Meepit Breakfast Brigade

      It started as a normal morning. The opening crew arrived before dawn to get the store set up and prepare. Besides me, the other two openers were Jenny, a green Shoyru, and Tim, a yellow Jubjub. The store opens at dawn; our normal morning customers are families of Neopians. A few Neopian like to come in before work, too.

      At dawn, we were ready. Jenny made sure the grills and stoves were ready and Tim was in the office finishing paper work. I took the chairs off the tables and double checked each table had salt and pepper shakers. I unlocked the doors and walked back in the door. I realized I had forgotten and turned to fetch some out of the back room, when I heard the door open. I swung around and saw no one. I strolled into the lobby when I tripped. Whatever I tripped on started to squeal shrilly. I flipped over and found a crying Meepit. I picked him up and started to comfort him. I checked the bathrooms, but they were empty. Jenny, Tim, and I were the only Neopets in the store. No one who worked here could afford to buy a Meepit.

      Tim found a box, Jenny prepared food, and I rounded up a few rags. We placed him in the box in the back room. For the time, he seemed content sitting in a box chewing on a biscuit.

      "How do you think he got in here?" asked Jenny. "He doesn't seem big enough to open the doors."

      "I don't know," I replied. "I had my back to the door when it opened; maybe someone opened it for him."

      I heard the door swing open and I excused myself to the lobby. Again, I didn't see any Neopets. I looked down to find three more Meepits. I called Tim and Jenny to help. We placed all four Meepits in a bigger box. A few customers had walked in during the brief period. While Jenny and I went to serve them, Tim Neomailed the Neopian Lost And Found.

      Half an hour went by. All the customers had left and it was quiet again. Tim received a Neomail. Jenny and I crowded around him while he read it. It was the Neopian Lost and Found. They had checked with local shop owners and the local "missing" flyers, but no one had lost a Meepit. The manager, a Kacheek, wrote they could watch the Meepits until their owners could be found. Jenny and I thought it was great. She and I drew up a few found signs and posted them on the doors.

      Twenty minutes had passed since the last customers left. I went back into the refrigerator and grabbed a few bags of napkins. On the way back to the counter, I heard the door open. It was about seven - thirty in the morning, and business started to pick up about this time. I looked into the lobby, and saw no one. I cringed as I look at the lobby floor. There were more Meepits. Not one. Not two. Not even three. There were enough Meepits in the lobby to cover all the tables, chairs, and floors. I squealed loudly. Tim and Jenny came running and saw the Meepits. We realized the Neopian Lost And Found weren't going to watch all these Meepits. The Meepits stood quietly for a few moments.

      "What are we going to do with all these Meepits?" Tim asked.

      "Do we have enough boxes to put them in?" Jenny replied. They were as nervous as I was. Jenny was breathing through her clenched teeth.

      I twirled around to find the first four Meepits walking up to the counter. One shrieked and the rest started diving behind the counter. Wave after wave of Meepits flew at use. A dozen Meepits grabbed Tim and disappeared into the back. Jenny and I looked around for something to fight the Meepits with.

      Jenny and I started to panic. We both worked at this restaurant for the past few years. We've worked through various conditions, but neither of us knew what to do when the Meepits came in. Where they going to do the same to us what they did to Tim? We didn't know what they did to Tim, but I was sure I heard a door slam.

      Jenny and I locked ourselves in the office. We Neomail the store manager and told her we need her to come in. We also Neomailed the Defenders and the Lost and Found Office. Jenny and I needed help to rid the store of the menacing petpets. We looked out the door window. There were hundreds, may be a few thousand Meepits in the store. A few were fighting over the food; others were playing with the cooking utensils. The Meepits started to pound on the door.

      Jenny and I needed a plan. We were sure that they were going do to the same to use as they did to Tim. After they carried Tim off, we weren't sure what the Meepits did to him. We burst out of the office. We each grabbed a spatula and defended ourselves against them. Jenny headed off towards the back as I worked my way to the front. I looked at what I had to work with on the front counter. They had eaten the condiments and emptied the orange juice dispenser. I spotted the toolbox. It was big enough to fix at least five or six Meepits in there when emptied. I had started to run. I stumbled over a few Meepits and accidentally knocked a few cups off the counter. The cups fell on the Meepits and they stopped moving. I looked over a trapped Meepit quickly. It wasn't hurt, but the cup prevented it from doing any mischief. Jenny and I started grabbing Meepits and trapping them in cups.

      It was an hour before most of the Meepits were captured and placed into cups. When we ran out of cups, Jenny and I used empty boxes. A few customers and a few other crew members had come in and helped us.

      A few members from the Neopian Lost and Found arrived at nine o'clock. The Kacheek that had answered the Neomail had never heard of Meepits attacking a store like this. He and his fellow workers were glad to take the Meepits off our hands, although they weren't sure what they were going to do with so many Meepits.

      After they left, my fellow crew members and I closed the store so we could repair everything. Susan, the store manager, was surprised how much damage the Meepits did. By the time everything was fixed, the time was almost noon. It hit me that we never found Tim.

      Jenny flew around the store, hitting the ceiling boards along the way. Marie, a Yellow Poogle, checked the stock room. The stock room was a mess. Ketchup and jelly dotted the walls. Since Tim was so small, he could be in any of the boxes. I assisted Marie in searching the stock. I flipped box over box. Tim was not in any of the boxes.

      "Hey," Jenny called, "We found Tim!"

      I followed Marie to the front. Everyone was surrounding Tim; he sat a chair, wrapped in a towel. The Meepits had locked him in the ice bin. Tim was locked in there so long that his fur turned blue! We let him rest. I took him a cup of Borovan to warm up.

      Jenny, Marie, and I cleaned the stock room. After two hours of cleaning Jenny starting cooking hamburgers. I unlocked the doors to the waiting customers. Tim recovered enough to help out. The remainder of my shift went normally. When my replacement took over for me at the front counter, I was so happy to finally go home.

The End