one?" I asked.

     Foxitta looked very thoughtful for a second, then said with another smile on her face, "Aftew a pwant because she gween, and aftew fiwe because she's got wed haiw. FiwePwant!"

     I smiled. Then, as I gathered up both FirePlant and Foxitta to carry them to the bedroom, I said, "That is a wonderful name."

     ---------------------------------

      Ever since we met FirePlant, our home has never been the same. First she and Foxitta would play quietly and the next minute they would hop about yelling. Things got even more interesting once Foxitta started learning how to speak more. She was already trying to teach FirePlant.

      "Now repeat after me; I love you," instructed Foxitta with a concentrated frown on her face.

     FirePlant smiled and hugged Foxitta, but didn't say anything. Foxitta looked very grumpy, then said in a louder more commanding voice, "Repeat. I love you."

     FirePlant looked up at her with a silly grin, then bounced off to the bedroom. Foxitta stood there looking very put-off, then raced after her saying with dignity, "Alright. You win. No more bonding time for us." FirePlant seemed totally unprovoked by this threat and continued bouncing down the hall. She came into the bedroom and started bouncing on the bed.

     Foxitta came in after her, and a second later was bouncing along with her. I came in.

     "Having fun, you two?" I said with as much sternness as I could muster. Foxitta bounced right off the bed and landed on the floor. She sat up rubbing her head. I sighed and sat down, saying, "Two little Neopets jumping on the bed, one fell off and bumped her head, Momma called the doctor and the doctor said; No more little Neopets jumping on the bed."

     Foxitta rubbed her head sulkily and said, "I know!"

     I patted her head and said with a gentle tone, "You know but don't follow."

     She grinned sheepishly, then with a stern voice said to FirePlant, "No more Neopets jumping on the bed." FirePlant coughed, slid off the bed with a thump, then bounced over and sat down looking at us with big black eyes.

     I picked them both up in a hug and said, "So the reason I came in here is because I wanted to ask if you guys felt like taking a trip."

     FirePlant started squeaking and hopping around the room while Foxitta babbled things like, "Really?! When can we leave?! When DO we leave?! I'm gonna go pack!!" With that, she ran down the hall dragging FirePlant with her. I smiled. They were both too young to have their own rooms, so everything they owned was in the room they had just left.

     Soon they realized their mistake and ran back to the bedroom still excitedly yelling about the trip.

     Later we had a family talk in the living room.

     "All right, guys, we know for certain that we are going but we're not sure where... yet!" I explained.

      Foxitta and FirePlant were sitting across from me by their backpacks. Foxitta looked very thoughtful and FirePlant was just happy about all the excitement.

     Suddenly Foxitta leaped up and yelled with enthusiasm, "We can go anywhere! Haunted Woods..." she broke off in confusion, then ran down the hall. A minute later she came running back with a book about Neopia. She plopped down onto my lap and started flipping through it. FirePlant, not wanting to be left out, hopped up beside her. Foxitta reached an illustrated picture and continued listing the places we could go.

     "Maraqua, Mystery Island, Meridell, Brightvale, Terror Mountain, Moltara, Kiko Lake..." she broke off again, but this time in shock.

     FirePlant was making bubbling sounds then said, "Kika." Foxitta's jaw fell so far down I thought for sure she would break it.

     I grinned then said, "I guess we are going to Kiko Lake." Foxitta grinned too, then hugged FirePlant.

     The trip to Kiko Lake was not nearly as long as the flight to Tyrannia. Once at Kiko Lake we had fun taking boat tours, snorkeling, swimming, trying tasty sweets, and having a good time. All too soon though the sun began to set, signaling the end of our trip.

     On the way home, FirePlant and Foxitta napped in their seats. I looked out the window. Kreludor was slowly rising on its ascent. Foxitta and FirePlant woke up just enough to walk home, then collapsed on the bed. I sighed, then fell onto the bed beside them.

The End... for now.

Authors Note: This is the second story I have submitted to the Neopian Times. Both in the story and in real life my Neopets are growing, maturing, and making me proud.

I would like to thank the Neopian Times for showing my work and my Mom for helping me spell and grammar check my work.

Also thanks to those who read my stories and enjoy them.